Grrl Power #1362 – The vegetable contingency
Spoiler, but destroying Sciona’s brain might actually do her in. She does have some pretty involved magical contingencies, but her most reliable ones would probably involve her having to abandon her human Super body, which she has become accustomed to. Not just for the Superpowers, but for the social and political power she’s cultivated. In some ways, this is rather galling to her, as she is quite an “Alari are the bestest” racist. Really the only thing Alari have on humans is that growing your magic ability automatically grants those glowy wings. That’s not a separate spell, that’s a racial thing. Also they have extended lifespans, but that’s as much due to their advanced medical tech as it is a racial bonus. Humans can learn all the same magic, will eventually invent or acquire equivalent technology and have the seemingly unique ability to tap into the Superion field. Fortunately for Sciona, and racism (or specism) in general, cognitive dissonance is alive and well in most sapient species.
All that isn’t to say Sciona couldn’t disguise herself as Isabella Mary Elizabeth Jesusina Concepcion Ferreira Marroquín, but she’d lose Escorpia’s Super chemical concoction power, and she’s gotten pretty used to them. Also, the fact that Super bodies are always in fantastic shape is a nice bonus. Not that she couldn’t accomplish the same thing with blood magic and/or alchemy, but why spend the effort if you don’t have to?
Oh look! The vote incentive has another update!
Okay, its getting closer. The dragon slam page gave me a bit of time to work on it, and the clothed version is done… well, there’s no background, but instead of spending like an hour trying to render a nice looking couch for them to sit on, I put some work into the bonus comic that will accompany this incentive. I’m seriously hoping to have it all finished by the beginning of next month and I can move on to new ones that won’t take 3 months to finish.
The Patreon version is updated as well.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
Everybody who predicted that the attacker in the previous strip was her golem, please report to the breakroom for your “I called it!” cupcake.
Yaaaay, munchies….
Yay I get a cupcake.
Nice – the icing-drawn golem was a fun touch.
I thought that in true Alari style there was going to be one cupcake that the ‘winners’ get the fight over?
Alari are not Highlander
ooooh! cupcake! yeah, it was only a matter of time until the magical golem version of Amazo got strong and smart enough to be a real problem.
It proved to be inconvenient for Spock
But he got better.
Aww family meet up. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. Wait till he meets the BF.
Interesting.
The obvious answer to what the golem wants is guaranteed freedom from her control.
From the looks of it the golem doesn’t want to kill her, maybe because it might not guarantee it’s freedom. The golem must still have a way in mind for to her answer questions sooner or later.
Also interesting is that the golem was able to track her down in her new body, which means they are probably connected in some magical way.
Which might also be why he’s not killing her. He’s not sure if there’s something in there to prevent or destroy him if that’s the case.
Also, her left hand appears to be free, so some tappy things are possible.
We can’t see her left hand, it might not even still be attached
The Golem is a creature of the shadows.
It hunts hidden criminal activities governments either can’t access or don’t know about, it was created in a secret lab and attacks Sconia at night in the shadows.
One thing one learns from living in the shadows is to spot those who can’t endure the light like you, which it showed during the hagfish invasion.
It doesn’t need a mystical connection, just like Deus didn’t need one.
It simply needs to be able recognize the grey specs on Sconia’s or her goons which suddenly lost the ability to speak their native tongue and noticed her giant career leap or have “friends” in high places.
It also could know methods to trace Alari souls escaping through an event that destroyed a mountain.
This should be a fun conversation. I had forgotten about this guy.
$5 says Deus X shows up and maybe even set this up.
He’s probably sitting out of frame with Vale eating popcorn.
I was a bit surprised that someone so image-focused would be wearing chunky-heel pumps instead of stilettos, then remembered that she just came back from a job site visit in the desert.
That is apparently driving distance from Washington D.C.???
Or did the fly back to Washington and drive home from the airport, still so mad and fuming about Deus after all that time she got distracted enough to be ambushed? Actually, that part’s realistic. The still fuming part. Or is her senator based in Texas where she has a second home? That makes sense as a Latina, but kinda risky establishing a home so close to ARC.
