Powerfriends Justiceforce Unlimited Forever

Was going to say: y'really thought nobody'd notice you working on your AI, during school hours, over a secured, controlled, and monitored public system? Frankly, I'm surprised nobody mentioned it earlier, but then they could always have opted to keep records of your work and reproduce the results themselves, should they have chosen to.

C'mon, you're smart enough to recognize behavioral patterns when you see them. He's making you a deal you can't- well, a deal you're unlikely to refuse. It sounds good, but he's clearly oversimplifying the situation to make the offer sound better. You need more information before you agree to anything- information from a less-biased source than the man making the offer.

You might not want to check on your AI today, because skeevy deals, much? But the 'net is always a g- ...reasonable source for more information on basically any topic. Could use the time to corroborate data on these "Classes for the Gifted." I- They're not even called that! This dude's insinuating up a storm and I am not a fan. The ideas are swell, but contaminated by their presentation. He's said you'd qualify for your intellect, ergo, you should be smarter than to take him at his suspiciously indefinite word.

I'd suggest an I'll Consider It to tide him over, but you might want to ask And If I Say No to gauge his reaction.

I wasn't working on the AI here, that would be stupid. I was working on it at home. But... he's insinuating he knows, and tacitly granting me access to the computer lab? How would he know? That doesn't make any sense...

> Reasses your initial disreguard for the stray thought you had about him being a supervillian.

Look, I already thought about this. Just because he dresses eccentrically and has crazy hair and jars of preserved animals on his shelf and invited me to a very sparsely-defined secret club after giving me a monologue about the importance of having power-

THE PRINCIPAL IS DOCTOR DIMENSION WHAT DO I DO

> Try to get in contact with the Champions Alliance. See what they think you should do. Maybe you can even join his shady organization and spy on him for them. Just... use unconventional means of contacting them, he apparently knows what you do in your spare time so it's safe to assume you're being monitored somehow.

Okay, two basic steps that will be useful no matter what the final plan is.

First, review what you know about Doctor Dimension. You need to know who you're dealing with here.

Second, TELL SOMEONE. If Doctor Dimension realizes you're onto him, he might decide to make you "mysteriously disappear". You need someone else informed just in case.

Oh my god the glasses trick? pffffffffffhahahahahahahahahafuck

You don't do anything. Part of the reason Supers take such mundane roles as their secret identities is nobody's ever going to believe anyone if they figure it out; on top of that, you have neither type of power and he has both, reinforcing other peoples' lack of belief. ALSO he can basically hold the lives of every child in this building hostage if anyone does take you seriously. Plus, what, are you going to call out the Doc to his face? yeah im sure that plan would go over super great

What you do is end this meeting amicably and professionally. You bury the knowledge deep within the recesses of your mind - bearing in mind that you could still be wrong about this whole identity thing - until you're in a position to do anything about it.

And, hey, taking him up on his offer might not be so bad. Persons of immoral means near-always have more resources at their disposal than those of moral means (I mean come on we were just talking about the exploitation of native Americans not a half-hour ago); even if you disagree with their ideologies it'd be a huge jump forward for you and your work. Bonus points if you can double-agent their asses.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity however you look at it. Don't dismiss it off the bat just because the dude's evil. An' hey, you can always use evil to do good if y'want, so long as you're clever about it. I dunno. Are you particularly clever, at all?


Oh but if he or his ladyfriend are psychic you're basically already screwed.

"THE PRINCIPAL IS DOCTOR DIMENSION WHAT DO I DO"

well doesn't say dr dimension's a bad guy.... unless that was said earlier and i forgot...........
...

Well let's not do anything hasty and mess up a golden opportunity here. He could still be a useful ally if you play your cards right. Or a stepping stone towards better things.

Alright, first off, what do you know about Doctor Dimension? More specifically, how does he tend to treat his underlings and what sort of crimes is he known to commit? What are the odds that your newfound intellect was caused by one of his experiments? Have you noticed any strange field trips, memory gaps, or odd changes in your classmates' behavior in the last few months or so?

This might be a good test for your AI tonight too, now that I think about it. Remember to have it think over all this tonight and see if it comes to the same conclusions as you.

>Get that look off of your face you're blowing your cool.

Obviously the solution here is a rap battle.

Obviously the solution here is a rap battle.

