it isn't easy being a hero without being a super, robert robertson the first has learned that the hard way. he tried to prepare his son for battle the best he could, raising him on tough love and battle strategies. mecha man had to become more if they wished to succeed in keeping the city safe.
robert robertson the second followed in his father's steps, but, deeply impacted by the man's death, he knew that ordinary humans would always struggle against supers, even in powered mecha suits. he could add jet pack blasters and plasma blades, he could fortify the exterior, but he couldn't avoid his own mortality, his own weaknesses. the suit was strong, but their enemies were getting stronger. the next mecha man would have to be even better.
he had to be a super.
and robert robertson the second would do anything to ensure that became a reality.
|x|
robert robertson the third isn't a super, but he isn't a normie either. he is stronger than he lets on, faster, he bounces back from injuries most people would never recover from. he is covered in scars and bruises but pays them no mind, he is beaten and kicked and barely makes a sound.
the z-team isn't sure what to make of it. a few of them are convinced he has super powers, the others think he's just one of those guys who never know when to back down. they have bets going. sonar bets it's drugs, saying he can 'smell it on him'. the rest isn't sure if they believe that. flambae didn't, until he finds robert injecting himself with something in the gym's locker room.
"you doing fucking drugs now, bitch?" he says, stepping closer.
robert moves like he's trying to hide it, but gives up halfway, sighing and rolling his eyes, capping the injector. it looks like one of those insulin pens, and it might have fooled him, if he didnt know for sure robert didnt have diabetes.
"it's a stabilizer, fuck off," robert tells him, in his usual dispassionate voice. "none of your business."
flambae isn't too sure what a "stabilizer" is or what it does or why robert would need it, but he doesn't ask, instead kicking robert's leg and telling him to meet him out in the gym so he can kick his ass.
a half hour later, flambae starts to believe sonar's prattle about performance drugs.
he can tell robert is trying to hide it, but his movements are smoother, better, stronger, he's noticeably less out of breath, and his wraps go easier than ever before, flambae can tell because he's been watching robert for the last weeks (not that he'd ever admit that), and he's never done so well as he does now. he knows it's not crack or some other street drug, obviously, but robert is injecting himself with something that does make him better.
he brings it up to prism, who tells malevola, who tells sonar, and soon the whole team knows. one of them mentions it in front of chase, who goes uncharacteristically quiet for a moment before storming off, looking furious. there are new bets going on when robert is getting sacked.
later, invisigal reports back to them, saying she overheard (spied on) chase and robert having a fight, and that chase was fuming and mentioned robert's father, blaming him for robert "shooting himself up like a drug addict", which robert reacted badly to. they stopped before she could hear more, and robert ended up walking away.
they try to ask robert about it, but it gets them nowhere. they try to dig a little into robert's past, but that tells them nothing that they didnt already know.
[x]
robert doesn't remember when his father started injecting him. part of him believes it started before he was even born.
his father was a ambitious man traumatized by the death of robert's grandfather, deep in the belief that if they wanted to keep the world safe they had to grow with it, become more, become supers. robert never really wanted to become a super. chase was one, some of his dad's friends were one, wasn't that enough? wasn't part of mecha man's inspiring reputation that he wasn't a super?
robert remembers becoming stronger, not by much, but enough to be noticeable. he pulled a door out of its hinges once during an argument with his father, though what he remembers most about that altercation was how happy his father looked after that. how proud.
the formula works like a fever, enhancing his physiology by altering his system, but the problem is that his body doesn't know when to stop, and, like a fever that gets too high, it ends up damaging itself. he needs more of it to bring the fever down again.
later, the strength wore off and robert was not only normal again, but worse off than before, and his father left for a while. robert thought about telling chase, but he never felt brave enough to do so.
not until his father was dead.
maybe it was the anger, the hurt, the grief, but when chase found the project plans and the remaining injections when clearing the house to keep mecha man's secret identity, robert couldn't lie and pretend it was about someone else. chase was in disbelief.
later, robert ended up taking the remains of the project and left, cutting all contact.
