We did magic and super-powers and exotic space stuff, but what about…
Jason’s Nanobots and Leo’s Link Suit
I’m combining these because they have some important similarities, despite having very different tech bases. They’re both robotic, and they both depend on something implanted in the wearer’s brain. For Jason, there’s an intrusive nanobot interface. For Leo, the suit reads off his neurochip, mostly for the Heart Gauge (to facilitate combinations with his robots) but also to pick up non-verbal commands and to act as a basic security system (nobody without a neurochip can operate the suit).
So we’ve answered can someone use it? With the right brain dingus, yes. How about, how would it change their life and heroics? We asked that about super-speed, so now let’s ask the same about super-tech.
A surprising number of people have wielded Link’s tech, actually. Leo Snow is the canonical wearer, but Charlotte Palmer also operated it while mind-swapped into Leo’s body.
Alycia Chin used the grappling system, and had some comments on the overall suit, in Dave’s The Cable Gal story. Based on that story, I had her use the system in a few other appearances, e.g. the Invisible Invasion while working as a sniper.
She was gifted Jason’s nanobots, and used them to cross into the Sepiaverse. When she and Jason met, she held onto them for at least a few sessions.
Variants of Alycia Chin also wielded both the nanobots and the Link Suit in episode 62 of the original game, though these were only glimpsed briefly.
So who hasn’t used either system?
Adam Amari feels like he’s had enough stuff shoved into his head without consent. I imagine he’d be more receptive to the Link Suit than the nanobot, as the suit is something you could take off and walk away from if you needed. The nanobots, like the Concordance Shard, are a lifetime commitment.
Harry Gale, assuming he lost his speed, would probably make for a good wielder of either system. He’d bring the same creativity to finding applications of the nanobots, and I feel like Link’s no-weapons policy for the suit would probably agree with him as well. His biggest disadvantage would be a lack of role models and mentors for the systems - unless we’re retroactively changing the legacy to say the family always used the tech…? I feel like “tech-based Legacy” is an underserved niche anyway.
How about if Leo and Jason swapped?
Leo Snow would probably do what he did - make friends, literally, only now they’d be nanotech constructs instead of transforming mecha based on his experience with anime. This would sharply change the trajectory of some parts of his life (there’d be no SNOWMAN, but AEGIS would have a sample of the nanobots anyway). Aside from that, I expect he’d put them to creative use, mainly as constructs with his solid knowledge of materials science, and I also expect he’d do everything in his power to make them safe to use around people. None of this Byron Quill security protocol nonsense.
Jason Quill would probably refine and upgrade the armor on a regular basis, in the style of Tony Stark making a million Iron Man suits. Jason is objectively a better gadgeteer than Leo, at least in my view - Leo concentrates on carbon allotropes and synthetic brains for robots, while Jason’s family warehouse is packed with stuff of all kinds and my assumption is that he could work reasonably well with all of them. Jason would also probably struggle with incorporating weapons, but ultimately would come down where Leo did - non-lethal options only.
The Marvelous Menagerie
Stingray already uses an aquatic-themed suit so would not be much different in a Link Suit. How he’d take to the nanobots depends on how well they work underwater, but I think he’d find some interesting uses for them no matter what.
Ninjess will of course make use of whatever tools you give her, evaluating them for stealth and discretion. I don’t think she’d be happy with the Link Suit - it’s very open, in-your-face, unsubtle - but the nanobots would be a gift from God for her. Imagine being able to craft any weapon or tool you want from the environment, or having this invisible power you could manifest at any time.
A10, being a fellow Bull, would use the suit much like Leo did - charging into battle, tanking hits, being badass. I’m not sure how she’d cope with the nanobots, but maybe forming giant fists or other primal applications of the tech would suit her? Hal Jordan used a green lantern ring - “the most powerful weapon in the universe” - to make giant fists all the time. I’d follow that lead.
