Grrl Power VIII: Hotter Than What's In Sydney's Lunchbox

[Radar]

That youve seen Big Bang Theory?

True. Now that I think about it, Sheldon's reason for always knocking three times is very applicable to Dabbler.

[Rydiro]

What does it say of me, if I very much expected Max to repeat that "knock, knock, knock, Dabbler" a third time?

Maxima at least is a good leader, always trying to get the best out of her people and being compassionate when they need it.
She doesn't know yet what Dabbler has done.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Oh, just noticed that one of the people on the demon team is one of that species of magical symbiotes (like the ringleader of the team that tried to kidnap Maxima), presumably inhabiting a construct body.

[Radar]

Oh, just noticed that one of the people on the demon team is one of that species of magical symbiotes (like the ringleader of the team that tried to kidnap Maxima), presumably inhabiting a construct body.

Which suddenly has become a very relevant detail.

Lack of passive defenses is Sydney's true weakness. She has extremely powerful equipment, but underneath she is a regular unpowered human.

[Traab]

Well THIS could get interesting. I wonder if there is some sort of passive mind control or body jacking protection in the orbs? Going by the spaceship analogy thats been used for awhile now, security, or antivirus protection wouldnt be amiss. If not, then we are going to maybe get a chance to see just how broken a ruthless orb user can be. Sydney is pretty much a solid lock for second most powerful member of arcswat due to her versatility and raw power in all aspects.

[The Glyphstone]

Or possibly how destructive an untrained orb user is. We've only seen in flashbacks how Sidney learned what the PPO does; its quite likely Lapha doesn't know anything about their individual functions.

[InvisibleBison]

Maybe this will reveal what the last orb does.

[Traab]

Maybe this will reveal what the last orb does.

Thats what I meant, the mystery orb function might be some form of protection for the wielder getting mind jacked or whatever.

[InvisibleBison]

Thats what I meant, the mystery orb function might be some form of protection for the wielder getting mind jacked or whatever.

I was thinking it might have some power that Lapha can use but Sydney can't.

[Keltest]

Suddenly I see why it was necessary to get Dabbler out of comission.

[TeChameleon]

Suddenly I see why it was necessary to get Dabbler out of comission.

... you say that, yet my primary thought is 'finally, something is happening that's not more succubus bull****!'

And I'm sure I'm not the only one curious as to what protections the ancient's IT guy programmed into the orbs.

[lord_khaine]

This does look like it could get very interesting indeed. Finally things are picking up.
It seems quite plausible the orbs dont offer any protection against this sort of stuff at all.
Since well, they are not designed to be used by a human. But some possibly superior alien specie.
Dont need to install an antivirus if your operating system already have the best on the market and all.

Though. Is not Max they need here but Dabbler. And Harem.
Dabbler to tell them what the &%¤# is going on. Harem to bip up behind Sydney and inject her with sleepy juice before the shield is up.
Well or stuff her body into a pair of bondage mittens. Seems we are not done with the fetish stuff yet xD
Since well, for all her power Sydney still come with the glaring weak spot of a small human body.

[Grendelkin]

I'm curious to see how Sydney's ADHD will affect the possessing entity. I'm also curious whether the orbs will obey the intruder or remain locked onto Sydney as long as she's still alive.

[InvisibleBison]

Though. Is not Max they need here but Dabbler. And Harem.
Dabbler to tell them what the &%¤# is going on. Harem to bip up behind Sydney and inject her with sleepy juice before the shield is up.
Well or stuff her body into a pair of bondage mittens. Seems we are not done with the fetish stuff yet xD
Since well, for all her power Sydney still come with the glaring weak spot of a small human body.

Surely regular mittens would work just as well. Or maybe plastic bags? That seems like it would be easier to get around her hands without her cooperation.

Also, has it been established that Daphne can't teleport through Sydney's shield?

[Lapak]

Also, has it been established that Daphne can't teleport through Sydney's shield?

All the way back during the restaurant brawl, yes; Sydney was inside her shield with a bad guy and it was called out specifically.

[lord_khaine]

Surely regular mittens would work just as well. Or maybe plastic bags? That seems like it would be easier to get around her hands without her cooperation.

Mittens, plastic bags or gloves would work just as well yeah. Issue is they are easier getting off.
Honestly its likely close to impossibly to get either of them on her before she/it are drugged.
But after it will make for easy containment while the issue are resolved.

