20 thoughts on “Happy Thanksgiving”

  1. I’ve got to say, I’m impressed with the new suit but I feel like Nick is neglecting his creativity in the projects he limits himself to. I completely understand that as a college student he has less time to himself than he might need to accomplish some truly ground braking work. And I really look forward to the things that a college education will bring to the table. I mean, he might be a super-genius of some kind, but you’re only as good as what you know. I just feel like even without his degree he should be putting out tech that makes Tony Stark cry himself to sleep. I hope that he lives up to his potential, maybe even an accidental run through the Power Impregnator, I know there’s a new name for it but the old one cracks me up. I know that each member of the team fulfills an integral role, but with some thought Nick could be a power unto himself. I’ve really enjoyed this series and I’ve been reading a while now. Not saying I’m disappointed, but Nick is by far my favorite character and I’d like to see him come into his own.

  2. Nick going through the Power Impregnator is an interesting thought…if his super power is high intelligence/mechanical design ability, could it be enhanced? Or could it tip him over into a “mad scientist” mold?

    1. I thought that Nick discovered he has no powers to enhance during the power juice arc. Remember that juice pushers would put drops of test liquids on people’s arms, and the more vivid the color change the more potential power the recipient might have? Nick’s test showed no change as I recall.

  3. I really want to see an upgraded variation of that tank-ball Nick was driving a while ago. I would also like to see Nick doing a thorough study of the League Jet AI. Ok, I don’t want to read about him studying AI code and the necessary hardware as much as I want to know that he has taken the time to study EVERYTHING his grandfather left behind so that he can start renovating and upgrading where necessary as well as incorporating that knowledge into new or existing devices and even just being more prepared for . There are to many gadgets down there with unexplored technologies that REALLY ought to be explored. I bet Chris has already taken a good look at all the stuff HIS grandfather left behind.
    Also, I am still waiting for the army of automated Rocket suits and some SERIOUS research into developing a better battery as it could be and almost has been the deciding factor of whether he survives his next fight.
    Another thing that kind of seems to be overlooked is the League Office. That place needs some serious attention, especially since they are now an official public crime fighting group and the place was recently blown to smithereens. Hopefully Nick will even live long enough to get started on this stuff. Now that I think about it, priority one should bro ably be a decent lab assistant. That would make a world of difference.

  4. @genericIntent: Been a while since I read that far back but I’m pretty sure he had some very mild mental powers. Was written off as having none, but it could increase his intelligence to superhuman. Or like Lingy said… Turn him into a mad scientist… Which admittedly he’s not far off from already

  5. Btw, Cultist… Are you suggesting a lab assistant in the vein of an AI, could probably splinter off/copy a bit of the ship. Or were you thinking more of a person… Chris Cannon maybe?

    Also, I had totally forgot about the office… but you got me thinking… Upgrades for headquarters? I mean, so many of the chapters start off with… not really a complaint, but a detailed description of HQ’s decrepitude.

  6. @saru I was thinking along the lines of a person. Chris would be ideal, but he may want to do his own thing. A robot with an advanced AI and built-in tool set would be perfect for the future but is probably beyond his skill level to produce at the moment. Having a factory setup similar to what Machine Man put in his workshop would be great but wouldn’t fit Nick’s methods, so an assistant to delegate routine tasks like cleaning, organizing, ordering supplies, etc. would be best. It would be GREAT if he could train Cassie’s friend, what’s-her-name, for the job in addition to what she already does. She could even get paid an actual salary and work full time.

  7. @Cultist- No you’re right about Chris, he might be a collaborator but he’s just too good/independent to be relegated to Igor. I disagree about the AI being out of his reach though. From the ground up? You’re right he’s not got the skills to accomplish an AI at the moment, but with a pre-built AI in his back pocket it seems well within his capabilities. Not necessarily wise to cut and paste even something as apparently circumscribed as the ship’s AI but a modification/personalization seems to be accessible to him. Might be giving him more credit than he’s due however (I admit to a bit of fan-worship). And Cassie’s friend (Megan? I don’t know…) an interesting possibility. We haven’t seen a lot of initiative from her as of yet. She gets disappointed when out of the loop but I don’t recall any real follow through in her desire to be included. The factory set-up has some possibilities, not just for the aforementioned Rocket army but a systematized production of roach bots/new sectional armor bits opens interesting possibilities.

