Thing is, based on the events of the one TNG episode where we actually learn anything about the Sheliak, they seem pretty inflexible, and bound by the exact terms of the Law. (If you played AD&D, think of them as Lawful Neutral - whether good or harm is done is irrelevant, so long as the Law is obeyed.)
So Lawful Anal. Or Lawful Stupid, but they seem to be a liiiiittle quicker on the uptake than that. Most likely Lawful Anal.
Thing is, based on the events of the one TNG episode where we actually learn anything about the Sheliak, they seem pretty inflexible, and bound by the exact terms of the Law. (If you played AD&D, think of them as Lawful Neutral - whether good or harm is done is irrelevant, so long as the Law is obeyed.) I'm not entirely certain they even have the concept of "bluffing", just "looking for loopholes". Had Sa'ana pushed any harder (as Jesu seems inclined to do), the Sheliak might have felt they had no recourse but a war for self-preservation from the "lesser creatures" they faced.
Of course, I don't know if Jesu would realize the danger he was in before the pot actually began to boil...
That's close to how I see them. I'd add in that they have a heavy bias towards things that benefit them. Obviously they don't care if the agreement is mutually beneficial, just as long as it benefits them. They will however stick to the letter of the agreement afterwards, even if they realize it isn't as advantageous as they thought it was.
I think that's why she had Beta Males as her attaches, and treated Picard like dirt... Sam Lavelle, in the other hand, probably would have got much better treatment from her
I think that's why she had Beta Males as her attaches, and treated Picard like dirt... Sam Lavelle, in the other hand, probably would have got much better treatment from her
Oy. Don't go spouting MRA bullcrap. It is illogical.
And Nechayev has issues with Picard because he's a very methodical, by-the-book sort of guy, and she's more the Captain Kirk sort. On the thorny issues that they tend to lock horns over...well, let's just say that it is perfectly logical that they have their spats over sensitive issues. Her mooks are her mooks because they're smart enough to carry her bags and stay out of her way, but not smart enough to be her support crew.
Oy. Don't go spouting MRA bullcrap. It is illogical.
And Nechayev has issues with Picard because he's a very methodical, by-the-book sort of guy, and she's more the Captain Kirk sort. On the thorny issues that they tend to lock horns over...well, let's just say that it is perfectly logical that they have their spats over sensitive issues. Her mooks are her mooks because they're smart enough to carry her bags and stay out of her way, but not smart enough to be her support crew.
MRA?
I think it's absolutely logical that her preferences reflected in her treatment of others, and I doubt she had time for any guy that wouldn't bolster her ego aka boy toys... :cool:
I think it's absolutely logical that her preferences reflected in her treatment of others, and I doubt she had time for any guy that wouldn't bolster her ego aka boy toys... :cool:
Sorry, the term "Beta Male" is usually used by a particularly toxic group of Internet tough guys, bullies, and sexists who call themselves "Men's rights activists". In real life, they are mostly sad little pasty-skinned basement dwellers, but they post some really appalling messages of hate on the InterWebs.
I strongly suggest not even trying to research them, but if you're a TRIBBLE, then go to this site and search for "Vox Day" under "Fundie".
On your main point: Yeah, she seems like Kirk on one of his less likeable days. Slight egomaniac, probably ends-justify-the-means. Not exactly the best at working with Picard.
I think that's why she had Beta Males as her attaches, and treated Picard like dirt... Sam Lavelle, in the other hand, probably would have got much better treatment from her
Sorry, the term "Beta Male" is usually used by a particularly toxic group of Internet tough guys, bullies, and sexists who call themselves "Men's rights activists". In real life, they are mostly sad little pasty-skinned basement dwellers, but they post some really appalling messages of hate on the InterWebs.
I strongly suggest not even trying to research them, but if you're a TRIBBLE, then go to this site and search for "Vox Day" under "Fundie".
