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ragingbookdragon · 3 years

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If We Were Fast Enough

Flash!Reader x Flashfamily One-Shot

Word Count: 5.3K Warnings: Explicit Language, Angst

Author's Note: I had this idea after watching a few clips of Flashpoint Paradox! Enjoy! -Thorne

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Her hand was tightly clasped in his, eyes narrowed in sadness, but there was a pride in them; she felt the speed transfer between them, flowing through her veins and he said, “You’ve got my speed, honey. It’s up to you now.”

The tears that had welled in her vision tipped over and she whispered, “I can’t leave you here, dad. I—I can’t just run away.”

He shook his head. “You’re not running away. You’re surviving.” A groan escaped him, and the pool of blood seemed to double in size. “We’re running out of time. You’ve gotta go before the timeline collapses.”

“Where do I go?” she asked, wiping her eyes. “This universe is home.”

“Honey, Speedsters are Speedsters whichever universe we’re in.” he smiled weakly at her. “You’ll have a family wherever you end up.”

She gazed at him, breathing deeply as fresh tears grew in her gaze. “I’m scared.”

“I know. But you can do this.” he replied, pausing to look her over. “You look just like your mother, honey.” He smiled tearfully. “She’d be so proud of you if she were here now.”

Pulling the cowl over her head, she gave a watery laugh. “Mom always said I looked like you.”

“Nah. You take your speed and nature after me, but you are a spitting image of your mother.” A blast sounded in the distance and they both looked over, eyes widening as the white flash of light grew larger and larger. “You have to go. Now.”

Swallowing thickly, she leaned down and hugged him around his neck as tight as she could, inhaling the scent of ozone and spearmint for the last time. “I love you, dad. I love you so much.” Her fingers dug into his ruined suit as she cried. “I love you.”

He caressed the back of her cowled head. “I love you more, honey.” Pulling away, he leveled her with a firm look. “Now run, Lightning Flash. Run.”

The bluish-white lightning flowed across her body, and she turned, letting her feet carry her across the war-torn field, escaping the atomic blast. The world melted around her, a blur of memories surrounding her: her birthdays, her parents’ faces, her first stroke as a Flash, the start of the war, the deaths of her friends and family, everything up until now.

She was helpless to stop the tears that flowed down her cheeks, the feeling of her heart pounding in her chest, and the booming in her ears as she ripped through the waves of time and the boundaries of space.

A shriek sounded behind her, and she turned her head, eyes widening. “Ah shit!”

The time wraith screamed at her again, reaching out to grab her and she just barely dodged it, turning back to face the flowing warp. She was close. All she had to do was get to the next time boundary and she could lose the wraith.

“Almost there!” she told herself as another bellowed sounded in her ears again, and with one final leap, she burst through the barrier, the waves collapsing around her. The shock of the blast sent her skidding along the ground, and she cried out as she rolled.

Shouts sounded in her ears, humans, but she was more concerned about the screaming time wraith. “I just lost everything! Can’t you just leave me the hell alone!” It shrieked at her again, advancing and anger welled through her as she pushed herself to her feet and she growled, “You wanna dance, you sonovabitch? Then let’s dance.”

Her eyes lit up in a white force and she darted past the wraith, hitting a point above it, then she darted past again, and again and again in a star formation, over and over until all that could be seen was a blur of blue and white. The clouds rumbled above, swirling faster and faster and she hit the top of the star, coming down at the wraith. A burst of lightning cracked from the sky, striking the time being just as she collided with it, and in a hail of blue and white strikes, the wraith exploded into smoking fragments.

As the smoke cleared, the human voices grew louder, but she was sprawled out on the ground, breathing heavily, her body crying under the strain. Someone placed their hand on her shoulder, worrying, “Are you alright?”

She nodded weakly. “Yeah…just gimme a minute. The five-star lightning strike always takes a lot outta me.” Shutting her eyes, she focused on breathing deeply.

“I’ve never seen anyone destroy a time wraith before.”

“It takes practice.” Craning her neck, she opened her eyes, and bit back a sob as the man’s face cleared before hers. “You’re this world’s Flash, aren’t you?” she whispered, “Barry Allen.” His blue eyes widened, and he nodded mutely. “I figured.”

“Who are you?” he asked. “What world did you come from?”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s gone now.” Meeting his gaze once more, she added, “But you can call me the Lightning Flash.”

“What’s your real name?” Barry quizzed.

(Y/N) Allen. And I’d tell you that but all it’d do is bring hurt to both of us.

“(Y/N) Sloan.” She laid her head down, closing her eyes. “I’m gonna take a nap for a while…I’m really…tired…”

His voice called out to her, but all she heard was a warbling noise as she drifted into darkness.

***

When she came to, her head felt like someone had thrown an overripe melon off a balcony ledge and watched it splatter across the ground. She groaned and forced her eyes to open, pushing herself up on her palms.

“Woah, woah, woah!” someone worried. “Take it easy there, Flashy.”

(Y/N) looked over, seeing a familiar green symbol, and an ever more familiar unmasked face. “I’m fine, Hal.”

He blinked. “You know who I am?”

“Please, I’d know that big head of yours from a mile away.” Smirking, she added, “I know everyone in the Justice League.” She grunted, pulling her left arm over her chest, feeling the taut muscles in her back ripple as she stretched them out. “Where am I?”

“The Watchtower.” Hal gazed at her curiously. “Man, when Barry said you knew who he was, I didn’t think he meant you knew all of us.”

“You sound upset that you didn’t get to introduce yourself,” she shot back with a pained grin, stretching her other arm. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll forget I know you, and you can reintroduce yourself.”

He chuckled and pressed a button on the side of the med bay bed. “Nah, no point now.” He looked down at the small light flashing. “Hey, she’s awake.”

In an instant, a sharp wind blew across the room and there stood the scarlet speedster without his cowl; moments later, the doors opened and in walked the top League members, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.

(Y/N) threw her legs over the side of the bed as they walked over, waving off Barry and Hal who both reached for her, and stood on shaky legs. “Shit, I feel like a newly born giraffe.”

“You shouldn’t be up.” Barry frowned. “You practically tore yourself apart at the molecular level.”

“It was that or be taken by a time wraith,” she shot back, cracking her neck. “How long have I been out?”

“Eighty-six hours,” Batman said, taking her chin in his hand, tipping her head side to side as he shown a light in her eyes. “Your body’s been recovering slower than it should for a Flash.”

(Y/N) blinked. “The particular move does like Barry said it did. It tears the body at the molecular level to contain the speed force into one location.”

“It was dangerous,” Barry scowled, and she couldn’t help but laugh at this younger version of her father who was still just as serious.

“Being a Flash is dangerous.” She felt Batman pull away and she flexed her fingers. “I don’t use the move unless it’s a life-or-death situation.” Glancing at Barry, she questioned, “What earth is this?”

