You find an alien artifact

[gamer]

Yes, you, you wake up tomorrow with an alien artifact sitting next to you a glowing cube covered in strange constantly-shifting alien symbols that makes a strange low quiet humming noise constantly. Direct contact with the artifact makes your hands feel as if they were set on fire but if you remain close to it without touching it directly you feel a comfortable warmth coming from the artifact.

As you study this artifact you find machines exposed to its power suddenly can run on their own without any detectable power source for days. Also you notice the artifact seems to have an effect on your body as well just being near it makes you feel as if you are full of energy almost as if you are in a manic state you don't even feel the need to sleep anymore. Prolonged contact (period of time ranging from weeks to months) with the artifact makes you feel more powerful than ever you can feel your intelligence increasing making you feel as if you were an omni-savant genius (think something like NZT but more potent), you feel stronger and faster than ever before with the cube's radiation powering your body, you become immortal (the cube's radiation will keep you alive indefinitely if you remember to continously feed the cube the energy of the living though if someone were to dismember you and burn and scatter your remains you will remain dead) your senses become superhumanely sharp to the point they appear psychic as you can now see the world in an entirely new light and absorb far more information than any normal human. Further contact with the artifact and more time researching and experimenting it can allow you to even unlock seemingly magical powers like the ability to drain the life out of the things you touch (this is also how the artifact feeds itself), teleportation, low-level time manipulation, telekinesis, electrokinesis, raise the dead? (the cube's energy can bring corpses back to life unfortunately only the recently deceased and it has trouble bringing the mind back so you mainly get zombies), etc.

The cube's radiation isn't without drawbacks, the more time you spend with the cube the more your appearance begins to shift making you look sick, pale, anorexic, and corpse-like eventually your appearance will resemble that of a walking corpse, your mind begins to unravel and you become incurably schizophrenic making you suffer from paranoia, delusions, and hallucinations like hearing the voice of the cube calling you telling you to do things, seeing disturbing visions, possibly feeling the need to mutilate yourself, you know random schizophrenic stuff. While the cube removes your need to eat, sleep, drink, or if you chose breathe you will eventually become so tied to the cube that if the cube were to ever leave your possession you would surely die in a matter of days.

So what do you do?

[Grumman]

The only reasonable thing to do: stop it from functioning. If it destroys the mind, any other powers it has are irrelevant.

[Simon_Jester]

If it starts effing up my brain, yeah, I ditch it.

Why would anyone want superpowers badly enough to totally fuck up their brains? I mean, if it were something like "save the world but you're gonna burn out and go crazy in a month" I might buy it, but there's no preexisting motive.

What is it with you and these weird "WHAT IF YOU HAD A WAY TO GET SUPERPOWERS WOULD YOU DO IT HUH HUH HUH?" threads?

[madd0ct0r]

need more information on the cube's power source.
\
you say it has to drain life to work - who's life? what life? what units? what frequency? how?

[Darth Tanner]

Is it possible to strike a balance between getting some of the good effects without overdosing and getting the bad effects? Otherwise I buy a lead box and throw it in the sea/hand it to government to study.

Also we definitely need clarification on the 'feeding it souls' business.

[gamer]

If it starts effing up my brain, yeah, I ditch it.

Why would anyone want superpowers badly enough to totally fuck up their brains? I mean, if it were something like "save the world but you're gonna burn out and go crazy in a month" I might buy it, but there's no preexisting motive.

What is it with you and these weird "WHAT IF YOU HAD A WAY TO GET SUPERPOWERS WOULD YOU DO IT HUH HUH HUH?" threads?

Isn't this my first thread of this type?

Anyway what if the insanity is removed or greatly lessened to a much more manageable level, where you aren't totally mad and needing to be hospitalized but just a little crazy due to the radiation and massive amount of information the artifact is feeding you as it communicates with your mind (also btw sanity is all about perception in your reality you are totally normal but to others you might appear insane especially if you tell them you got powers (you actually do get real powers) and you can talk to the cube)?

And yes you can control the amount of radiation you recieve by limiting your exposure to the cube.