On your main point: Yeah, she seems like Kirk on one of his less likeable days. Slight egomaniac, probably ends-justify-the-means. Not exactly the best at working with Picard.
Ahh, have to admit, I'd never heard of MRA's, I was using the term from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, that while her assistants were indeed capable officers, they would not be the 'strapping young men' she probably preferred to -- fraternise -- with
And absolutely, she and Picard would never see eye to eye. I would like to say there was mutual respect there, but to be honest, I don't think there was. Picard respected the rank, not the woman wearing it, and Nechayev clearly disagreed with Picard's approach to things. Ironically, I suspect she got on very well with Admiral Dougherty on matters of policy, even if he was too old to be one of her man-b*tches
I'll bet only when out in space... Back at Starfleet Command though, with access to willing young officers fresh out of the Academy... Just how bad do you want that promotion?
Ahh, have to admit, I'd never heard of MRA's, I was using the term from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, that while her assistants were indeed capable officers, they would not be the 'strapping young men' she probably preferred to -- fraternise -- with
And absolutely, she and Picard would never see eye to eye. I would like to say there was mutual respect there, but to be honest, I don't think there was. Picard respected the rank, not the woman wearing it, and Nechayev clearly disagreed with Picard's approach to things. Ironically, I suspect she got on very well with Admiral Dougherty on matters of policy, even if he was too old to be one of her man-b*tches
Oh, duh. *facepalm*
Sorry, I really should've guessed that. She does seem to be the sort of man-hungry Lwaxana Troi type, that's true.
Yeah, Nechayev was a very Ends-Justify-The-Means type, and seems to have been perfectly willing to look the other way in a suspicious situation. Picard...well, Picard is by-the-book and believes deeply that the ends do NOT justify the means. He's kind of a paragon of heroism, doing thing the right way no matter how much it sucks for him personally.
And Nechayev is willing to cut corners and maybe TRIBBLE a few people over for everyone else's benefit.
Yeah. They can barely stand each other, and for good reason.
I'll bet only when out in space... Back at Starfleet Command though, with access to willing young officers fresh out of the Academy... Just how bad do you want that promotion?
...which leads me to suspect that she once tried to put the moves on Picard, and he rejected her because he didn't want to get a dishonest promotion. Because, y'know, he's Picard. His moral code is everything to him, just as Worf's Klingon honor is everything to Worf.
Sorry, I really should've guessed that. She does seem to be the sort of man-hungry Lwaxana Troi type, that's true.
Yeah, Nechayev was a very Ends-Justify-The-Means type, and seems to have been perfectly willing to look the other way in a suspicious situation. Picard...well, Picard is by-the-book and believes deeply that the ends do NOT justify the means. He's kind of a paragon of heroism, doing thing the right way no matter how much it sucks for him personally.
And Nechayev is willing to cut corners and maybe TRIBBLE a few people over for everyone else's benefit.
Yeah. They can barely stand each other, and for good reason.
No harm done, and yes, like Lwaxana, but a bit more selective in her playmates, I think
And yeah, even though she might not have been a Picard in terms of moral fortitude, she was still very much the kind of officer Starfleet needed to make those hard choices and follow them through
...which leads me to suspect that she once tried to put the moves on Picard, and he rejected her because he didn't want to get a dishonest promotion. Because, y'know, he's Picard. His moral code is everything to him, just as Worf's Klingon honor is everything to Worf.
I would agree on the promotion aspect, but I think when Lina was looking for matches on Spacebook, Picard's profile would have always been outside her selected criteria
I would agree on the promotion aspect, but I think when Lina was looking for matches on Spacebook, Picard's profile would have always been outside her selected criteria
What's wrong with Picard? He's in good shape, and he's decent-looking.
Hell, he shows more chest than any other man in TNG, and he always looks dignified while doing so.
@masopw - That was a great read! I hate to say it but the JAG officer was my favorite character and I really like your representation of Sotek.
