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| menace64 |
 Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:06 am |
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Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 836
Location: Wichita, Kansas
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I came up with a new story idea the other night. Before I say specifics, I realized shortly after writing down some preliminary information that it’s kind of a blend between Star Wars, X-men, and The Matrix.
I set the story within the next 10 years or so (it could also take place in the present). There’s a growing subculture of people who, while for the most part are still unkown to the public, are surely going to burst into the eye of the world shortly. They are called joiners.
A joiner, depending on how well-trained or how naturally skilled he or she is, can create a mock "hive mind" with another person. They can enter into your head and acquire your memories; and if said joiner is especially talented or gifted, they can even acquire skills or knowledge you know.
So if a high-level joiner gets into your brain and you know how to fly a plane, he could learn how to fly that same plane.
It’s like Star Wars because, well, the Jedi. It’s like X-men because the joiners are humans born differently (yadda yadda yadda). It’s like The Matrix because you can instantly learn stuff.
I wrote up a list of the joiner levels, but it happens to be on the other computer. Dangit. Well, if you’re interested enough I’ll fetch it. |
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| BrianBoitano |
| Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:10 am |
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Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Posts: 124
Location: Houston, TX
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Sounds intriguing. Give me more!
The caveat to these kinds of things is it makes lotsa people think "why couldn’t I be born with/like that?", and that tends to lessen the glory of the average human being in their eyes, which is a true pity. I hope many people who wish they were a Jedi/Mutant/Matrix superhero can also realize that it’s pretty damn cool just to be a unique human being.
(WOW! That sure sounded corny, but it’s true  ) |
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| sickofpalantirs |
| Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 7:29 am |
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Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 7750
Location: somwhere, over the rainbow way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.
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yeah it is.
it sounds like an interesting enough idea |
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| menace64 |
| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 5:10 pm |
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Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 836
Location: Wichita, Kansas
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I’m pretty sure that I’m the most powerful joiner on the planet. In fact, unless there’s somebody out there that is able to hide himself from me, I’m certain that I’m at the top of the list.
And no, I’m not being egotistical. Plain and simple, I can be inside any person’s mind – wherever they are and wherever I am. I’m so good at doing this that I know enough about someone I’ve never met that I could write their biography.
My name is Sam, and I practically wrote the book on joiners. I’ve catalogued all of us into a database, and then came up with my own rankings for us. Even though the number of joiners is gradually increasing, I keep the list updated as best I can. So far I’ve got 2,356 on my list. I might be one or two off.
Before I made the list, I wanted an accurate rating system for joiners. I sat down one night and analyzed and grouped every joiner I found based on how powerful they were. Here’s my breakdown:
Level I: 1,748 people.
Level II: 239 people.
Level III: 177 people.
Level IV: 93 people.
Level V: 45 people.
Level VI: 32 people.
Level VII: 17 people. I’ve contacted a few of these guys. Hopefully I can work with them individually and work them so the powers they have can be even better.
Level VIII: 4 people. I’ve met with three of these people in person, and am currently trying to convince them to come stay at my home so we can work together and hammer out the finer details of joiner society. I’m optimistic, they’re busy. I’ll just have to wait and see.
Level IX: 1 person. Me.
The rest of humanity I lumped into Level N – people not capable of joining. They’ll probably never break onto my list, for reasons I’m just not sure of yet.
And that brings me to an interesting point that I’ve spent many of the past weeks thinking about… what makes us special? I’ve acquired everything there is to know about neurology and even human anatomy, but from what I can tell there is nothing special about my brain or my body.
I’ve even become more science-fiction with it and looked into geography (including air density, tectonic activity, yearly precipitation, planetary magnetism, etc.), radiation, solar flares, rogue comets, alien abductions (which I’ve learned is actually happening), genetics, mutations, religious views, political alignment, personal temperaments, gender (curiously, I’ve learned that roughly 63% of joiners are female), dietary habits, occupation, and for a night I even considered the possibility that a person’s sex life had something to do with the dilemma.
But so far, nothing matches up. There simply is no correlation between one random joiner and another. No golden variable that dictates who becomes one and who doesn’t. To say the very least, I am confused.
