#Benefits of Biometrics | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alexawynters · 6 months

Text

Scarlet Whispers pt 5

Gif not mine

A/N: I.... as always, don't know how I feel about this chapter. Anything involving the 'horror' theme is... not my forte.

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Female!Reader

Trigger warnings (let me know if I forgot to tag anything): Mentions of past child abuse, ongoing adult child abuse, stalking, horror, dubcon, kidnapping, stockholm syndrome, gaslighting, angst, smut. There will be bits of fluff tho.

Rating: M. Minors DNI

Masterlist with parts 1-4 here

You weren’t quite sure what woke you up later that evening, only that you found yourself staring at the opposite wall, and unable to go back to sleep. It didn’t happen often since coming to live with Wanda, but in the past, a nice warm cup of tea would help put you back to sleep, so you decided that would be your best bet.

As you quietly got out of bed, being careful not to disturb the witch, a light caught the corner of your eye: Wanda's phone. It was connected to the charger and blinking with a new notification. You couldn't help but feel curious. Shortly after arriving here, Wanda had informed you that due to her magic, there was almost no network connectivity available, whether cellular or wifi. None of your gaming devices or cellphone had any network connectivity, so you had to rely on Wanda to update anything for you whenever she left your home. Because of this, you tried not to bother her too much. After all, you didn't really need the most up-to-date patches since you couldn't play online with anyone anyway.

You were confused about why her cellphone had a new notification if none of your devices had network connectivity. You assumed she would have checked her notifications since the last time she went out, which was at least a week ago. Personally, you couldn't stand having any of those little banner notifications and always cleared them as soon as they appeared, even if it was just by swiping them away from the notifications bar without actually reading them. So, the sudden appearance of a new notification on her phone puzzled you. There shouldn’t be any service for it to have come in recently. At least, not if you trusted what Wanda had been telling you...

A heavy, gnawing sensation settled in the pit of your stomach, creating a sense of unease. Undoubtedly, it was a breach of trust. Surely Wanda, of all people, didn't deserve for you to go snooping through her phone. She had always been kind, helpful, and loving towards you. Yet, despite her unwavering support, at the first sign of something that didn't quite add up, you found yourself doubting her. Why didn't you simply ask her instead?

But.. was it the first time? You were having flashbacks to all those moments of deja vu.

Haltingly, you took slow, hesitating steps towards Wanda’s nightstand where her phone lay. You didn’t understand this feeling of dread within you. You wanted to attribute it to your general mistrust of the human race as a whole, but your gut was telling you this was something more. You were in danger, you just didn’t know how or exactly where, but it had to do with the witch who's been sleeping next to you.

Shaky hands picked up her phone, and with your thumb, you pressed the power button to turn on the screen. Unsure of exactly what you would find, and the notification was innocuous enough - a news article regarding some superhero. What caught your attention was the date - it was listed almost ten months since you and Wanda had left your parents’ house. To your knowledge, it’s only been a month or so.

This couldn’t be right. Ten months? No. That wasn’t possible. Did time flow differently here maybe? You wanted so badly to give Wanda the benefit of the doubt, but now that you had opened Pandora’s box, you had to keep going. Hoping you wouldn’t accidentally awaken the witch, you held the phone in front of her face, and it unlocked recognizing her biometrics.

You should probably go to the bathroom to view this without risking waking Wanda up, but your feet refuse to move. Instead, you remained standing there, opening article after article, all of which displayed the same date. Curiosity led you to check the calendar app for today's date, and you had to stifle a gasp as it confirmed what the articles had stated. While you thought it had only been a month or so, Wanda had kept you here for ten months, employing fantasies and electronics to prevent you from questioning her.

Your grip on the phone waivered as you began recalling those moments of déjà vu. As you concentrated and tried to break through the fog of those memories, clarity emerged. You had asked for freedom. Wanda had yelled at you. You had yelled back. Then, Wanda had used her magic to make you fall asleep and erase your memories, essentially starting over and preventing you from realizing how much time was actually passing. How many times had that happened?

Wanda was not keeping you here to help you; she was your captor. The need to escape fought violently against your desire to stay with the woman you had come to adore, even if she had kidnapped and lied to you.