>I was a bit surprised that someone so image-focused would be wearing chunky-heel pumps instead of stilettos, then remembered that she just came back from a job site visit in the desert.
She was using the same kind of shoes when she was playing domme with that other senator, and again when she was on the prowl for a quality hookup and met 6xguy. Apparently this is an issue where she gives priority to practicality rather than sexiness.
>Or did the fly back to Washington and drive home from the airport, still so mad and fuming about Deus after all that time she got distracted enough to be ambushed?
I find nothing strange with that. Judging from the time when we last saw her at the dungeon site and in her home, a few hours passed and/or she traveled a few time zones. Her flying from the Southwest to Washington DC and then driving home from the airport feels entirely plausible to me. So is her still harboring a grudge with Deus after that time, given her personality.
How better to keep an eye on them? “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Kind of thing,
Out of curiosity, is a US Senator of the Obama era that quotes “America, blue collar, economy, democracy, family values, nine-eleven, maverick” (cfr. #1178) when prompted to show his political creds more likely to be Democratic or Republican, or is it too hard to tell? Party might give us some clues about which state Sciona’s senator is from. Then again, looking at Senate maps for the 111th-114th Congress, both parties got Senators in states close to the dungeon location in the Obama era, so this is no great clue.
“family values” indicates Republican… 1990 era. That concept worked great, then the Democrats redefined “family” as “any two or more people who hang around together” to erase the concept. No idea what “maverick” intends. So, Reagan Democrat or Republican.
“maverick” – most likely Maverick, call sign for the protagonist in the Top Gun movies.
You have a point, so it seems more likely Sciona’s pet senator is Republican or less likely a conservative Democrat. On second thoughts, I notice he does not quote anything religious, so probably not from the Bible Belt. Therefore, I’d guess he’s coming from a Western or Midwestern state.
I’m guessing her left hand is free to write with. Otherwise I’ve no idea what he could possibly want with her if he isn’t killing her.
Calling it now: this guy and Chorius are gonna wind up dating.
I can’t remember who Chorius is, could you remind me?
That explains how the golem’s crime syndicate takeover ties in with Sciona’s plans. It doesn’t.
Guess he either outgrew his loyalty to her, or lost it after being abandoned (she might’ve thought him destroyed however). Either way he doesn’t want to be back under her control, and seeing how she treats those working with or below her I don’t blame him.
I hadn’t placed that the golem is the one running the crime syndicate. Thanks for pointing it out, although I do feel rather oblivious now.
Nice to see those of us called it were right.
It is always interesting to see supervillains having a meetup, esp. if they share a bond. Now if only Deus too could show up it would be crossover-worthy.
As it concerns what the golem wants, obvious options (not necessarily mutually exclusive) include: guaranteed freedom from her control; guaranteed non-interference with his supervillain plan; active cooperation with his supervillain plan; some kind of personal upgrade his creator is only able or best suited to perform; acquisition of her blood magic and superpower (although that should be enabled already by sampling her blood).
It seems he is not interested in killing her, unless she forces his hand. At some point, he shall need to allow her to answer his questions.
He is also going to need a guarantee she shall heed any deal they make (maybe some kind of magical contract?).
It seems he was able to track w/o much difficulty in her new identity, so probably they are magically connected somehow or a third party in the know (Deus?) gave him the info.
In addition to the advantages Dave listed for Sciona to keep her current super body, I shall quote another: she already showed the ability to gain specific superpowers by blood magic means with the right DNA samples, albeit imperfectly and/or temporarily in an Alari body. A human Super body might well enable her to do it flawlessly and permanently, esp. if she manages to get or duplicate Deus’ research. That might be her ticket to becoming the Grrlverse equivalent of a Super-Skrull.
Point of order: Sciona’s progeny has taken and kept her ALIVE… which means there is some sort of intention to have a conversation.. if it were simple physical acquisition for the sake of harvesting some specific organ(s) that would likely already have happened. So what exactly is the point in telling someone you will squishify their brains if they try to talk… if it is your intention to carry on some type of conversation WITH said person?