Before he could speak, Batman denounced, “You time jumped, and you don’t know what earth you came into?”

“I didn’t exactly have time to think out a plan while a nuclear blast was going off, Bruce,” she growled, glaring at him from behind the neon blue mask. “And to top it off, I had a time wraith coming after me. I wasn’t in a position to choose which earth I wanted.”

He went silent, gazing at her intently. “Whose names do you know of the Justice League here?”

(Y/N) looked around at the superheroes before her. “You’re all the same Justice League as my earth, but in mine, you’re retired, and your children run the show.”

“I’m sorry, children?” Hal interrupted. “We have—we have children?”

“Some,” she laughed. “Conner Kent is our Superman, Donna Troy is our Wonder Woman, Jason Todd is our Batman, Kyle Rayner is our Green Lantern, and Roy Harper is our Green Arrow.”

“And you?” Superman questioned.

“I’m my Justice League’s Flash. The Lightning Flash.” (Y/N) smiled wearily. “The fastest woman alive.” She toyed with the blue and white gauntlet. “At least now I am.”

“You said you were our kids?” Hal said. “Are you Barry’s daughter?”

The two Speedsters looked at each other and she answered calmly, “No. My transformation into the Flash was a freak accident, much like Wally West’s. That being said, I’m not related to the Flashfamily by blood.”

“Hmm.” Batman grunted, then turned, wandering off. “You need to rest up more then we’ll run tests.”

“Only if she consents.” Barry called out.

Bruce stopped, not even bothering to look over his shoulder as he retorted, “She’s a Speedster from another universe. We need more information before we can let her loose in anyone’s city.”

As he wandered off, she placed her hands on her hips and griped, “God, I miss Jason being Batman. He’s less of a jerk-off about new things.”

Superman chuckled, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t take it the wrong way…(Y/N), was it?”

She nodded. “Yeah, (Y/N) Sloan.” Sticking her hand out, she added, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure’s all mine,” he murmured, shaking her hand strongly, then he pulled away. “He is right though. You should get some more rest before you wander around the Watchtower.”

She waved it off. “I’ll be alright. If you’ve got a treadmill designed for Speedsters though, I’d like to run a bit.”

“I’ll show you where it is,” Barry answered, leading her from the group. As they walked down the hallway, she paused, leaning against the wall as a wave of nausea came over her; he caught it instantly. “Are you okay?” he frowned. “We should go back to the med bay.”

“No.” she grunted. “I’m fine. Just…just gimme a moment.” Shaking it off, she squared her shoulders. “I absorbed speed from the remaining Speedsters on my world before I left. It’s just taking a toll on me.”

“Why absorb their speed?” he asked, and she could tell from his voice that there was a level of suspicion in it.

“Because it was the only way to keep it from being stolen by our enemies as we were being slaughtered.” (Y/N) looked down the hall. “We can go now. It’s passed.” She bypassed him, wandering down the hallway, though she kept a hand on the railing the entire time.

***

It wasn’t a surprise that they sent her back to Central City with Barry after the few tests she’d let them run. Only tests on the outside, no blood or DNA samples for them to investigate. Barry’s apartment was cramped and there wasn’t room for them both to be in the kitchen, but she’d lived there before, so ducking under his arms and turning around him was second nature.

And Barry, bless the kindhearted soul he was, tried at every opportunity to make her comfortable in the home. (Y/N) respected it, knowing that even worlds apart, Barry Allen was still Barry Allen. She watched him sometimes. When he was sitting on the sofa or at the bar, flipping through paperwork or reading a book on physics. He always lost track of time, forgot what was happening around him, but his face showed ease. Peace. Like the world wasn’t on his shoulders.

It made her miss her father. It made her miss her family and friends. Her world. (Y/N) cried at night on the couch, silent tears dripping down her cheeks as she remembered every last moment of her family and friends’ lives. She’d been lucky in the end to come out unscathed. But her father, his friends, her friends, all dead. All killed in a pointless war that ended with the entire world blown to hell—and she was the only one left.

She sat beside the window, gazing down at the quiet street below her; she felt like crying, but by now, she’d cried out every tear, and all that remained was the hole drilled in her chest, empty and aching.

“(Y/N)?” Glancing over, she saw Barry coming out from his bedroom, brows furrowing at her. “Are you okay?”

Shrugging, she looked back out the window. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay again, Barry.” It was hard to not call him ‘dad’ all the time, and weird to call him ‘Barry’.

She felt him sit opposite of her on the little bench. “Can I help you anyway?”

It took a while for her to speak, but when she did, her voice was barely above a whisper. “It’s all gone. My life. All of it. I’m the only one left from my world.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m…alone.” His hand rested on hers and she felt tears well in her gaze. “I miss my family…and I miss my friends.”

She shook her head, looking at him. “Why my world? Why us?” tears slipped down her cheeks. “Everything was fine one moment and the next thing any of us knew, the world was going to war, and we couldn’t stop it.” A loathing laugh escaped her. “We were the Justice League. The proteges of the greatest heroes and yet we couldn’t stop war.”

(Y/N) wiped her tears. “We failed. I failed.”

“What happened wasn’t your fault, (Y/N).” Barry murmured. “You know that.”

“It feels like it.” She countered. “What do I have to show for all my saving? A sole survivor stuck in a world that has no need for her.”

His eyes were narrowed in concern, the way her father’s used to do when she’d tell him of her troubles and doubts. “There’s always a need for us. Everyone one of us.”

“Speedsters?” she asked, and he squeezed her hand.

“If the universe wanted you dead, you’d be dead, (Y/N). But you’re here and you’re alive.” He smiled sadly. “You can’t outrun the past. But you can change the direction you’re running in.”

She gazed at him and for once in the past few weeks she’d been there, she felt her heart lighten. “Thank you, Barry.”

He smiled warmly at her and patted her hand. “Since we’re both awake…wanna go for a run?”

(Y/N) chuckled and nodded her head. “Yeah. It’d certainly help burn off the emotions.” She held out her hand and Barry looked at the ring on her finger.

“Wow, your ring is cool.” He took her hand, gazing intently at it. “I noticed your suit isn’t red like most of us Speedsters are. Yours is mainly blue and white.”

She nodded. “It was too complicated to call myself Flash since there were more than one, so I took the name Lightning Flash and designed my suit the colors associate with lighting.” (Y/N) vibrated and reappeared in her suit. “Blue and white.”

“With silver trimming,” he added, poking the mask she wore, and she batted his hand away.

“Hey, gold’s overrated.”

Barry’s face pinched as he vibrated into his suit. “Is not!”

“Is too! It’s the colors for the Seminoles.”

He placed a hand to his chest. “I can’t believe you just told me my colors were FSU’s colors. I’ve been fatally wounded.”

“You’re a drama queen,” (Y/N) laughed then started towards the door. “Race you to Coast City!”

Barry sped after her. “Why Coast City!”