@allen1973 - I agree about the paragraph spacing - please help the reader Having said that I found the following sentence to be packed full of pow:
The Sheliak kept a commentator's appraisal as their viewpoint, in that it remained an informal stance, and they knew that their precision was not met by other species, so to their own competence, they created a new paradigm of diplomacy, if unorthodox by their standards, comprehensive to all others.
@patrickngo - Now THAT's how you strong-arm negotiations :P I smiled reading this one all the way through.
@jonsills - I hate to sound like a broken record, but your writing about Ferengi and their ways is becoming authoritative around here. This was a great entry.
@wraithshadow13: Sheliak dance = those wavy armed things outside car dealerships? An interesting story...will we eventually find out what the Reman's motives are?
@sander233: "Personal logs ain't that personal, dumbass." Instant classic! (thanks for your comments on my tale...yep, Cdr.Marrow follows the classic example of Riker and Chakotay: Captain says something, XO asks what it is, allowing the captain to explain to the audience whatever the mcguffin is supposed to accomplish.)
@cmdrscarlet: thanks! I could have popped some more backstory for the JAG, how she studied the treaty...all half million words of it...and this was her opportunity to put her training into practice. Then the Romulans decide they don't want to play, and flip the script, leaving her frantic on how she's going to explain this to her bosses. Good thing it ended well. Maybe this mission is the catalyst for her to ask for space duty...)
@wraithshadow13: Sheliak dance = those wavy armed things outside car dealerships? An interesting story...will we eventually find out what the Reman's motives are?
YES! To be honest, she's my new Reman captain, so she will probably pop in every now and then. I'm not too fond of the name though, so i'm open for suggestions if it seems out of place.
@wraithshadow13 - I liked it. The scenario presented doesn't say why the Sheliak aren't talking to the Republic; a Tal'Shiar plot seems perfectly reasonable to me. (It's the sort of thing they'd do, after all, and the planted evidence of biogenic warfare plans was a nice touch.) And all that just to assassinate one Republic official - they must be getting desperate.
Thank you sir! Even though there was a longer description, i still found it very vague, so i filled out the details a little more. Also, it was three officials, with the chance of a Space Station bonus!
I liked it, particularly all of the references you made to the "Ensigns of Command" episode. The "Sons of Gosheven" security threat was especially clever.
Thank you as well. I didn't want to directly jump into "New player on the board", so this seemed too good a chance to pass up.
What were you aiming for? I really enjoyed the references to the episode, as well as the Sheliak 'dance of the people' and a Vulcan poetry slam :cool:
To be honest, i'm not sure. Possibly more political thriller, or at least try to get more mystery around the Reman to build her up. I'm comfortable doing action and dialog, but i feel like could have done a little better in regards to those aspects. The traditional dance of the Sheliak was also too good to let pass.
This years Risa Costume unlock, perhaps? Hopefully they make the Infected Complexion full body before then, so my assimilated officers can enjoy it as well!
@worffan101: I have to admit I'm a bit confused. Three's the captain, and you've portrayed her as a total badass. But in the second part of the story, it kind of feels like the XO is talking down to her. I understand deescalation and diffusion...but it reads to me like condescension, particularly the "come and cry on me" bit. And she does...in public! It reminded me of that scene in A Christmas Story where Ralphie is beating on the bully, and then his mom comes, and he collapses into her arms crying. I can get a kid doing that...but would Three do that as well?
@worffan101: I have to admit I'm a bit confused. Three's the captain, and you've portrayed her as a total badass. But in the second part of the story, it kind of feels like the XO is talking down to her. I understand deescalation and diffusion...but it reads to me like condescension, particularly the "come and cry on me" bit. And she does...in public! It reminded me of that scene in A Christmas Story where Ralphie is beating on the bully, and then his mom comes, and he collapses into her arms crying. I can get a kid doing that...but would Three do that as well?
