basic_powers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
basic_powers) wrote2012-01-27 08:17 pm
basic_powers) wrote2012-01-27 08:17 pm
...how great and terrible things come together...
The great and terrible things come together with a tiny thought which is quite often a question.
How can I help save the world?
When that question gets it's first answer, it turns out to be another question layered on top of it.
What am I saving the world from?
Then another question on top of that. And then another, and another as some questions need multiple answers that are also questions. By the time it is half-way formed the great and terrible thing is no longer a single question, but a pearl of the concept.
What should I use to drive them back?
And this pearl becomes the focus of a single idea. One that leaves a gadget hero pouring his nights into research. He was once the child of heroes, later the somewhat adopted son of a great inventor and good man, and the pupil of his world's greatest equalizing force. He just has his hands and his mind to work with when it gets down to it.
How does this work?
It took months before he realized that the parts he needed weren't in the Bar itself. There were worlds he had to visit to find suitable replacement parts, and a lot of very scared people before he found them. He'd owe favors to them later. But there were two parts he wouldn't be able to fully replace. Only temporarily replicate.
How do I power this thing?
Maybe it's no surprise to anyone back home that when he's there, he's looking for a specific type of psychokinetic resonating stone. It doesn't surprise him when it comes in the form of a jade dragon when he finally finds it. Though perhaps the real surprise came when the antique dealer nodded to Moon Shadow just as solemnly as he said. "I will accept a favor from you, in exchange for this. He follows your heart in these matters, and I will not stand in his way."
How do I control it?
And now that pearl of questions has begun it's final steps to becoming a great and terrible thing. There were just a few things left now. Surprisingly enough, the last piece he needed was the one thing he had all along from the start, from the original pilot. He had to step back in surprise when he realized that, looking up at the face, big as a house, and that being just the head.
He's got to go through about eight more checks of everything before finally getting into the pilot's seat, the replica dagger in one hand. Everything is in the green when the overhead passage to the chamber, and the door in the head shut and seal. It's another breath before he raises the flute piece of the dagger to his lips and plays the notes to start this beast up. There's a lurch that almost scares him out of his seat before he realizes that the lights outside have come on...and the entire thing is sinking down into the water.
The last question isn't even really a question at this point, even though it finishes this great and terrible thing..this force out entirely. There's always that look of surprise on some villains faces when they realize just what he was, after they've found all he's done to them. It surprises him sometimes too, but only one person may ever hear him confess to that.
How far will I go?
The drop through the water is fast enough before the controls start heading and everything works as it needs to. The jade dragon is almost growling, probably is, more in excitement than anything else. There's just the water to pass through now..and a lake to exit from.
The answer was and will always be, as far as I need to go.
How can I help save the world?
When that question gets it's first answer, it turns out to be another question layered on top of it.
What am I saving the world from?
Then another question on top of that. And then another, and another as some questions need multiple answers that are also questions. By the time it is half-way formed the great and terrible thing is no longer a single question, but a pearl of the concept.
What should I use to drive them back?
And this pearl becomes the focus of a single idea. One that leaves a gadget hero pouring his nights into research. He was once the child of heroes, later the somewhat adopted son of a great inventor and good man, and the pupil of his world's greatest equalizing force. He just has his hands and his mind to work with when it gets down to it.
How does this work?
It took months before he realized that the parts he needed weren't in the Bar itself. There were worlds he had to visit to find suitable replacement parts, and a lot of very scared people before he found them. He'd owe favors to them later. But there were two parts he wouldn't be able to fully replace. Only temporarily replicate.
How do I power this thing?
Maybe it's no surprise to anyone back home that when he's there, he's looking for a specific type of psychokinetic resonating stone. It doesn't surprise him when it comes in the form of a jade dragon when he finally finds it. Though perhaps the real surprise came when the antique dealer nodded to Moon Shadow just as solemnly as he said. "I will accept a favor from you, in exchange for this. He follows your heart in these matters, and I will not stand in his way."
How do I control it?
And now that pearl of questions has begun it's final steps to becoming a great and terrible thing. There were just a few things left now. Surprisingly enough, the last piece he needed was the one thing he had all along from the start, from the original pilot. He had to step back in surprise when he realized that, looking up at the face, big as a house, and that being just the head.
He's got to go through about eight more checks of everything before finally getting into the pilot's seat, the replica dagger in one hand. Everything is in the green when the overhead passage to the chamber, and the door in the head shut and seal. It's another breath before he raises the flute piece of the dagger to his lips and plays the notes to start this beast up. There's a lurch that almost scares him out of his seat before he realizes that the lights outside have come on...and the entire thing is sinking down into the water.
The last question isn't even really a question at this point, even though it finishes this great and terrible thing..this force out entirely. There's always that look of surprise on some villains faces when they realize just what he was, after they've found all he's done to them. It surprises him sometimes too, but only one person may ever hear him confess to that.
How far will I go?
The drop through the water is fast enough before the controls start heading and everything works as it needs to. The jade dragon is almost growling, probably is, more in excitement than anything else. There's just the water to pass through now..and a lake to exit from.
The answer was and will always be, as far as I need to go.