in the following years, robert barely used any of the formula, only when he explicitly had to. like taking meds, he told himself. he hated every bit of it, but if he didn't take it (and he tried), his body would start to self destruct. he tries to keep as much time as possible between each dose, but he can feel his body start to deteriorate the longer he goes without.
when he starts working for the SDN, chase doesn't mention it. he doesn't even seem to have told blonde blazer, and robert is more than content to pretend like it doesn't exist.
until flambae sees him using it.
someone must have told chase, because it turns into a fight. chase has been holding resentment for it, apparently, because he blows up about robert's father and says all kinds of things that rub robert the wrong way, even if he understands why chase is saying it.
"you should have told me," chase hisses.
it comes from a place of helplessness, he knows that, but can't keep the anger from his voice as he bites back, "what difference would that have made? what would you have done?"
"i would've made damn sure your father never stuck another needle in you if i knew he was doing it! fuck, robert!"
it doesn't make a difference. it would have been too late anyway, robert's father had been doing it for years then, and his body had been irreversibly altered to the point he needs the stabilizers to stay alive. it sucks, but that's how it is.
robert contemplates telling the z-team the truth, but he doesn't see what difference that would make either. he's not a normie, and he's not a super. he doesn't fit in.
Like they attached the gene that makes certain jellyfish fluoresce under uv light to a gene that makes the kitty immune to feline hiv, so that they could see if the gene was successfully inserted into the kitty cat genome
Honestly cloning has limited usefulness in conservation, let alone deextinctuon. If a population has bottlenecked or fallen below the carrying threshold then cloning what's left doesn't functionally help. Even cloning a recently deceased individual might not help, depending on a lot of factors. It's annoying that it's treated like this big help to conservation when frankly well managed breeding programs are a much bigger help than cloning will ever be.
Oh don't get me wrong
There's certainly room for thoughtful, ethical cloning use in conservation!
A really great example is in Black-footed ferrets just last year. They're critically endangered partially due to reduced fertility from inbreeding depression.
Two jills (female ferrets) were cloned from historic samples of a ferret called Willa, who was captured and never reproduced in her lifetime. Because of this, reintroducing her genes helped bolster the genetic diversity of the population!
This is one of the twin ferret sisters, Antonia.
Better yet, the above ferret then went on to give birth to healthy kits! They're super cute, and being 100% ferret made the old-fashioned way (not clones), shouldn't have any of the issues that clones sometimes do.
Behold them!
But what Colossal is doing is not cloning!
I can't stress that enough! It's genetic modification, but cloning means creating a complete replicate of another animal.
Even using genetic modification has many potential applications in conservation; coding endangered species with resistance to population-devastating diseases, or using it to recode lost genetic diversity, as a few examples. But the way Colossal is using it is not to preserve endangered species. They have created, depending on your opinion:
1) a GMO grey wolf (or wolfdog, given where the white-coat gene came from).
2) a completely new transgenic species.
They claim to be filling the niche left by an extinct species, but this is honestly BS. They haven't made an extinct species, nor an endangered one. It couldn't even fill the niche if that niche was still open.
"The T. rex in this Jurassic Park is just a frog..."
Finally made a guide to humans in my sci-fi project, Genesis. Humans are basically what me and you are and we tend to be incredibly diverse. I might do the aliens later but I hope you enjoy this guide~
saw on ya main blog you wrote for carmen sandiego. a dr. saira bellum x child reader scene please with mind experiments?
I am full into Carmen Sandiego Mood lately and love the Series and its complex Characters. So i wrote a little Oneshot about our beloved Dr. Bellum and a femal child reder (platonic of course!)
Little Lucky Charm
You were one of the few children on Vile Island.
Not created because someone found you, but rather brought into this world through a genetic experiment combined with dark science and the brain experiments of Dr. Saira Bellum.
A creation that should not have existed from an ethical point of view. But when you are born on Vile Island… or created like in your case, such a detail does not count.
The annoying baby phase was skipped and you saw the light of day at the age of 2, fully developed with the vocabulary of a toddler and the emotional ups and downs.