Yes. Because despite her raw power and ordinary badassery, Three is actually a very controlled person.
She was designed as a killing machine. Her Original was successfully designed to get...pleasure...from killing and hurting others. The Nemesis units have a set of semi-voluntary mental blocks and triggers that they rigidly hold themselves to. If someone harms Three's crew (or anyone she really cares about), she will kill that person in the most agonizingly painful way she can devise, and she will enjoy doing so.
In a nutshell, the laughing, joking, sarcastic, flippant, hedonistic Three that most people see is a very carefully maintained conscious construct that hides what is basically a very intelligent rabid dog.
Nemesis units have two "settings" in their brains; one conscious "setting" that is aware of the value of life and knows that the unit enjoying herself to her maximum potential is a bad thing, and a more dominant subconscious "setting" that divides the world into "people to care about" (this can be anyone, but usually someone the unit works with for an extended period) and "prey" (everyone else). The feral side of a unit's mind considers anybody that the unit doesn't have any specific emotional attachment to to be subhuman and entirely expendable, regardless of species, creed, race, religion, socioeconomic status, or other factors. The conscious portion of the unit's mind essentially baits and holds back the nastiest parts of feral side with a set of mental blocks that are rooted in accidentally-encoded behavioral override genes, such as the gene that causes a unit's intense loyalty to a particular group of people. All of these blocks are conditional, and if one of those conditions is met...the feral side gets to indulge itself.
Conditions include: Someone hurting a person the unit cares about, someone physically and personally threatening a person the unit cares about, someone claiming responsibility for sending mooks who hurt a person the unit cares about, and someone insulting the Original. The units and their Original are working on fixing that last one, as they see it as an unacceptable weakness.
In the second story, Three was exhausted, having slept and eaten so little for an entire week that she was actually starting to digest nonessential organs, a survival technique that her body involuntarily activates in crisis situations. She was emotionally and mentally weak, and the Chief Senior Director was an ******* at the wrong time.
As for the "talking-down" part: Commander Shran has strict standing orders to calm Three down by any means necessary in circumstances in which Three's emotional issues endanger her crew, herself, or her mission. This pretty much inevitably involves Three breaking down and crying, because her feral side gets just as stressed as her more logical side, and does sometimes need a good cry (the only response that whatever control her "regular" side still has will let through), especially in situations like the one in the story.
And I think that I've pretty well established that Three doesn't care about what others think of her, as long as her people are safe. Crying on her XO/girlfriend's shoulder in public is perfectly acceptable to both "sides" of her mind.
Basically, Three has a very nonhuman thought process, was designed to kill, tries to avoid indulging her sadism, and in fact has a different set of desires and urges from other life-forms.
All humanoid life-forms, whether human, Bolian, Vulcan, Andorian, Klingon, Orion, or whatever, have the same set of base needs: Eat, sleep, survive long enough to mate, mate, hope the kids make it to adulthood. Three (along with all other Nemesis units) has a different set of needs: Eat, protect those she cares about, kill, survive.
I hope that I explained Three's psychology well. Thank you for the feedback!
Y'know what, worffan? I think you ought to do a story or two, possibly separate from the LCs, telling us the background of Nemesis Unit Three and how she came to be in the STO universe. (If you already have, I apologize, and would appreciate being pointed in the direction of that story.) Otherwise, we don't get enough background to appreciate the tale you're telling - we aren't privy to the world you've built in your head, after all.
Y'know what, worffan? I think you ought to do a story or two, possibly separate from the LCs, telling us the background of Nemesis Unit Three and how she came to be in the STO universe. (If you already have, I apologize, and would appreciate being pointed in the direction of that story.) Otherwise, we don't get enough background to appreciate the tale you're telling - we aren't privy to the world you've built in your head, after all.
I should definitely do that. I really need to clarify that this woman is NOT just a big, muscular human with genetic augments. She's more alien than the Undine, psychologically speaking.
