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trans_92009-04-13 01:06 am
cabbage-butt.livejournal.com) wrote in trans_92009-04-13 01:06 am
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All work and no play...
There is an AI on the ship that goes by the name Bender Stack. It only pops up now and again, and now its function may finally be somewhat clear.
"Hey. Hey meatbag!" says a grating voice.
Bender Stack chases people away from work when they've been doing too much of it.
This is why Brainiac 5 leaves the Special Weapons Division and by the time he gets up to the Living Area (having decided to eat anyway if the irritating AI is going to heckle him out of work) he's about at his wit's end.
"--For the last time, I am not going to build you a robot prostitute! You're an AI, not a mechanoid, you couldn't interface with it anyway."
"Hey. Hey meatbag!" says a grating voice.
Bender Stack chases people away from work when they've been doing too much of it.
This is why Brainiac 5 leaves the Special Weapons Division and by the time he gets up to the Living Area (having decided to eat anyway if the irritating AI is going to heckle him out of work) he's about at his wit's end.
"--For the last time, I am not going to build you a robot prostitute! You're an AI, not a mechanoid, you couldn't interface with it anyway."
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"Karate Kid? For serious?" she clears her throat to compose herself. "But... he made the Legionnaires roster just for being a hand to hand fighter? No super reflexes or anything?"
Hilarious name, but colour her impressed.
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Oh, right, Coluan brain vs pop culture references.
"Uhm, there was a really famous movie in the 1980's called 'The Karate Kid' about this boy who made friends with a karate instructor and it was sort of this coming-of-age tale that frankly would have been a billion times more exciting with force fields. As it was it just encouraged a lot of small children, including myself, to try to perform complicated stunts without support wires and break their toes."
"But yeah that's... ridiculously impressive. I don't know much about energy-based force-fields even but... wow. Did he teach you anything?"
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"It sounds like media hasn't improved in the slightest in the last thousand years," Brainy remarks dryly, taking another bite of his "food."
"But yes, he did train me. The only reason I'm remotely competent as a fighter is because of his training, and because of considerable practical experience." Learned on the go. There's nothing like facing the Fatal Five to teach you how to fight very quickly.
"I was not drafted into the Legion for my combat capabilities."
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She smirks a little.
"Then again, give the geeky guy a big enough gun and he'll still mess you up. Look at Jaime."
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"My preferences run towards non-offensive technologies, personally," he says, indicating his shield-belt. "It's considerably difficult to cause catastrophic damage with my shield capabilities."
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"Oh yeah? Does it block bullets and stuff? Does it protect just you or can you shield someone else too?"
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Much like the Green Lanterns--not that they exist anymore in Brainy's time.
He points to the implants on his cheeks.
"That's what these are for. The controls used to be entirely manual in nature, until an unusual spacial anomaly upgraded me."
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She keeps asking him so many questions and maybe it feels a little one-sided but... he probably knows or is at least disinterested in everything she could tell him about humans and truth be told listening to him talk about his home world and time with the Legionnaires is pretty fascinating. (Distracting her from lunch enough for her to have mostly finished it at the least.)
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Brainy actually likes this. He has such difficulty socializing on his own and she's reducing the sharing to a format he's familiar with--someone asking him a ton of questions. (That happens constantly). It was the only way Ayla'd ever gotten anything out of him, like him telling her about his mother, after all.
He almost smirks at her supposition about his implants, intensely amused.
"Our species is not known for putting emphasis on physicality, no. Actually, it likely wouldn't be difficult for you to conjecture what trait Coluans value most." He taps his temple for emphasis.
So that must mean he's Colu's most desirable young bachelor and most well-respected citizen, right? (Ha.)
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"The girls ought to have been all over YOU if you'd ever been let out of the lab back home." She teases. "But you know, you're pretty cute by human physical standards too, even with the out-there skin colour."
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This is where he gets uncomfortable.
"I'm not..." He lets out a little huff of disbelief. "It's not my experience that I'm considered attractive."
He's a little pinker--well, greener in the cheeks.
"I wasn't considered as such on Colu. Or...anywhere else."
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"Just cause nobody's TOLD that you're attractive to your face before doesn't mean you're not cute you know." Brenda grins. "Not my type, but I'm sure you're right up somebody's alley."
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"Perhaps, but generally, being told the opposite makes it abundantly clear that the opposite is true, however."
He's flushing even more, to the point of half covering his face now.
"I really--I'm not."
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"Aw seriously? Somebody called you ugly? Who was it? If they're on the ship they're getting punched. That's just mean no matter WHAT you actually look like!"
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"I mean in general. I have never been considered--viable as a potential mate." A pause. "By anyone."
He explains, "The Legion combats xenophobia daily--it's part of the reason the team even formed, as a force of unity in the United Planets, and while there is progress, for many species romantic interest in individuals outside their own species is somewhat rare. Ergo, the chances of catching the interest of a mate outside my own species is unlikely, none of my team-mates, who are governed less by societal pressures and prejudices are interested, and I'm considered an aberration and dangerously antisocial and insane by other Coluans, and therefore unfeasible as a potential mate."
He goes on. "Being exiled from Colu as I am makes the chances of finding a mate even more unlikely, given I'm excluded from all aspects of Coluan society."
"Given Coluans base attractiveness on such non-physical traits..."
He's one butt-ugly Coluan. (But also he just doesn't think he's particularly physically attractive anyway, or doesn't put much thought to it).
"Regardless of all that, it's irrelevant. I have no interest in finding a mate and will never develop such interest in the future."
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And she thinks the last part about not wanting to find a mate is a bold-faced lie but she's not going to just say it like that.
"I think it'd be a shame if you just give up on the idea entirely though. I mean yeah. Don't pine. That never did anybody any good. But don't resign yourself to being alone so totally that you wouldn't believe it if someone ever asked you out."
"I think you underestimate what some other people might find attractive, Brainy."
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It's very easy for him to lie to himself. To just not think about it, until he gets slammed in the face with a blonde and then he devotes quite a bit of brainpower to pretending that--that it doesn't matter.
Subject change.
"It's my understanding that humans are far more concerned with mating than other species. I've never understood the obsession."
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Discovery channel/too much reading textbooks = OTP"Mating to humans is just as much social and emotional as biological. Human beings as a rule work better in pairs and groups. I mean from a perspective of physical well-being alone being in a relationship with someone else gives you a huge boost. You have someone to take care of you if you're ill, someone to motivate you to put effort into being healthy, someone to reinforce your decisions and support you in pursing your overall goals. You protect each other sure, but you also help each other. You're less likely to take on dangerous tasks if you are attached to someone else for example." She smirks. "And the psychological and physical benefits of getting laid on a regular basis are kind of astounding."
"A good relationship works both as a comfort and as an outlet for aggression that would be distributed unfairly otherwise-" she tries not to think about Paco letting her punch the hell out of him just now "-and it's just... stabilizing to be in. Sure it can go sour but so can everything. The rewards you get when things go right make it worth trying."
"It's part biological and part this way we're been brought up as a society to seek partnerships as sources of strength. There's this phrase - 'no man is an island' - and it's usually true for us. Humans just aren't... programmed to be loners, if that makes sense."
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Humans are a little obsessed with the sex pootie.
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"...I'm going to assume you've never HAD sex?"
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On the one hand, he wants to answer that it's very personal.
On the other hand, he wants to act clinical and detached and like it's a not a big deal. The latter wins out.
"Not as such, no. I've had far more important things occupying my time than seeking to engage in carnal activities with someone."
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"Yeah. That's why you don't get it."
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