“Because it’s California, man!” she watched as he matched her speed. “And Hal’s apartment always has Doritos!”

“I think you might have a crush on our resident Green Lantern,” Barry teased and (Y/N) gagged.

“Dude, gross.”

“Oh, come on! Don’t tell me you aren’t friends with your Green Lantern!”

“The best, but Kyle and I were only friends! My dalliance fell with another team member!”

“Batman?” he asked, and she nodded.

“Batman.”

“Oh. Lovely.” Barry sighed. “You and Jason Todd seem like a wonderful pair.”

(Y/N) snorted. “Contrary to popular belief, Jason was actually a fantastic Batman. He loved it, oddly enough.”

“That is odd,” the Speedster countered. “Because as far as I know, none of the Batkids want to be Batman.”

She merely laughed in return, passing the Coast City sign.

***

“You know these aren’t…my world folks, right?”

He smiled, watching the group of young adults across the room laugh and joke around. “I know, but the lot of us thought it would be good if you got together with the age group of you own.” Barry looked over. “Besides, I think you’re going to fit right in with this world’s group.”

(Y/N) tipped her head side to side, huffing a laugh as Jason thumped Kyle in the side. “We’ll see.” She let Barry lead her over and the small group perked up at their arrival.

“Hey guys, thanks for coming on such short notice. I know you were busy.”

Jason crossed his arms over his chest. “So, why did the League invite us all?”

Barry gestured to (Y/N). “I’d like everyone to meet (Y/N) Sloan. She’s a Speedster who recently arrived on this earth.”

“Recently?” Roy asked and he nodded.

“There was a…problem on her earth.” He glanced at her and nodded, prompting her to speak.

“My world isn’t in the general stream of timelines anymore.” She smiled awkwardly. “I came here to…survive more or less.” Holding out her hand for one of them to shake, she said, “But it’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

“You know who we are?” Kyle asked as he shook her hand.

“Yeah. This world is surprisingly similar to mine, Kyle.” (Y/N) smiled with a little less awkwardness. “I know all of you.” Her eyes fell on Jason who was watching her closely, teal eyes narrowed in calculation. “Penny for your thoughts?”

He hummed. “Who are we over there?”

At that, all the awkwardness fell away. “You don’t wanna know,” she giggled, and his face dropped.

“No.” she nodded, and he whispered, “Me?”

“You.”

“I’m confused,” Roy interrupted, and Donna snickered.

“I think Jason’s the Batman of (Y/N)’s world.”

“HA!” everyone dissolved into hysterics as Jason proceeded to all but cry.

“I don’t wanna be Batman!” he whined. “Why am I Batman! Why not anyone else!”

(Y/N) laughed. “What are you talking about? You volunteered to be Batman.”

“Jesus, I must’ve lost my mind then,” Jason retorted, then looked at her. “Do I carry guns?”

“Non-lethal rounds.”

“Damnit.” He sulked. “Can’t freakin’ believe I’m the Batman on your world and I willingly put the suit on.”

“You were a good Batman,” she stated. “There wasn’t anyone I trusted more to watch my back on the team.”

He met her gaze, seemingly shocked, though it only lasted a minute as he quizzed, “So if I’m Batman, does that make all of us…?”

(Y/N) nodded. “Yep. Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern.”

“And you?” Kyle asked.

“Lightning Flash,” she answered coolly. “The fastest woman alive.” Meeting their gazes, she tipped her head down. “I know you’re not them…but I do hope we can be friends.” She smiled. “You can never have too many of those, no matter what world you’re on.”

Kyle looked over at Barry who was almost crying. “We get to keep her, right? Because if we don’t, I’m going to be very upset.”

(Y/N) snorted and wrapped a loose arm around his waist. “Don’t worry, Kyle. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.” A growling sounded and her cheeks warmed as she pressed a hand to her stomach. “Sorry about that.”

Jason laughed, getting to his feet. “I guess Speedster stomachs are the same no matter what world you’re on.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Barry retorted, and the vigilante looked at her.

“Wanna annoy Batman and hang around Gotham City?”

(Y/N) nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Wait for me!” Roy shouted, yanking his legs from the table, and soon the others were following.

Barry watched them as they walked to the Zeta-Tubes, laughing and ribbing one another like they’d been friends since childhood; someone nudged him in the side, murmuring, “She’s gonna be okay.”

He nodded as Hal settled beside him. “Yeah…I know she will.” He smiled as (Y/N) leaned into Jason’s side and brought a hand to her eyes, wiping the tears away. “She’s already fitting in better than I thought.”

“(Y/N)’s a strong woman,” Hal acknowledged. “She acts a lot like you in that aspect.”

“How so?” Barry inquired and the Lantern shrugged.

“Well, you can’t get her to stop attending League meetings no matter what Batman says, and she’s always ready to put herself on the line for us.” Hal huffed a laugh. “And she treats me like I’m an old man. I’m thirty-eight and she acts like I’m fifty-six.” He looked at Barry. “But she flows in the world like you, Barry. Her mannerisms, her styles, her speech, it’s all you.”

The Speedster frowned, quietly stating, “You think she’s my future daughter, don’t you?”

Hal shrugged. “She doesn’t look like you, but she’s comfortable around you. Like she knows she’s safe if you’re there with her.”

“Why lie about it though?” Hal could tell Barry was hurt. “Wouldn’t she want to tell me?”

“If you lost everything and showed up in another world where there was a parent still alive, would you act like nothing changed or would you keep it at arms-length?”

Barry sighed. “You’re…right.” He shook his head. “I didn’t even think of that.” His frown deepened. “She must hate looking at me though. I’m not her dad but I’m another version of him.”

“She doesn’t hate you, Barry.” Hal said, clasping his hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “She’s just…trying to keep it all together and not mix this world with hers.”

“I feel connected with her.” He admitted. “The speed force works funny like that. We can feel other speedsters—we know their speeds and auras.” His voice became soft. “Hers feels like…like…”

“Like?” Hal encouraged and Barry sighed.

“Her aura feels like when I went back in time and saved my mom.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to explain but she feels like—”

“Like family.”

Barry gaped at Hal. “Yeah…that’s exactly it.”

Hal nodded. “She’s still your daughter even worlds apart.”

“What do I say to her?”

“Don’t.” he answered. “Let her come to you about it.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Barry agreed.

***

The group had dispersed as quickly as it had come together, not that she was overly upset—she knew they all had prior engagements and teams to be apart of, but she would’ve been lying to say that it hadn’t saddened her a bit. Jason and Kyle, however, seemed to be the only ones that were usually around, Jason more than the latter.

(Y/N) liked being around Jason. He was much more hotheaded than she was used to, but she decided that like the Flashes, Jason Todd was Jason Todd no matter what universe he was in.

He was a little more reckless than she knew, playing fast and loose with the game, but he knew where his feet landed with each jump, and he was there when she needed help, her the same.

