Matrix Dragon Wrote:So, this has escalated well beyond what I was originally planning. A little context on where this story came from.
Two weeks back, while stuck over the middle of the Pacific ocean, I was filling time by rereading Legend of Galactic Girls. (Because I had internet access on an international flight. I love technology sometimes) And I got to the part where the Professor shows up. And all I could think was 'wow. What an unlikable asshole. Wasn't he supposed to be a somewhat harmless mad where the main problem was either people overreacting to his presence, or him not realizing the consequences of his science?'
I went and looked at his bio, and maybe it's just changes in opinion since I last looked at it years ago, but I couldn't help but side with the French.
And then I got to the Julian Friez entry. And I thought about it. And then I realized that, to me at least, that machine is right up there with the Catgirling Machine in terms of horror. Every use of the Julian Friez machine is essentially the forced biomodding of an innocent individual, ripping them from their own place and time, trapping them in a world they can never be comfortable or happy in, unable to go home. Their very identity is stolen, replaced with being A Julian Friez. Really disturbing.
... The shit you think about when it's dark, the world is shaking, and you've got another 12 hours in a sealed metal tin before seeing light again.
I thought I was writing Noah &co as "overreacting to his presence" in LoGG - obviously, YMMV.
(I really need to get back to LoGG - we aren't stuck in "war story" mode any more, so it won't reinforce any misconceptions if I finish it.)
And I was on the same page as Mal; I also thought the Julien Friez Machine was a "make a person out of raw materials" device. That didn't stop me from mentioning a rumor on the FenWiki about an unholy fusion of the Julien Friez Machine and the Catgirling Machine that acted the way you imagined the JFM does, of course.
Oh, yes - OMAKE, not for the main story:
"No, you aren't going after him."
"Give me one good reason why not."
"I'll give you three. First, you surrendered your Troubleshooter badge three months ago and he isn't anywhere near any StellviaCorp holdings, so you have no legal reason to go after him. Second, you and I can't get to Ganymede before he's long gone. Third, you and Leda have a daughter now and she needs her father."
Noah glared at Yayoi for a moment. "Can I at least offer a bounty on the Professor?"
"It won't do any good. There's already a set of recognized bounties on his head."
"... Fine. We do nothing, then. As much as I hate it."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012