Scans_Daily

"That movement, where people were on Twitter using toxic masculinity to deny the existence of toxic masculinity, I thought, 'There's gotta be a really good metaphor for that.' Those dudes don't allow themselves to actually see what it is they're doing. And then it occurred to me that, if you recast the story with robots and then having humans resenting the robots, then it would work as a really good parable for toxic masculinity."

- Mark Russell


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"A retrovirus of unknown (to most) origin starts in the United States and quickly spreads to the rest of the world. Like other retroviruses, it enters the victim's DNA and begins making changes that can cause death within a matter of days. It is 100% contagious and 95% fatal. Within a matter of just a few months, 400 million people are killed around the world. Then, suddenly and unaccountably, the virus goes dormant everywhere at once, and the dying stops. On the surface, that's good news in that the human race doesn't die off, but the thing is, viruses don't just simultaneously shut down like that unless there's some controlling factor, which is unsettling to say the least.

Even more worrisome is the fact that a substantial number of the 5% who survive -- roughly 20 million people total -- begin exhibiting powers and abilities they didn't have before being infected as a result of genetic changes caused by the virus. So if even half that number were affected, that's 10 million people with powers in every corner of the globe.

The big questions raised by this are: Why did this happen? What does it mean? How do the governments of the world -- democracies and tyrannies alike -- deal with 10 million people who now have extraordinary powers? Was the infection deliberate, and if so, why? Were the powers an unexpected byproduct, or was it intentional, and if so, what's the goal? Are these powers gifts or are the survivors unwitting fifth columnists in a much bigger play?"

- J. Michael Straczynski


Warning for Suicide


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