Grrl Power #635 – I hope their passports are up to date
Wherever home is for Sciona, it’s obviously a ways away from Earth. Creating portals takes a lot of power, a mage can’t simply cast a spell and hop to another dimension or planet. Teleport really far, sure, but not interstellar distances. Maybe some level boss Arch-Mage could swing that, but even then he’d have to sacrifice a whole village or equivalent.
Dabbler has portal traveled before. She’s a world hopping space adventurer after all – and she’s definitely had dealings with portals gone mad. I mean, in her video game that doesn’t exist, she travels to at least 8 different worlds, each with an interesting and unique biome.
Speaking of passports, Dabbler’s is like 140 pages thick. It actually reads “1 of 3” on the cover.
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Universe and dimension hopping is always dangerous. When you are suddenly in a different place that operates on a completely different set of underling principles. For example if you move into a universe where the speed of light is just 1% faster, all kinds of things star to break.
I’ve never really looked into it, but would the electric side of the human electrochemical system stop working? Would a human’s brain just go haywire with electron impulses moving too fast?
Lot of things starts to break, but both stars and humans are quite resilient, capable to adapt to changes. Change by just 1% could cause problem to precisely build computer, but not to human. Especially considering no signal in human brain is actually being transmitted by speed of light.
The main worry would be what the effect on binding energies in atoms and molecules is; some atoms (heavy metals IIRC) have their electrons moving fast enough that relativistic considerations matter. Changing the speed of light would have an impact there. But how much of an impact?
There is the possibility that the change would be self-correcting. The new matter introduced (i.e. our heroes) simply having to conform to the laws in the universe they have now entered (as opposed to somehow retaining some aspects of our universe’s laws).
So the things which might cause a problem from one aspect may be balanced by some other compensating effect inherent in making that change.
Of course there would be many potential universes which would be unstable and totally inimical to any form of life. However those ones would be precluded, in this instance, with Sciona having originated from it. So we know, as a minimum, that a living organism from their universe can survive in ours. Vastly improving the odds of the reverse being true as well.
Incidentally the late Stephen Hawking’s last paper showed that alternate universes would have the same laws as our own. So a world without shrimp could exist. But one with a different speed of light could not.
Needless to say this is just limited to those created in our Big Bang. Pop over to one next door (or the one observed by at least one researcher as beginning to overlap with ours) and I daresay they could have varying universal laws.
Thus making any area of overlap particularly interesting.
Maybe you end up with baby universes with a bit of the heritage of both?
> So a world without shrimp could exist.
I see what you did there. :>
But what about one without flightless polar waterfowl? I bet he just forgot to carry the two with that one.
That’s the dimension two doors down on your left, past Albuquerque
Actually not sure why people think there could be a universe where there are different laws. It happened even in THIS universe during the Inflation epoch (between 10 to the -36th seconds and 10 to -32nd seconds after the big bang. During that time, the universe expanded FAR faster than the speed of light). And normal physics simply breaks down during any period during or before the inflationary epoch.
Stephen Hawkings is brilliant but he was not infallible (and I think some of his theories were disproven by Leonard Susskind). Stephen Hawkings couldnt figure out why gravity broke away from the other 3 fundamental forces. Stephen Hawkings couldn’t figure out why there happened t o be slightly more matter than antimatter after the inflationary epoch. So… there was a point in time where our own universal laws were not even followed in this universe, there doesn’t seem to be a reason that there could not, in an infinite multiverse, be universes with different laws of physics than our own today. A universe with a different speed of light could definitely exist.
To quote Magueijo and Afshordi (and they have a theory which was first proposed in the 90s and has produced a TESTABLE prediction):
“If you go back to the early universe, there’s a temperature when everything becomes faster. The speed of light goes to infinity and propagates much faster than gravity. It’s a phase transition in the same way that water turns into steam.
This fixes a value called the spectral index, which describes the initial density ripples in the universe, at 0.96478—a value that can be checked against future measurements. The latest figure, reported by the CMB-mapping Planck satellite in 2015, place the spectral index at about 0.968.”