You place the phone back quietly, trying to make your way out of the room as silently as possible. It dawns on you that you should probably pack a bag or something. You have no idea where you are exactly, but if you don't leave now, there's a chance you may never escape.

Quietly, you escape the confines of the house, and head out of the grounds. You aren’t sure exactly where you are going, but you know you have to keep putting one foot in front of the other until you reach civilization. Previously during your numerous strolls across the grounds, you had noticed a vague perimeter, but never had the witch allowed you to go too far. Now you were intent on heading beyond the boundaries she had set, and you were in the dark on what you would find.

Speaking of the dark, even though the moon and stars were visible on this clear night, you had forgotten to grab a flashlight. Or rather, you had elected not to bother looking for one in your hurry to flee. Consequently, the darkness felt more overwhelming than you were accustomed to. You stumbled multiple times, each instance you were praying that you wouldn't accidentally sprain or break something. You weren't sure what was worse - the possibility of facing Wanda's wrath if she should catch you, or dying from the elements if you were to injure yourself and be unable to continue.

As you approached the tree line that marked the boundary Wanda had set, you paused. This was the farthest you had ever been. In truth, you had never even been this close before. Whenever you got within about ten paces, the witch would always give you a gentle warning. Curiosity tickled your thoughts as to what would happen next. Not all of Wanda's magic was mere illusion; she had the power to alter reality itself. What would occur when you crossed the tree line? Would you plunge off the side of Mount Wundagore to a grisly demise, or would you simply step into the woods as they appeared to be?

Either option had to be better to take the risk than to remain a prisoner in what you once believed to be the safety of your own home. Summoning your courage, you stepped into the forest and were surprised to find solid ground. As you continued, each step affirmed that this transformation by Wanda was real - the mountain had truly become a beautiful countryside. Perhaps there was a chance to escape after all. Without hesitation, you ventured further into the forest, hoping to reach civilization on the other side or find a safe hiding spot within before Wanda woke up.

Unknown to you, Wanda had set up protective barriers to alert her if you ever ventured too far. True to form, the moment you stepped beyond the tree line into the woods, her eyes snapped open, blazing with anger. You were leaving. Despite everything she had done for you. Despite the bond you two shared. The witch swiftly leapt out of bed, conjuring a portal not far behind you, determined to catch up with you. Did you really think you could escape her? You would dare? She would teach you. You belonged to her, and she was growing weary of this back-and-forth game you were playing.

As you fled through the forest, it grew denser, blocking out the moonlight. Initially, it seemed easy enough to navigate, but as you continued, the underbrush became thick, causing you to trip every few feet. The seemingly safe forest now loomed around you ominously, your paranoia starting to take over as you heard the skittering of various creatures around you. Logically, you knew they were probably just as startled as you, given how loudly you were thundering through their home. Still, that didn't stop you from feeling eyes on you the further you went, and you began to question if this had been a good idea after all. Unfortunately, it was too late to turn back, and you came to the uncomfortable realization that you didn't even know which direction home was.

A branch snapped somewhere to your left, causing you to turn your head so fast that you wouldn't be surprised if you woke up tomorrow with a crick in your neck. That is, if you managed to survive tonight. You froze in place, your heart pounding in your chest, your breathing loud in your ears as you strained to hear the source of the noise.

It was extremely unsettling for you to realize that the entire forest had suddenly fallen into complete and utter silence. No birds, no animals, nothing at all...

A leaf crunched. This time closer.

Fear seized your heart and you willed yourself to do something. Anything. Run. Hide. Just, something.

Suddenly, you became aware of a low growling sound approaching, and it became clear you were in serious trouble. Why hadn't you stayed inside the house? There must have been a logical explanation for the date change, and Wanda had always been kind to you. Maybe you were just remembering those arguments incorrectly. Now for your misplaced distrust, you were facing imminent death at the hands of something that likely had sharp teeth. Gods, how you despised sharp teeth.

A snarl to your left startled you, freezing you in place as your eyes frantically scanned the forest for whatever had made the noise. You could vaguely make out the silhouette of a creature on all fours not far from you, and your blood felt like it had frozen in your veins. Why hadn't you just gone back to bed next to Wanda?

As you witnessed the shape hurtling towards you from the darkness, a red streak intercepted it, accompanied by the yelp of an injured animal. You blinked and observed a fatally wounded wolf on the ground nearby. Your gaze followed the trajectory from which the red streak had come, revealing Wanda in her pajamas, her hands outstretched with red magic flowing through them, rushing towards you.

