i went back and relistened to a couple of
ud stories and found that the superstrategic issues in my last post are pretty much ignored in this universe. at best, the smarties have some savant-like abilities that activate when they think to turn them on. the first person perspective from superstrategic characters gave no real indication of exceptional intelligence. actually, the characters seemed like a couple of schlubs unable to take any initiative. completely counter to their assigned roles in the group.
this could be accounted for by retcon. the pyramids are afraid of low level members exposing the union's dark side so they're pummeled with telepathic commands that make them pliant, almost to the point of making them useless. alternatively this is the way that the super-strategics are supposed to work (savant-like skills that aren't always active) which is fine so long as you let us know that's how things work. that also makes the value of smarties questionable at best.
i took a closer look at one story,
cleanup in aisle five, to see how i would have represented superstrategy in the character. this isn't something i'd normally do, especially when i'm not sure about the author's intentions, but since opinions were solicited i'll give it a go.
when dealing with any type of superintelligence the reader should be given the sense that an enormous amount of information is being processed even when the story doesn't explicitly say so. a good way to do this is to give a few early examples that show the character's abilities & tendencies so we have that impression. for example:
"Skeleton Steele noticed that keiko cameras weren't fully stocked despite super-mart's policy of giving grand openings the first access to the national supply. since global weather patterns have been relatively calm over the pacific there shouldn't have been any problem with delivery, a good indication of a disruption in manufacturing.
Steele made a mental note to check keiko's supply & labor situation, if they weren't having trouble then there they may be scaling back production for a new product launch. either way, keiko's stock value was moving towards crisis and the opportunity & danger that represented."
doing this once or twice shows his intelligence instead of just telling us he's smart. this example also exposes one of the background problems in this universe, why does the union hurt for money when it has dozens of people that can play the stock market like a child's game? the union doesn't strike me as too moral to set up dummy corporations.
an example of Steele's totally passive nature came when he was directed to his card table & misspelled sign. he was aware of his camouflage, why didn't he use it?
"Steele was well trained in the theory cryptic camouflage, there were times when his life depended on it, but right now it provided a comprehensive list of rules he needed to break to attract attention. he went to the store's toy section and collected a variety of brightly coloured union bubble packs, concentrating on the heroes who's colour scheme complemented each other and contrasted with his own drab grey. five minutes later he had them arrayed across the table and shelving, creating lines that naturally drew the eye towards him."
this is one situation where a superstrategic showed less understanding & initiative than a corporate drone. additionally, superstrategics should be taken by surprise only very rarely. when you're in first person this can be represented by the character expecting many events before they happen:
"Steele noted the table's location in relation to the doors and main aisles, if he had to choose a bad location for his display this was one of the worst. he was out of sight of the customer's eyeline but still taking up space where a lot of people would be walking. people would try to turn right into the table as they came around the corner.
he eyed the manager carefully, unsure if the placement was an intentional slight or just incompetence. seconds later he decided he didn't care enough to find out. either the manager would be surprised by the traffic problems and move him somewhere better or the manager would use it as an excuse to get angry at him. he'd deal when it happened."
a superstrategic would be like Bourne sitting in the diner and knowing that the waitress was left handed, the locations of all five exits (including windows) and the most likely place to find a gun. most store layouts and fire escape placement would be mildly frustrating because they could see better ways to arrange things.
but the part that struck me as most contrary to superstrategic nature was his reaction when, outside, one of the kids that were taunting him came back and asked for a signature. there was only two possible situations there, the kid genuinely wanted a signature but was embarrassed to get one in front of his friends or he was a distraction for an ambush. and even if he genuinely wanted the signature there was a real chance that his friends saw him come back and would come back as well.
either way, it was a situation of hightened danger that the superstrategic was completely oblivious to. the superstrategic. the guy who's superpower it is to read situations and anticipate actions. we are given the impression that the superpowers in this universe are real but i have a hard time believing that the superstrategics have real powers in the stories so far.
debatably this is a pretty minor problem, certainly it seems like this isn't something that many people notice, but i'd argue that it creates a major problem for the people who do notice it. one of union dues' main themes is trying to create idolized, comic characters in a messy, morally ambiguous world. in order for that realistic world to be created properly the hero's superpowers need to written to interact naturally with it. if powers stop working when it's convenient for the plot then it stops being superheroes in a realistic world and becomes superheroes in a dark world. less
watchmen and more
judge dredd.
all this is to say that superstrategics are an unexpectedly difficult element to include in a world. they have wide-reaching, unintuitive results and puts writers into the position where they need to think of everything before the audience does in order to maintain suspension disbelief. it's not a decision to take lightly.