Sorry if that sounded harsh – I’m a lawyer, not a physicist, but I just think Hawkings was often overblown :) There’s this whole mythos about Hawkings that sometimes elevates his theories to godlike status.
If you check out the short video, in that link, it is because of Stephen Hawking himself. His early work pointed to that. Like all major steps towards improving our understanding of how the grand scheme of things works, there were problems apparent with it. Which he, and others, spent decades working on finding ways to reconcile them. *
Of which his last paper is the latest. Importantly though it does not overturn his original work, it simply refines it. Specifically excluding the possibility that alternate universes could have differing universal laws. But otherwise allowing for all the possibilities, such as there being many universes where the dinosaurs were not wiped out by a meteor impact.**
As for why he has such status, it is because most science involves making small steps, with lots of people providing little bits of information to creep our knowledge forwards. Every now and then you get someone who can propel us forwards with a big leap.
Then add into it the fact that he had one of the most inspirational life stories, and managed to remain a charismatic personality, despite his profound disability, and it is easy to see why there is such a massive personality cult surrounding him.
So not only did he make significant advances in science, he has also helped to propagate not just those ideas, but also served as an inspiration for science in general.
* This is a normal part of the scientific process. You make a proposal, you find ways to test it. Finding flaws in itself advances scientific knowledge. So even scientists who find every proposal they make to be overturned, by experimental evidence, have advanced our knowledge. They have narrowed down the areas that we need to look to find the correct results. Fortunately Stephen Hawking did not fall in this camp.
** If there are a finite number of alternate timelines, then I think we will be in a distinct minority here, as that particular hit was a real fluke. Although it was a big meteor, it hit in a spot where the geological composition was unusual and had a multiplying effect on how deadly the impact became. So in many other alternate Earths, even when that or a similar meteor hit, it would not have had such a catastrophic result across the entire spectrum of dinosaur (etc) life.
This is it exactly. Just a tiny tweak to any of: the strong electromagnetic force, the weak electromagnetic force, gravity, etc. and we end up in a universe where matter cannot exist. Or any number of other settings where the things we need to exist, such as stars, planets, etc. cannot be created.
At the risk of sounding harsh, you failed both physics AND biology.
1% difference light speed makes all known laws of physics fail, and FYI signals in human brain are transmitted by electrical impulses which ARE tied to lightspeed.
That does sound a bit harsh, and is overly broad anyway.
I doubt changing a speed of light would keep
“An object in motion tends to remain in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force”
from working.
Also, as I understand it, signals in the brain are actually transmitted chemically.
The speed of light is not as constant as people think. The speed that is always quoted is the speed through vacuum. If light has to move through something, such as a thick atmosphere, glass or water, it is slower. For all practical purposes, that decrease in speed is irrelevant to anything our current technology cares about.
Electricity, including neuro-electric pulses, also don’t move with the speed of light. Free flowing electrones in the air (aka electromagnetic waves) may well, and electrons orbit the atoms nucleus as near enough the speed of light, but though a copper wire or along the membrane of a nerve, electrones move at the speed of push. When you insert an electron into a wire on one end, it can take several minutes, depending on cable length, for that precise electron to come out the other end. You get instant current because, as you push one electron in one side, a different electron gets pushed out the other side.
No matter how fast the speed of light is in any given environment or universe, it is plausible to assume that walking through a portal (or having a portal move through you) will still comply with the laws of conservation of motion along with most other laws of Newton. Or to quote GLaDOS “Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out.”
Actually, the differences in the speed of light through different mediums is what causes refraction to work, allowing the use of lenses and prisms.
Why do you think the electrical impulses in the brain are tied to lightspeed?
The neurotransmitters in our brain are electro-checmical. The synapses in our nervous system and brain are actually empty space. When the neuron wants to send a signal to a dendrite branch or the next cell, it fires an electrical signal that travels down the myelin sheath; when it reaches the axon (the start of the synapse) there is a small sac of chemicals that erupts into the gap, giving the signal a “bridge” to pass over to the awaiting dendrite of the next cell.