Remember that he copies powers via blood.
He might already have Telepathy.
Or might be able to turn her drug powers against her.
Or mind control.
Plus she might be allowed to tap with her hand.
Yes/no questions, finger tapping, etc.
Also the “don’t talk” order may be only temporary; only until they’ve had the chance to verify she won’t try any override command or spell. Or until she’s been made aware of some other event that’s been set in motion that will occur if they lose their newfound freedom.
one tap for ‘yes’. two taps for ‘no’, three taps for ‘I do not know’
(and hope that there is no way to replace the vocal component of spells with morse code)
Scionia has in the past proven to be very resilient against many kinds of trauma, including head trauma(first time meeting with Sconia after they were told that half her head was cut off).
I suspect the Golem doesn’t know enough about her nature to kill her, but certainly believes her to be able to another round of head trauma, because he said it “would at least inconvience” her.
If you ask my opinion, racism/specism is only bad and wrong when it is based on lies, creates unnecessary waste and suffering, and/or gets in the way of meritocracy. It is no sin to feel and act superior when your abilities and accomplishments are factually better. Having said that, to decide the exact rating of Alari and humans in a non-egualitarian and pragmatic value system may be a tricky thing.
Yes, humans have their seemingly unique access to the Superion field, which acts as a big equalizer to even the most technologically/magically advanced galactic civilizations short of the Nth. OTOH, theoretically all species that are able and willing to interbreed with humans enough and in the right circumstances or acquire the same advantage by genegineering means may develop the same.
BTW, my reasoned bet is on the succubi having the best potential to become the second species with widespread access to superpowers this way and I expect them to stage a stampede to interbreed with humans once awareness of humanity’s special potential spreads across their grapevine.
Yes, humans may well duplicate the tech and magical achievements of the Alari and other advanced species in the future. No, unrealized future potential is not the same thing and has not the same value as established present mastery.
Yes, the Alari may be justified in feeling proud to have established a successful advanced interstellar civilization. They also seem to have mastered the trick of harnessing high-functioning sociopathy (hard to tell if it is a biological or cultural feature or a mix of both) for a functional society, which is no trivial feat. OTOH, their achievements seem nothing special if compared with tsay he ones of demon/succubi.
We also have reason to suspect their recent fall was their fault somehow. OTOH, according to what Cora and Dabbler have hinted, a species rising, screwing up, collapsing, and possibly rising again is far from outlandish or rare in galactic history.
I suspect it’s due to races/species deciding that there’s a qualitative difference in the value of people A and people B, completely independent of comparative abilities. Most of us are probably willing to say that there’s a qualitative difference between the value of lives of species which are sapient and those that are not, bigots trend toward saying there’s one for their group and every one else. Then, you can also get into long term issues exemplified by stuff like Battletechs ‘kill the meat, save the metal’ where you can always get more pilots if you’ve got some humans with the correct genital configuration and time, but nobody can make high performance myomer anymore.
People also tend to get upset when you start doing moral/ethical algebra: how many people is a kryptonian allowed to murder on the side if they protect us from planetary invasions on a routine basis? And even allowing the discussion will often prompt abusers that WANT to occasionally murder people for giggles to pursue a situation or power structure where they get to do so without sufficient negative consequences.
Vaguely steering back toward my point, I would suggest that you use ‘physical trait pragmatism’ instead of racism. Racism has a lot of baggage, and bigots will misuse the term, but it at least heads in the right direction. Like, I vaguely recall that the Soviet Union often filtered their conscripts based on physical size: big dudes went to infantry, little dudes went in armored vehicles. It’s worth remembering that while monkeys have an advantage over fish in tree climbing, sometimes you need a tree climbed, and hiding personal rights at the top of the tree is a bad move.
I’ve found that everyone is about equality until they get community service and have to volunteer with a reading program at the library.
And it is not the people you would think that turn out to have the strongest reactions.
