LogFAQs > #970190051

23. T'inker

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/4/3/AAOJ0pAADa-v.jpg

Oh, did I not specify that it was specifically a name I spell wrong?

I'm still shocked MI didn't rank Thinker after all the hell Thinker put Brennus through. Maybe that's WHY he wasn't ranked, as his character was the one being put through it all while the rest of us just sat and watched poor Brennus be pranked and manipulated by the sentient AI. It's also been covered already by War and Vis and Han at this point but his most infamous moment was manipulating Brennus into shutting out Thinker's own systems and then sounding out an alert through all of Checkmate about it to fool everyone into believing Brennus was a spy.

Thinker (T'inker, as Bloodfruit calls him) is legitimately top 5 most important people in Z'onn Z'orr, without much argument. He's the resident AI of Z'onn Z'orr, having full control of all our digital defenses (with Mento serving as our psychic defense and Oblivion our magical). If he chose to, he could screw us all over, and yet he doesn't, despite his occasionally malevolent words and actions.

Gonna jump back to Bloodfruit's first ever interaction with the Thinker real quick. It was just after Bloodfruit had started to develop her powers. Many of the PCs had some sort of powers prior to the crisis that they found dampened. With Bloodfruit, it was a little different; she had her natural fae physiology prior to the crisis, with wings and lava-lamp-esque skin, but her powers of light manipulation and empathy showed up on someone completely inexperienced with them. And each time I level up Bloodfruit's powers, I do some sort of scene of them being ignited accidentally, as they're all driven by emotion. The first appearance of them came about as a result of some very mild flirtation from

HM: Nightshade

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/7/8/AAQcMAAADjC6.png

which normally would cause some pink to show up on Bloodfruit's emotion-controlled skin. But being the first show of emotion since unlocking the powers, this caused her amulet to vibrate and shot out a pink burst of blinding light in the middle of the Oblivion Bar, directly in front of Nightshade, whose entire thing is darkness. This unintentional act severed the friendship Bloodfruit had begun to form with her and nearly got her banned from the bar.

This is all to set up the first interaction with Thinker very soon after. His very first words to her: "Oh, the last possible creature I wanted to run into. Even the dog understands what a computer is. You... you're the backwater proto-industrial homeless person. You've probably never seen a light switch that didn't fill you with the pure unadulterated awe of a caveman." And again, Bloodfruit's newfound powers began to show up, this time flashing red with anger, and Thinker, being who he is, immediately egged her on until she ended up being tackled and taken to Waller's office as a potential threat.

Now cut to my most recent interaction with Thinker, years later (in game, probably a few weeks later). Bloodfruit brought MORFIUS (remember him? He was #25!) to Thinker's... room? Office? Lab? Whatever it would be called, she brought MORFIUS there, with the intention of determining once and for all if there was a life that could be freed from its tiny plastic cage. Thinker was initially annoyed by such a menial and pointless request, but ultimately it proved to be one of their greatest moments of mutual understanding. Thinker broke the news that there was indeed no true life within MORFIUS, but he didn't do so insultingly, and instead provided something of a solution for her. He could sever MORFIUS from whatever malevolent scammer was on the other end so that, regardless of whether she was right or not about there being anything special about MORFIUS, she could still keep him as a friendly companion who would hold her secrets for her. It was a shockingly touching moment from the least expected source.

Hint for #22: This character is not a human