Nightwatch Who Watches the Watchers by Bill Wolfe

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kailhofer
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Re: Nightwatch Who Watches the Watchers by Bill Wo

Post by kailhofer »

I'm not going to say anything about pace, setting, dialog, etc. until I've seen it all…


I'd have to say that this is a downright, bone-chillingly creepy notion. I was awake for an hour the night after reading it, just pondering the possible ramifications to the Nightwatch universe.

This is an outstanding story idea. One so good and so difficult, in fact, that I wonder if it can be pulled off in less than 4 installments. I say that for a couple of reasons:

First, this one seems to be all intro, all set up for the real adventure in future stories. There's a fair effort in setting the stage, revealing Tom's character, his inner conflicts over helping Nightwatch. That shows Tom as a very self-aware individual, and that should help him realize what the telepaths are doing to him (thus, letting us know, too).

Second, the notion of a secret group, capable of controlling people and events against their will and without their knowledge… it's Matrix-esque. Tom (and Simon, if he can come around) either do the deed for these telepathic Illuminati and hunt down a powerful psychic boy whose already messing with lives at Nightwatch, or they fight against these telepaths.

The Nightwatch Institute isn't ready for this.

You can't tell a telepath by just looking at one. Melvin Squibb shouldn’t have a set of psychic shield watches they can wear (or Magneto's helmet, for that matter), and even if he did, people around them can be suddenly turned & fight against them (ala Matrix when the Smiths take over a body).

'Go find a psychic with amazing powers that can hide himself so well other psychics can't find him, and when you do, be careful because he might blow you up with a thought.'

Exactly how does one do that??

I suppose the easy way out would be to just say it's the out of place boy sitting in the café and let him be caught (so I really hope that's a decoy, or he's not so easy to catch). However, I have high hopes that this won't be the case, especially since this would be the cliffhanger episode for December, and cliffhangers need to be exciting.

So, if I'm right, Tom & crew will have to find the boy, maybe find out he's not so evil (from how much he fought against the 'bad thing'), and then stand up to the cabal. I can't see finishing that off and be believable in only one more story, unless it's about 45,000 words.

But then again, I have been wrong before.


I eagerly await the next installment.

Nate
Last edited by kailhofer on November 26, 2006, 02:05:44 AM, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nightwatch Who Watches the Watchers by Bill Wo

Post by kailhofer »

Nate, Oh ye of little faith. I am planning on only two installments and even the relative quickness of certain parts of the chase will provide insight into what they are dealing with in the Collective.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not pulling any punches when I see it.
And I can't tell you how happy I am that you approve of the story idea. Jeff and I did a little horsetrading as to what the true nature of the Collective. is all about. And I have to say that the compromise not only helps the Nightwatch universe, it also makes the plot a lot more interesting and different from the X-Men/psiCorps/Psychic Friends Network® plots I've read in the past. As with many stories, a little early arguing can make for a much stronger presentation.
It caught me from surprise. I never expected that direction, though I'm not sure why. Nightwatch has time travel, demons, parallel realities, aliens, ghosts, and home-grown, honest-to-goodness mad scientists. Psychics shouldn't have been a stretch.
I don't think I made the psychics powerful enough to turn random folks into zombie fighter puppets. I tried to show with Callow that even when they were being very heavy-handed in their mind control, they mostly just reinforce their agenda from a menu choice supplied by the individual who is being influenced. Callow was still being his own, miserable self. He was overjoyed at the immense cash influx but he still made sure that his people charged all their expenses to this account. That wouldn't be so much as a consideration of an idea for the psychics who were watching him.
Hmm. I dunno about that. As a department head, sure, budgets would matter to him, but apart from in Tinsel Rime where he wouldn't pay for Simon to fly to Chicago (but that was a part of the setup for Maria/Frost), I don't recall much interest in money. Perhaps I'm just forgetting it.

To me, these psychics seemed very powerful indeed. Even taking 'menu choices', as you put it, there are angry, crazy people all over the world. How hard would it be to push their buttons to want to blow themselves up next to Simon?
The two people in London were killed by an uncontrolled release of raw psychic power. My psychics can't move objects or cause things to burst into flame, but electromagnetic fields are a different matter. These folks were in a tight cubicle surrounded by (literally) tons of electronic equipment. Everything around them exploded and burst into flame, burning fiercely as every conductive wire in every device and most metal in the area heated up to melting point in a matter of seconds. That's what burned their bodies. What killed them was an assault on their minds which caused their brains to. . .well, overload. I never described what happened to the boys in the alley, except that they died. My guess would be that they convulsed a few times and dropped over dead, bleeding from the eyes, ears and nose due to extreme hemorrhaging inside their heads.
Bleeding from every extremity and dropping over dead is close enough to me to blowing up. It's still shocking, sudden, and damn nasty. Plus, hard to fight.

I'm curious as to why electromagnetic fields would be easier to manipulate than physical objects. Is there a scientific basis for that? (I figured if anybody here would know, it would be you.)

Nate
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Re: Nightwatch Who Watches the Watchers by Bill Wo

Post by Robert_Moriyama »

E = mc[sup]2[/sup]?

Assuming that psionic energy is at least to some degree electromagnetic, it could more easily affect other electromagnetic fields / flows than it could move / ignite / whatever solid matter that is, as the equation implies, equivalent to a ginormous whack of energy.

Robert "Mr. Science Guy" M.
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Re: Nightwatch Who Watches the Watchers by Bill Wo

Post by Robert_Moriyama »

...no matter how strong his bionic arm may be, even the Six-Million-Dollar Man can't break a heavy chain by pulling down.  Why not the last one?  Well, because he'd do a one-armed chin-up before he broke the chain.    Duh.

I avoid that question, whenever possible.

Bill
And he can't break it by pulling up, either, because either he would rupture his abdominal muscles (major hernia), crush a few vertebrae, crack his pelvis -- or tear his bionic arm off.

Viz. Martin Caidin's Cyborg novels (on which the TV series was based) for a much more realistic take on what bionic limbs could and couldn't do. Caidin's Austin has a devastating grip, can throw a lethal jab (most arm motion in the bionic elbow, and his hand has built-in cushioning and armor for that purpose), can run at sprint speeds for long periods (much lower oxygen requirements and no muscle fatigue from mid-thigh down). He can jump DOWN considerable distances and land on his feet without injury, but can't jump UP much further than normal (for one thing, he weighs about 50-100 pounds more than he looks like he does). But he can conceal weapons and tools INSIDE his arm and legs (and, in a pinch, in his eye). He'd have a helluva time getting through airport security these days.

Personally, I believe that some 'psi' phenomena are real. (Note: 'phenomena' is the plural of 'phenomenon'.) But it's easier to just call effects of that nature magic (hence Mr. Majius and company), because otherwise one might feel tempted to explain how it works.

Robert "Off topic as usual" M.
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Re: Nightwatch Who Watches the Watchers by Bill Wo

Post by kailhofer »

It took Bill a little longer than he figured to finish up. It came out in July, but the series listing page wasn't updated.

Try here:
http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/serials ... odiet.html


I can't recall another Nightwatch after that. Perhaps Bill broke the mold. :)

Nate
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