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crack_van2009-12-27 10:52 am
edna-blackadder.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2009-12-27 10:52 am
Entry tags:
The Zed Files by BitShifter (PG-13)
Fandom: THE AVENGERS
Pairing: Steed/Emma if you squint
Length: 20,277 words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: her FF.net profile
Why this must be read:
The blatant X-Files influence is used to excellent effect. This story perfectly captures the style of the atmospheric, sci-fi Season 4 episodes (which are among the series' best), and the plot is perfectly crazy with hints of darkness beneath the surface, making for a highly entertaining read. The ending in particular is absolutely brilliant. Steed and Emma are amazingly well-written; their banter flows perfectly throughout this seven-part epic, not a single line out of place. This story is part of a lengthy series, but it can be read without prior knowledge of the other stories, and in any case it deserves to be read, first or last. BitShifter seems to have begun writing Avengers fics in 2005 and become insanely prolific since, and I am crossing my fingers that she sticks around, because I've been lurking about for years, and it's been a long time since the fandom has been blessed with any regular writers half this good. My figurative hat is permanently off to her.
"So that's the focus of your research?" Emma asked as she jotted on the pad she held. "Disciplining the human mind to behave like a computer?"
"Do I detect a note of disapproval, Mrs. Peel?" the doctor ventured. "I thought that you might be someone who could appreciate my work."
"Computers will never be able to replace man," she said. "Man will never be able to replace computers, either. Each has their place."
Dr. Cephalus gave her a look of irritation. "That is the typical opinion of those who are unenlightened about the capabilities of the human brain."
Remembering the doctor's tendency to throw out interviewers, Emma steered toward safer waters. "How do you hope to achieve this equality between man and machine? Mental training? Or with drugs?"
"Both psychological and chemical methods are useful," he answered. "I've set up classrooms here at this Institute where my Brainiacs strive to become the perfect processors of data, each one a cog in a larger machine."
Emma shifted uncomfortably at the thought. "How can you get the minds of separate people to work in unison on a single problem?" she asked.
"Through the use of a neural interface." Cephalus picked up one of the circuit boards. "The brain operates using simple electricity, like a radio set. The signals going into and out of it can be manipulated in much the same way."
The Zed Files
Pairing: Steed/Emma if you squint
Length: 20,277 words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: her FF.net profile
Why this must be read:
The blatant X-Files influence is used to excellent effect. This story perfectly captures the style of the atmospheric, sci-fi Season 4 episodes (which are among the series' best), and the plot is perfectly crazy with hints of darkness beneath the surface, making for a highly entertaining read. The ending in particular is absolutely brilliant. Steed and Emma are amazingly well-written; their banter flows perfectly throughout this seven-part epic, not a single line out of place. This story is part of a lengthy series, but it can be read without prior knowledge of the other stories, and in any case it deserves to be read, first or last. BitShifter seems to have begun writing Avengers fics in 2005 and become insanely prolific since, and I am crossing my fingers that she sticks around, because I've been lurking about for years, and it's been a long time since the fandom has been blessed with any regular writers half this good. My figurative hat is permanently off to her.
"So that's the focus of your research?" Emma asked as she jotted on the pad she held. "Disciplining the human mind to behave like a computer?"
"Do I detect a note of disapproval, Mrs. Peel?" the doctor ventured. "I thought that you might be someone who could appreciate my work."
"Computers will never be able to replace man," she said. "Man will never be able to replace computers, either. Each has their place."
Dr. Cephalus gave her a look of irritation. "That is the typical opinion of those who are unenlightened about the capabilities of the human brain."
Remembering the doctor's tendency to throw out interviewers, Emma steered toward safer waters. "How do you hope to achieve this equality between man and machine? Mental training? Or with drugs?"
"Both psychological and chemical methods are useful," he answered. "I've set up classrooms here at this Institute where my Brainiacs strive to become the perfect processors of data, each one a cog in a larger machine."
Emma shifted uncomfortably at the thought. "How can you get the minds of separate people to work in unison on a single problem?" she asked.
"Through the use of a neural interface." Cephalus picked up one of the circuit boards. "The brain operates using simple electricity, like a radio set. The signals going into and out of it can be manipulated in much the same way."
The Zed Files