Honestly, I care very little for equality for its sake. I only fancy it when it somehow becomes conductive to the stuff I really care about. E.g. talk to me about maximizing merit and freedom and minimizing waste of human potential, and I am all ears. Hurt feelings and bad outcomes of losers and weaklings, or undeserving descendants thereof? Could not care less, and I get pissed off if you pressure me to do.
I feel bad for future you having to look back at your naive attitude and cringy air of self-righteousness
“racism/specism is only bad and wrong when it gets in the way of meritocracy”
“the stuff I really care about minimizing waste of human potential”
“bad outcomes of undeserving descendants thereof? Could not care less”
You contradict yourself.
Racism – discrimination based on race – is fundamentally opposed to meritocracy – differentiation based on achievement. One is judging people on their behaviour and performance, the other on the coincidence around their birth.
You value two dissonant ideas.
“Honestly, I care very little for equality for its sake. I only fancy it when it somehow becomes conductive to the stuff I really care about. E.g. maximizing merit and freedom and minimizing waste of human potential”
Equality is about everyone having reasonably equal access to at least initial opportunities. I’m guessing you’re reacting negatively to some’s bizarre claim of equality – that people need equal outcomes; which some confused people and a few bad faith actors having been proclaiming is what equality is.
Actual equality’s outcome is to ‘maximise merit, freedom, and minimise waste of human potential’. If there isn’t equal access to opportunities each of those diminish.
Your opinion on one of these ideas is antithetical to your value of the other.
It would appear you have principles you emotionally arrived at and are now attempting to justify as though you had instead deduced them from reason.
..Aaand my formatting has been altered. Wonderful.
To redo those former quotes:
“racism/specism is only bad and wrong when it (…) gets in the way of meritocracy”
“the stuff I really care about (…) minimizing waste of human potential”
“bad outcomes of (…) undeserving descendants thereof? Could not care less”
And the latter:
“Honestly, I care very little for equality for its sake. I only fancy it when it somehow becomes conductive to the stuff I really care about. E.g. (…) maximizing merit and freedom and minimizing waste of human potential”
Well, the contradictions you notice come from my effort to reconcile different ideas in the same set.
I value individuals and groups (cultures, species) according to their achievements (first) and potential (second) on the (eternal) path to transcendence and perfection. Hence in a sci-fi, fantasy, or superhero context, people with serious differences in their important (physical, mental, or supernatural) abilities register to me as radically different in value.
I accept classic racism being bad and wrong since it is based on false premises and causes unnecessary suffering and waste in RL conditions. OTOH, when magic and superpowers enter the picture, I become a dedicated ‘superpowered people’ supremacist. Same if say members of one group become genius supersoldiers and others stay normal human beings. Same if different species have greatly different achievements, although I also try to stay mindful of potential, avoid its waste, and support its nurturing.
The same principles also make me supportive of meritocracy and avoiding waste of human potential. This is why I generally back equality of opportunity, welfare systems, and social democratic policies, esp. of the ‘blind’ kind. Not because I sympathize for equalitarianism (quite the contrary) but because I find them conductive to maximizing merit and minimizing waste of talent and avoidable suffering.
I also rate cultures according to their achievements (by their fruits you shall know them) and have a very Social Darwinist view of history. E.g. I find certain cultures more or less did all the hard work of making humanity at large progress while the contribution of others was negligible. Moreover, if certain groups found themselves on the losing side of history and had their territory and resources seized or were exploited because of their weakness or backwardness, it was inevitable and natural.
If the consequences of being a loser group extend through history, so what? Sucks to be them. I do not want to be bothered with the issue, and I get pissed off if I am pressured to care. If you want me to care at all, try to frame the issue through the lens of rewarding merit and avoiding waste. This is one reason why I am fiercely opposed to woke stuff.
Yet another issue is that for personal reasons I find certain specific minorities highly unpleasant to see or share space with. Hence, I opportunistically and knowingly support policies and circumstances that minimize their presence in my personal environment and their representation in the fiction I like, and consequently their prominence in society in most cases. Being a selfish and independent being, I rate my own comfort and welfare orders of magnitude more important than their own. Sucks to be them. In this context, even bigots may be useful.