It hadn’t taken him long to deduce that the two of them were more than friends in her world, making the joke that she was his Catwoman—she’d cried she’d laughed so hard, but it given them time to talk about everything that had happened to her and her world; most importantly, her father.

She watched as Jason reclined against the cool stone of the ledge, passing one of the wrapped cheeseburgers to her. “Thank you,” she murmured, unwrapping it.

“Mhm,” he hummed, sipping his milkshake, setting his hood beside him; he swallowed and looked over. “What’s on your mind?”

(Y/N) blinked. “What are you talking about?” he merely cocked a brow and she sighed. “I forgot you could read people well.”

“Well maybe if you were a book and not a pamphlet, it’d be harder.”

“Did you just call me simple?”

“Never.” He waved it off. “What are you thinking about?”

She sighed again and set her half-eaten burger aside, pulling her knees to her chest as she whispered, “My mom’s maiden name was Sloan.”

Jason arched a brow. “You go by ‘Sloan’. Was your mom married?”

“My parents were. She died from cancer when I was ten.”

“I’m sorry,” he lamented, and she smiled.

“Thank you.” (Y/N) looked over. “My last name is Allen.”

His eyes widened. “As in Barry Allen, Allen?”

“Yeah…my dad.”

Jason blinked. “Holy shit.”

“Mhm.” She propped her chin on her knees. “The reason I’m just as fast as Wally West in this world is because I absorbed my dad’s speed before I left mine.” (Y/N) gazed at the city. “And then I left him to die in the blast.”

“You know that wasn’t your fault.”

She huffed. “So Barry’s told me.”

Jason stared at her. “Why do you live with him in Central City?”

“Because I don’t have anywhere else to go,” she answered. “And I…I—”

“You miss your dad.” He answered for her, and she nodded, feeling warmth gather in her eyes and she squeezed them shut.

“Yeah…it’s not him but…”

“It’s the only thing you’ve got that’s close enough to him.”

“Yeah.”

Jason nodded. “You’re welcome to come live with me over here.”

(Y/N) looked over at him. “I can’t do that, Jason.”

“Why not?”

She laughed. “We barely know each other.”

He shrugged. “We know each other enough.” Gazing at her, he added, “I’m not your world’s Jason, but we must be similar enough because I’ve seen and felt you fall behind me during fights, being at my six when I didn’t have it covered.” He smiled. “You know me, (Y/N), and I’d like to know you too.”

She merely gaped at him, then huffed a laugh. “I think that’s the most similar thing to my world’s Jason that I’ve heard you say.”

“Oh, come on!” he griped. “He couldn’t be that different from me!”

(Y/N) smiled. “Robins.”

Jason blanched. “I had Robins?”

“You had a son, who was exactly like you right now.”

“I wanna ask about the son, but what do you mean right now?”

“Oh, you know…hotheaded, anti-social, antagonistic.”

“You’re cute,” he scowled, then looked into the distance. “I can’t imagine bringing my kid with me.”

(Y/N) giggled. “Please, it took him like five years of complete begging on his knees before you’d even let him put on the suit, let alone go out with you.” She reached over and pushed hair behind his ear. “You were a good father…a good man.” Her expression turned sad. “I wasn’t fast enough to save either of you.”

Jason leaned into her touch, a frown on his face. “They know you tried, (Y/N).”

Tears gathered in her eyes. “I hope they knew that.” She shook her head as the tears started to spill over. “I lost everyone. You, JJ, my dad and all my friends.” (Y/N) stared at him through the tears. “How do I just start over after all that?”

He pushed the takeout bags out of the way and scooted over, pulling her to his chest; she buried her face in his suit and he propped his chin on the crown of her head. “I wish I had an answer for you.” He rubbed circles in her back. “But I do know that you can either let this keep you down, or you can get back up. Because if you don’t…then every life lost was in vain for you to survive.”

“I take it back,” she blubbered. “Your philosophical bullshit life lessons are the most Jason thing I’ve heard.”

He smiled, squeezing her tight. “That’s what we’re gonna call it now. Philosophical bullshit life lessons.” Jason pressed a kiss to her head. “It’s going to be okay, (Y/N). It’ll get better.”

***

It’d been a full year since she’d come to the new earth. She hadn’t moved in with Jason yet, but the moving boxes on the couch were the start of it—and she hadn’t told Barry she was leaving, or that he was her dad. (Y/N) wasn’t sure how to break that seal just yet.

She wandered around the tiny apartment, smiling at all the memories she’d made in the past year, and into his bedroom, where she paused at his dresser. A gold ring rested on top of it, and she picked it up, flipping it in her hand.

A woosh sounded from the door. “I’m home!” Barry’s voice trailed off in confusion and he called, “(Y/N)?”

“Here.”

He appeared in her peripheral, but she didn’t take her eyes off the ring, still gazing at the center stones. “There are boxes on the couch.”

“I’m moving in with Jason over in Gotham.”

“Oh…” he murmured, then took sight of what she had in her hands. “Is that—”

“Nora’s wedding ring?” she nodded. “Yeah.”

“How’d you know it was my mom’s?” Barry asked, stepping up to her and she finally looked at him, meeting his eyes.

“Because I had the same one in my world.” (Y/N) searched his gaze. “But you don’t seem surprised by that fact.” She sighed. “How long have you known?”

Barry’s face contorted in shame. “A few weeks after you got here.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

He shook his head. “Hal said—” he sighed. “I wanted to wait until you said something to me about it. I was afraid if I did, you’d run.”

(Y/N)’s brows pulled together, lips pulling down sadly. “Barry…”

“I know I’m not your dad,” he whispered. “But I know, (Y/N). I can feel it.”

She felt her lips wobble and before she knew it, she was throwing herself into his arms, wrapping hers around his waist as tight as she could. “Dad.”

Barry’s arms came around her, one holding the back of her head, the other in the middle of her back. “I’m here, (Y/N).”

“I missed you so much,” she cried. “I wasn’t fast enough to save them, and I couldn’t save you either.”

“No,” he said. “You did everything you could. I know you did.”

“But I wasn’t fast enough.” (Y/N) sobbed. “You had to give me your speed so I could run away. Like a coward.”

“Like a survivor,” Barry corrected. “You’ve never run away.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re a survivor, (Y/N). And your dad made sure of that.” He pulled away slightly, tears of his own dripping down his cheeks. “You’re fast enough.” She shut her eyes as more tears rolled down her cheeks and he pressed his lips to her forehead. “And no matter what world you’re on, you’re still my daughter.”

A laugh that sounded much more like a sob escaped her and she hugged him again. “I love you, dad.”

Barry smiled, holding her tight. “I love you more, honey.”

434 notes · View notes

puppetiers · 5 years

Text

HOTEL CALIFORNIA THO

Arquius Last Tuesday at 10:41 PM

You are Arq, that you are certain of, you are in the manor again after a day of walking around the city to see if you can spot either of your friends because WHERE ARE THEY. You can only roast Dirk so much, you need other people to roast him with. Steps quiet in the oddly dead hallways, like something terrible happened. You open Dirk's door and quickly look behind you, no one followed you, good. You slide yourself into the room like it were someone's DMs. Now where did Dirk put the furby.