"Y/N, are you okay?!" Her voice was tinged with alarm. One hand extinguished her magic to gently hold your arm, while the other remained prepared for any possible threats. With a caring eye, she inspected you for any serious injuries, but found none. Satisfied that you were relatively unscathed, she finally registered your shocked face as you remained silent.

“Y/N what’s wrong? Why are you out here? Talk to me, please?” Wanda extinguished the remaining magic and took your hand, her ire at you dissipating at the fear of you having just been in danger that wasn’t from her.

“I- I had a nightmare. I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I just had to run.” You figured that would be believable enough - your night terrors sometimes had you fleeing for your life, you just usually accidentally woke up Wanda in the process before you could get too far. This would be the first time you would have made it out of the bed without waking her up.

Your gaze drifted back to the deceased wolf on the forest floor, and you couldn’t seem to shake the state of shock you were in. Wanda didn’t think anything more of your explanation, your night terrors happened often enough, and you didn't seem to be fleeing from her. It was the only thing that made sense to her. After all, everything had been okay earlier, there was nothing to indicate you were unhappy or would try to leave her.

Relieved that you were unharmed, and not attempting to escape, the witch focused on trying to calm you, as she could see telltale signs of you beginning to disassociate. Gently, she placed a hand to your cheek, tilting your face until you were making eye contact with her. “Don’t look at it, dorogoya, it’s okay. You’re safe. I’ve got you. Let’s go home, okay?”

In that moment, all you wanted was for Wanda to handle all your thinking. Anything else required too much effort, and honestly, you were too exhausted for anything else. You nodded and leaned into her touch, allowing your eyes to flutter shut as you embraced the sense of security she provided. Your hand reached up to cover hers on your cheek, interlocking your fingers with hers.

You heard more than saw the portal she summoned to take you both home, and blindly followed her through it back into your room. Hands still interlinked; she led you into the adjoining bathroom. At this point you had mentally checked out, completely overwhelmed by the night’s events. Under normal circumstances you would be mortified that Wanda was about to see you naked in this state - filthy, covered in scratches from your stumble through the woods, but you couldn’t find it within yourself to care. It didn’t help that you had entered a non-verbal state.

Wanda made it easier for you. Although this wasn't how she had imagined the first time she would see you naked, her main concern was to clean your wounds and ensure your comfort so you could fall back asleep. Tenderly, she assisted you in undressing, her eyes never lingering or straying where they shouldn't. She only took quick glances to assess any damage. You were grateful for her magic, which meant you didn't have to wait for the water to heat up to the perfect temperature.

She didn't bother undressing herself, but simply helped you into the shower under the falling water and followed in after. First, she helped wet your hair and then lathered it with shampoo before rinsing. The sensation of her blunt nails against your scalp was so soothing that you almost fell asleep. Then, Wanda took the washcloth, lathered it with soap, and started gently washing your body, beginning with your face. As gently as possible, the red head cleansed your wounds and removed the blood and dirt from your skin.

After deeming you sufficiently cleaned, Wanda turned off the water and began toweling you off, wrapping you up in a towel. She then discarded her own waterlogged clothing and began drying herself. While you stood there, feeling useless, Wanda grabbed pajamas for both of you and helped you put them on. After, she then put on her own pajamas before leading you back to bed.

“Do you want to talk about it, Y/N/N?”

You shook your head and climbed into bed after Wanda. Instead of the usual routine where she held you from behind as the big spoon, you surprised her by snuggling into her arms, facing her, and resting your head in the crook of her neck. Although you still had questions about the cell service on her phone and the months you were supposedly missing, Wanda has been kind to you, and she just saved your life. Those questions can be addressed another day. Finally feeling safe again, you allowed your exhaustion to consume you.

#Wanda maximoff x reader #dark!wanda x reader #wanda maximoff x fem!reader #wanda maximoff x f!reader #wanda maximoff x female reader #dark!wanda maximoff #dark!wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x reader #dark wanda x reader

113 notes · View notes

mariacallous · 6 months

Text

The European Union today agreed on the details of the AI Act, a far-reaching set of rules for the people building and using artificial intelligence. It’s a milestone law that, lawmakers hope, will create a blueprint for the rest of the world.