Basically, Three has a very nonhuman thought process, was designed to kill, tries to avoid indulging her sadism, and in fact has a different set of desires and urges from other life-forms.
All humanoid life-forms, whether human, Bolian, Vulcan, Andorian, Klingon, Orion, or whatever, have the same set of base needs: Eat, sleep, survive long enough to mate, mate, hope the kids make it to adulthood. Three (along with all other Nemesis units) has a different set of needs: Eat, protect those she cares about, kill, survive.
I hope that I explained Three's psychology well. Thank you for the feedback!
Interesting :cool: The Nemesis units are certainly similar to the Pentaxian A'nla sh'k, but with a few distinct differences. The A'nla sh'k are conditioned to defer to the highest authority present, and accept any legitimate order. Civilians are imprinted as a higher authority than military officer, so theoretically safe, however, if a civilian was to be the focus of a legitimate operation, they're toast. Same goes for people the officer might care about -- there is not the same condition as the Nemesis units have, and if said loved one is a legitimate target... Add to that, as a species, Pentaxians have the same average strength as a comparable Vulcan, and the A'nla sh'k are enhanced beyond that (their species equivalent of Augments, but without the stigma which the Federation attaches to the augmented) as well as having acid for blood, they're formidable opponents
As jonsills said above, an origin story for Three would definitely be interesting :cool:
Here's a very short summary of the "controls" that regulate Three's psychology, in order of "strength":
--Loyalty gene. Origin: Intended to slave the original Nemesis to her creators. Implanted in the Original's genome by her creators. Malfunction caused the Original (and all of her clones) to imprint on people that they spend a significant period of time with. This imprinting leaves the unit with a deep-seated psychological need for the happiness and safety of those she imprints on. Death or injury of these people causes the Nemesis unit to track down and sadistically kill those responsible.
--Sadism. Origin: Intended to make the original Nemesis the perfect living weapon. Implanted by her creators, who figured that someone who got pleasure from killing would be less likely to question her actions, due to constant operant conditioning. This feature provides a positive feedback loop that can keep a raging Nemesis unit in her feral, kill-everything mode for extended periods.
--Kill urge. Origin: Accidental introduction by the Original's creators. This gene causes a need and desire to kill and hurt others in the Nemesis units. Distinct from the sadism gene, the kill urge prompts the unit to kill, rather than rewarding the aftermath. Training and conditioning allows fully-trained (i.e. adult, with metal implants) units to slave this urge to the loyalty gene, effectively "holding it back" and creating the semi-bifurcated personality modes of the adult Nemesis unit.
--Contract obedience. Origin: Trained by the Nemesis units. Contract obedience is a principle of professionalism by which all fully-trained Nemesis units abide. As stipulated in the basic Contract, a Nemesis will obey all orders from her Contract-holder to the letter unless those orders threaten those she cares about, would mean the certain termination of the unit, or involve working against another Nemesis unit. This trained psychological feature helps keep the rational side of the unit's personality in charge.
--Survival urge. Origin: Implanted by the Original's creators. Intended to ensure the survival of the original Nemesis, because her augmentations and implants cost enough that she was deemed not expendable. Nemesis units will never purposefully end their lives unless everything and everyone they care about has been killed. Sometimes, a Nemesis unit who has lost someone close to her will experience massive physical and mental degradation following the termination of someone who killed a person she cared about, but this is likely a physiological response to the rigors of maintaining an extended chase without sleep or adequate nutrition. Nemesis units will also risk massive physical harm for survival; they all know that they are capable of regenerating (with assistance) from injuries up to and including partial disintegration and atmospheric decompression, and so will pull insanely dangerous stunts like jumping out of airplanes onto ammunition dumps and diving through air conditioning fans rather than stay in a situation that they know to be inevitablyt fatal.
Comments
So Lawful Anal. Or Lawful Stupid, but they seem to be a liiiiittle quicker on the uptake than that. Most likely Lawful Anal.