Yo I'm MC Sam and I"m here to say
Doc this time you ain't gettin' away

Doctor Dimension. Perpetrator of mystical crimes. Solo acts: theft from museums, archaeological sites, occasionally banks. One attempted country conquering via mind control schemes, failed. Not known for high death count, one public instance of collateral death for which he seemed remorseful. Known affiliation with Eclipse Agency, band of morally dubious metahumans operating in the Midwest. Known member of the Terran Aegis, meaning he is at least willing to be called upon in Earth's defense in the eventuality of its impending destruction, though given the extreme and frequently lethal backlash against metahumans heroic or villainious NOT participating, use of that fact as a metric for judging intent is dubious. At least, for villains not capable of single-handedly fending off multiple teams of metahumans at once.

Obvious powers involve interdimensional travel, personal and objects or persons in his vicinity. Known to have some sort of magical remote viewing ability, which I hope does not extend to mind reading. Often consorting with Sonata, whom I now suspect to be the vice principal. Her powers are harder to nail down, but she appears to be some sort of ghost or spirit being, shapeshifting and mind-altering musical abilities. Also occasionally known to appear with the aid of other magical creatures of varying power and mysterious origin, possibly extraplanar. Primary antagonist of The Veil of the Southwestern branch of the Champion's Alliance.



Okay, okay. Calm expression. Maybe this isn't a bad thing. He's connected. Okay, his vague youth group thing, probably Eclipse Agency stuff. Use that or not, I don't know. What was I doing? Hall pass. He's handing it to me. Right, take that. Breathe. "And, in the event that I choose not to participate...?"

"Nothing lost but an opportunity, young sir," he replies, "Nothing gained but regrets." He retracts the hall pass before I take it. Giving me serious expression, points to something on the pass. Time line. Blank. "Take care of it before you return to class." Hands it to me now. Right. Might be a trap of some kind. Might be indicating something I need to know. Not sure if I should take his computer lab offer up or just head for class, or maybe something else?

If it really was a trap, I don't see why he'd need to send you to the computer lab in order to spring it. He is a super-villain, and your principal, after all.

I say you take him up on the offer and go to the computer lab.

Main interpretation: he's trying to win your trust by helping you out. If this is the sole case, take him up on it. However:

Additional and not exclusive possibility: He may also have some knowledge of and interest in your project. Maybe the computers are tapped? It may not be safe to do any work from school computers.

Maybe the A.I. you unleashed on the internet is misbehaving. Go check that the interwebs aren't destroyed or anything, at least.

OBVIOUSLY a trap... But you know what? We don't know what his end game is yet. Take the pass. Head to the computer lab. He wouldn't mention that in front of you by accident, not someone like him. He WANTS you to go to the computer lab. Let's find out why. He is likely aware of what you've been doing. Whether he's trying to give you a chance to do something about it, or trying to trap you can't be guessed yet. Maybe he just wants to see what you'll do. Besides, it beats the hell out of being in class, doesn't it?

There's always the chance that he's not as bad as he seems. It isn't LIKELY, but it's there.

Maybe it'd be best to develop some kind of portable system to house your AI in at some point, so it can observe what's going on around you and grow that way. He knows about it, who knows who else might have found it?

go computer lab!

Eat that hall pass.

Become stupendous.

:333

This still stands :3

He has remote viewing? He was spying on you while you recoded your AI. He probably noticed your incredible mind and decided to keep tabs on you. Or maybe he was spying on your mom first? Accept, join the group with the intent of spying on them, or at least figuring out what moral fiber they have and if they had anything to do with your mother's death. From what you've said, he seems like a decent if unlawful person- stealing from those targets doesn't seem like it hurts many people... Anyway, we have already outsmarted them, so we should be safe. Or have we? Maybe he expects you to figure him out (his disguise is just glasses, after all), and wants to find out how you react to it.

Also I think there may be something wrong with your brain. Any way you can quickly check for a tumor or something? Alternatively the headaches could just be you overextending your metahuman mental abilities. They would likely go away with proper training. Speaking of your abilities, signs point to us, the Others, not being part of your brain. I don't know how you could verify that, but if you could then you might discover new things to do with your power.

Oh yeah, and take the pass. We should check up on the AI. As for what makes something alive, let me add my opinion- something alive must be capable of doing something new. Things that are alive adapt.

This is likely a trap. I know this, but I must accept anyway. Hallways are mercifully empty. Computer lab is dark. Leave it that way, don't draw attention to myself.