The overall pace at which signals can move through the body averages out around a “meager” 250 MPH. Far, far, far slower than the speed of light. Even lightning, which doesn’t need to wait for the rapid fast release of chemicals, “only” moves at about 220 Million MPH, which is still just 1/3 the speed of light.
So how is the electrical signals in our brain tied to the speed of light?
LOL, internet experts… *rolleyes*
light speed is fundamental law of physics, which governs everything in our universe.
including chemical reactions, and electron behavior.
Check any table of physics fundamentals, and you’ll see it mention constants like *gasp* speed of light, temperature constant, electron charge, etc.
Fun fact, all of those are tied to each other, and value of one of them depends on value of others, change one value, and you’re messed up everything.
change of light speed in different mediums is tied to their density (fun fact, speed of light in diamond is ~10% of speed in vacuum), and is still dependent ob base light speed, which is constant.
Please lay off Star Trek, it’s as scientific as conspiracy theory sites.
Read the book “Brain Wave”, in which the Earth experienced a very small change in the fundamental forces, that resulted in a HUGE boost in brain performance – about tripling IQs worldwide and putting many kinds of animals up to current human level or better.
Unconstrained Wormholes would be fixed in space.
Which means worst case scenario the thing bores a hole straight through one side of the Earth and out the other.
Best case scenario it just bores a hole through a portion of the Earths crust.
That said if we are being at all realistic it’s already far too late to do anything given the thing would have been jetted through Earth at something like 30,000kph.
It’s not a wormhole though
Well as ‘portal’ just means a doorway or entrance, that does not actually explain what the phenomenon is. Without some technical information the only thing we know of which could have properties like this is a wormhole. And the fictional ones tend to gloss over the nasty side effects, like there being enough radiation to fry them all (barring those who have sufficient super defences, of course).
As such ‘wormhole’ is actually an appropriate term to use, until some better explanation is offered.
So pretty much narrowing it down to being a constrained one then (or, as Guesticus says something other than a wormhole).
But there are ways to tinker with wormholes. Working on the basis that if your technomagic is sufficiently advanced to summon one in the first place, you can probably do other things with it too.
A ‘wormhole’ is a very specific type of portal, and typically doesn’t lead to another dimension
Dabbles has shown she doesn’t always know what she is talking about
Or that she’s simplifying to something that’s familiar to her audience, and/or using the closest English word to a concept that doesn’t exist in English
That too :P
TOLD you Sci just wanted to go home!!
Butt, the fact that statues’ head is obscured by what ever that smog is, makes me believe Sci’s home isn’t how she left it
Well done bud!
*wags tail in congratulations*
Not so sure about the ‘just’ mind. There was that banter, with Deus, about his role, once she had conquered the world. But that may have been no more than banter, so you could be right about that too.
I’m imagining Dabbler also has passports with the other ‘of 3’, in addition to one that has ‘4 of 3’ on the cover.
At least she didn’t have to call home with a saw blade on a turntable.
But she did use a big can-opener.
Terrible voice: SCIONA!!! YOU RETURN HERE NOW, AT THIS TIME?? YOU HAVE BROKEN THE RULE THAT I DID SET!!! YOU KNOW THE CONSEQUENCES!!! YOU KNOW-
Sciona: DAD! Get OFF my CASE!!
Sciona’s Father: -you know your curfew began TWO DECADES ago!! You are GROUNDED, my girl! And what did I say about inviting friends home?
Sciona: They are not my friends, and I didn’t invite them!
Sciona’s Father: Oh? So I can can just sacrifice them, then?
Sciona: :-D Yes!
Sciona’s Mother: No! I want the succubus for my toy collection. And the golden girl for my model collection. And this one *pops Sydney’s shield with her finger* is just so cute! This one, though… *regards Harem dismissively*
Sydney: She does my hair. And polishes my balls.
Sciona’s Mother & Dabbler: *snerk*
Sciona’s Mother & Father: *BWAAAAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA*
Sciona’s Father: Alright, darling, you keep ’em! *prods Sciona* But you, young lady, can go straight to your room, and think about what you have done!