My character Tsin'xing
I think that's why she had Beta Males as her attaches, and treated Picard like dirt... Sam Lavelle, in the other hand, probably would have got much better treatment from her
Oy. Don't go spouting MRA bullcrap. It is illogical.
And Nechayev has issues with Picard because he's a very methodical, by-the-book sort of guy, and she's more the Captain Kirk sort. On the thorny issues that they tend to lock horns over...well, let's just say that it is perfectly logical that they have their spats over sensitive issues. Her mooks are her mooks because they're smart enough to carry her bags and stay out of her way, but not smart enough to be her support crew.
MRA?
I think it's absolutely logical that her preferences reflected in her treatment of others, and I doubt she had time for any guy that wouldn't bolster her ego aka boy toys... :cool:
Sorry, the term "Beta Male" is usually used by a particularly toxic group of Internet tough guys, bullies, and sexists who call themselves "Men's rights activists". In real life, they are mostly sad little pasty-skinned basement dwellers, but they post some really appalling messages of hate on the InterWebs.
I strongly suggest not even trying to research them, but if you're a TRIBBLE, then go to this site and search for "Vox Day" under "Fundie".
On your main point: Yeah, she seems like Kirk on one of his less likeable days. Slight egomaniac, probably ends-justify-the-means. Not exactly the best at working with Picard.
My character Tsin'xing
And absolutely, she and Picard would never see eye to eye. I would like to say there was mutual respect there, but to be honest, I don't think there was. Picard respected the rank, not the woman wearing it, and Nechayev clearly disagreed with Picard's approach to things. Ironically, I suspect she got on very well with Admiral Dougherty on matters of policy, even if he was too old to be one of her man-b*tches
I'll bet only when out in space... Back at Starfleet Command though, with access to willing young officers fresh out of the Academy... Just how bad do you want that promotion?
Oh, duh. *facepalm*
Sorry, I really should've guessed that. She does seem to be the sort of man-hungry Lwaxana Troi type, that's true.
Yeah, Nechayev was a very Ends-Justify-The-Means type, and seems to have been perfectly willing to look the other way in a suspicious situation. Picard...well, Picard is by-the-book and believes deeply that the ends do NOT justify the means. He's kind of a paragon of heroism, doing thing the right way no matter how much it sucks for him personally.
And Nechayev is willing to cut corners and maybe TRIBBLE a few people over for everyone else's benefit.
Yeah. They can barely stand each other, and for good reason.
...which leads me to suspect that she once tried to put the moves on Picard, and he rejected her because he didn't want to get a dishonest promotion. Because, y'know, he's Picard. His moral code is everything to him, just as Worf's Klingon honor is everything to Worf.
And yeah, even though she might not have been a Picard in terms of moral fortitude, she was still very much the kind of officer Starfleet needed to make those hard choices and follow them through
I would agree on the promotion aspect, but I think when Lina was looking for matches on Spacebook, Picard's profile would have always been outside her selected criteria
What's wrong with Picard? He's in good shape, and he's decent-looking.
Hell, he shows more chest than any other man in TNG, and he always looks dignified while doing so.
@allen1973 - I agree about the paragraph spacing - please help the reader
@patrickngo - Now THAT's how you strong-arm negotiations :P I smiled reading this one all the way through.
@jonsills - I hate to sound like a broken record, but your writing about Ferengi and their ways is becoming authoritative around here. This was a great entry.
Sure, but he's hardly standard prey for a cougar
Picard. On Risa. Open bathrobe.
I suspect any guy over thirty would be too old for Lina
Point. But Picard is kind of the exception to every rule.
@sander233: "Personal logs ain't that personal, dumbass." Instant classic! (thanks for your comments on my tale...yep, Cdr.Marrow follows the classic example of Riker and Chakotay: Captain says something, XO asks what it is, allowing the captain to explain to the audience whatever the mcguffin is supposed to accomplish.)