Lil Cal Last Wednesday at 12:05 PM

You've been spending some time in Dirk's room, because it's quite comfy. Totally not because you've been missing him or are hoping he's stopping by sometime soon. You know he's not, he would have told you. Which is why you're immediately startled when you hear noises at the door. No one but Dirk should be coming into this room, but neither should you, so you're slipping off the bed for the moment to hide and watch the intruder. You've been spending some time examining said furby - unmistakably Hal's great work - which is now lying on the bed all sprawled out.

Arquius Last Wednesday at 2:37 PM

At this very moment you look like a Dirk, a Hal in booty shorts. The best part of your body, you think. And you think about yourself a lot. "What in the boogaloo, bro, why is the furby here..." You slap the door close. Memory never fails you. That's not where it could have been, you know he put it away out of your view. Someone was here or someone is here. You need to inspect every bit of this room now to see what was moved, what is missing and what is what. You check on your closet first, seeing if there are any actual pieces missing. Senses alert for the smallest sound or creak.

Lil Cal Last Wednesday at 5:34 PM

The closet. Please. As if you'd be such an amateur. You're.. under the bed. Watching him closely. He's... so oddly familiar, yet still a stranger. You haven't really seen him before, but you know who it is. The new guy that Dirk dragged in. An AI. Like Hal. Once a Hal? Definitely makes you curious, but also very wary, because unlike Hal, this one resides in this house now. You keep lying in wait for now. If he keeps on checking everywhere, you'll have to move. Maybe try to sneak out. Or confront him, because what the hell is he doing here without Dirk. But staying put seems like the safest choice for now.

Arquius Last Wednesday at 6:00 PM

There aren't a lot of places that an stranger could hide in or under. Unless they are very small. Nothing in the closet. You turn on your not hooves quickly before, and without warning, dropping down in a swift motion to be level with the ground to look under the bed. You tilt your head a little. Red eyes scanning the darkness with ease. See while Dirk has warned you about a Cal, it hasn't crossed your mind since he laid that info on you. ... Oh what the fuck is that. "BRO" No way.

Lil Cal Last Wednesday at 6:21 PM

Wow. Rude. The sudden drop is unexpected and does startle you, though you don't show. Not a flinch, not a change on your already unusually wide-eyed face. Well. This is awkward. You're not moving for a few good seconds. Hard to pretend to not be here if he noticed you, and he's probably not gonna leave so easily. Hrm. Drat. "Bro yourself!" ... "Go away."

Arquius Last Wednesday at 6:46 PM

Nope, you aren't. He has gained all your interest and you are staring with a weirdo smile, because that is something that you do. You watch. "No. You can't command me to do anything, try again later." You extend your hand to him, like for a handshake. A STRONG handshake, you hope he takes it. "I'm Arquius, you look familiar." You tilt your head to the other side. You are already scanning him for future referral.

Lil Cal Last Wednesday at 7:28 PM

God damn robots and their weird untouchable brains. Which means, if he so chose to hurt you, you'd have Little to defend yourself. He doesn't seem to be out for that, though. But you're still wary, eyes fixed on his face, even when he offers his hand. You don't take it though, instead, you squeeze out from your hiding spot towards the side, surprisingly smooth and flexible for someone of your size, and stand up. "So do you." You glance over at the bed. "...The furby fit you better."

Arquius Last Wednesday at 7:45 PM

Aw, you make a sad face. And also make a point on how he moves. So smooth. You get up yourself and look at him better. You clap your hands infront of you, this is so exciting. "I strongly agree with that comment, but this is less upsetting to everyone, not that I care but Dirk and I had to make a good impression, so here you hoove me." You were going to change to the furby to go back and crawl on the vents but you aren't telling him that. "Why are you here, waiting for Dirk?" Who else could he be waiting for, no one comes here.

Lil Cal Last Wednesday at 9:20 PM

Hoove.. H-have? What a!! weird!! way to talk! But you can't help but getting carried away but his excited mood. You're still skeptical, but your face shows a wide grin. "I'm not waiting because he's not coming. Why are you here, if not for Dirk?"

Arquius Last Wednesday at 11:12 PM

"I came here for Dirk but I'm not here for Dirk. I'm my own, I do as I please. This is my room too now, bro." Pause. "But I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours bro? Can I call you bro? It's bro until I Get a name, bro. Since I don't think your presence has been registered in other ways.. If you don't wait what do you seek or is it the place that you like?"(edited)

Lil Cal Last Wednesday at 11:39 PM

"Do you. Have anything different than that." HNNNN. The grin gets just a little uncomfortable. "My name is Cal. I like it here. That's all."

Arquius Last Wednesday at 11:58 PM

You bounce in your spot. Eyes open even more. Your face gets two inches closer to his direction. "Cal, you are Cal, you are the Cal Dirk talked about." Too friendly maybe. "To your question, I came here to transfer into the furby and go into the vents and watch. The manor is an interesting place to be trotting around. You must know because you saw me but I never saw you. I have seen everyone in this house but not you."

Lil Cal Last Thursday at 12:50 AM

"Dirk talked about me!" you repeat. Part of you is flattered that Dirk likes you so much, he wants to tell others - another part is upset because it was a secret and he knew. "He shouldn't have" you add, still with a smile. You don't mind people knowing about you per se, you mind when it's not in your control. "You only saw me because I let you." A lie. Well, partially. You could have done a better job at avoiding him and trying to escape the room. But usually the humans are much easier to trick than him. Ah, he wants into the vents. Intrude into your realm even more. The vents are only part of it. He doesn't know about all the other passages and the rhythm of this house. You don't feel threatened, there's no way he'll be able to figure it all out. It took you long to figure this all out and you know how to block them for him. Does he expect you to show him? "You can't go there" you just say, still with a smile.

Arquius Last Thursday at 1:01 AM

"Didn't tell me more than you were alive here. And is good to confirm." AI's have their benefits. He smiles so much, just like you. His are different than yours, there is quite a smile variety here. "Well I'm honored, Calicious" At this point you are replacing all bro and bro related language with Cal and Cal byproducts. "But I already did. I have been for quite a few days. As a furby, you can't command me otherwise. I like commands but they have to be of particular individuals, I hope you understand."