Sciona’s Mother: *grabs Sydney* Let’s get you all cleaned up, and you into a nice frilly dress. :-3 Where did you get those balls, by the way? I have a set, back from when they were fashionable, but I haven’t seen any in use like that for centuries… I did offer them to Sciona when she was little… but she was all- *makes dismissive gesture*
Sydney: Kids, eh? *eyeroll* …Do you have any instructions for them? I kinda got these “as is”.
Sciona’s Mother: Yes I do. But, even better than that, I was quite the expert with these – I can show you all the tricks!
Sydney: Lead on, mom. Er, I mean-
Sciona’s Mother: If you’re trying to worm your way into my heart, you’re succeeding, and I love it! And you can try the pink dress with the gold ribbons first… ♥
>:=)>
He he he. Nicely done.
This. This is how good fan fic is born (though sadly, much of it is raised poorly and never amounts to anything in life).
Alas, Sydney seems to be a tomboyish type, so a frilly pink dress with gold ribbons might have her clawing at the walls to escape…
Or,
5> Through a miscalculation of scale, her army is the size of a swarm of gnats and gets eaten by a stray dog gulping down a discarded cheese sandwich (ala Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy).
DaveB Dabbler’s Passport 140 pages of images of Dabbler getting stamped in different countries worlds and dimensions… NSFW… Now that would be a helluva incentive or standalone project. You could really let out your After Dark inner Demon…Dabbler knows all about Inner Demons…eh?
Fortunately, the barometric pressure was relatively close on both sides of the portal. Because nobody wants to add spontaneous ear popping on top of everything else that’s happening.
Connecting to a point too far DOWN can be a problem too.
https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/oops-2
Ahh, as the initial comment was talking about ‘ear popping’, I was taking yours to being ‘down’ on the body. And the picture seemed to confirm that you were taking the thread into the sewers!
Ear popping from a pressure drop would be the least of their problems. At least they left from only ~1atm…
So, Sciona may get away just because ARCSWAT has to go back and save the Earth and doesn’t have time to deal with her.
Or if they consider that she is no longer a threat (she no longer has access to the mystical weapons of mass destruction) and deem that she is out of their jurisdiction for her past offences.
Of course if she continues to attack them, or otherwise demonstrate herself to be a danger, that is another matter.
Going the other way though, there is the possibility that Sciona may choose to render assistance in stabilising the wormhole, and expedite them leaving her home. Thus reducing arguments that she may pose an ongoing threat. And, provided she chose not to travel back with them, she would remain outside their jurisdiction.
You think a blood mage would offer to work with them? I do not think she would be “A positive” addition to the team. But then, that may just “B negative” thinking on my part.
I think there would be some negative HR/RH factors to consider, but her current bright demeanor might blot out some past stains on her record.
With the right incentive she might willingly b a donor.
The floor sigils reminds me of this scene – nobody take a step or you might awaken the golem!
Quick, Sydney, if these sigils appear next to each other:
“אמת”
then rub out:
“א”
That will kill the golem!
GUYS I’ve just realised something
Sydney’s known powers:
Energy blast – incendiary in nature, sets fire to stuff.
Flight
Truesight – aura perception, etc
Manipulatory appendage – kinda like a prehensile tail
‘fiery’ breath
her shield looks kinda like scales, sorta
SYDNEY’S A DRAGON
Lol. Nice deductions. Plus the dragons of Pern can teleport, so matching another property of the true-sight orb.
So now we have confirmation that the orbs are eggs. I wonder what the final mystery orb will do? Does it detect tasty young maidens?
Is that why Sydney was chosen?!
Which means that Sydney have a collection of dragon balls…
Yup classic get away plan gone not as well as expected subclass C (it worked but there more people then intended)
C- When the extra people are cops and you are a criminal.
D If you leave your cosmic can opener behind. Because that puts you in the ‘burning your bridges behind you’ category. Which precludes the option for a rapid retreat if your safe haven turns out not to be as safe as you thought.
D- if you arrive legless. You don’t want to give the impression you started your celebrations prematurely.