Some might say you are a little spitting image of Saira and Dash Haber. You inherited your 'mother's' bad eyesight and your father's gray hair, your eyes are blue-gray. You have a curious character but your parents taught you early on what behavior and following rules mean. At the age of 3, you are always very proud when you can help your mom with one of her experiments.
You don't understand that these are evil experiments that harm other people. For you, everything your mother does is exciting, much more exciting than the strange things that Aunt Cleo collects or the questions that Uncle Gunnar, asks you while grinning so strangely and writing something down on a pad of paper. Your mom also likes cat videos. Cats are soooo great!
That's why one of your favorite students at the Vile Academy is Tigress. She has a big cat costume and every time you run into her, you call out loudly and for everyone else to hear - big kitten - before you try to hug one of Tigress' legs. Most of the time, however, Tigress uses her acrobatic skills and her speed to get to safety from you. She's not really the person who likes children. But that doesn't bother you - you still like the big kitten. Even if she's not one of your mother's favorite students.
That would be Crackle - also known as Graham - but you don't find him half as nice as Paper Star. One of Uncle Gunnar's favorites. Which of course doesn't mean that you don't have a favorite among the male students at the academy. Even though he doesn't speak and speaks a completely different language, he understood exactly what you wanted to say with your toddler sounds and words, especially in the first few months after you were created. If you had to choose, your very best friend on the entire campus would definitely be Mime Bomb. You like him and he is currently trying to teach you his way of communicating.
You have a rather mixed relationship with your mom's other friends. After all, the last child on the island was Black Sheep - unfortunately, your paths never crossed.
You were created , after Black Sheep left the island. Countess Cleo was not good with children and once refused to look after you for a few hours at your mother's request, because Saira had to go to an international villain meeting in Seattle and the other Vile chairmen were busy and your father was on an outside mission in New Zealand. Luckily, Coach Brunt took on the task and gave you a cupcake. She is like the cool, strong aunt to you. Even if her outbursts of anger sometimes make you seek protection behind Uncle Gunnar. Similar to Cleo, Shadowsan also kept you at a distance and was always strict with you. Perhaps also because he didn't want an incident like the one with Black Sheep to happen again.
"Daddah back soon? Miss Daddah soooo much!" - you spread your arms to make it clear to Dash , in your video call via the tablet how much you miss him. It had been so many nights since you said goodnight to the moon and indirectly to Dash too, of course, and so many listening cd´s , that your mom put on for you to help you sleep while she was still working overtime in her lab and researching new inventions.
Sometimes your father didn't want you to call him that in front of the other Vile members, because it was actually just the DNA that Dash had thrown together with Saira's DNA. But you saw him as your father and didn't care if he would pull a dramatic face when Aunt Cleo made a nasty comment.
"I still have a lot to do. You will be a good girl for Dr. Bellum?" - Dash's answer sounded cold , but there was a spark of compassion in his eyes.
"Good girl, yes! Help Mommy! By by Daddah!”, you wave once into the camera as your father has to end the video call and then run out of your room with the tablet in your hand to your mother , to give the tablet back. Saira was careful not to give you too much screen time.
"There's my lucky charm! Come to Mommy, you can help me and Professor Maelstrom with an important experiment!" - with these words, your mom picked you up and you quickly dropped the tablet onto the sofa , before you automatically wrapped your arms around her neck and were curious about what kind of experiment it was.
You can help? How great! You're a good helper! A good girl to be proud of. Maybe there will be muffins or cupcakes for that later?
You were put down on a table in your mother's lab and Uncle Gunnar came into the room followed by Crackle. Crackle , was told to sit in the chair… it didn't look like a normal chair… not really like your high chair either, which you were less and less keen to get into. Was it a new chair?
“…..it won't happen again…I can get better!”, - said Crackle as the arm straps closed.
“Was Crackle naughty....bad?”, you asked curiously to Uncle Gunnar as your mom approached the now immobilized Crackle with a small device.
