Re: The Savage Brawl [Round 2: Giant's House]
04-07-2010, 08:18 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.
A barren, tortured landscape lies before Hoss. He is standing on a swell of cold, pitted ceramic ground, which falls away at his feet into a vast basin, marred by long stretches of stains, pothole-sized craters, and flattened walls of chipped paint. On this scale, it is a desolate valley which seems to drain the life out of all that surrounds it. On a much larger scale, it's actually just a shitty sink.
And it's the most beautiful thing Hoss has seen since this competition began.
He moves along the edge, making his way towards what appears to be the hot water handle. His footsteps are accompanied by the rhythmic pounding of gargantuan water droplets, each contacting the bowl of the sink in a (proportionally) devastating explosion of water, born of the bridge-sized leaky faucet.
He reaches the towering handle, its size providing some small difficulty in its operation, given Hoss's... reduced stature. While he may have the strength to simulate a properly-sized hand, he can see no way to brace himself; in order to reach the handle (and achieve a workable angle for leverage), his feet must be off the ground, as, currently, he is too short.
Or rather, his body is not long enough. But Hoss is a cyborg, and his body parts are not necessarily constrained to a single configuration.
He walks past the handle to the base of the faucet. Its smooth surface prevents any obvious hand-holds, so Hoss simply punches a hole in the side, and begins climbing upwards, using much the same method the whole way. Once he has ascended to the appropriate height, Hoss plants both feet firmly on the faucet's side. A network of tendrils explode from the soles of his shoes, tunneling through the pathetically weak metal, rooting him in place. Hoss is now a an odd growth, sprouting perpendicularly from the faucet's side. He looks "up", at the hot-water handle, which is just slightly off-parallel to his line of sight, and facing away from him; its not-quite-off position is likely responsible for the leak.
Hoss raises his synthetic left arm, and plating in its sides, hidden from view by the heavy sleeve of his overcoat, release, and extend. His newmatter fabicators exude more artificial muscle and temporary "bones" to further increase his reach. The (no longer gloved) silver hand flies across the gap, propelled by an argent jet-stream of undulating artificial muscle and groaning metallic bone. It reaches the handle, and its clasp is augmented as the fingers extend around the ovoid. Once Hoss is certain he has a firm grasp on the handle, he retracts all the excreted material back into his body, resulting in a violent pull.
The handle turns.
A torrential outpour of water spurts from the faucet. The empty, soulless valley of stains experiences a flash flood of steaming hot water.
Hoss wastes no time and no energy, given that he is now running on emergency metabolic power. He releases his clamps and simply falls into the sink.
His body lies prone on the ground as the water flows over him. He has shut down all motor function, and most sensory inputs, to conserve power for this final action. His silver palm irises open once more. A familiar canister slides out, pre-programmed to expend the last of its energy reserves in a very specific manner. It floats along with the water surrounding it, heading towards the drain along with everything else. It does not activate until it has fallen in.
The key observation Hoss had made earlier with his examination of the table leg was that this "world" was not just filled with giant-sized constructs, but with giant-sized everything. It is as if a regular house had been blown up to impossible sizes, or the contestants had been shrunk. As such, every single thing which was not a product of a contestant exhibits the same size disparity, including atoms and molecules.
What is currently flowing from the supersized faucet is not simply a waterfall; it is, instead, a never-ending stream of hydrogen and oxygen atoms several sizes too large. With these not-found-in-nature dimensions, Hoss does not need to resort to makeshift Tritium manufacturing; no, with this size disparity, he can cut straight to the energy contained within the atoms themselves: the Strong Nuclear Force, the most powerful force known in his universe.
Any energy extracted from the gluons sprinting between the quarks now rushing towards his collector will be useless to his backup fusion reactor; the only fuel it can use is tritium. Gluon reactors, at least in Hoss's universe, are generally too large to fit in the small spaces available in his body (they are primitive and rather clunky technology, which is why Hoss had installed the black hole "heart" eons ago, as it is much more efficient). It is towards the goal of overcoming this obstacle that Hoss now works, having purposefully drained all his available energy, in order to starve and thus shut down the fusion reactor.
Since he modified Dr. Anarchy's gun, Hoss has delegated a significant amount of processing power towards the task of replicating her unique power source. It is a design which the laws of his universe say are impossible; obviously, a small difference in the fundamentals of the two universes existed, only manifesting in the intricate tinkering of the mad Doctor's genius. During his climb to the sink, the subroutines responsible for analyzing her design and creating a compatible version for himself signaled completion. Their result was most intriguing.
He had not expected a conclusion so quickly; incorporating the operation of an extra-universal device into the realm of laws which govern his own operation seemed a task which would at the very least require the invention of new mathematical tools. Instead, his subroutines used the universe-melding nature of the contest to solve the problem: this contest (conceivably) is an amalgamation of laws which permit bits and pieces of several universes to co-exist, and since the device works in a universe, it can work here, too, regardless of how it is created.
