Jorlem Wrote:Matt's development is similar to most prototype projects: they're sometimes a lot more capable than the production models due to cost effectiveness. And Jail needed a small army. Part of what saved time and resources for him was that Matt was intended to be disposable - a true prototype only has enough life-expectancy to last through the testing phase, and nowhere is this more true in the field of Midchildan/Belkan Cybernetics, where they have severe issues with rejection. This is why all the Numbers + Ginaga and Subaru started out as Artificial Mages - their DNA could be custom made to accept the cybernetics.Quote:blackaeronaut wrote:If Jail was capable of building all this, why weren't the Numbers more powerful? Even if it was to avoid danger if another went rogue, it seems as if Matt could take on half the Numbers by himself. And while he is a superpowered prototype, there are limits.
Quote:Jorlem wrote:Aside from his IS, he is unique in that he can do some of Hyate's wide-area affect tricks and the long-range surgical-strikes of Vice Granscenic's Storm Raider. Essentially, he's a gunnery specialist capable of artillary assaults, danger-close missions (friendlies right in the middle of the action), and anything else a sniper is well suited for. It's all because of his ID - which winds up being the arch-type for Nanoha and Vita's Strike Cannons.
If he can manage to touch Quattro at all. IS: Silver Curtain makes it rather hard to hit her, unless it is by surprise, or with a wide area bombardment attack.
That is not to say that Matt was a freak success - rather an unintended one. One of the experiments carried out on Matt was a gene-mod that made him compatible with the suite of cybernetics that was implanted into his body. Jail felt that he had a pretty good idea of which way to go, he just didn't imagine that it would work so effectively, so he applied that success to the Numbers.
Quote:Jorlem wrote:I figure that has something to do with her heritage. Ninja, anyone?
Quote:blackaeronaut wrote:According to the supplementary manga, Nanoha ran mental combat simulations for training, while at school and succeeded in everything. Her ability to multitask is insane. (look at the next two pages as well.)
And since he is a gunnery specialist, I'm thinking he probably has a better, faster Wide Area Search spell than Nanoha does, especially if he's figured out a way to multi-thread.
Also, the better Wide Area Search sounds a lot like Dieci's IS, Heavy Barrel.
As for Heavy Barrel... yep! Prototype! (^_^)
Quote:Jorlem wrote:Maybe so. It would make for a much more difficult fight, but that still doesn't mean there wouldn't be some sort of feed-back loop if he tried it.
Yeah, but the first time he shows up where Jail can see him, he'd likely try to hijack one of the gadgets, which look like machines, rather than one of the Numbers, which look like people. And once he shows up on Jail's monitors, well...
Jail: So, that one's still around after all. *Sends out a message to the Numbers that it's time for an upgrade.*
The only one who wouldn't be able to report for an upgrade would be Due, and given her IS, Matt would never be able to detect her as a cyborg.
Another thing this would do is that it would severely delay Jail's plot - probably by as much as a month. The upgrade is major - a comprehensive rewiring of their nervous systems to make them resistant against his ability to override systems. So it'll take a while and I can imagine Jail wishing to do it with only two or three at a time so he still has plenty around to run errands or interferance. He's not too concerned about Matt having an encounter with one of them because he's going to be busy debriefing for ten-years of unaccountable activities (most of which is going to be his time spent with Alita and straightening out her messed-up universe).
Quote:Jorlem wrote:This is going to be part of the plan. As a prototype, he has a broad range of capability, and a certain flexibilty the others will be lacking in, but it also lends him towards being more maintenance intensive than any of the others. Part of the drama in the first arc is going to be his medical care, something I should be paying more attention to.
If I may suggest, you should probably ease off on Matt's "I'm suddenly more powerful than everyone else"-itis, and consider making him eventually become a jack of most trades, master of one, the one being the powers granted to him by his IS.
You might also want to consider the possibility that the ID might not be able to handle a combat cyborg's full power, like what happened with Subaru's device. Also, keep in mind that he is a prototype combat cyborg with no one to do maintenance checks on him. Even Subaru and Ginga had someone doing that for them, and a prototype would likely be somewhat more maintenance intensive than the production models.
And yes, Shockwave will eventually be outsripped for power, so it too shall be receiving upgrades over time - not only from Midchildan and Belkan technologies, but just about anything else Matt gets his paws on, too. If you are thinking somewhat along the lines of Megaman, then you're on the right track, except it wouldn't be instantaneous. The upgrades themselves would be prototypes, built by Matt and prone to failure, until a competent Midchildan ID technician can have a look at it. (Part of the reason why he's on First Contacts - he brings so many goodies home.)
Awesome Timline! Thanks for that, it's very helpful.
Really, I was thinking of having him be born at around 45 or 44. Although yours has its merits, too. That Uno, Due, and Tre were strictly REMFs from the original designs lends to the idea that Matt was a combat prototype intended to be a testbed for weapon systems. But I'm still leaning towards him being the original prototype, given the idea that Jail's all-too-successful genemod experiment gave him the right gene sequences for cybernetic compatability in artificial mages.