Gunnar stood next to you at the edge of the table, partly because you leaned forward curiously and threatened to fall down - he grabbed you and put you down on the floor….the cleaners, had enough to do, they don't have to remove blood stains from a toddler.
“Oh indeed. Crackle broke the rules and now has to face the consequences”, - said Gunnar with a devious undertone.
“Bad Crackle! Don't break rules! Time out,” - you said, making clicking noises with your tongue.
“Oh my little lucky charm, I don’t think our Crackle can make up for this rule breaking with a time out” - your mother laughed, almost in a delusional manner, and then turned to Crackle.
“It won’t hurt, you’ll just be a little dizzy… and then the happy days will follow!”
The next thing you saw was your mom putting the strange device on Crackle’s head, turning it on and then Crackle letting out a few panicked screams , before his body remained sitting on the chair, asleep and without the energy to defend itself. Apparently he had fainted.
Your mom starts to laugh evilly, Uncle Gunnar starts to laugh amusedly, so it must be something good… the evil Crackle has learned that you should follow rules… so you giggle childishly once and clap your hands several times, you adapt to the mood of the adults. Because they know what is right and what is wrong.
“That’s my girl! Just watch careful, then one day you'll be just as wonderful a scientist as your mommy!” - your mother said happily, first putting the strange device away and then picking you up again.
“Your thoughts and brain experiments are getting better . And Crackle won't remember anything?”, said Gunnar as the two were on their way to the meeting room, where the other chairmen of Vile were already waiting for them. You had now rested your head tiredly on your mother's right shoulder and your eyes half closed, you would soon be asleep.
“I guarantee that Crackle won't remember anything , that has to do with us, the island or Vile… but I will never forget my boy,” said your mom.
Half asleep, you pat your mom's left hand and the glove.
“My mommy! Me mommy's favorite”
Uncle Gunnar's amused laughter penetrates your ears like cotton wool as you get increasingly tired.
But you hear your mom's answer and loving words very clearly before you slip into a gentle sleep.
"Of course you are mommy's favorite, my favorite girl…my favorite lucky charm. Forever"
Let me throw one unpopular opinion at you: Gene Tech is actually not a bad. Genetically modified crops and what not are not bad and no, they will probably not give you cancer or anything of the like. In fact, if we want to save the planet and what not, we should totally embrace gene tech and gene editing.
With that I do not mean: "Edit human genes." Which is something that on one hand would be interesting and could have great promise, but on the other hand... would probably make the world so much world and lead to all sorts of eugenics.
No, I am talking first and foremost about editing the genes of some plants and maybe some insects.
See, I live in Germany, where a lot of GMO food is actually outlawed, which I find not good. Now, let me make one thing clear: Nobody should be able to copyright the genum of a crop. So fuck the hell off, Monsanto!
But gene editing can help us overcome many problems.
For once, we just have to face the facts: Climate is changing right now. It is changing and it creates bad harvests in many areas of the earth, because the crops are not adjusted for the new climate. In some areas it suddenly is too wet, in others it is too dry.
Humans have always edited the genes of plants and animals, of course. Just that we did it the very slow way by selective breeding them. Without selective breeding a wolf does not turn into a poodle.
Our ability to directly edit the genum of crops now allows us to quickly adust to the changing climate. Which might save a lot of people, if we allow it.
But apart from that, we can also do other things by gene editing.
We might be able to create plants, that are much better at storing CO2, than they would normally be. We are in fact able to create bacteria and algea, that eat micro plastics. We might in general be able to create bacteria able to dissolve garbage. We might be able to sustain plant species that otherwise might perish due to climate change.
And there might actually be some other things. See, we could maybe extinguish maleria thanks to gene tech. And we might be able to fight invasive species through it.
A lot of people in the conservation movement will be like "No, we should not mess with nature". But the thing is, that we already are messing with it.
Gene tech can help us to actually fix some of the problems we caused.
Again: Fucking Monsanto should not be allowed to copyright crops they created like this. But just because they are using it this way, does not mean, that the technology itself is horrible.