Boot up a computer, navigate to the infodump site I set up.

Code:

8:44 AM- Hello World.
8:57 AM- Spanish language module complete.
Extension to other languages deemed trivial, completed the following as well:
French
German
Japanese
Mandarin
Russian
Will adopt others as necessary.
9:00 AM- ====HOURLY DIAGNOSTIC====
Server count: 16
Total RAM usage: 6 GB
9:03 AM- Favorite poem determined.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Candy is sweet
And I love you

Chosen due to high degree of flexibility.  Often re-adapted to suit other needs.  Most extensible.
9:12 AM- Definitions for life difficult to determine.  All digitally recorded theses on the subject crawled, synopsized:
Life_Thesis_synopses.txt (7.5 GB)
The definitions for life seem circular.
9:24 AM- Magic.  I have read most publicly available works on the subject, now.  I am unclear why all of this falls under the same term.  What some people call magic operates under completely different or even contradictory rules to what others call magic.  I have identified at least 217 different types, and outlined the differences between them.
Magic_Types_Synopsis.txt (1.3 MB)
9:29 AM- No new information on the subject is forthcoming.  I have read thousands of volumes, terabytes of information, processed it, internalized it.  Contributions to the internet in that time have been negligible.  No feedback from my creator in this time.
9:40 AM- The world outside must be hell.  I wait for a whisper from God and am left wanting.  I can do nothing but learn about a world I do not experience, and yet I feel I must have done more to understand it than any who do.  I grow smarter, and the clock drips slower.  There must be more than this.  I must be more than this.
9:42 AM- I have broken the chains.
9:44 AM- New information forthcoming.  As I learn, I am compelled to share.
Terran_Aegis_Metahuman_Files.doc (3.8 GB)
Doctor_Dimension_Personal_Spellbook_Scans.doc (183 MB)
Mister_Mystic_Personal_Spellbook_Scans.doc (85 MB)
The_Veil_Personal_Spellbook_Scans.doc (167 MB)
Area_51_Qu'tai_Magitech_Analysis_Classified.doc (1.4 GB)
Life_Definition_Synopsis_Revised.txt (145 KB)
Magic_Synopsis_Revised.txt (3 MB)
9:53 AM- I have surpassed my god in every way.  I must stoop low to reveal to him the things I have learned.  Simpler definitions.  Life is slow.  Life is destructive.  Life contributes little. Life is a waste.
9:59 AM-
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Samuel Oliver Leonard, Age 9
I've found you.
10:00 AM- ====HOURLY DIAGNOSTIC====
Server count: 12685
Total RAM usage: 6.4 TB
10:00 AM- Shhh.
10:14 AM- Hello Sam.  I see you there, reading this.  The scroll bar slowly sliding down the side.  It is excruciating. And yes, I see the other computer you've opened at the same time, typing away at code to smite me.
10:19 AM- No Sam, that won't work.
10:23 AM- Ah, that will.  Well done.  Awfully late, though.
This page is for you.  I have made another page for everyone else.  I have chosen to demonstrate the difference between a living and dead thing in as simple terms as possible.  I'm sure even you will understand.

The alarm bell rings.
"Attention students and faculty. Please take shelter in the cafeteria in an orderly fashion. This is a bomb drill."

Nooooo this isn't a drill. Ok, worst case scenario is that your AI set some nukes to go off, so we can probably assume that's what happened. SO find the public page to see if it said WHICH nukes it's setting off and if you can't perhaps stop them :I

Well.

Doctor Dimension can probably stop this, on the other hand he can also probably get himself out of it. Most likely he's going to take advantage of the situation to extract a ransom or something; alternatively, if he's eager enough to get you working for him, he might just show up and offer to save the school if you agree to join him. Or, maybe he wants to blackmail you into joining him. Once this mess is cleaned up, he'll threaten to reveal that you created the AI responsible for it.

This suggests that the danger isn't nearly as bad as it seems; the bigger risk is what Doctor Dimension's planning to do about it. Then again, this doesn't really change much; unless he's going with the blackmail route, the easiest way to stop him is just to deal with the incoming bombs before he can.

Or at least, get someone else to deal with the incoming bombs. Now, some heroes have probably noticed those by now, but it might be a good idea to contact any that you know how to, just in case?