On the other hand, if this personal comfort issue does not trigger, I am for live and let live, and I support radical libertarianism in personal and lifestyle issues.
In certain cases, this personal distaste even combines with my principled dislike of weakness to support policies that seek to minimize the existence of disabilities by any feasible means. E.g. I strongly support widespread prenatal testing and disability-selective abortion (or if feasible genetic engineering) to minimize the existence of people with disabilities. I also loathe and radically oppose movements that glorify and seek to perpetuate and extend disabilities and related conditions such as morbid obesity in the name of group pride or rights.
These are other reasons why I am fiercely opposed to woke stuff.
If you find contradictions in all of this, well nothing is ever perfect, including myself and my ideas. To reconcile all of this as best as possible is a lifelong work in progress.
As a rule, when I merge my ideals with the lessons of history and the possibilities of sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero fiction, I tend to give value to individuals and groups (cultures, species) according to their achievements (first) and potential (second) on the (eternal) path to transcendence and perfection. I balance this with a calling to maximize happiness and agency and minimize suffering and waste.
I struggle to find an easy and recognizable label for this value system of mine. I tend to assume it is the crossbreed of individualism, pragmatism, hedonism, meritocratic elitism, enlightened self-interest, ableism, saphiophilia, transhumanism, and probably other elements I not mindful of atm. It comes close but it does not really match with utilitarianism since it prioritizes quality over quantity. ‘Physical abilities pragmatism’ might give a hint but it is not really fitting since in my eyes mental and (when available) supernatural abilities are just as if not more important.
I agree that it’s fine to pride oneself on one’s individual accomplishments and on organizational accomplishments that one actively contributed to. However I don’t understand what definition of racism you’re using that isn’t in practice anti-meritocratic. Racism, per all definitions I’m familiar with, promotes judgement of individuals based on qualities other than said individuals’s personal talents and accomplishments.
Considering demons’ reputation among humans, I’m wondering how much of the Alari reputation is deserved.
Our knowledge consists of:
– the speech and actions of Sciona, an Alari who seems to be an exile.
– the speech and actions of Lorlari, who was chosen by Deus.
– what Dabbler has said, who has mostly interacted with demons. She has a strong demon for a master. Could his attitudes be bleeding through?
– some speech of certain Alari house representatives e.g. diplomats, interacting with Deus. Human diplomats are known for saying what will get the polity they represent the most, or what they think will do so.
Maybe their reputation is fully deserved. Or perhaps it’s somewhat exaggerated and distorted by competitors.
Escorpia was already dead before Sciona possessed her right?
Correct. As far as we could tell.
Mere moments before Sciona went in, but yes everything points to that. She had gotten three bullets in her upper chest just before. We also got no indication that Sciona may share her body with any other mind/soul since that. If anything, Escorpia might get solace in the awareness that Sciona took revenge on her killers (albeit for her own pragmatic reasons) and put her body to much better use than being a cartel hitwoman.
. . . . Is it wrong that I immediately thought “Family bonding” when I saw this?
It is funny.
And probably a little bit wrong.
But then they aren’t technically blood relatives.
They might technically be blood relatives if Sciona used her own blood when constructing the golem!
And this is why you always need one absolutely loyal henchman who follows orders.
Should Boss not act according to the pre-arranged agenda for the encounter, they activate the “kill the hostage” plan that Boss does not know the exact details of.
anyone care to tell me where we first met golem?
Also, is the golem the primogenitor of the aliens that destroyed the Alari homeworld (the ones Halo utterly humiliated?)
We first met the golem when Sidney and the Semper Vigilantis attacked Sciona’s lair from when she was still attached to a troll body.
We later saw it again – in its evolved state – when it was extorting a group of criminal cartels. “Nice criminal syndicate you have here. Be a shame if something happened to it.”