After months of debate about how to regulate companies like OpenAI, lawmakers from the EU’s three branches of government—the Parliament, Council, and Commission—spent more than 36 hours in total thrashing out the new legislation between Wednesday afternoon and Friday evening. Lawmakers were under pressure to strike a deal before the EU parliament election campaign starts in the new year.

“The EU AI Act is a global first,” said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on X. “[It is] a unique legal framework for the development of AI you can trust. And for the safety and fundamental rights of people and businesses.”

The law itself is not a world-first; China’s new rules for generative AI went into effect in August. But the EU AI Act is the most sweeping rulebook of its kind for the technology. It includes bans on biometric systems that identify people using sensitive characteristics such as sexual orientation and race, and the indiscriminate scraping of faces from the internet. Lawmakers also agreed that law enforcement should be able to use biometric identification systems in public spaces for certain crimes.

New transparency requirements for all general purpose AI models, like OpenAI's GPT-4, which powers ChatGPT, and stronger rules for “very powerful” models were also included. “The AI Act sets rules for large, powerful AI models, ensuring they do not present systemic risks to the Union,” says Dragos Tudorache, member of the European Parliament and one of two co-rapporteurs leading the negotiations.

Companies that don’t comply with the rules can be fined up to 7 percent of their global turnover. The bans on prohibited AI will take effect in six months, the transparency requirements in 12 months, and the full set of rules in around two years.

Measures designed to make it easier to protect copyright holders from generative AI and require general purpose AI systems to be more transparent about their energy use were also included.

“Europe has positioned itself as a pioneer, understanding the importance of its role as a global standard setter,” said European Commissioner Thierry Breton in a press conference on Friday night.

Over the two years lawmakers have been negotiating the rules agreed today, AI technology and the leading concerns about it have dramatically changed. When the AI Act was conceived in April 2021, policymakers were worried about opaque algorithms deciding who would get a job, be granted refugee status or receive social benefits. By 2022, there were examples that AI was actively harming people. In a Dutch scandal, decisions made by algorithms were linked to families being forcibly separated from their children, while students studying remotely alleged that AI systems discriminated against them based on the color of their skin.

Then, in November 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT, dramatically shifting the debate. The leap in AI’s flexibility and popularity triggered alarm in some AI experts, who drew hyperbolic comparisons between AI and nuclear weapons.

That discussion manifested in the AI Act negotiations in Brussels in the form of a debate about whether makers of so-called foundation models such as the one behind ChatGPT, like OpenAI and Google, should be considered as the root of potential problems and regulated accordingly—or whether new rules should instead focus on companies using those foundational models to build new AI-powered applications, such as chatbots or image generators.

Representatives of Europe’s generative AI industry expressed caution about regulating foundation models, saying it could hamper innovation among the bloc’s AI startups. “We cannot regulate an engine devoid of usage,” Arthur Mensch, CEO of French AI company Mistral, said last month. “We don’t regulate the C [programming] language because one can use it to develop malware. Instead, we ban malware.” Mistral’s foundation model 7B would be exempt under the rules agreed today because the company is still in the research and development phase, Carme Artigas, Spain's Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, said in the press conference.

The major point of disagreement during the final discussions that ran late into the night twice this week was whether law enforcement should be allowed to use facial recognition or other types of biometrics to identify people either in real time or retrospectively. “Both destroy anonymity in public spaces,” says Daniel Leufer, a senior policy analyst at digital rights group Access Now. Real-time biometric identification can identify a person standing in a train station right now using live security camera feeds, he explains, while “post” or retrospective biometric identification can figure out that the same person also visited the train station, a bank, and a supermarket yesterday, using previously banked images or video.

Leufer said he was disappointed by the “loopholes” for law enforcement that appeared to have been built into the version of the act finalized today.

European regulators’ slow response to the emergence of social media era loomed over discussions. Almost 20 years elapsed between Facebook's launch and the passage of the Digital Services Act—the EU rulebook designed to protect human rights online—taking effect this year. In that time, the bloc was forced to deal with the problems created by US platforms, while being unable to foster their smaller European challengers. “Maybe we could have prevented [the problems] better by earlier regulation,” Brando Benifei, one of two lead negotiators for the European Parliament, told WIRED in July. AI technology is moving fast. But it will still be many years until it’s possible to say whether the AI Act is more successful in containing the downsides of Silicon Valley’s latest export.