    Also, to anyone (or Jim if he feels like answering), were the robots he just fought using more powerful weaponry than he usually comes up against, or is the new suit quick to assemble but lacking on the defensive front? Seems like a poor trade-off so far since the quickness of deployment still doesn’t allow for personally carried set-up.

  8. When they tested Nick he displayed an almost negligible amount in all three areas. Small enough he figured it wasn’t worth thinking about. However, I suspect there’s a 4th category that people like Nick and Tony Stark fall into. You could call it Tinker, or Gadgeteer.

    Nick seems to have a form of ADD that appears to be common amongst the science folks such as.. uhm, can’t remember the name for the bird guy. Raven? Falcon? Bird Man?? I’m betting Chris turns out to have it also 🙂

  9. Ok, I just finished reading it all from the beginning, so I donated $10 for what I’ve read so far. I’ve enjoyed it, so thanks, and please write faster 🙂

    Steve

    1. Thanks for the donation. I’ll write as quickly as I can. I wish I could write as quickly as Wildbow, but I’m pretty sure he’s not married. The time needed to write 10,000 word updates would likely lead to marital tension at my house.

  10. Nick has the potential for a bit of power just nothing earth shattering but a small power at his disposal could mean the difference between life and death. Imagine if you will the the ability to see upto a min in the future or the ability to generate a small forcefield using his bio electric aura that could protect his armor from damages. Or my favorite 2 possible powers one speeding up his his reaction time no I do not mean super speed, I mean his reflexes 2 increase his intelligence and extending his mind to control his teck and his grandfather toys. In nicks universe controlling your teck using your mind is a small power but in his hand its like a nuke. soon he has to Fix the chair for Courtney I think that’s her is that shape shifter girl (Hope I am right) he could have an accident and get smarter

  11. @saru I think you underestimate the complexity of the ship’s AI and what it would take to even make a basic imitation of it (or maybe I’m overestimating). If my assumptions are right, the ship’s AI code is not only immensely more complex and written in a code specifically designed for AI that Nick is probably completely unfamiliar with, but the hardware itself is also most likely very different from any computing hardware Nick has seen before (possibly a special type of quantum computer, probably something else entirely, or even a combination). I’d say it takes Nick about six months of diligent study to understand the ship AI and three to four more months on top of that to minimize it and make a helper-bot based on the technology, which would be incredibly fast, but this is fiction so… eh. Either way that’s too long a time period, and he doesn’t have the time to dedicate to such a task with the whole alien battle coming up and everything he is already working on plus school. What he needs is an assistant/secretary even if it’s just temporary till he gets a robo-maid up and running.

  12. @Cultist- Perhaps, if I remember correctly he didn’t make any repairs on the ship. So you are probably right in that he is totally unfamiliar with the operating system. I would guess that his grandfather did however make/copy/alter the AI so I would think the process of Nick’s learning would be faster than you estimate. He knows his grandfather’s work pretty much inside and out. His time constraints are getting pretty serious now though so I agree that he probably doesn’t have the time.

    @patrick- good thinking, I forgot that he was considering giving Courtney a run through the machine. An excellent time for him to jump in the chair himself.

    And thank you Andrul I hadn’t realized that he had ability in all areas.

  13. I hope that nick is smart enough to run his mother trough the process too. She was attacked once. Courtney first.

    Make some justice to the classmate who turned into an ape. Haley said is dificult to control the impulses and she got all her life to master control. The guy got a week and he was taking control. Magnetic Retard got him mad.

  14. The one thing he can do is give the jet a voice. In battle you dont have time to read messages or text form your teammates. He could link the jets radar to his armor to give him a better idea of his surroundings

  15. @saru Now that you mention it, his grandfather probably did leave some notes lying around, so I will shorten my estimated time period to derive a robo-helper from about 9 months to about 4-5 months. And as we have already agreed, he doesn’t have that kind of free time regardless.

  16. @ the robot helper conversation – Why build a new AI? Nick has access to an AI worlds better than anything he (or the world) can build: the Jet’s AI. Just “plug and play” the AI into manipulator arms on wheels, and voila, instant base assistant.

    Note that this is only if Nick trusts the Jet AI enough. Too much black boxing for potential backstabs there… it might have something similar to the Abominator gun AI in the background for all we know.

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