My Superhero University | Season 02, Episode 03: To Wash Away What Happened Last
Mahvash: ...he became the latest in a long line to try trading a hostage for for some means of power. I will tell you now to never play along, and I will remind you now I didn't. Its old, trying to put pressure on you to trade something for nothing under the weight of the moment. He was not demanding we trade the artifact for Sally's life and freedom, Malhareff was to have us trade the artifact for his promise to respect Sally's life and freedom. His empty promise.
Mahvash: If that sounds fantastic or merely excusing, I'll have you ask whatever details you wish and I'll have you note that handing over the artifact would not have switched the override off. I'll also tell you that we held more artifacts and the very next demands would have been 'now give me the other ones if you want Sally.' After that would have either been some version of 'Put Down Your Gun and Step Away' or 'give me x tech or records you have if you want her back'.
Mahvash: I laid out why hostage situations like that are doomed to failure, but they work. That is why people do them... If you buckle under pressure or are undertrained, you can't really think...you give them everything they ask and get shocked when they walk away with the hostage and the prize. ...This kind of standoff turns almost entirely on psychology, what will you do, when will you 'blink', what do I really know that you will do.
Sally: The truth is...I am an android now via my mind being uploaded into this mechanical body. What happened was to escape Malhareff's clutches, to prevent being killed by him and to prevent giving him a victory, I had my metal implements be unmade and knowing the consequences of what could happen given those were what was keeping me alive. It was a decision I had to make in those moments...I wanted to be able to be alive with everyone and that was the main impetus for my choice.
Holiday: Quite. It is in fact, extraordinarily similar to that. Thankfully I've had prior exposure before this class, as my father is even more blatant in his display of unfinished machines. And even more disorganized. Imagine wading through a sea of intestines and neatly chopped slices of skin and you'll understand the feeling. I'm sure.
Evelyn:(Yes, really Evelyn): You don't look too bad yourself, handsome.
Dante: hellomartinsnowwelcometooursquadtheiridiumwondersihopeyouwillenjoyyourstayand—*Pant* *Pant*
Armada: at the end of the day, it's your choice to make. No-one's gonna stop you from uploading if that's what you wanna do. All I'm asking is that you really think about what that means. And if you're in the best place to be doing it. Because if you aren't? Then maybe you'd better get yourself together before so much as going out the door.
Vivian: Life and death? That's why I did it. You saw what almost happened to Sally. What happened to Jace. A lot of people have lost their lives because we're just not good enough. Because I'M not good enough. And this was the best way, the only way, to fix it. It was my choice, and it was the only right one.
Clankybottoms: SIMPLE? SIMPLE?! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME 'SIMPLE!' I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I WAS SOLVING 2348732723 TO THE 10TH POWER WHILE YOU WERE STILL IN DIAPERS! OKAY, NOT REALLY, BUT YOU GET THE POINT! I DESERVE TO RESPECTED! I DESERVE TO BE HEARD! AND I DESERVE TO BE FORCEFED 100 GALLONS OF BOOZE A DAY YOU DAMN INGRATES!
Sam: This is gonna be either very fun or very maddening...Well, let's gamble
Sally: Alright, best to do well here given well, the obvious. It's best to know how to build other robots and more how to work with tech. Afterall, Clementine needs me to- Clementine... How did I forget about how the things have changed will now affect her? I mean, things will hopefully be better for her this time. Still, it's not guaranteed. Well, all the more reason to try harder.
Mason: Alright Faraday! This is your time to shine. You're new in the world and you don't have much time to think but when the going gets tough you need to get going! You're in class and you have things to prove! You have me to impress! You have your siblings to impress! But most importantly? You have YOURSELF to impress.
- Short Synopsis: In the aftermath of the Convention Center Incident the students work on building robot helpers. Nothing goes wrong. At least catastrophically wrong...
- First Post: 9 June 2019
- Webcomic Time: 10 January 2020
Tropes
- Distracted by the Sexy: How Dante defeats the Villain of the Week.
- Generation Xerox: The helper robots take after their builders. Wren's is a robotic abomination. Sally's is a cute, Cheerful Child. Mikael's is a Cold Sniper. Mahvash's is stone dead. Well metal dead.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Mahvash essentially tells the Iridium Wonders never to do this, because they'd be trading a tool of war for a villain's empty promise to return one of their own. And one that the villain would know would be fighting against him again.
- I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: The class create helper robots that range from well robotic (Sam), to Kill Bot (Mikael), to babies (everyone else sans Mahvash). The class essentially doubles as an introduction to child rearing. Minus the crying. Though they have the metaphorical stillborn child (Mahvash's robot).
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Clankybottoms gets little respect, even when he's about to blow up the school.
- Initiation Ceremony: The Iridium Wonders have one for their new member involving trumpets, shooting from a cannon onto a motorcycle, math books, a rubber chicken, batteries, cake batter, Lion-O Thundercats cosplay...
- New Meat: Lily still feels like this episodes after joining the class. The author lampshades her similarity to Lucy. Though this is her first proper class. Meanwhile Martin joins the Iridium Wonders... who welcome him in their special way.
- Poor Communication Kills: Averted. Mahvash gathers the group and explains exactly how she handled the Hostage situation and why. Not to mention making them aware of the issue with Dante.
- Remember the New Guy?: Elaine reappears in the class.
- Ret-Gone: Sally worries her future daughter may be retgone though she makes sure not to dwell on the possibility.
- Terms of Endangerment: Mahvash gives Martin a formal welcome even calling him Mr Snow before his initiation.
- Tested on other Androids: Mahvash starts on the idea of testing countermeasures on Vivian before applying them to Sally.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Armada's reasoning for waiting before going Brain Uploading amounted to this.