@cmdrscarlet: thanks! I could have popped some more backstory for the JAG, how she studied the treaty...all half million words of it...and this was her opportunity to put her training into practice. Then the Romulans decide they don't want to play, and flip the script, leaving her frantic on how she's going to explain this to her bosses. Good thing it ended well. Maybe this mission is the catalyst for her to ask for space duty...)
YES! To be honest, she's my new Reman captain, so she will probably pop in every now and then. I'm not too fond of the name though, so i'm open for suggestions if it seems out of place.
Thank you sir! Even though there was a longer description, i still found it very vague, so i filled out the details a little more. Also, it was three officials, with the chance of a Space Station bonus!
Thank you as well. I didn't want to directly jump into "New player on the board", so this seemed too good a chance to pass up.
To be honest, i'm not sure. Possibly more political thriller, or at least try to get more mystery around the Reman to build her up. I'm comfortable doing action and dialog, but i feel like could have done a little better in regards to those aspects. The traditional dance of the Sheliak was also too good to let pass.
This years Risa Costume unlock, perhaps? Hopefully they make the Infected Complexion full body before then, so my assimilated officers can enjoy it as well!
EDIT: Ok, done with the second part. This prompt is really growing on me.
Yes. Because despite her raw power and ordinary badassery, Three is actually a very controlled person.
She was designed as a killing machine. Her Original was successfully designed to get...pleasure...from killing and hurting others. The Nemesis units have a set of semi-voluntary mental blocks and triggers that they rigidly hold themselves to. If someone harms Three's crew (or anyone she really cares about), she will kill that person in the most agonizingly painful way she can devise, and she will enjoy doing so.
In a nutshell, the laughing, joking, sarcastic, flippant, hedonistic Three that most people see is a very carefully maintained conscious construct that hides what is basically a very intelligent rabid dog.
Nemesis units have two "settings" in their brains; one conscious "setting" that is aware of the value of life and knows that the unit enjoying herself to her maximum potential is a bad thing, and a more dominant subconscious "setting" that divides the world into "people to care about" (this can be anyone, but usually someone the unit works with for an extended period) and "prey" (everyone else). The feral side of a unit's mind considers anybody that the unit doesn't have any specific emotional attachment to to be subhuman and entirely expendable, regardless of species, creed, race, religion, socioeconomic status, or other factors. The conscious portion of the unit's mind essentially baits and holds back the nastiest parts of feral side with a set of mental blocks that are rooted in accidentally-encoded behavioral override genes, such as the gene that causes a unit's intense loyalty to a particular group of people. All of these blocks are conditional, and if one of those conditions is met...the feral side gets to indulge itself.
Conditions include: Someone hurting a person the unit cares about, someone physically and personally threatening a person the unit cares about, someone claiming responsibility for sending mooks who hurt a person the unit cares about, and someone insulting the Original. The units and their Original are working on fixing that last one, as they see it as an unacceptable weakness.
In the second story, Three was exhausted, having slept and eaten so little for an entire week that she was actually starting to digest nonessential organs, a survival technique that her body involuntarily activates in crisis situations. She was emotionally and mentally weak, and the Chief Senior Director was an ******* at the wrong time.
As for the "talking-down" part: Commander Shran has strict standing orders to calm Three down by any means necessary in circumstances in which Three's emotional issues endanger her crew, herself, or her mission. This pretty much inevitably involves Three breaking down and crying, because her feral side gets just as stressed as her more logical side, and does sometimes need a good cry (the only response that whatever control her "regular" side still has will let through), especially in situations like the one in the story.
And I think that I've pretty well established that Three doesn't care about what others think of her, as long as her people are safe. Crying on her XO/girlfriend's shoulder in public is perfectly acceptable to both "sides" of her mind.
Basically, Three has a very nonhuman thought process, was designed to kill, tries to avoid indulging her sadism, and in fact has a different set of desires and urges from other life-forms.