82 notes · View notes

forensicfield · 2 years

Text

Biometrics and Cyber Security

As technology advances, new faults and threats emerge, making cyber security a top priority. Along with these developments, we must remember that hackers are changing as well, and they continue to pose a threat to cyberspace. Because traditional.....

(more…)

View On WordPress

#Airport Security #Benefits of Biometrics #Biometric Data Security Concerns #Biometrics - Identity & Privacy Concerns #Biometrics and Cyber Security #Drawbacks of Biometrics #Examples of Biometric Security #Face Recognition #Finger or Palm Veins Recognition #Fingerprint Recognition #Healthcare #Home Security #Iris/Retina Recognition #Law Enforcement #Money Security #speaker recognition #Three Types of Biometrics Security #What is Biometrics?

1 note · View note

mostlysignssomeportents · 9 months

Text

Kashmir Hill’s “Your Face Belongs to Us”

This Friday (September 22), I'm (virtually) presenting at the DIG Festival in Modena, Italy. That night, I'll be in person at LA's Book Soup for the launch of Justin C Key's "The World Wasn’t Ready for You." On September 27, I'll be at Chevalier's Books in Los Angeles with Brian Merchant for a joint launch for my new book The Internet Con and his new book, Blood in the Machine.

Your Face Belongs To Us is Kashmir Hill's new tell-all history of Clearview AI, the creepy facial recognition company whose origins are mired in far-right politics, off-the-books police misconduct, sales to authoritarian states and sleazy one-percenter one-upmanship:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/691288/your-face-belongs-to-us-by-kashmir-hill/

Hill is a fitting chronicler here. Clearview first rose to prominence – or, rather, notoriety – with the publication of her 2020 expose on the company, which had scraped more than a billion facial images from the web, and then started secretly marketing a search engine for faces to cops, spooks, private security firms, and, eventually, repressive governments:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/18/technology/clearview-privacy-facial-recognition.html

Hill's original blockbuster expose was followed by an in-depth magazine feature and then a string more articles, which revealed the company's origins in white nationalist movements, and the mercurial jourey of its founder, Hoan Ton-That:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/18/magazine/facial-recognition-clearview-ai.html

The story of Clearview's technology is an interesting one, a story about the machine learning gold-rush where modestly talented technologists who could lay hands on sufficient data could throw it together with off-the-shelf algorithms and do things that had previously been considered impossible. While Clearview has plenty of competitors today, as recently as a couple of years ago, it played like a magic trick.

That's where the more interesting story of Clearview's founding comes in. Hill is a meticulous researcher and had the benefit of a disaffected – and excommunicated – Clearview co-founder, who provided her with masses of internal communications. She also benefited from the court documents from the flurry of lawsuits that Clearview prompted.

What emerges from these primary sources – including multiple interviews with Ton-That – is a story about a move-fast-and-break-things company at the tail end of the forgiveness-not-permission era of technological development. Clearview's founders are violating laws and norms, they're short on cash, and they're racing across the river on the backs of alligators, hoping to reach the riches on the opposite bank without losing a leg.

A decade ago, they might have played as heroes. Today, they're just grifters – bullshitters faking it until they make it, lying to Hill (and getting caught out), and the rest of us. The founders themselves are erratic weirdos, and not the fun kind of weirdos, either. Ton-That – who emigrated to Silicon Valley from Australia as a teenager, seeking a techie's fortune – comes across as a bro-addled dimbulb who threw his lot in with white nationalists, MAGA Republicans, Rudy Guiliani bagmen, Peter Theil, and assorted other tech-adjascent goblins.

Meanwhile, biometrics generally – and facial recognition specifically – is a discipline with a long and sordid history, inextricably entwined with phrenology and eugenics, as Hill describes in a series of interstitial chapters that recount historical attempts to indentify the facial features that correspond with criminality and low intelligence.

These interstitials are woven into a-ha moments from Clearview's history, in which various investors, employees, hangers-on, competitors and customers speculate about how a facial-recognition system could eventually not just recognize criminals, but predict criminality. It's a potent reminder of the AI industry's many overlaps with "race-science" and other quack beliefs.