As the emergency collector funnels the torrent of water into its matter capacitor, Hoss releases small bursts of kinetic energy inside his body from emergency power cells, forcefully (and somewhat crudely) re-arranging his innards. The backup fusion reactor is dismantled, and the new gluon reactor is pushed into its place.
Like most moments of import in Hoss's life, this one goes unnoticed and unrecorded by any third-party (besides, perhaps, the Cultivator). Hoss has successfully manipulated and integrated laws from an entirely different universe into his own operation; the rules governing two separate realities now work in perfect harmony within his body, and if things go the way he plans, the number of assimilated laws will only increase.
The collector floats up out of the drain and back towards Hoss's still open palm. It neatly inserts itself into the portal, yet keeps its funnel-shaped forcefield activated, continuing to guide all the available water into its matter capacitors. As it unloads its current store of supermassive gluons into Hoss's system, it converts itself from a capacitor to a direct link; no longer storing the processed water, but instead transferring all the extracted fuel directly to the newly-created gluon generator.
Hoss stands as power flows back into his energy-starved systems. More power than his backup fusion reactor could have ever generated, and more than enough power to bring him very nearly back to full operating capacity, at least for a little while.
Another construction project begins as Hoss puts the excess mass and energy to use. In a move similar to his actions in the previous round, Hoss uses the increased energy output from Dr. Anarchy's adapted reactor to power a graviton emitter; except this time, it will be much more powerful.
The funnel deactivates, allowing the water to resume its normal path. Hoss, now with synthetic muscles and gyroscopes fully active, kinetic barriers and generators primed and ready, and a host of other previously retired components running at full power, launches himself from the basin. His arc takes him fully to the edge of the counter, where he can look down at the oddly homely battlefield. The meatball and lich have not moved, though Hoss's enhanced vision detects additional movement from their location - small bits of heated meat and wood whizzing off out of the kitchen - and the rat-riders have disappeared completely. As for Ekelhaft... the slime yet deludes even his most advanced detectors, since it apparently only radiates insanity, something his array is not configured to detect. Hoss arches an eyebrow. He is fairly certain what he is about to do should turn the ooze's world upside-down.
Literally.
The graviton emitter activates. Hoss steps off the edge, and falls up.
As he plummets headfirst towards the ceiling, the ancient tyrant allows himself a small grin of satisfaction at the chaos unfolding around him. The still-flowing river of water from the faucet keeps pace behind him, now flowing towards the ceiling, along with all the other bits and pieces of kitchenware. Above him (given his previous proficiency with gravity manipulation, Hoss easily adjusts his new frame of reference), Gormand and Konka Rar can be seen beginning their fall, along with the table and chairs seen through the doorway.
Hand of Silver prepares for the still-far-off landing, and the subsequent search for Ekelhaft.
And it's the most beautiful thing Hoss has seen since this competition began.
He moves along the edge, making his way towards what appears to be the hot water handle. His footsteps are accompanied by the rhythmic pounding of gargantuan water droplets, each contacting the bowl of the sink in a (proportionally) devastating explosion of water, born of the bridge-sized leaky faucet.
He reaches the towering handle, its size providing some small difficulty in its operation, given Hoss's... reduced stature. While he may have the strength to simulate a properly-sized hand, he can see no way to brace himself; in order to reach the handle (and achieve a workable angle for leverage), his feet must be off the ground, as, currently, he is too short.
Or rather, his body is not long enough. But Hoss is a cyborg, and his body parts are not necessarily constrained to a single configuration.
He walks past the handle to the base of the faucet. Its smooth surface prevents any obvious hand-holds, so Hoss simply punches a hole in the side, and begins climbing upwards, using much the same method the whole way. Once he has ascended to the appropriate height, Hoss plants both feet firmly on the faucet's side. A network of tendrils explode from the soles of his shoes, tunneling through the pathetically weak metal, rooting him in place. Hoss is now a an odd growth, sprouting perpendicularly from the faucet's side. He looks "up", at the hot-water handle, which is just slightly off-parallel to his line of sight, and facing away from him; its not-quite-off position is likely responsible for the leak.
Hoss raises his synthetic left arm, and plating in its sides, hidden from view by the heavy sleeve of his overcoat, release, and extend. His newmatter fabicators exude more artificial muscle and temporary "bones" to further increase his reach. The (no longer gloved) silver hand flies across the gap, propelled by an argent jet-stream of undulating artificial muscle and groaning metallic bone. It reaches the handle, and its clasp is augmented as the fingers extend around the ovoid. Once Hoss is certain he has a firm grasp on the handle, he retracts all the excreted material back into his body, resulting in a violent pull.
The handle turns.
A torrential outpour of water spurts from the faucet. The empty, soulless valley of stains experiences a flash flood of steaming hot water.
Hoss wastes no time and no energy, given that he is now running on emergency metabolic power. He releases his clamps and simply falls into the sink.