As for the feeding it life energy this is the easy part it doesn't require much even plants can give it energy more complex lifeforms however give it more and humans give it the most amount of energy. Feeding it life energy just makes it and by extension you more powerful if you don't feed it, it will still function on its own its effects will be much milder though.

[dworkin]

Is this from Stargate Atlantis?

I leave a note for it to be dropped in the nearest convienient steller object. On no account is Rodney allowed to touch it. Really, we mean it this time.

[Simon_Jester]

If it starts effing up my brain, yeah, I ditch it.

Why would anyone want superpowers badly enough to totally fuck up their brains? I mean, if it were something like "save the world but you're gonna burn out and go crazy in a month" I might buy it, but there's no preexisting motive.

What is it with you and these weird "WHAT IF YOU HAD A WAY TO GET SUPERPOWERS WOULD YOU DO IT HUH HUH HUH?" threads?

Isn't this my first thread of this type?

Okay, maybe I'm mistaking you for someone else. Lately, we've seen a number of threads like this and I keep getting a vibe of "15-year-old with obsessive power fantasy" off of them. It becomes predictable and a bit creepy when you see enough of them, to the point where I more than half expect to see "What if you had the power to make people love you? Huh? Huh?" which is just so obvious and disturbing.

That doesn't mean you've been the one doing those past threads I'm thinking of. My mistake.

Anyway what if the insanity is removed or greatly lessened to a much more manageable level, where you aren't totally mad and needing to be hospitalized but just a little crazy due to the radiation and massive amount of information the artifact is feeding you as it communicates with your mind (also btw sanity is all about perception in your reality you are totally normal but to others you might appear insane especially if you tell them you got powers (you actually do get real powers) and you can talk to the cube)?

Is it still screwing up your body? I mean, I have a hard time thinking of anything one might urgently need superpowers for that justifies turning into a half-mad, hideous, twisted shell of a man. Especially if those superpowers come from an unholy demonic cube that keeps whispering at you to go murder people so it can eat their life force or whatever.

[gamer]

You can control how much radiation you get from the cube just exposing yourself to a small amount once and awhile will keep you feeling energized but won't give you any powers the more radiation you soak up from the cube the smarter and stronger you become, the cube will slowly reveal its alien secrets to you giving you knowledge of tech you never dreamed possible promising that even your wildest dreams can come true, but you get more and more potent side effects.

[PeZook]

There's no way I am exposing myself to radiation emitted by an artifact of unknown origin and purpose. I don't fucking touch it and call the authorities - because either I am a subject of some weirdo alien experiment, or it's a "roadside picnic" situation and I'm fucking with something that's way beyond my understanding and quite possibly really deadly for clueless apes. Either way, better to stay on the safe side.

[Lord Revan]

"power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutly"

I wouldn't trust myself to not abuse something like that.

Something comes with age is knowing your weaknesses and I know for fact that thanks emotinal scars (from what I won't into details as it's not important) I would have temptation to abuse something like that, especially since I don't know of it's long term effects, so it's best to given to authorities.

[Purple]

Sell it to some rich millionaire idiot. Preferably without disclosing the side effects.

[Grumman]

Sell it to some rich millionaire idiot. Preferably without disclosing the side effects.

You suck at class warfare, Purple. Turning someone you don't like into a powerful, insane Lich? That's an incredibly stupid plan, because once they're powerful and insane there's nothing stopping them coming back and turning you inside out.

[gamer]

Me, personally I would hop on the chance this new device has given me, just think of all that power, vast knowledge, and the ability to see the world in an entirely new angle. I might be able to do some good as well with such a vast boost to my intelligence and senses I might be able to find cures to diseases, further develop Nikola Tesla's ideas for "free-energy" and other useful things. Sure my body might take a hit and I might end up looking like an anorexic walking corpse but its not like I'm getting the ladies anyway, and my sanity might start being questioned but we all know sanity is for the weak everyone else is just too foolish to see the truth in my madness.

[The Imperator]

I give it to some research group, and wash my hands of it. I value my mind too much to let it be destroyed.

[Purple]

Sell it to some rich millionaire idiot. Preferably without disclosing the side effects.

