[Accidental Video]

[treacherous_widow]

[CRACK

CRASH.

The sound of something breaking over takes everything before the video feed clicks on. Wherever the device is, it's showing a downward angle aimed at a berth far below the camera. All across the flat metallic surface is something glittering. Whatever it is continues to shine before something else in thrown into the mess.

A small mirror crashes down against the already broken shards of previous mirrors and shatters. A few others rain down from some unseen spot before it suddenly stops and for a moment everything is just silent. Then Blackarachnia comes into view hugging herself and just staring down at the mirror shards. When she  accidentally sees herself in one of the shards, she recoils and kicks it away and over the edge of her berth before shuddering.

Blackarachnia just couldn't stand looking at herself. She was terrifying.. hideous. Why the slag did she want this upgrade so bad!? Everyone else had to be as terrified as she was now that she looked like this, didn't they?

Suddenly she turns away from the mess of broken mirrors and seems to pull out a small jar from... somewhere. Inside of it is something glowing yellow. She just gazes at the crystal for a moment before walking off screen. The video times out seconds later.]

Comments

[treacherous_widow]

Wait, what kind of artificial enhancements can humans do to themselves?

[Now she's curious and at least it's distracting her from her fears for the moment.]

[nobody_number_8]

Well, first of all there's plastic surgery. Generally low risk of actual harm, as long as you go to a reputable doctor to have it done, but even then you can wind up with a result that just doesn't look good after you're all healed up, especially if we're talking facial alterations. There are some legitimate medical reasons to have it done, like repairing a disfiguring injury, but for the most part people who 'get a little work done' just aren't satisfied with their body in some way and are willing to endure various amounts of pain to change it.

Then there's various drugs, like steroids. They improve athletic performance and build muscle mass, sometimes to ridiculous extents. Unfortunately they also can make their users abnormally- sometimes violently- aggressive and tend to damage various internal organs. And they have a tendency to be addictive, for extra fun. Best avoided for those with any sense.

The last really depends on the level of technology on whatever world you happen to be on, but some places, there's various kinds of cybernetic implants and artificial limbs. Generally only employed if you've already lost the limb or other body part you had due to some kind of injury, because anybody crazy enough to say, lop of a hand to replace it with a metal grappling claw, clearly has more problems than just a missing hand, if you know what I mean. Artificial limbs can comprise everything from a wooden peg leg you might see in a place like Port Royal, to high-tech cybernetics with lots of built in gadgets. There are a few kinds of implants that don't require losing a limb first, but even those carry the risk of the person's body rejecting them which is not fun, from what I hear. Maybe useful, but not usually worth the risk unless you need them.

[treacherous_widow]

....So let me get this straight. Humans use technology to fix themselves, but they also use it to satisfy some form of vanity and potentially harm themselves in doing so.

Slag. I think humans might have been better off as neanderthals.

[nobody_number_8]

Pretty much, yes. I did mention that these things, at least when taken to extremes, were generally considered really bad idea. S

Not like we've got a monopoly on bad decision making, though. I seem to have heard something about you guys fighting a war that lasted millions of years, after all.

[treacherous_widow]

....

[Polite cough. You may have her there.]

I never said humans were the only ones that make bad decisions.

[nobody_number_8]

Yeah. I think every race out there probly does dumb things sometimes. I think the universe arranges it that way to keep us from getting too smug.

[treacherous_widow]

Maybe...

[nobody_number_8]

Either that, or there's some dumb people in every race who just screw things up for everyone else. Which... might be the more likely explanation, now that I think about it.

[treacherous_widow]

[Now that explanation she can definitely agree with.]

That's probably it... we had our fair share of idiots where I was stuck at. One of them was constantly getting himself shot down, blown to bits, cubed and all around scrapped at every turn.

[Admittedly... blowing up Waspinator HAD been fun at the time...]

[nobody_number_8]

OK, I think the only thing I can say to that is 'Ouch.' Sucks to be him, I guess.

Though if he wasn't already an idiot before, I doubt all that damage really did his IQ any favors.

[treacherous_widow]

Probably not.

Then again, he really didn't have one to begin with.

[nobody_number_8]

Yeah, doesn't sound like it. Guess there's one like that in every group.