His body lies prone on the ground as the water flows over him. He has shut down all motor function, and most sensory inputs, to conserve power for this final action. His silver palm irises open once more. A familiar canister slides out, pre-programmed to expend the last of its energy reserves in a very specific manner. It floats along with the water surrounding it, heading towards the drain along with everything else. It does not activate until it has fallen in.
The key observation Hoss had made earlier with his examination of the table leg was that this "world" was not just filled with giant-sized constructs, but with giant-sized everything. It is as if a regular house had been blown up to impossible sizes, or the contestants had been shrunk. As such, every single thing which was not a product of a contestant exhibits the same size disparity, including atoms and molecules.
What is currently flowing from the supersized faucet is not simply a waterfall; it is, instead, a never-ending stream of hydrogen and oxygen atoms several sizes too large. With these not-found-in-nature dimensions, Hoss does not need to resort to makeshift Tritium manufacturing; no, with this size disparity, he can cut straight to the energy contained within the atoms themselves: the Strong Nuclear Force, the most powerful force known in his universe.
Any energy extracted from the gluons sprinting between the quarks now rushing towards his collector will be useless to his backup fusion reactor; the only fuel it can use is tritium. Gluon reactors, at least in Hoss's universe, are generally too large to fit in the small spaces available in his body (they are primitive and rather clunky technology, which is why Hoss had installed the black hole "heart" eons ago, as it is much more efficient). It is towards the goal of overcoming this obstacle that Hoss now works, having purposefully drained all his available energy, in order to starve and thus shut down the fusion reactor.
Since he modified Dr. Anarchy's gun, Hoss has delegated a significant amount of processing power towards the task of replicating her unique power source. It is a design which the laws of his universe say are impossible; obviously, a small difference in the fundamentals of the two universes existed, only manifesting in the intricate tinkering of the mad Doctor's genius. During his climb to the sink, the subroutines responsible for analyzing her design and creating a compatible version for himself signaled completion. Their result was most intriguing.
He had not expected a conclusion so quickly; incorporating the operation of an extra-universal device into the realm of laws which govern his own operation seemed a task which would at the very least require the invention of new mathematical tools. Instead, his subroutines used the universe-melding nature of the contest to solve the problem: this contest (conceivably) is an amalgamation of laws which permit bits and pieces of several universes to co-exist, and since the device works in a universe, it can work here, too, regardless of how it is created.
As the emergency collector funnels the torrent of water into its matter capacitor, Hoss releases small bursts of kinetic energy inside his body from emergency power cells, forcefully (and somewhat crudely) re-arranging his innards. The backup fusion reactor is dismantled, and the new gluon reactor is pushed into its place.
Like most moments of import in Hoss's life, this one goes unnoticed and unrecorded by any third-party (besides, perhaps, the Cultivator). Hoss has successfully manipulated and integrated laws from an entirely different universe into his own operation; the rules governing two separate realities now work in perfect harmony within his body, and if things go the way he plans, the number of assimilated laws will only increase.
The collector floats up out of the drain and back towards Hoss's still open palm. It neatly inserts itself into the portal, yet keeps its funnel-shaped forcefield activated, continuing to guide all the available water into its matter capacitors. As it unloads its current store of supermassive gluons into Hoss's system, it converts itself from a capacitor to a direct link; no longer storing the processed water, but instead transferring all the extracted fuel directly to the newly-created gluon generator.
Hoss stands as power flows back into his energy-starved systems. More power than his backup fusion reactor could have ever generated, and more than enough power to bring him very nearly back to full operating capacity, at least for a little while.
Another construction project begins as Hoss puts the excess mass and energy to use. In a move similar to his actions in the previous round, Hoss uses the increased energy output from Dr. Anarchy's adapted reactor to power a graviton emitter; except this time, it will be much more powerful.
The funnel deactivates, allowing the water to resume its normal path. Hoss, now with synthetic muscles and gyroscopes fully active, kinetic barriers and generators primed and ready, and a host of other previously retired components running at full power, launches himself from the basin. His arc takes him fully to the edge of the counter, where he can look down at the oddly homely battlefield. The meatball and lich have not moved, though Hoss's enhanced vision detects additional movement from their location - small bits of heated meat and wood whizzing off out of the kitchen - and the rat-riders have disappeared completely. As for Ekelhaft... the slime yet deludes even his most advanced detectors, since it apparently only radiates insanity, something his array is not configured to detect. Hoss arches an eyebrow. He is fairly certain what he is about to do should turn the ooze's world upside-down.
Literally.
The graviton emitter activates. Hoss steps off the edge, and falls up.
As he plummets headfirst towards the ceiling, the ancient tyrant allows himself a small grin of satisfaction at the chaos unfolding around him. The still-flowing river of water from the faucet keeps pace behind him, now flowing towards the ceiling, along with all the other bits and pieces of kitchenware. Above him (given his previous proficiency with gravity manipulation, Hoss easily adjusts his new frame of reference), Gormand and Konka Rar can be seen beginning their fall, along with the table and chairs seen through the doorway.
Hand of Silver prepares for the still-far-off landing, and the subsequent search for Ekelhaft.