[Steven]

I'd just like to get in before anybody complains and point out that the demon possessing Sydney isn't actually doing anything wrong. In their culture it's perfectly normal to subjugate the the will of another being and anyone suggesting that taking total control of another being is just being overly sensitive and applying human morals to an alien species. /s

[Keltest]

I'd just like to get in before anybody complains and point out that the demon possessing Sydney isn't actually doing anything wrong. In their culture it's perfectly normal to subjugate the the will of another being and anyone suggesting that taking total control of another being is just being overly sensitive and applying human morals to an alien species. /s

Tongue in cheek aside, we literally just had a page explaining that this is in fact illegal in alien society.

[AvatarVecna]

Tongue in cheek aside, we literally just had a page explaining that this is in fact illegal in alien society.

Prudes!!!!

[Traab]

Well, looks like the orbs can tell she isnt in control of her body. Thats comforting. otherwise the only advantage they would have is the newbie doesnt know the full scale of what the orbs can do. Most have multiple functions after all. But thats like a 5 minute window at best before she gets decent at using them.

[Grendelkin]

I wasn't all that worried. Nth-level tech should be able to distinguish the thought patterns of its host. Lapha's are unlikely to be anything like Sydney's.

[Traab]

I wasn't all that worried. Nth-level tech should be able to distinguish the thought patterns of its host. Lapha's are unlikely to be anything like Sydney's.

Heck, Id expect it to be able to read the quantum pattern of her soul emanations or some other obscure really hard to fake bit of nuance. But it all boils down to the same thing, however its detection works, it knows who its wielder is on a deeper thn biological level. Now we need to see if sydney can boot her out herself, or if the orbs will do it somehow, or if max and crew will force the issue when they get there, or if she will just give up and leave because obviously this isnt working how she hoped. Its entirely possible the orbs wont let her move past a certain distance seeing as they tend to be quantum locked when sydney isnt moving them. So she cant even try to run for it or teleport or whatever.

[Radar]

She might try to pull off what sheriff Bart did in Blazing Saddles. Just more serious obviously.

[Grendelkin]

By the way, am I alone in finding it creepy that Lapha might actually believe that she "is" Sydney, just because she's bulled her way into the cockpit and has her grubby fire-fingers on the controls? Or just that she might believe possession means that all that her host is, becomes her? Either that's some unpleasant cultural background, or Lapha's gotten too used to mindless hosts.

[AvatarVecna]

I mean this feels like the kind of question that's either never gonna get answered or will be answered a loooooong time down the road but...if the orbs can recognize valid users by their thoughts or souls or their fifth-dimensional mirror-shadows or whatever...then why do they work for Sydney?

[Grendelkin]

We don't know what the Nth are like in their (super)natural state. Maybe Sydney resembles what they were like when still mortal, in thought if not appearance.
And maybe the orbs had been lying in the ocean for so long that any sane(ish) sentient lifeform would do, and they glommed onto her.

[halfeye]

What I want to know is whether Lapha has a body to go back to, brain death takes two minutes, and she/it's possibly been out for that long already.

[Grendelkin]

Isn't her other body artificially-created? It could have a 'dormant' state, like a deep trance or a coma, allowing the occupant to park it for a prolonged period of time - so they could swap bodies the way we swap clothes.

[AvatarVecna]

We don't know what the Nth are like in their (super)natural state. Maybe Sydney resembles what they were like when still mortal, in thought if not appearance.
And maybe the orbs had been lying in the ocean for so long that any sane(ish) sentient lifeform would do, and they glommed onto her.

Gotta be honest, "Sydney's brain looks just like Nth-dimensional thoughts" isn't exactly reassuring, but for completely different reasons.

The latter answer seems more like the kind we'd get, but also feels like a copout? "The sentient nuke button programmed to not allow unauthorized users got bored of having no users, so they allowed an unauthorized user anyway"? It makes it feel like the user identification system was maybe not designed so well.

[Grendelkin]

Gotta be honest, "Sydney's brain looks just like Nth-dimensional thoughts" isn't exactly reassuring, but for completely different reasons.

It could be that Sydney at her best - channeling her hyperactivity into rapid thought and deduction - is very close to what the Nth were like as a people before they ascended.
In that case, what the orbs sensed in her was growth potential, the chance of becoming Nth.

Or they could be damaged somehow, and the selection protocol malfunctioned.