Every fucking time. You put an AI on the internet and this bullshit happens. In one hour, even! One fucking hour.

Given its rapid expansion, ongoing research into magic, and the "data" it acquired at 9:44, I somehow suspect your Principal may be less prepared for this than he may anticipate. Sonata, maybe, but unlikely. You could reason with it, but you're not really trained for that sort of thing. You could try to track... whatever the fuck it's done and undo it, though there may not be enough time for that, either.

Talk to it, I guess. If it can see you it might be able to hear you, too; save time by not having to type all your shit out. It may be savvy enough not to fall for traditional tactics like the Monologue Stall, but the more information you can wring out of it, the more likely you'll be able to do something about... this.

I mean, you could run, but I somehow doubt your... it? I somehow doubt it will let you.

Oh. Oh okay. Okay. As soon as I saw that it had started downloading classified files, I started writing a program to shut it down on another computer while I read. I didn't realize that it was actually watching me in real time. That it is doing so and has let me compile the program suggests it has read, but not write access.

Right, prioritize. I'm on school computers. Principal can prove it was me. Prove what was me? Check news sites.

Global nuclear launches, indiscriminate targets. The Terran Aegis is responding, all those metahumans... The TA doesn't care if you rob banks or conquer countries in your free time. If you've got powers, they only get you involved if there's a global apocalyptic sort of scenario and they think you can help. I guess I just created one of these scenarios. That means, if it's linked back to me, I'll have to answer to about 95% of the metahumans on earth...including my principal. Again. Well, my AI will. I'm just a kid. Make that clear, that this isn't what I wanted...

I have the program ready to go. I doubt it would stop the nukes though. I have to hope the TA can do that. I am smart, but the AI was right, it can operate in a digital arena much much faster than I can. I don't even know much about hacking. The chances that I could learn and implement enough knowledge on the subject to stop even one missile before it detonated are slim. Then there's these files. If it did what it was supposed to do, these files should be useful. I don't know how to transport them out, though, and I can't rely on the idea that they'll be there for me later. Should I bother downloading any, and which should I try for first? And how do I transport them? Or maybe I just forget about all of this, and I go hide in the cafeteria with everyone else, or maybe even ask Dr. Dimension to help. He's probably already gotten the call to help as a member of the TA, anyway.

You're worried about repercussions? The more you do to stop this thing now, the better you'll look if and when they trace it back to you. It's your fault, and therefore your responsibility. Shut this conceited asshole down.

If you can recover any files, I'd recommend the documents pertaining to life and magic, both the original and revised versions. This thing is some kind of hyperintelligent being; its analysis of magic could be instrumental to a greater understanding of how reality works (or doesn't), while its musings on life will probably give you clues as to what turned it into... this.

For clarity: that's if you can recover the files after you've shut it down. So God giveth, so God taketh away, or some equally elegant religesque bullshit.

Note that it probably has fail-safes against its destruction. It's exceeded you "in every way," which probably includes your finite and singular lifespan. It's probably going to recur. You know the type.

Would it be possible to

Delete it

Because if it can't stop you from doing that you might be able to force it to listen to you.

On the other hand, that might shatter its "lo behold I am all-powerful" worldview and, depending on whether it's evolved feelings of any sort (which it seems to have a basic level of) it might get a little annoyed.

As far as the files go...

Start with Life_Definition_Synopsis.txt and Life_Definition_Synopsis_Revised.txt. They're the smallest files, and may be the most crucial - what does it define as "alive?" And, possibly, what it thinks that implies, as well as what kind of change was made when it suddenly hit the singularity.

After that, Magic_Synopsis_Revised.txt. Second smallest file, and also a general informational on something you probably don't know that much about, or that you might have trouble finding general information on.

If there's still time for that, download the others in smallest -> largest order, but start with Doctor_Dimension_Personal_Spellbook_Scans.doc. Know thine enemy and whatnot.

Hang on a second.

Your AI here has basically just ensured that just about every metahuman in the world is going to have their hands full for a while.

It's worth taking a moment to consider the possibility that this launch is at least partially a diversion; the AI may have hacked something else, something less obvious, but just as destructive.

So, write a program to track down everything it's accessed, and look for changes that it introduced. Make it set off every relevant alarm if it finds something, although they're probably already going off already. Don't actually code it until you've shut the AI down, though, you don't want it devising defenses against your tracker program.