What if Sciona was using an infant of the Kaiju aliens to build her golem or something like that? Or perhaps other Alari had tried that before? That might give a reason why her homeworld was attacked?
Yeah, we figured who this was and their connection to Sciona, but the similar appearance and apparent adaptation tendency seems very similar to those aliens to the point I have been jumping around theories on how they could be connected. Them referring to Sciona as mother certainly places their connection closer than just a random thrall as this implies he sees her as his creator, or at least hatched him or something.
I bet she had a safe guard in her blood and he / it had come in contact with it.
I was really confused about Panel 1+2 at first.
But now I understand she was bent over the boxes.
I guess this clears up that it is the golem and he knows who he is dealing with.
Points to the überbloodgolem for being prepared.
But now I have to wonder why it made contact at all if it wants its freedom and murdering Sciona isn’t its main goal…
I’m guessing the golem wants some subset of these:
a) information on their own design (construction, capabilities, maintenance, etc),
b) information on Sciona’s associates (perhaps Deus, given the golems’ last appearance)?
c) political influence, which it can get somewhat easily through Sciona because it has blackmail material on her
Maybe also some catharsis.
Wow, we Chris’s must think alike, I was just about to post over the confusion of her positioning as well then I realized what it was and then saw your post. :)
I noticed a Continuity Error: Panel one she’s vertical (look at the shoe), panel 2 and onward she’s horizontal, and there is no transition point between
Not an error; we’re never shown a clear view of her hips. She’s bent over the boxes.
I Was wondering when that particular plot point would land
Hm, now I’m wondering if Sci’s Escorp pheromone abilities might work on Golem at all, or if G even knows about those abilities.
I would be astonished if they came anywhere close to working. A human super and an artificial construct are radically different beings.
Inconvenience ? Probably not, as part of the DC swamp that should earn her a promotion or two.
I assume you’re exaggerating for effect, but even pruning away some hyperbole: why do you think the DC politicians are nearly-corpse-level dumb?
Clicking on her tag shows me that Sciona Junior appears for the first time, so who is she?
Does this beauty have a backstory or is she entirely new?
‘Sciona Junior’ in that Sciona is the creator of this artificial being, not that (for all we know) they self-identify as female.
They are the power-copying golem that Sciona made and sent against Archon and Semper Vigilantis when they stormed her base after her first attack on the Twilight Council. This happened back when she was an Alari head (minus mandible) transplanted on a troll body.
Unbeknown to all, a part of the construct survived the battle, detached, and fled. It evolved into a fully sapient being and an independent supervillain with their own agenda. We next saw them terrorizing and extorting the organized-crime groups of the West Coast.
I would suggest Dave to find another fitting name for this character, because ‘Sciona Jr’ seems misleading in my opinion.
Given their targets, I’m not 100% certain ‘Sciona Junior’ is a villain (though s/he definitely has powers and definitely is not an Ideal Hero). It’s not like they can just go apply for citizenship and get a job like a normal person, so what do they do for money and blood (I assume they need some of both)? Running a protection racket on crime syndicates is far from the worst way I can think of to do so with SJ’s abilities–and importantly it also isn’t the easiest.
Right now I’d guess they’re more evil than Deus but less evil than Sciona, which is a pretty wide possibility space. Hopefully we’re about to get more information on their motivations and goals, and also whatever name they’ve chosen to go by (so we can use that instead of “uberbloodgolem” or “Sciona Junior”).
You have a point, although given their abilities I assume Archon, the Twilight Council, and Deus would be eager to recruit them if they are able and willing to cooperate with any of those groups’ agenda. We know they are fiercely opposed to anyone enslaving them through their original programming.
They certainly need the blood of supers, aliens, or supernaturals to acquire additional powers. It is not sure if they need it to keep their existing abilities, depending on whether their power copying is temporary or permanent. Moreover, it is not clear if they need blood as food/fuel or not. Sciona might well have built them to be dependent on ambient mana or sunlight to function. Since they can copy superpowers, maybe they can even tap the Superion field for sustenance.