You suck at class warfare, Purple. Turning someone you don't like into a powerful, insane Lich? That's an incredibly stupid plan, because once they're powerful and insane there's nothing stopping them coming back and turning you inside out.

Personally I was hoping to turn someone I don't like into a powerful, insane Lich who will than conquer the world and enslave everyone whilst I get to watch from a prison perched on top of some sort of dark tower built specifically to mock me. Little would he know that for me that would be paradise.

[madd0ct0r]

still don't get this feeding life energy thing. Does it kill the subject?

[MrDakka]

I'm fucking with something that's way beyond my understanding and quite possibly really deadly for clueless apes. Either way, better to stay on the safe side.

When you put it that way, it sounds like Cthulu in a cube. Box that shit up and call in the government. Stuff like this is way above my pay grade.

[PeZook]

When you put it that way, it sounds like Cthulu in a cube. Box that shit up and call in the government. Stuff like this is way above my pay grade.

Any technology that works in unknown ways and emits unknown radiation is going to be dangerous. Think about a caveman who finds a gas heater, or better yet, a bunch of Ancient Romans trying to disassemble a nuclear reactor. They could kill themselves with trivial ease by doing nothing extraordinarily stupid, just through simple ignorance (like running the heater in an enclosed space with poor ventillation, or handling the fuel rods without knowing about radiation).

The fact it would start to make me sick after a while would probably be the point where, even if I'm actually dumb enough to try and keep/study it, I'd panic - because who the hell knows when the decay stops, if it stops at all? Hell, it might already be too late by that point ; After all, by the time your hair starts falling out and your gums begin to bleed, you've probably absorbed too much of our nice and homely known radiation types to survive.

The short summary is this: it's an unknown device which does fuck knows what, but definitely emits some form of radiation. Even if the government can't study it safely either, it will at least study it unsafely somewhere far away and preferably deep underground.

Me, personally I would hop on the chance this new device has given me, just think of all that power, vast knowledge, and the ability to see the world in an entirely new angle. I might be able to do some good as well with such a vast boost to my intelligence and senses I might be able to find cures to diseases, further develop Nikola Tesla's ideas for "free-energy" and other useful things. Sure my body might take a hit and I might end up looking like an anorexic walking corpse but its not like I'm getting the ladies anyway, and my sanity might start being questioned but we all know sanity is for the weak everyone else is just too foolish to see the truth in my madness.

You know, another angle I hadn't thought of is that you might end up dead/abducted or at the very least arrested when people start taking notice of your sudden change in behavior and looks. Why do you think governments would let you just keep this strange radiation-emitting artifact of obviously alien origin? Even if they're not at all malicious, simple concerns about public safety will compel any sane government to act once they learn your secret, and they will.

[aussiemuscle308]

Yes, you, you wake up tomorrow with an alien artifact sitting next to you

You should write a novel. the ideas in your post would make a great read. (hey, maybe that's your answer, write a book, lol).

[Zixinus]

The problem is that the more you use the cube, the more mad you become. Now, one of the sights of madness is not being rational. That includes possibly not realising the danger of being exposed to the cube.

Therefore, there is no way to use the damn thing without ending up in the deep end. And since we are talking crazy, you have to ask: do you want to risk using the thing enough to end up thinking that killing your friends/parents/wife/kids is a good thing, even for a second? I wouldn't.

Ditch the damn thing or send it anonymously to some respectable research institutes's professor or someone like him (James Randi comes to mind), with clear warning about the artefact's nature (hopefully with evidence). They might be able to get something more out of it than you'll likely will.

[Lord Revan]

The problem is that the more you use the cube, the more mad you become. Now, one of the sights of madness is not being rational. That includes possibly not realising the danger of being exposed to the cube.

Therefore, there is no way to use the damn thing without ending up in the deep end. And since we are talking crazy, you have to ask: do you want to risk using the thing enough to end up thinking that killing your friends/parents/wife/kids is a good thing, even for a second? I wouldn't.

that's a good point.

in many ways the artifact here is like the Dark Side of Force from star wars or Chaos from Warhammer (and WH40K) in that it gives what might seem like a blessing at first glance but is in fact a curse, with a strong likelyhood that by the time you realise it's true nature you're too far gone to care anymore.