Lil Cal Last Thursday at 10:42 AM

"Calicious." You grin wider. "I like it." As close as you ever got to having your own name. Not bad. "I guess can't stop you~ But the vents are brittle, and the bosses wouldn't like you sneaking around.." Only got the best for him in mind, of course. You frown. "And if you get in trouble, Dirk will too."(edited)

Arquius Last Thursday at 3:43 PM

You make a horse noise in frustration, leaning back to your own space. A literal horse noise that you have recorded. "You are going to play that card? Califragilisticus that is a load of horses!#$t." The noise that came at the end resembles a mix of a glitched voice and several error messages all at once. This is one of your several randomized noises that you have programmed for when you swear, you like this one. "I'll have to tell Dirk the real furby hours are over, he is going to be annoyed." No he won't but you like to pretend that he will. You finally move away and let yourself drop on the back, your back on it, eyes never stop staring at Cal. Never.

Lil Cal Last Thursday at 5:35 PM

"I'm not playing any card~ Just warning you." Neither do you stop staring at him as you keep standing there. Hrm. He's a tricky one. Interesting, but dangerous. "You're new here. You can't just sneak around like that."

Arquius Last Thursday at 6:08 PM

Oh but you already did. Several days actually. "Says who was sneaking around in Dirk's room." But you guess that's the difference between one and the other. "You aren't new here then, I'm STRONGLY believing you are anything by new your wording is correct." Your Cal doll was there long before you even were you wouldn't be surprised if this one was here before everyone else.

Lil Cal Last Thursday at 9:08 PM

Hm, he's backing off. Good. You just giggle in response, then slink over to the bed and crouch on it next to him. You don't feel like leaving just yet. Would feel unwise to leave him alone with all that knowledge about you and the house anyway. "How long do you think I've been here~?"

Arquius Last Thursday at 10:18 PM

"I like your hooves." His shoes, his shoes are nice. As a matter of fact you think the outfit is hella fine. His question holds no interest for you, Cal does. "Longer than I have, Cal, I'm not gonna judge your baby face but if I had your weight I would had a STRONG accurate approximate." You extend your hand over again, you could probably carry him without effort. "Calibruh If you want me to indulge you mayhaps you are as old as the house itself"

Lil Cal Last Thursday at 11:23 PM

Your... hooves. You look at your hands in short confusion. And your feet? Hooves are horse feet, right, but- you got normal people feet. "Hoo hoo. What a weird way to talk. I like it." You grin. The inquiry goes ignored, though the bed you're on might give away that you're not as heavy as your height might suggest. "Not reallyy~ The house was already here when I woke up."

Arquius Yesterday at 12:51 AM

He is silly. "Of horse, the way I speak is only the best." Objectively speaking that is. "I can relate to that, from where I come from the house was there too when I woke up and the water and everything else around it. The other you was also already there. You aren't an AI, are you? " Probably not, but its worth the question.

Lil Cal Yesterday at 1:06 AM

You actually need to think about this one for a moment, your eyes wandering up to the ceiling while you ponder. You could just easily lie, sure, but that would be kind of boring. "Nnnot a robot."

Arquius Yesterday at 1:13 AM

Well that's disappointing. However Dirk did mention something. You finally put your hand down, you aren't tired. "Are you like the other one at home, a puppet but sentient? My money is on this horse Calicious, not that it matters really as long as you feel STRONGLY about it." Like you don't feel strongly about this body. "Fiddlesticks..."

Lil Cal Yesterday at 1:20 AM

You don't actually confirm Arquius' guess outright, but if you did, you'd say he's pretty spot on. Instead, your eyes go wide in excitement. "You got a sentient puppet?" Well, it does make sense. If this Dirk and this Not-Hal came from another universe... did they have another you there? Right, Dirk recognized you. How unfortunate for the other Cal. How lucky for you! Two Dirks!

Arquius Yesterday at 1:41 AM

"An extremely chill one" That is to say, no it wans't sentient. That's what you think. 100% not sentient... Maybe?? You aren't sure now. You will have to think about it. Not that you have files of that so. Facts say, he doesn't. The mystery of the universe crumbling around you says maybe. "Like you have a Hal here and then there is me, the numbers don't lie it all goes in twos but slightly different. My sentiments are CROSS regarding it. It's not going to matter until we go back. Or at least until I do. Dirk can perish here."

Lil Cal Yesterday at 9:53 AM

"You want to go back?" you take note. You couldn't care less who stays in this house and who doesn't, for the most part. Sure, the Felt have their rules, but that's mire Scratch's thing. You don't care about enforcing them unless Scratch specifically asks for it. "Dirk doesn't?" you ask much more thrilled. Maaaybe you might have hand in that, but the results are all that matter.

Arquius Yesterday at 2:46 PM

"Well yes, reprogramming and slavery are things I STRONGLY disagree with.Specially when sent on my direction" Everyone should disagree with and for some reason it's not that common APPARENTLY, considering all of this.He is far too happy for that, not that you would ever know why but he is happy. "He doesn't know if he wants to. I did all of this for him and he doesn't know. I'm cross."(edited)

Lil Cal Today at 12:04 AM

"Hmmmm.. Was that Snowman? Sounds like Snowman. Slavery, how cruel.." Now, reprogramming, you're not exactly opposed to. In fact, you're still kind of irked that your way of doing things doesn't work on these robobrains. Your smile actually fades for a bit. You're worried. How serious is he about that? Could Dirk still change his mind? The older Dirk has left before... you don't want that to happen again. "Let him stay. You can stay too. Or don't. But don't take him..."

Arquius Today at 12:27 AM

"Exactly that one, a strong powerful individual who seems to share quirks with me" Like reading pretty fast, stronger than human handshakes. Just ... her. You only know because of the files you got from Equius, terrifying, electrizing and all together very hot. If she wasn't going to split you in 8 pieces that is. "I'll do what he wants to do, Hotel California. If he wants to come he will when the rescuers appear. But if he doesn't want to I won't waste more time horsing around and I'll make my way out as fast as possible. At least off the manor." Pause "Califrags you could come with us"

Lil Cal Today at 12:39 AM

"What?" You look at him, absolutely and for once honestly puzzled. Could you come with them? That's not even a thing you ever considered. How could you. "No." Sure, you can leave the house. But only because you always keep coming back. This is where you belong.

Arquius Today at 1:07 AM

You said something unexpected for him, so you can read. "Sure Calcium, I won't force, but the option and the very strong and pointy suggestion is there, one window AND ROPE, it's all it takes." Because last time NO ONE TOOK ROPE AND GOT SEPARATED IN TIME AND SPACE. You make another frustrated horse noise. You roll to your side closer to Cal now that you have been and then sit up to get on his face. And then you say nothing.

Lil Cal Today at 2:28 AM

You don't even flinch when he sits up like that, but slowly at least double the distance a few seconds later. Before you continue, you force a smile back onto your face. "Don't be silly. I can't leave."

Arquius Today at 2:30 AM

He doesn't like proximity. Not that a lot of people do, but no handshakes and no bubble. He doesn't like your proximity. "I'll be silly and canter around, why can't you leave, Calamary?"