Which is saying a lot, because I pretty much know anything I want to learn.
I know I am the most gifted joiner on the planet for a few reasons. First and foremost, I have the ability to graft my own memories, knowledge, or even feelings and emotions onto someone else (joiner or not). So far I haven’t encountered anyone else who can do this. In every other circumstance, a joiner can only acquire something from somebody else, not the other way around like me.
And then there’s the fact that I can lock anybody out of my brain. If a joiner comes around and tries to acquire something from me, I put up my defense and he’s pushed back. I can even do this in my sleep.
Every joiner (especially the more developed ones) tend to excel in certain areas. For instance, John Herbert – an associate of mine from Tampa – is only a Level III on my list. He is special, though, because while he can’t access any protected memories, he can acquire the unprotected ones from anyone, regardless of their proximity to him. I call him the Level III Plus.
And then there’s Makato Arakawa, a Japan native. She’s never left her hometown, and until I randomly contacted her, she had no idea what or who joiners were. I flew out to her apartment and introduced myself – in Egyptian.
See, I always test a Level I. Whatever language it is that they naturally speak, I’ll go with something else. I want to see how quickly, if at all, they can get into my mind and acquire the appropriate language.
Languages are usually more difficult to acquire than any other kind of knowledge. If they get it, then I know they’re at the very least a Level VI. But in most cases they just look at me funny and try walking away. That’s when I switch over to the appropriate dialect and begin the conversation.
Makato was very special, indeed. I chose to speak Egyptian with her, a language I was fairly certain no one else on the island knew fluently. But I was shocked when, after telling her only my name, she told me – in Egyptian – to speak Japanese or she would hurt me.
Her acquisition of the language from my mind was infinitely quicker than anyone else I’d encountered before her. And, to make matters more extraordinary, I never even felt her intrusion. She was in and out in less than a moment.
After recovering from my shock, I talked to her some more and learned that she had no idea how she had learned the new language. She told me that she worked at a pilot school that trained people from all over the world, and that occasionally she would just start speaking an utterly foreign language.
I worked with her off and on for a few months, and now she’s one of my star pupils. She isn’t so good with getting the deep memories, but that’s an area we’re still working on.
There are some joiners that I keep a careful mind on because I feel that they are or could easily become dangerous. The Attorney General of the US, Michael Loft, is actually a Level VII. Power usually corrupts, and in this case Mr. Loft has lots of it. I have a sinking feeling that he’s going to commit some heinous acts down the road, and I’ve tagged him as a Threat in my database.
I had a chance to talk with him once. It’s actually a funny story in hindsight. I tracked him down to a government building in Vancouver, and managed to get to the front desk’s receptionist. I asked her to get Loft on the phone for me, but she looked at me like I was crazy. I gave her my best smile and told her that Loft knew me.
That wasn’t a complete lie, either. More than once I felt the general trying to poke his way into my brain. And every time I slapped him away. Normally, I give a treat to any person who is good enough to try joining with me, but he was an ongoing exception.
So this receptionist gets ahold of him, but Mr. Loft tells her he’s in a meeting and asks her to shoo me off. At that point, I knew he didn’t know who I was, and also that he was not actually in a meeting. He was in his office eating lunch.
I snuck my way into his head and grafted a feeling to him. I remember the jolt that ran through his body when one of his assistants walked into his office, because I had convinced him that he was completely nude, and after an awkward scene he realized what happened.
He called his receptionist back and told her to admit me.
This is how the conversation went:
“Well, if it isn’t you… the Telepath.”
“Actually, we prefer the term joiner. Telepathy has too much of a connotation that our community doesn’t want stapled to it.”
“Our community?”
“Yes. You’re just as much a part of it as anybody else that can do what we can.”
“I am a part of no such community. Don’t try lumping me in with you freaks.”
“Sir, if I’m a freak, you are too. Our abilities aren’t all that different.”
“But that’s where you’re wrong. I can’t shut people out like you can, and I certainly can’t put things into someone else’s brain like you did to me.”
“In time you could.”
“And you would teach me.”
“No, with all due respect, I would not.”
“No? What’s wrong with me?”
