@Sean:
He might be talking about not doing the calculations the manipulator requires yourself, which I think is also not possible, because the manipulator requires you to calculate it and type it yourself. Probably for the same reason amps convert part of your brain into a calculator temporarily. Ah, nevermind.
And Flint did have a rather close and extremely dangerous encounter with a space wizard that ended very traumatically for him, so he has reason to avoid them. And I'm afraid of space wizards myself, so that might be my fear showing.
((Hey, I'm afraid from space wizards myself, so I can totally see why you'd want to avoid him. I agree that, taking into account all the relevant OOC info, this might not be the most optimal course of action. But it's what I think Miya would do based on what he knows right now. And yes, I admit Miya has not given certain info yet that would be important for Flint, but I also kinda chalk that up to not having had the time yet. Because Miya isn't sure that his conjectures and guesses from his quick skimming the video are fully correct, and he would want to avoid giving out false or contradicting intell.))
We have a slight problem now though. Mainly, that people might not get to alter their actions in time. So, should we just keep going with Flint's original plan, or hope people can adjust their actions on time?))
There isn't really a need to alter their actions. Pancaek already has the right action for any situation. The only one who would have his action invalidated is Alarith, but that just means he will stand around in the diner, doing nothing. And anyone else helping me probably won't be necessary, although they are welcome to try. As long as they don't end up shooting me.
And the reason Flint is doing that is because he listens to his feelings first and his logic second. If you haven't noticed, because Flint's background says "he's an actor", I've been assuming that he gives greater weight to his feelings. Don't know if it's right or not, but I believe many actors force themselves to believe they are in a situation and feel like they are in a situation and express those feelings as much as they can, so that they can act natural and stay in character. So it would make sense for him to act based on his feelings and on his instincts first in a high pressure situation. Add to that that he is highly idealistic and you get his full behavior, a man that puts his feelings and ideas above logic.
For example, look at the following actions: When he speech rolled the crew of that bridge instead of shooting it. When he decided it was better to risk loosing a highly valuable sample, something he had lost his legs to retrieve, if it meant giving him a chance of helping him help his friends survive. When he was so afraid of being alone and dying that he launched a ship with limited fuel. When he tried to convince an UE to surrender. All those actions and more were in situations where he put feelings and ideals over logic.
And right now he feels like crap because he feels like he betrayed a friend and feels like he has to make up for it. So it's the only course of action he can take.