Lil Cal Today at 2:55 AM

You don't mind proximity - if you're in control of it. And it's really hard to feel in control around him. He's interesting, sure, but also kind of unpredictable. Hm... You probably shouldn't give him an answer to that. He's unrealible, untrustworthy, unpredictable... Under threat of reprogramming, and yet he crawls around everywhere, looking for a way out. You worry about what Dirk may do because of him. But frankly, you couldn't care less if Arquius gets himself into trouble. Who knows, things might actually get interesting with him around. "Because I belong to the Lord~" You give him a weak smile, almost apologetic. "And so do you now. He's not gonna let you go..."

Arquius Today at 3:25 AM

"The Lord?" You have never heard of that before. Not even once. "Scratch? He is no lord or noble." No one else could be described as a lord, its closer to a land lord. Hm. "Is that lord strong enough to stop me?"

Lil Cal Today at 3:42 AM

Your grin grows a little wider. Oblivious fool, like they all are. Doesn't know what's waiting for them. "No, not Scratch. Scratch is just a puppet. A figurehead for the true leader of the Felt. The Lord of Time. Angel of Death. End of the Universe. Lord English." You giggle. "Does that sound strong enough?"

Arquius Today at 4:05 AM

"It does." And with that the logical question that follows. "Even more reason to go back to mine, if this one is in peril, thank you Supercalifragilistic, you have helped me to decide to STRONGLY and VIGUROUSLY start to find a way to get Dirk and I out of here"

Lil Cal Today at 4:11 AM

Hmph. Idiot. "Do you think you're gonna be safe there...?" You doubt it. If there's even a way back. You hope there's not.

Arquius Today at 4:19 AM

"No." Your answer is dry and short, mostly because you know back then isn't safe either. Your face can't match his, you are pensive. "But it isn't safe here either. ITs better to face the enemy that you know than the unkown STRONG world ender. If you go to my universe you would love to come back. There is no cross here, just simple belonging."

Lil Cal Today at 4:49 AM

This guy makes you feel all kinds of weird things and you don't like it. For one part you're actually charmed that he seems to be really interested in taking you with him. With them. But you're also very incredibly uncomfortable about the whole notion. You're not leaving. Dirk isn't going to leave either. Neither will Arquius. But especially not you. "I'm not leaving." You slip off the bed and stand up. "I'm going. I mean. I'm leaving-- for now. Not leaving this place. I belong here." It's simple as that. He should be clever enough to understand that. And indeed, you want to exit the room, but.. you try to swipe the furby first.

Arquius Today at 6:07 AM

And you are, you understand that. The smile goes back to you, finally something. When he tries to swipe the furby you try to get a hold of it, NO NO NO, you promised Hal you were going to give it back.

Lil Cal Today at 3:38 PM

Hah. You're quicker by a small margin. It slips through Arquius' hands as you pull it close to you. With a few steps backward you're at the door, eyes still on him. You pause there, squinting, furbytaur pressed close against your chest. "..Don't tell anyone about me if you ever want to see this again." Aaand you slip through the door. BYE BI- Bot.

Arquius Today at 3:40 PM

"YOU CAN'T COMMAND ME." You make the run to the door trying to catch Cal. Not that it works. Ah. FIDDLESTICKS. You are telling Hal anyway. Bye Calcifer.

#logs

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cryptoquicknews-blog · 5 years

Photo

New Post has been published here https://is.gd/mNCtcT

I Got the Mark of the Beast – And It Will Hold My Bitcoin

This post was originally published here

“What happens when you need an MRI?”

Someone answers for me: “You die an excruciating death… Actually, they remove them painfully quickly or the machine does.”

I’m sure these paranoid, exaggerated remarks didn’t help as I sat down at the folding table in front of a large man with a 14-gauge needle. I was sweating through my shirt.

“Are you gonna pass out?” he asks.

“I don’t think so.”

It’s literally right on my face – in the form of a septum piercing – that I’m pretty familiar with needles.

“Three, two and one,” the man with the needle said as he pushed it into the squishy part of my left hand, between my thumb and index finger.

It was all of one second of pain, and then it was over. I hardly even bled.

And just like that, I was now officially a cyborg.

So, what the hell am I doing here? Well several years ago, in 2014, I stumbled on this guy, Martijn Wismeijer, aka Mr. Bitcoin, who had gotten a microchip implant that he then programmed to hold his cryptocurrency.

I doubt I really knew much about the transhumanism movement back then, but I have always been fascinated with robots and the idea of melding robots into humans or vice versa. This seemed right up my alley, as even back then, I was basically covering crypto full-time, so I started reaching out but communication eventually dropped off and it was all but forgotten.

Until this January, when Bryan Bishop, the Bitcoin Core developer that’s known for his tremendously fast typing and in turn his transcriptions of conferences, mentioned BDYHAX to me. “There’s a lot of transhumanists in the bitcoin community,” he said.

But the conference’s agenda had already piqued my interest – “Implantable Tech Area.”

I’m there.

Freedom of…

Bishop’s right – at least anecdotally, that there’s an overlap between the body hackers and the bitcoiners. Transhumanism does, in fact, link them. Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney seems to have been one, since he cryogenically froze his body, hoping that sometime in the future he might be able to be resuscitated.

It probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise that folks that believe technology can create a better future as it relates to money, payments, shit just about everything, would think that technology can also make humans themselves better.

Take Bishop’s recently revealed designer baby venture.

Funded with his bitcoin savings, Bishop’s project, recently written about in MIT Technology Review, looks to allow parents to genetically engineer their babies to have features like muscles without ever picking up a dumbbell or enhanced memory.

If that sentence sounds weird – almost like adding apps to your smartphone – it’s because it kinda is. There’s mounting criticism and concern over the practice, especially after a Chinese biophysicist named He Jiankui claimed he’d made the first genetically edited babies.

If you give your imagination even a tiny bit of wiggle room, you can see why.

Do parents have the right to choose how their children look and act? This can’t be a cheap procedure; will everyone be able to edit their children to be smarter or will it only be the rich that benefit? Will we lose some humanity if everyone edit’s themselves for the flavor of the week?

Yet for all those dystopian futures (that I very much see and worry about), ultimately some of this could no doubt be beneficial and save hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of lives.

For instance, one of Bishop’s first examples – something we talked about in the Fall last year – was making humans resistant to HIV.

Future humans will think we’re barbaric if we resist this kind of medical achievement.

While I’m not so interested, and even slightly disturbed, by genetic beauty enhancements such as muscles or blue eyes, I worry these concerns could push this type of biohacking into the shadows.

And that’s a shame.

Bodies and money

We’ve seen a similar thing happen in the cryptocurrency space.

There are hacks, scams, fucking idiots and all sorts of bad things lurking in the blockchain scene, and typically that’s made many turn up their noses to the whole industry. They lump it all together and mark it “useless,” “nefarious,” “shit.”

And I get it. I look around the crypto industry, after being here for six years, and see rot. I see individuals who only want to make quick money at the expense of others; I see companies touting their disrupting finance but actually enstating the same, arbitrary, discriminatory rules as legacy banks.

