A Swordmaster, Ghola and the Kwisatz Haderach! (application)

[super-sword.livejournal.com]

Strange.

Duncan Idaho, Mentat, Swordmaster of Ginaz, protector of the Atreides line and ghola number.. 489 (give or take a few, it was hard to keep track after so long) AND the ultimate Kwisatz Haderach (ftw!), stood in the sorting room. He wasn’t easily confused, but he could find no recollection of such a room across the vastness of his memories. Where was he? Was this some trick of Erasmus? A final strike against humanity?

It had just been revealed that he was in fact the ultimate Kwisatz Haderach, and had merged with the flowmetal skin of the robot Erasmus in order to bring humanity to it’s next pinnacle.

Or something like that.

State your name.

He blinked, running his fingers through his wiry dark hair, a habit from ghola 470.  “Duncan Idaho. I was also called Hayt, but that was.. before.”

1. What is your favorite cheese? Why is it your favorite?

The Mentat part of his mind scanned the document and was stymied by the strange and illogical nature of the questions. “I.. cheese? I’m not sure what that has to do with anything, but there was a soft white cheese I enjoyed on Caladan. Went well with pundi rice wine.” 

2. Who would you kill first, Barney or Carrottop? 

His brow furrowed. “Barney,” he answered without hesitation. Ghola 312 had an irrational fear of purple incorporated into his makeup by the Tlieaxu. He wasn’t sure why. 

3. What time is it where you are?

“The end of the war,” he said. “The fifteen thousand year conflict against the thinking machines had come to a close. Or seven thirty.”

4. If you were Albus Dumbledore returned from the dead, which member of the Order of the Phoenix would you sexually harass? How would you harass them? If you are Albus Dumbledore, please answer as if you were Sirius Black.

Duncan grinned wickedly, “I would take only what was offered,” he answered, recalling Hayt’s reply to a flustered Alia.

5. If you are pushing to be in:

1. Slytherin - please state the clever, witty name of the bar in which you bartend, in the dark.

“The No-Ship Lollipop,” he stated. It wasn’t particularly clever, but the title amused him.

2. Gryffindor – Debate whether Harry should ultimately end up married to Fred or George. Use examples from a variety of world mythologies to bolster your argument.

Duncan shook his head. “Questions of breeding and marriage are better left to the Bene Gesserit.. or others who are more interested in focusing particular genetic lines. I have no interest in them.” Never mind that he was a tad defensive because his previous gholas had been used as part of Leto II’s breeding program. Nope.

3. Ravenclaw – You guys are supposed to be smart. Explain why my desk is inundated with paperwork at all times, even though I’m constantly disposing of it.

The Mentat frowned, “It is a universal constant. The paperwork will always outpace your work and your desk will always remain over capacity. Destroy your desk and the paperwork will follow.”

4. Hufflepuff – Prove you are not useless.

“I am Duncan Idaho. I am a Ginaz trained Swordmaster for House Atreides, a Mentat, and the ultimate Kwisatz Haderach. I am far from useless. So there."

I have read the hogwarts_hocus faq, and understand it is a crazy, cracktastic sorting community and RPG.   Super_sword

 I have read the hogwarts_hocus rules and agree to abide by each and every one of them.   Super_sword
I agree to be a good sport and not get my knickers in a bunch.  Super_sword

One day, marmalade will rule the world.  Super_sword

 

Comments

[ilikemyscars.livejournal.com]

A small crease formed between Claire's brows, wrinkling her scars.

"First, I'm not familiar with the term ghola; could you define it, please?" She paused. "Second. Was simply being Hayt - insufficient?"

[super-sword.livejournal.com]

"A ghola is a clone, a recreated body from the remains of a dead one. In the Imperium, a ghola could be created, but it would have none of the memories of who or what it was." His smile tightened, "The Tlieaxu, the ones who create gholas, were a bit.. surprised when the ghola they trained and named Hayt suddenly woke to remember the name Duncan Idaho."

Even now, after all this time, the memory still caused his chest to tighten. His beloved Duke's son, stricken with grief, battling the implanted commands to kill him.. it was those stresses that caused him to recall his true identity and save Paul.

[ilikemyscars.livejournal.com]

"Clones. We didn't have those; at least not in my department." She rubbed a brow with one finger, pondering. "What are the gholas like? When they're created, I mean. Are they just - blank slates? Do they retain anything innate of their originals?"

[super-sword.livejournal.com]

"They are what you would call a blank slate. Hayt was trained as a mentat, with no recollection of the life of Duncan Idaho. There was a school of thought that gholas retain cellular memory, a copy of their previous existence, which was simply a theory until I was able to recall who I was."

[ilikemyscars.livejournal.com]

"Ah, I see. Another Echo." Claire's voice was dry. "Mentat is another term I've never heard; explain please? It is part of your assertion of non-uselessness, after all."