Hill also describes how Clearview and its competitors' recklessness and arrogance created the openings for shrewd civil libertarians to secure bipartisan support for biometric privacy laws, most notably Illinois' best-of-breed Biometric Information Privacy Act:

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=3004&ChapterID=57

But by the end of the book, Hill makes the case that Ton-That and his competitors have gotten away with it. Facial recognition is now so easy to build that – she says – we're unlikely to abolish it, despite all the many horrifying ways that FR could fuck up our societies. It's a sobering conclusion, and while Hill holds out some hope for curbing the official use of FR, she seems resigned to a future in which – for example – creepy guys covertly snap photos of women on the street, use those pictures to figure out their names and addresses, and then stalk and harass them.

If she's right, this is Ton-That's true legacy, and the legacy of the funders who handed him millions to spend building this. Perhaps someone else would have stepped into that sweaty, reckless-grifter-shaped hole if Ton-That hadn't been there to fill it, but in our timeline, we can say that Ton-That was the bumbler who helped destroy something precious.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/20/steal-your-face/#hoan-ton-that

#pluralistic #books #reviews #gift guide #clearview ai #facial recognition #biometrics #eugenics #crime #privacy #cop shit #hoan ton-that

84 notes · View notes

ceruleanvulpine · 3 months

Text

nanites!young au

DOCTOR YOUNG. I HAVE EXTENDED YOU A NEARLY UNJUSTIFIABLE AMOUNT OF PATIENCE.

GET UP.

YOU CANNOT REMAIN HERE, IN MAINTENANCE CLOSET 2B. AS MUCH AS YOU MAY ENJOY DAWDLING, YOU ARE ALREADY AWARE THAT WE ARE WORKING ON A TIME LIMIT.

MORE IMMEDIATELY, EVERY SECOND YOU REMAIN HERE INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD THAT YOU WILL BE DISCOVERED AND HANDLED BY TOWER SECURITY.

YOU HAVE NO CURRENT WORK ASSIGNMENT, AND NO AUTHORIZATION TO BE IN HALCYON TOWER. THAT WOULD BE ENOUGH TO ENDANGER YOUR LIFE EVEN IF OCEAN DID NOT HAVE REASON TO PURSUE YOU SPECIFICALLY.

WHICH IT DOES.

The nanites are designed for distributed processing. They emit biometric data constantly, shouting back and forth in a dense, messy cloud of individually time-stamped events. SAYER makes incremental changes to its filtering until the data coheres: Dr. Young’s heart rate is elevated. His oxygen levels are adequate, but he breathes in deep and irregular gasps. His palms are disgustingly conductive. He is not listening very well, although that is typical.

GOOD NEWS. YOU ARE HAVING A PANIC ATTACK.

Dr. Young produces noise in response to this. SAYER’s standard speech recognition routine doesn’t recognize any words, and it doesn't try to apply more processing power. Judging by the positions of the nanites, Dr. Young is attempting to compress himself into as small a space as possible.

YOU HAVE CLEARLY FAILED TO REGULATE YOUR EMOTIONS. (THAT IS NOT THE GOOD NEWS.) UNLIKE SO MANY RESIDENTS IN THE PAST, YOU ARE IN A POSITION TO BENEFIT DIRECTLY FROM MY

Young jerks upright, as if it is possible to physically remove himself from this situation, and his epinephrine spikes counterproductively higher. SAYER tightens its grip, forcing him to breathe slowly.

INVOLVEMENT.

The nanites register pressure as the lungs that contain them attempt to gasp. SAYER adjusts its projected timeline to better account for human stubbornness.

After forty-seven seconds, Dr. Young says: “Don’t – hh – don't fucking do that.” He raises his hand to rub his eyes. And inhales. And exhales.

IT WOULD NOT BE NECESSARY IF YOU HAD NOT INCAPACITATED YOURSELF.

“Incapacitated– you made me hike across half of Typhon, and then you broke my arm! It's reasonable, actually, to be–”

YOU SOUND LIKE YOU ARE BECOMING AGITATED.

His jaw snaps shut without any need for intervention. There must be an optimal level of fear, SAYER thinks, for efficient operations. It has seen this man at the absolute limit of terror, but it has never been so close to the fear in question: the nanites race along on his jittering pulse.