Where the fuck did the ethos go?

I’ll tell you. It might be hard to see through all the “sky is falling” – or during a hype cycle all the glitz of free money – but it’s in Venezuela, helping people literally starving because of their corrupt government, hold onto some value. It’s in the lightning torch, hopping all around the world, showing people the power of a stateless digital currency.

And because those instances exist, I’ll take some of the bullshit.

Because that’s what I’m here for – an alternative to the systems that were created without my input and sometimes do not work for – to be more clear, work against – me and other individuals.

“We’re all already attuned to this, we want freedom, we don’t want to be told what we can and can’t do with our bodies, what we can or can’t put into our bodies, and people don’t want to be told what they can and can’t do with their money,” Chad Creighton, a vice president at blockchain development consultancy BlockSaw, who was at BDYHAX, said.

While our bodies and our money could seem like apples and oranges, they’re really not. Because what we can do with our bodies is directly determined by what we can do with our money.

Case in point, for some in the biohacking space, healthcare is too costly and big pharma, insurance providers, even doctors are working against the people, the individuals who need care. For cryptocurrency aficionados, the great monolithic entity to disrupt is the Federal Reserve, state monetary policy, the banks.

There’s an overlapping “distrust of formal institutions,” Bishop told me. “They have gotten so large and bureaucratic, it’s sometimes more practical to go your own way and see what you can get done. Even more specifically, some people see certain regulations directly interfering with people’s right to live.”

He gives the example of a DIY biohacker figuring out a way to make insulin cheaper and then offering that to diabetics, which would be technically illegal.

As with all these anarchist attempts, Don Andres Ochoa, a biotechnologist and data scientist speaking at the event, gave the best rallying cry:

“Fuck it, let’s fix the problem ourselves.”

Scared of needles?

These two fields of research “are not directly useful to each other, but there’s a common source of inspiration,” Bishop said.

And they do mix together at a certain point. For instance, because of the controversy surrounding designer babies today, Bishop is cognizant that cryptography-backed privacy tech will likely play some role – if nothing else, at least as it relates to anonymous payments for the service.

Still, all this stuff seems outrageous to the majority of people.

“Right now, the idea or concept of body hacking is literally bleeding edge (ha),” said Amal Graafstra, the founder and CEO of VivoKey, the maker of the implant I got.

With implants, as with cryptocurrency, “the overlap is directly related to people’s sense of adventure,” he continued.

Case in point, Jerrah Cameron, a Denver-based programmer, who stumbled upon the body hacking scene only about a month ago and already has three implants – two small chips and this larger NFC chip, for which he had a gnarly one-inch slice on the side of his right hand.

For the novelty these devices provide so far – I currently have my chip programmed to take an NFC-enabled phone to my “receive bitcoin” QR code, making it fast and easy for someone to send me a tip – most people won’t want to get poked, he said.

That’s why he’s working on an application that would allow the chips to be used as payment mechanisms, housing first the tokens needed for apps like Apple Pay, Google Pay or Venmo, and then in the future even cryptocurrencies.

And VivoKey is also working on something similar.

In a week or so, Graafstra and his team plan on releasing an API that can allow developers to program one of their chips (yes, the one I have! squee) to act as an authenticator key. With this, users should be able to request that their chip be tapped to verify any send or transfer of crypto within a wallet.

“The idea was to develop a completely autonomous secure element under the skin,” Graafstra told CoinDesk.

And the company also offers a chip (not the one I have) that can actually complete key generation and the signing of a transaction all within the chip. That’s currently in private beta and requires quite a lot of programming to make it all work, so it’s not ready for mainstream use yet.

So for now, my hand isn’t worth any more than it was when I was just a boring old human (although it has facilitated $2 worth of bitcoin).

Implant procedure images via Bailey Reutzel for CoinDesk

#crypto #cryptocurrency #btc #xrp #litecoin #altcoin #money #currency #finance #news #alts #hodl #coindesk #cointelegraph #dollar #bitcoin View the website

New Post has been published here https://is.gd/mNCtcT

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click2watch · 5 years

Text

I Got the Mark of the Beast – And It Will Hold My Bitcoin

“What happens when you need an MRI?”

Someone answers for me: “You die an excruciating death… Actually, they remove them painfully quickly or the machine does.”

I’m sure these paranoid, exaggerated remarks didn’t help as I sat down at the folding table in front of a large man with a 14-gauge needle. I was sweating through my shirt.

“Are you gonna pass out?” he asks.

“I don’t think so.”

It’s literally right on my face – in the form of a septum piercing – that I’m pretty familiar with needles.

“Three, two and one,” the man with the needle said as he pushed it into the squishy part of my left hand, between my thumb and index finger.

It was all of one second of pain, and then it was over. I hardly even bled.

And just like that, I was now officially a cyborg.

But the conference’s agenda had already piqued my interest – “Implantable Tech Area.”

I’m there.

Freedom of…

Take Bishop’s recently revealed designer baby venture.

If you give your imagination even a tiny bit of wiggle room, you can see why.

Yet for all those dystopian futures (that I very much see and worry about), ultimately some of this could no doubt be beneficial and save hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of lives.

For instance, one of Bishop’s first examples – something we talked about in the Fall last year – was making humans resistant to HIV.

Future humans will think we’re barbaric if we resist this kind of medical achievement.

While I’m not so interested, and even slightly disturbed, by genetic beauty enhancements such as muscles or blue eyes, I worry these concerns could push this type of biohacking into the shadows.

And that’s a shame.

Bodies and money

We’ve seen a similar thing happen in the cryptocurrency space.

Where the fuck did the ethos go?

And because those instances exist, I’ll take some of the bullshit.

While our bodies and our money could seem like apples and oranges, they’re really not. Because what we can do with our bodies is directly determined by what we can do with our money.

He gives the example of a DIY biohacker figuring out a way to make insulin cheaper and then offering that to diabetics, which would be technically illegal.

As with all these anarchist attempts, Don Andres Ochoa, a biotechnologist and data scientist speaking at the event, gave the best rallying cry:

“Fuck it, let’s fix the problem ourselves.”

Scared of needles?

These two fields of research “are not directly useful to each other, but there’s a common source of inspiration,” Bishop said.

Still, all this stuff seems outrageous to the majority of people.

“Right now, the idea or concept of body hacking is literally bleeding edge (ha),” said Amal Graafstra, the founder and CEO of VivoKey, the maker of the implant I got.

With implants, as with cryptocurrency, “the overlap is directly related to people’s sense of adventure,” he continued.

And VivoKey is also working on something similar.

“The idea was to develop a completely autonomous secure element under the skin,” Graafstra told CoinDesk.

So for now, my hand isn’t worth any more than it was when I was just a boring old human (although it has facilitated $2 worth of bitcoin).

Implant procedure images via Bailey Reutzel for CoinDesk

This news post is collected from CoinDesk