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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   2830 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 17, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Ex Nihilo, Nihil Supernum over on Royal Road:

Dr. Adat Sen has been having a bad week.

Not only was his teleporter wife drafted to Alpha Centauri to fight a K2 offshoot of a K3 civilization, his promised pay raise hasn't come through, and it turns out that someone has it out for him to the extent of trying to kill him with a Basilisk hack. Who would have thought that being a a cyborg psychiatrist for the UN would be this stressful?

Then there's the matter of publish or perish, handling nasty cognitohazards on a daily basis, convincing suicidally depressed superhumans not to take everyone else with them, and living under the shadow of hostile advanced aliens building a Nicoll-Dyson laser in the solar system next door. Oh, and the one Superhuman AGI that humanity produced might be out to get them.

Welcome to the world of ENNS, where superheroes have actual jobs and don't run around in costumes fighting muggers, humanity faces existential threats around every corner, and Adat has the bad luck of finding himself fighting threats way out of his pay grade.

It's probably my best work, and I'm about to resume posting after a few months of hiatus (during which I wrote a Xianxia novel of all things).

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