All humanoid life-forms, whether human, Bolian, Vulcan, Andorian, Klingon, Orion, or whatever, have the same set of base needs: Eat, sleep, survive long enough to mate, mate, hope the kids make it to adulthood. Three (along with all other Nemesis units) has a different set of needs: Eat, protect those she cares about, kill, survive.
I hope that I explained Three's psychology well. Thank you for the feedback!
I should definitely do that. I really need to clarify that this woman is NOT just a big, muscular human with genetic augments. She's more alien than the Undine, psychologically speaking.
Interesting :cool: The Nemesis units are certainly similar to the Pentaxian A'nla sh'k, but with a few distinct differences. The A'nla sh'k are conditioned to defer to the highest authority present, and accept any legitimate order. Civilians are imprinted as a higher authority than military officer, so theoretically safe, however, if a civilian was to be the focus of a legitimate operation, they're toast. Same goes for people the officer might care about -- there is not the same condition as the Nemesis units have, and if said loved one is a legitimate target... Add to that, as a species, Pentaxians have the same average strength as a comparable Vulcan, and the A'nla sh'k are enhanced beyond that (their species equivalent of Augments, but without the stigma which the Federation attaches to the augmented) as well as having acid for blood, they're formidable opponents
As jonsills said above, an origin story for Three would definitely be interesting :cool:
--Loyalty gene. Origin: Intended to slave the original Nemesis to her creators. Implanted in the Original's genome by her creators. Malfunction caused the Original (and all of her clones) to imprint on people that they spend a significant period of time with. This imprinting leaves the unit with a deep-seated psychological need for the happiness and safety of those she imprints on. Death or injury of these people causes the Nemesis unit to track down and sadistically kill those responsible.
--Sadism. Origin: Intended to make the original Nemesis the perfect living weapon. Implanted by her creators, who figured that someone who got pleasure from killing would be less likely to question her actions, due to constant operant conditioning. This feature provides a positive feedback loop that can keep a raging Nemesis unit in her feral, kill-everything mode for extended periods.
--Kill urge. Origin: Accidental introduction by the Original's creators. This gene causes a need and desire to kill and hurt others in the Nemesis units. Distinct from the sadism gene, the kill urge prompts the unit to kill, rather than rewarding the aftermath. Training and conditioning allows fully-trained (i.e. adult, with metal implants) units to slave this urge to the loyalty gene, effectively "holding it back" and creating the semi-bifurcated personality modes of the adult Nemesis unit.
--Contract obedience. Origin: Trained by the Nemesis units. Contract obedience is a principle of professionalism by which all fully-trained Nemesis units abide. As stipulated in the basic Contract, a Nemesis will obey all orders from her Contract-holder to the letter unless those orders threaten those she cares about, would mean the certain termination of the unit, or involve working against another Nemesis unit. This trained psychological feature helps keep the rational side of the unit's personality in charge.
--Survival urge. Origin: Implanted by the Original's creators. Intended to ensure the survival of the original Nemesis, because her augmentations and implants cost enough that she was deemed not expendable. Nemesis units will never purposefully end their lives unless everything and everyone they care about has been killed. Sometimes, a Nemesis unit who has lost someone close to her will experience massive physical and mental degradation following the termination of someone who killed a person she cared about, but this is likely a physiological response to the rigors of maintaining an extended chase without sleep or adequate nutrition. Nemesis units will also risk massive physical harm for survival; they all know that they are capable of regenerating (with assistance) from injuries up to and including partial disintegration and atmospheric decompression, and so will pull insanely dangerous stunts like jumping out of airplanes onto ammunition dumps and diving through air conditioning fans rather than stay in a situation that they know to be inevitablyt fatal.
Hope this helps explain Three's messed-up head.
It certainly does :cool:
You're welcome!
Can't wait for the next LC. I hope that BranFlakes chooses one from the community thread...