I wonder what the rules for succubus passport photographs are?
1. Your face must be visible.
2. You must not use any illusions to alter your true likeness.
3. If visiting any planet where using illusions, to match the local indigenous species is mandatory, you must also include a photograph of your primary disguised form.
4. If opting to pull your orgasm face, you must include enough footage that your ‘at rest’ likeness can also be viewed.
#4: Actually don’t see where the ‘at rest’ would come into play.
That was actually drawing upon genuine passport rules, which specify something like “you must not smile, you must have a neutral expression on your face”.
It being a succubus rule though, the phrasiology needed to have the option for a double entendre. In this case the typical post-coitus relaxation might spring to mind. Giving the (optionally animated) photograph a rather more serine look.
Dabbler probably only carries around Volume 1 because the other volumes constitute pornography in most jurisdictions.
lol
So the portal just took them to another planet, not dimension? I’m just going to assume Sciona’s home planet and the local Alari people won’t be happy she’s back. Even if she doesn’t have a criminal record here already, which is a likely reason why she was on Earth in the first place, she’s still a blood mage (meaning she does evil things for magic) and generally a nasty person.
Dave has been carefully non-committal, in his comment, to avoid any spoilers.
The simplest interpretation for that is just to take it as being distance (and thereby in our universe). However it does not preclude the gulf between alternate universes as being ‘a ways away’.
Plus simple distance should not interfere with the quantum linking of Harem’s brain. So if they are simply on another planet, elsewhere in our galaxy, then there needs to be some other explanation for the problems she is experiencing right now.
As suggested by one commentator though the “I can’t get my bearings” could give us the clue on that. Harem may simply be having difficulty in orienting herself towards her other selves. Normally she would know “I am in New York and Dallas”, thus giving her the mental map of what direction she is teleporting in necessary to perform a teleport.
So even though she does not have a mental compass, she can figure out the necessary information to set her super power.
Here though. even if she can figure out that she is on a planet somewhere in the Milky Way, she does not know which one of the stars is the Sun (even if it is visible). Hence, even if she can still sense what her other bodies are doing, and where they are, she would be unable to place where she is, in relation to them. Thus making any teleport impossible (if it needs to be given a bearing to the destination).
Whereas if she is in another dimension the problem is even worse.
Yup.
One thing to always be wary of though, when dealing with alien minds and cultures is that they are very likely to have significant differences to us. Just contrast the differences between Western culture and Japanese culture, when they clashed in WWII. Their attitudes on honour and surrender were diametrically opposed, easily leading to misunderstandings and worse.
For example Sciona may have been expelled, from her society, because she was too soft and kind (not being sarcastic here by the way). Whilst we focus on her trying to murder people regularly, she did do other things, like her night with Deus. Likewise she gained allies and conducted a joint venture with them. Plus, in all likelihood, someone rescued her severed head and sowed it to the orc body.
All of which may be taken as signs of weakness in an aggressively solitary species. If you look at animals on Earth they do not all form cooperative societies.
Further sadism may be an inherent trait within their racial psychology. And, just like succubi have racial illusions, we may find that Alari are all blood mages! Their entire civilisation’s technomagic could depend on it. Hence why Sciona has such a wide range of really advanced blood technomagical devices.
All of which though is just exploring the alternatives. Which are vast when dealing with a true alien species. However your points are good. Whilst I was looking at some extremes where an alien culture might diverge, there is also the scope for parallel development due to common needs.
And we have already had one clue, above. Namely that statue. Which is something that only a species with some degree of socialisation would have a need for. Plus it involves investing a lot of time and effort into creating. Thus necessitating craftsmen (even if they use magic as part of their tool-set).
So, if they are a species of solitary aggressive killers, they do at least have an artistic side. Even if their statues are just used to mark their territory, and make themselves look imposing enough to frighten off rivals.
Just because he uses blood in her ‘magic’, does not automagically make what she does ‘evil’
It is what she is doing (or at least the reason) that makes it evil, not what she is using
I think the way she’s acquiring her supplies should factor in too. There’s a huge difference between picking up waste from a morgue or unusable donations from the Red Cross, and how she’s taking it by force from “trespassers”, underlings, and even business partners.