[super-sword.livejournal.com]

"Mentats are living computers. A human mind trained from a young age to perform calculations and store archival data. After the Butlerian Jihad, the creation of any thinking machine or any machine that had the potential to think was prohibited. Mentats filled that void."

"What is Echo?"

[ilikemyscars.livejournal.com]

"Understood. Which do you consider more important, your mental skills as Hayt or your physical ones as Duncan?"

Claire shrugged one shoulder. "Echo has several definitions. The reverberation of a sound off a solid object. The trace or reminder left behind from any encounter. A tragic figure from ancient mythology. In some military parlances, a code signal for the letter 'E'. It's also the name of one of my patients; something of an anomaly herself, you might say."

[super-sword.livejournal.com]

"The skills of Duncan. They were earned to serve a good and noble man and his House. The mentat was a trap," he answered softly, his voice strained. "A failed one, but still a trap."

"You are a doctor, then? How was she different?"

[ilikemyscars.livejournal.com]

"In what was was the role meant to entrap?" she asked, and nodded.

"I am a doctor. I attend - attended - a House full of people who have - volunteered - to give up their memories so as to be imprinted with created personas, to play temporary roles for hire. At the end of each engagement, the Active's mind is wiped back to its neutral state. Echo is one of the Actives, but for the past year she's shown increasing signs of retaining bits and pieces of her various imprints even after being wiped. I confess I'm not at all sure what that development might mean."

[super-sword.livejournal.com]

"They meant for me to be his downfall, to lead him off the path. And when that failed, they tried to force me into the role of assassin and kill him. I.. I could not. It triggered the cellular memories of Duncan Idaho, who loved Paul and could not harm him."

"And they were your patients? What was your role in it?"

[ilikemyscars.livejournal.com]

"Cellular memories...things that can't be wiped away..." Claire mused. "I? I'm merely a functionary. I keep close watch on the Actives' physical and mental health, and advocate for them when it seems necessary. In their neutral state the Actives are...delicate doesn't seem the right word...defenseless might be closer to the mark. And guileless - the process is designed to make them trusting, unprepared for - unpleasantness." A hand fluttered unconsciously around her cheek, where the scars were worst.

[super-sword.livejournal.com]

"Failing to protect one in your charge is not an easy burden to live with," he murmured. "Are they left in that neutral state for long periods? With no thought or will of their own?"

[ilikemyscars.livejournal.com]

"No, it isn't," she agreed.

"A few days, usually, between engagements. And from their limited perspective it's not a bad life at all - our whole department is designed around the goal of keeping the Actives feeling safe and content and pampered, in a health-spa sort of way. Excellent food, soft music, light exercise, meditation, art classes...It's the next organizational level up, the middle management level they never see, where I usually have to argue on their behalf. To keep them from being used for personal intrigues, or sent out on engagements I think wouldn't be in their best interests, or overworked - I keep warning about the risks of repeat engagements, giving an Active the same imprint over and over, for instance."

[super-sword.livejournal.com]

Duncan was always a man of conscience, with a strong inclination towards what he viewed as right and noble in the world. It's what drew him to the Atreides. It's also what led his past incarnations to rebel against the Tyrant (and subsequently die) so many times.

"A gilded prison is still a prison. It is commendable that you worked on their behalf when you were able to." She reminded him vaguely of Wellington Yueh, and it saddened him.

[ilikemyscars.livejournal.com]

Claire nodded. "In some ways we're as much locked in there as the Actives are. Secrets and conspiracies have a way of doing that. It's why I left, in fact - technically I'm free to come and go as I please, though I've never taken advantage of it before, too much to do there, too many responsibilities. I wanted to see what would happen." She smiled wryly. "Finding myself whisked off to a magic school, though - well below the last thing I ever imagined."

[super-sword.livejournal.com]

((Oh I know the feeling. I've had to rip many off my compy. Malwarebytes has a good free engine that's helped me lots.))

That elicited a chuckle. "It was not something I expected, either. But if we are here for a reason, best to learn what that is."

[ilikemyscars.livejournal.com]

Claire chuckled. "Good luck with that one. I've only been here a couple of weeks and I'm barely managing to find my way around the castle, let alone find any reasons for anything. Once you're Sorted into a house you seem to be left entirely to your own devices here."

[super-sword.livejournal.com]

"The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience. Duncan quoted, smiling faintly. "It seems like an interesting challenge here."

Vote: Gryffindor

[ilikemyscars.livejournal.com]

"Yes. And I do appreciate a challenge." She tapped a finger against her lips thoughtfully. "Based on your description of a mentat, I thought Ravenclaw might be the place for you; it's said to be the House for those who use their minds for their living. But if you value your identity as Duncan above that, then I'd say Gryffindor. They tell me it's the home of the brave."