“Well, the way I see it is that you’ve already got enough power notched into your belt. And you’re in the perfect position to abuse what you’ve already learned, so teaching you more would be foolish on my part.”
“You are mistaken. I am a servant to democracy.”
“Please. I’ve seen into your mind, I know what you study and I know how you feel towards this society. You would proclaim yourself Emperor, given the chance.”
“And so would you.”
“You have no way of knowing one way or the other who I am and what I plan to do. I am here today to introduce myself to you, to let you know that you are not God and that any evil you propagate can be stopped.”
“And who can stop me. You?”
“You’re damned right I can.” |
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| menace64 |
| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 5:13 pm |
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Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 836
Location: Wichita, Kansas
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Level N
Not capable of joining. Unaware of any intrusion.
Level I
Aware of joiner ability. Can sometimes feel an intrusion.
Level II
Limited joining control. Able to acquire some unprotected memories.
Level III
Can acquire most, if not all, unprotected memories. Has limited control over acquiring protected memories.
Level IV
Can acquire unprotected memories, even if not in proximity to target. Sufficient talent in acquiring protected memories.
Level V
Regardless of proximity, can acquire unprotected and protected memories.
Level VI
Regardless of proximity, can acquire unprotected and protected memories. Extremely limited control over acquiring knowledge and information.
Few are the reports of any joiner reaching Level VI. Level V is considered to be the cap for development, but there are some exceptional cases of individuals going further, all the way to Level IX – reached only by Sam Packard.
Level VII
Regardless of proximity, can acquire unprotected and protected memories. Finer control over acquiring knowledge and information.
Level VIII
Regardless of proximity, can acquire unprotected and protected memories. Absolute control over acquiring knowledge and information.
Level IX
All abilities of a Level VIII. Can graft own memories, knowledge, or information to target. |
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| menace64 |
| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 5:14 pm |
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Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 836
Location: Wichita, Kansas
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In this previous post, I gave you that list of varying joiner levels. And above that post, I’ve written up a little short-story, introduction type thing.
Enjoy! |
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| CarpeGuitarrem |
| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 5:40 pm |
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Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 3361
Location: Franciscan University of Steubenville
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That was a cool intro! I love the concept, too! You should come up with a big downside to this, though. Like in Wheel of Time, male channelers have awesome power, but they go insane.
Which could actually work well in this case. I can imagine going insane by accessing everyone’s memories. |
| "ok, change of plans. the Cobracards christmas party is coming to my house, and we’re gunna teach FM how to hunt." (mm) |
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| elf lvr |
| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:07 pm |
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Joined: 13 Jun 2006
Posts: 3065
Location: Rivendell
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| i would begin to lose myself in who everybody else was... |
Happy Hunting! Elf Lvr
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| BrianBoitano |
| Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:34 am |
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Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Posts: 124
Location: Houston, TX
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Menace 64, I applaud you 
It was a fantastic read, and it has me eager for more.
You might not want to reveal these things as of yet, but I’m terribly curious what kind of conflict there will be. The attourney general seems to be the best choice for "bad guy", as he seems to approach the problem much like the antagonists in the X-Men (except Magneto).
Your writing style is really nice. It reminds me of that of the late Michael Buonaro. He was a brilliant writer of the unfinished series Marvelous Bob, that I was fortunate enough to stumble upon one day. The reading was great, and, like yours, had a nice "superheros have problems too" feel. I was so entranced that I started contacting Buonaro for a possible article about him for a forums that I was a member of. He was all for it, and was as friendly as I had imagined him. A week later he killed himself. His fans cried out at the loss of such a person. It was a true tragedy, and a mystery as well. I guess I’m using this as an excuse to let you all know that I’m available if you ever have thoughts like that. Don’t anybody ever think that there’s nobody to talk to, because I’m sure I’m not the only one you have
Anyways, all depressing stuff aside, great story! More! |
"Not again" -Hans
Hello kind Sir or Madam, I am a polite sig virus. Please put me into your fine and dandy signature so that I might continue to replicate. Thank you for your time. |
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| Cobra |
| Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:43 am |
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Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 1202
Location: Austin, TX, USA
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