*nods*
Plus ‘evil’ is a social perception. Whilst animating a skeleton is not necessarily a malign action, it is disrespecting the dead. Even if someone gave their permission for their remains to be used in such a way, their relatives would likely not be happy to see such a use. As such necromancers are usually very unfavourably viewed by society.
This excludes games where the powers are generic. If you wave your paw and a bunch of undead appear, it is a fun power. Whereas if you actually contemplate someone with a power like that, in the real world, then those undead are corpses of people, being torn from their graves. And it is very unlikely that they, or their heirs, would have signed a consent form.
Obviously blood mages are not the same as necromancers, but the power is similar, in requiring bits of people to work. And folks can get just as twitchy about the purposes that their organs or blood get used for. And, in this case, can actually be the ones making the complaint.
Would you want your blood to be used to turn a person into a bomb? That sounds pretty evil to me.
Don’t panic people, and always bring a towel.
OK, I admit, I have not read the first page of the comments, but…
Isn’t anybody concerned that Harem might be unable to operate because she is for the first time ever not of one mind with herself? This Harem is cut off from the others. The loss of sensoric feedback to the other Harems is impacting her so badly, she seems barely able to form a cohesive thought. I hope, this is only due to the shock and will pass, but she will have a story to tell the other Harems when she gets back, having experienced things the others haven’t must be unprecedented. Her psychic syncrosity may keep her connected no matter the distance on earth, or even in space, but evidently, the quantum entanglement breaks down once you travel to other dimensions.
It has been brought up, but you express it well.
If that is indeed what has happened (which seems likely) the biggest concern is that she may have to do the telling in the traditional way. Given that a broken quantum entanglement cannot be fixed. As such she would never again get to be part of the group mind, share their senses nor have what amounted to telepathy with them. Not to mention loosing the ability to teleport to their location.
Likewise, Oz-Harem would not be able to put one of the others into storage. However she may be able to create duplicates of her own. With all the benefits of being quantumly linked with the new copies, including the extra teleport option and putting bodies into storage.
If that is what has happened Oz-Harem is going to find herself incredibly isolated. Something she has not experienced since she created her first duplicate (at an unusually young age).
And Kansas-Harem must be distraught too. Given that it would appear, from the total loss of sensory feedback (even that of dreams or unconscious delirium) that Oz-Harem has just died!
Next time they are at club Oontz, Achilles could pull off an impressive dance move.
Comment slash just a wondering….. Sydney’s glasses while wonderfully distinctive are really NOT the right eyewear for invading a evil lair and OMG where the HELL is her HELMET!!! Sydney is the.most “Squishing” of the whole team and a brain bucket will help to keep them brains mildly unrattled! Super is great Shield is Wonderful! But she will drop it when she is using a different combo of.orbs and explosions respect no one’s personnel space. Neither does shrapnel or falling debris.
The after action report on this one….. Whoooo boy is the General going to have words….. No body camera, No overwatch, No containment (may be happening off camera) No Backup( again off camera) Someone running a set of drones or Clairvoyance to the scene to a situation room would really rock.
All that is either being being provided or is unavailable.
Sorry I did explain in detail, but got the ‘you have not filled in your details’ message, when I posted it. Then my fat paws clicked on the wrong thing and I lost the entire message! Can’t be arsed typing it all again, I am afraid.
*waves paw vaguely at Sydney’s Pip Boy and the Delta team*
Hmmm. Here’s a thought. What if they’re not on Scionas homeworld? Maybe the unfinished rift switched inanimate parts of there and here, and when the dust cloud disperses they’ll find they’re still back on Earth. And the reason that Harem is feeling ‘scattered’ is because those runes interfere with her abilities somehow.
I only just now noticed….
The last panel is a homage’ to the Morlock statues as seen
in the 2002 remake of The Time Machine.
(and to a lesser degree the 1960 version.)
So she got the where right.
Now… about the when…