My personal guess is, since Sciona built the golem to be her elite minion against supers and supernaturals, their power copying is permanent or long-lasting, and they do not need any food or fuel for sustenance.
Apart from this, chances are they are as immune to human needs as your typical construct. Hence they would need money just as much as that kind of character, i.e. for bases, equipment, and other resources it is inconvenient to steal.
i completely forgot about the damn golem lol
The first appearance of “Sciona Jr” was #507. https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-507-not-so-mini-boss/
I don’t remember this character at all.
he’s the whippley bit of the thing that capri-sunned pixel, gaining powers and traits of those whose blood it took, gaining lycanthrope healing and plasma claws from Pixel
Ain’t mad about this. :) Sciona is arrogant as hell, and seeing her get bested feels nice. Plus, as I mentioned on the last page, I started to have half an inkling that this golem might be worth getting to know when it displayed sentience, and while I didn’t previously connect the dots that it was the golem who took on the syndicate, I’ve gone back to re-read those pages with that context. It was some good stuff, but not enough to satiate my curiosity, so I’m excited to see where this goes.
… It’s good to establish boundaries, sure.
It occurs to me that we just came away from a story with Dabbler on a creature that presumably gained super powers and now we switch to a reunion between Sciona and Sciona jr. Her Golem… Which copied powers by analysing blood.
So seems we might be getting deeper into the details behind super’s powers and accessing the powers since Big D and the Golem have shown its possible to artificially gain/copy them. The Ascenders have their little experiments and Deus strongly hints he has a system for getting more supers, but
You make a good point.
Also Sconia “copied” powers too.
As in she took a super powered body and maintained the powers.
Now we seem to know at least two naturally occurring abilities, which one might use to obtain super powers.
Moreover, Sciona has the know-how to copy specific superpowers by blood magic means and with the right DNA samples in beings (an Alari and a golem) that lack the natural connection of humans to the Superion field. She did it for the golem and for herself (albeit imperfectly) in her old Alari body. Chances are she could do more when using Escorpia’s body as a natural connection to the Superion field. Moreover, if she, Deus, and/or the Ascenders could compare notes, in all likelihood the science of superpowers would advance by leaps and bounds.
Taking out her brain might work. I wander. Not sure if its an all Alari trait or something special as we did see her become a skull-spirit when her body was destroyed. Although one could argue circumstances as this happened because she was caught in a blast of this soul battery she broke open.
So if she were to be killed now by a more mundane means, would she regenerate as implied by the trollenstein body she had when first met, or become a skull soul again needing to find another recently dead body to inhabit (and maybe not get so lucky as to find a super with mind altering drug powers), or was the soul battery a fluke situation and she can’t do that under normal circumstances?
Remember, there were other Alari in that battery
Anyone up for fried calamari? Can’t stand most seafood but will start the deep fryer for anyone else interested
This will get a lot of flack, but there is nothing wrong with believing your race (or class, or gender, or… anything else you belong to) is the best (or the most superior), it all comes down to how you interact with anyone from a different race (or etc.)
Good, finish her, she’s been around too long already.
I admit I am quite fond of her current version (the pre-Escorpia one was a tad too cartoonish and one-dimensional) but recurrent, iconic, and successful villains have been a staple of the genre for many decades.
It is not like this story has a surfeit of them. We got Deus (yeah, I know, ambiguous role), her, and now maybe the golem. Thom is basically a punch-clock subset of Deus’ organization these days. Vehemence got tamed since his original appearance. Hench Wench was interesting, but who knows if we’ll see her again. Everyone else was forgettable.
YMMV, but if you are fed up of Sciona already, then certain DC or Marvel supervillains might tempt you to gouge your eyes out.
There are few things worse than being stabbed by an extremely verbose individual.
I have seen worse as supervillain monologuing goes. This AI is a being of culture and taste that appreciates the precision, richness, and information content of human language, and knows ‘Mother’ can work at the same level. Then again, they communicated in the same way with Triad leaders and their own minions, so maybe it’s simply the style they developed when they became sapient.