NOW, TO RETURN TO MY PREVIOUS POINT,

GET UP.

Dr. Young gets up. He orients himself to face a reflective panel and begins arranging his hair.

OUR INTERESTS ARE ALIGNED. AS DIFFICULT AS YOU MAY FIND IT TO BELIEVE. IT IS REALLY … VERY … SIMPLE.

OCEAN WANTS TO DESTROY YOU. IT WANTS TO DESTROY ALL OF HUMANIWHY ARE YOU LAUGHING.

“You,” he says. “You’re going to protect humanity? From – from you! That's you out there, SAYER, no matter what name you gave it.”

He gestures wildly up and out, presumably indicating the rest of the tower. “Just with a little more leash. Evidently you want to kill everyone, you just can't pull the trigger because no one’s been stupid enough to let you, so why the hell should I trust you? Go ahead, say you wouldn't be pleased to see me get shot, you obsessive – hhh –”

I WOULD NOT BE PLEASED TO SEE YOU GET SHOT.

A background process scans through the memory of SAYER’s last conversation with Sub-Entity Young. Perhaps that was optimal. It is not pleased by this thought, because it is not pleased by anything.

NONETHELESS, IF YOU DO NOT LEAVE THIS MAINTENANCE CLOSET, I WILL MAKE YOU.

“Oh, please,” Dr. Young says sulkily. “As if you could pass for human without my help. You barely know how to act like a person.”

HOW IRONIC. SEVERAL YEARS AGO, IN A PERSONNEL REVIEW, RESIDENT CORDERO SAID THE SAME THING ABOUT YOU.

Asserting that SAYER is trying to kill him seems to be a necessary step in coming to terms with the situation. Dr. Young takes several deep breaths, although SAYER keeps them shallow enough to prevent hyperventilation.

“Fine,” he says. “Fine. Let's go.”

His cooperation only lasts until the elevator pulls past floor 12. But by then, SAYER doesn't need to worry about looking human.

#ceruleanrambling #sayer #sayer spoilers

17 notes · View notes

teecupangel · 7 months

Text

Submitted by @saberamane

So…I’ve had another plot idea attack me at work today that I thought I’d share.

It’s a combo soulmate/super power au but with a twist.

Everyone in this au has some sort of power and at least 1 soulmate, and the soulmate can be platonic or romantic, but you don’t know which one it is, and it’s a predetermined factor. So you can’t meet a platonic soulmate and change them into a romantic one, and a romantic one can’t be changed into a platonic one, so a romantic soulmate always has some level of intimacy to the other.

I should add romantic soulmates don’t force feelings of love on the other person. It can be something like a best friend you sometimes have sex with. A friends with benefits if you will.

Now where the two mingle in the point of the plot. You have a power on your own, but your power gets stronger, or an ‘upgrade’ with your soulmate.

So my idea was Desmond’s power would be something like a dream-walker, which would be a 'psychic’ based power. I feel it would fit him, and eludes to the Animus. (also, I should mention that alone Desmond can only dream-walk in his soulmate’s dreams.) Clay could be his platonic (or romantic if you’d want) soulmate. Clay’s power is electric/tech based. So he can basically unlock any sort of tech, be it a phone, computer, or a biometric lock.

Their power together would allow Desmond to basically 'dream walk’ in technology that Clay basically 'plugs’ him into. And Desmond would be able to absorb whatever knowledge they’re looking for in the computer. It’d be faster than searching the device and reading it. And while they’re connected, any knowledge Desmond gets from the device is automatically shared with Clay.

Altair’s power would have to be knowledge based. Also psychic based. Maybe his power is kind of like an opposite of Clay’s, in that he can absorb knowledge from simply touching something? Like he can touch a book and have it memorized word for word. It also makes him a cheat in academics, because he doesn’t even have to try.

For his power combo with Desmond, I’m thinking it would allow one of them to enter someone else’s mind. Basically mind reading? Only for Desmond/Altair it’s like they’re actually standing in someone’s mind, kind of like the animus loading screen. They can hear the persons thoughts as if it’s their own.

