03/19/18 – Memory and Action



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2018-03-19-spacetrawler2b

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One of those superpowers that one should think twice about before accepting.

Perhaps.

11 Comments

  1. War Pig

    I don’t see it as a problem, either. Of course it will react. If an “ally” is swinging a baseball bat at you it will hurt as much as if an enemy swung it. However, he did have the wherewithal NOT to then destroy her in return. So I’d say it was pretty darned successful. He can react, smash things, but only damage those who require said damage in return. Plus, this is new to him.

    When I was first married, I was newly back from Vietnam. My young wife walked up behind me quietly an put her hand in my jacket pocket to put a little, honeymoon-type, love note in there. She almost took an elbow to the mouth in return. I stopped it about an inch away from her face. Scared me almost as much as it scared her. I could have really damaged her. So I had to explain to her, again, not to come up behind someone who has been trained and is still jumpy from combat. Before, she just nodded and said she understood. That time, it sank in. She would speak my name or cough or something. I never did hit her by accident (and never on purpose – men of my family don’t do that). She was a smart woman and picked up things quickly once she was sure she needed that knowledge. It was useful as she was cautious when around other GIs to whom she was a stranger, not a loved one.

    1. MHC

      War Pig, there’s a pretty big difference of intent between serving in the military and returning with mental and emotional scars, versus casually lobotomizing your ability to restrain yourself from committing violence against other people for tangentially perceived aggression (such as a gentle underhand toss of a remote, for example…).

      Hwan just chose the latter. He’s a shortsighted idiot who will live to regret this. As is usual, for him.

      1. War Pig

        The US government didn’t do a very good job of de-milling us to fit back into society. In fact, they still aren’t. I am continually amazed that more combat veterans don’t go “postal” and harm people on the streets.

        However, you’ll notice he destroyed the bat but did not touch Devyat, even though she had swung the bat at him, twice, once connecting and causing pain. Any unstoppable, uncontrollable reaction would have taken out the continual threat as well as the immediate threat. But Chris couldn’t let Devyat be hurt. She’s too cute and too critical to the storyline. He can control it better with practice. I learned to control my “jungle jumpies”. Most of us eventually did. Took time, though.

        1. Nezumi

          I… am once again glad my PTSD or other trauma-related mental illness (but I’ve had at least one flashback, even if of a delusional rather than hallucinatory nature — I could see and hear and feel where I actually was, but it didn’t matter because my brain was still COMPLETELY convinced I was back in the traumatic situation) was not from trauma where a violent response makes sense as a reaction. (Online sexual abuse, parental emotional abuse, stuff like that)

          That said, I’m in a high-risk category for rape and sexual assault, so we’ll see how long that lasts.

  2. Leinglo

    Hopefully she assumed that would happen and made a second remote, because I have a feeling something will happen later that will really need them to shut the nanosystems off.

  3. Aaron Gullison

    This is a King Midas-type situation.

    A bad guy comes up behind you with a mace? BAM!

    A waitress hands you a beer? SMASH!

    A pretty girl tries to kiss you? SLAM!

    This could get old fast…

  4. Peter Rogan

    Ohhhh, boy.

    Hwan ought to go pick up a copy of Burt Cole’s “The Funco File” and learn what happened to the soldier Rome Burns.

    Being combat-ready all the time means a lot of other things like human contact have to go. As I’m sure we’ll be shown how he finds that out.

  5. Night-Gaunt49

    I figured out that the central nervous system trained with the needed response pattern would react faster than having to go through the brain first. And it worked. However it has no judgment or any thought at all. Just a reaction. Fast and dangerous. Fortunately never had a problem of someone sneaking up on me. Just occasionally snatching flying paper out of the air while talking without interruption. It even happened while I was explaining it once to a colleague. I even explained why I could do two things at once since my mind is just doing one thing—speaking. The nervous system response was doing the snatching on its own. Peculiar at first, but applicable in reality.

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