Mirage, having originated as a nanobot swarm, has taken a rather humiliating downgrade. I don’t think she’d be very comfortable living as a disembodied intelligence in a Link Suit, but if she gained something like a human shell (cloned or mechanical)? Maaaybe - but she’d likely follow Alycia’s lead here too, and look for alternatives.
Menagerie In Action
SNOWMAN is a Link Suit, for all intents and purposes. He’s rejecting Leo’s no-weapons policy, being the edgelord little brother character. Nanotech was on Leo Snow’s tech roadmap, but he hasn’t gotten there - but if SNOWMAN got a chance to become a nanotech swarm? He might experiment with it out of curiosity, but ultimately reject it out of pride.
Alex would rework the Link Suit to be a computing and hacking platform, which it could do just fine. As a hacker, they would have devious uses for a nanobot cloud that probably even Jason or Alycia can’t fully imagine.
Emma would probably not be happy encased in armor. She also doesn’t need it as much, as her powers have equipped her with a natural regenerative factor. She’s a versatile and clever pyrokinetic, and she’d put nanomachines to equally versatile uses.
Nono has linked up with John Black at least once, wearing him as armor in the Antarctic city to fight off soldiers. She turned the grappling system into whips, an idea that hadn’t occurred even to their inventor, and like Alex and Emma, I’m confident she would find numerous inventive uses for nanobots.
Menagerie at Midnight
At the risk of cheaping out, I don’t know many people on this team who would either benefit or appreciate this technology. But let’s try to find some.
Equity would probably be a good battlesuit hero - like Adam, because powered armor is something she could take off & put away at her pleasure. If she had the nanotech implanted, she might be unhappy with its permanence, but would joke in good humor that at least it’s not bugging her with requests all the time.
Maury Jones would have a field day with either tech. As mobility aids, they’re both excellent, and they could get her into places or up to vantage points that would make doing her job a breeze. I don’t think she’d use nanomachines to “fix” her legs - as she explained, she has a lifetime of not knowing how to use them, and if she’s going to learn one new way to get around, it may as well be the nanomachines.
I don’t want to think of Manny the Skull with nanotechnology. Let’s just say the Age of Piracy would be back on.
Newmenagerie
As living Link Suits with vehicle alt modes, we know where Otto, Mo, and Big Bill stand here. Summer, likewise, has plenty of experience being a wearable suit (as Pneuma) or combining with one of her own (the Chariot).
If the Newmen were nanotech swarms? I think they’d still opt for a static human form for most applications, and use their nanomachine natures much the same way Jason uses his bots - as an external aid or adjunct. They’d simply lack Jason’s intrinsic mortality - they couldn’t be poisoned or made to bleed, for example. I also expect they’d want to have a “core” of sorts that would keep them safe from dangers like EMP.
Menagerie Megaverse
I feel like William’s life would be very different if he lost Excalibur to some other powerset - any other powerset. That said, I imagine he’d practice as diligently to master either nanomachines or powered armor, training his physique to come up to the demands of the tech.
Jaycee would probably be more comfortable in armor than with nanobots, but it would be interesting to see what circumstances forced her into taking it up. For me, that’s the biggest question mark with her - why would she use these systems, not how. Being William’s support isn’t a role life forced on her - it’s her personal choice.
Nobody can trust Jordan with nanomachines. If they came with some kind of AI assistant? Maybe. If she had an AI equivalent of the Concordance Shard’s onboard intelligences, she might treat it like a genie where she could make wishes for things, and the AI would decide what to do with that.
Keri, like A10, has some Bull-like qualities and would probably adapt to either tech reasonably well. I feel like she’d handle nanomachines better as she is right now, as they’re less overtly offensive, and she can try doing Lamb-like things with them that a battlesuit isn’t built for.
Space Bug would of course use any technological advantage they could get their manipulators on. Based on Mike’s description, I picture them something like a cat - reasonably intelligent along some very narrow vectors (“getting me what I want”) and either a little dim or at least uncaring for anything else - so the suit might serve them better than nanomachines.