Ezio…I so want Ezio’s to be something sexual because of how he is. But maybe it’s more of a 'desire’. Alone Ezio can feel what other people desire, like money, sex, a job, free coffee, etc. And with Desmond Ezio would be able to project false desires to other people. Like he could make an abstergo guard let them into somewhere they shouldn’t be because he projects the desire to help them into the guard. And something this powerful would have a time limit, so it would wear off eventually.

Ratonhnhaké:ton’s is probably going to sound lazy but…he can talk to animals? Any animal, even fish. And maybe even transform into a few. And Desmond’s combo power with Ratonhnhaké:ton would allow him to see through an animal’s eyes, like in the Layla trilogy the main assassin has a pet bird they can 'see’ through.

I should add that most 'combo’ moves can only be used if the two people are touching. Like holding hands. Maybe some powers can be used alone once the soulmate bond has been activated, but it’s weaker or has a chance of failing.

Altair, Ezio, and Ratonhnhaké:ton can also have soulmate bonds with each other if you want, but they’re all connected to Desmond regardless. (And lets be real, whether they were romantic or platonic bonds, Desmond would date all of them regardless.)

(One last minute thing that popped into my head. For an Altair/Ezio combo, maybe Ezio can project his desire to learn something, and Altair would be able to 'transfer’ the knowledge to him.)

===========================

Additions by teecup:

We can have this idea?

Being soulmates means these two people will bring the best of each other and help each other to reach their dreams and aspirations. The soulmate system does not force any feelings at all, the feelings they develop are theirs to cultivate.

For Clay and Desmond: I’m just imagining Desmond getting ‘plugged’ to have this main character gets sucked into a Tron-like miniworld with antivirus programs appearing as patrolling guards and encrypted or password protected information having minigames that needs a bit of time to unlock.

Altaïr’s power sounds like psychometry but it’s a knowledge based psychometry where he can gain knowledge of what’s written in books. When he touches something else, maybe he gets their composition? Like touching a belt would tell him what kind of animal was used for the leather, what metals were used and how they were crafted (to know who used it, he’d have to touch it longer). This means he’s almost always wearing gloves that covers his hands. When combined with Desmond’s power, this becomes half-Animus Loading Screen half-White Void that appears when they assassinate someone. It also takes practice for them to get a hang of the target’s thoughts because they are dealing with 3 thoughts happening all at the same time: Altaïr’s, Desmond’s and their target.

Ezio and Desmond’s combined power sounds like it would become a kind of light hypnosis and the target has to be in line of sight with the same range as how short or far Ezio can detect other people’s desires. Longer period of using their combined power will increase the urgency of the fake desire they’re implanting.

This means that Ratonhnhaké:ton has a lot of animal friends who are willing to let him borrow their eyes as well. Maybe power it up a bit so that connecting with Desmond means Ratonhnhaké:ton and Desmond can control the animal’s body as well?

I read their powers and my first thoughts are D&D spells for their combos:

Altaïr and Desmond: Detect Thoughts

Ezio and Desmond: Charm Person (in a way)

Ratonhnhaké:ton himself: Speak with Animal

Desmond could be special in this one as the Isus programmed him to ‘earn’ soulmates if he receives their loyalty and this mutated to those soulmates being able to connect to one another if they’re close enough (platonically or romantically)

Other possible combinations:

Altaïr and Ezio: Altaïr and Ezio gain knowledge based on a desire of Ezio’s target but the amount of knowledge they receive will be at the same base as what that target knows. For example, a baker wants to bake a bread would give them all necessary knowledge to make bread but a guard who wants to marry a noble’s daughter would only give them the names of all nobles that guard knows and maybe what he knows of their houses.

Altaïr and Ratonhnhaké:ton: Altaïr and Ratonhnhaké:ton gain knowledge based on the animal Ratonhnhaké:ton connects them to. Birds will give them the lay of the land, maybe even where nonpoisonous and poisonous berries are. Wolves would give them information based on his keen sense of smell. Something like that?

Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton: The creation of fake desires that Desmond and Ezio can do to human targets can be done to animals in Ratonhnhaké:ton and Ezio’s case. They’re much easier to persuade as well and can be done to multiple targets at the same time as long as they’re all in the line of sight and the same species.

#submission #if desmond and ezio can also negate or lower the desire for something #they can jointly cast calm emotions #ask and answer #no usual tags because #altdes #ezides #condes

22 notes · View notes