I mean my niece can be really annoying(2 year olds don't know better) at times but there's no way I would hurt her now, but who knows what I'd do once the artifact had driven me insane and I really wouldn't want to take the risk.

I've thought of the power and to use the cliche I've seen my enemy and it is me.

gamer I'll turn your question back into you, would you honestly trust yourself not to hurt someone you care about, if you use the artifact?

I might never get the ladies but there's still people I care about and I'd rather not take the risk of using something that would cause me to hurt them even by accident.

[gamer]

The problem is that the more you use the cube, the more mad you become. Now, one of the sights of madness is not being rational. That includes possibly not realising the danger of being exposed to the cube.

Therefore, there is no way to use the damn thing without ending up in the deep end. And since we are talking crazy, you have to ask: do you want to risk using the thing enough to end up thinking that killing your friends/parents/wife/kids is a good thing, even for a second? I wouldn't.

that's a good point.

in many ways the artifact here is like the Dark Side of Force from star wars or Chaos from Warhammer (and WH40K) in that it gives what might seem like a blessing at first glance but is in fact a curse, with a strong likelyhood that by the time you realise it's true nature you're too far gone to care anymore.

I mean my niece can be really annoying(2 year olds don't know better) at times but there's no way I would hurt her now, but who knows what I'd do once the artifact had driven me insane and I really wouldn't want to take the risk.

I've thought of the power and to use the cliche I've seen my enemy and it is me.

gamer I'll turn your question back into you, would you honestly trust yourself not to hurt someone you care about, if you use the artifact?

I might never get the ladies but there's still people I care about and I'd rather not take the risk of using something that would cause me to hurt them even by accident.

I'm just being honest knowing me if I found something like that cube I would certainly use it, until the crazy starts kicking in and I freak out that my body is rapidly changing (you won't die though the cube is just changing you to be more like the alien race it comes from eventually the only thing you will need is the cube's radiation and you become immortal).

Yes, I have alot of trust in myself I deal with distressing insane thoughts all the time everyday but the only way I could see myself attacking the people I love would be through direct mind control, and the cube isn't directly controlling you.

As for the government finding out I really don't think so unless I'm flaunting it to the world for some reason.

[Lord Revan]

"the road to hell is paved with good intentions"

Yes, I have alot of trust in myself I deal with distressing insane thoughts all the time everyday but the only way I could see myself attacking the people I love would be through direct mind control, and the cube isn't directly controlling you.

didn't you read the part that one of the first things you do when going insane is stop acting rationally, like for example saying to yourself self "just a bit longer what harn could it do", also I said harm not attack, I mean there's plenty of ways to hurt someone without attacking them outright, even by simply saying or doing the wrong thing and realising it.

unless you actually have(or had) mental problems it's kind of hard realise just how fucking hard it is to "deal" with it, thanks to those mental problems I mentioned, I suffer from rather nasty periodic cases of depression. I've learned to deal with them enough that it doesn't totally ruin my life but it's still not fun to live with and I dout I'll ever be fully "cured", also it got bad that I seriously thought of killing myself, I got over it thanks to my friends and family seeing the warning signs early enough that I didn't actually try to do it, but I can tell it's not just something you can "deal" with, it takes alot of effort and more importantly help from others to realize you need to deal with it.

sorry for the rant but it just pisses me off when people think mental problems are something that you deal with easily

[Simon_Jester]

Yeah, they're not.

Being insane is a bit like being drunk, in that the more of it you have, the weaker your defense against it gets. Once you've had two drinks you're more likely to have the third; three makes you more likely to have the fourth, and so on. Past a certain point, the part of your brain that says "I think I've had enough" just shuts down and you start binge-drinking until you throw up or black out or whatever.

Anything that fucks up your mind is very insidious. The more you get of it, the less likely you are to make a rational decision about what to do. You're more likely to attempt things beyond your capacity, more likely to forget something important that just doesn't matter to the crazy-part of your brain, and more likely to do stupid things that reinforce your own bad behavior patterns.