>>Previous threads can be found at: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=NearFuture%20Cyborg%20Quest>Fate Points: 0>Nano-Meta: 4425 Units>Credits: 46,250The year is 2025.Your name is Dave, and you're currently embracing the woman who just shot you in the head."You and I both know that won't do anything." You say.She dropped the gun, and kissed you, ignoring the blood and destroyed brain-matter leaking from your temple."I do." She said, putting her forehead against yours. "I had to make sure."She all but melted into you, pulling you close."So..." She said, eyes closed. "What exactly happened? Where are we?"
>>19992720"First of all idiotic aliums happened and to the second question, no idea."
>>19992717"Sorry, I don't have the slighest clue. I was teleported here from somewhere else, as well. Seems like I managed to defeat the extreme good looking bad guy."
>>19992720Lets tell her about Dani BEFORE she meets her, and azure.
>>19992720Most of the crew got kidnapped by aliums with a collective god complex and our wormhole drive got repossessed.Now that I've got you back, I think everybody's accounted for. Oh, and remember Alli Templar? The crazy bitch? She got rebuilt from scratch. Dani's good people, though. She's latched onto me as her brother.Wait, shit. I don't know where we are. I don't know if I can 'port us back to Sleipnir.
"Sorry, I don't have the slighest clue. I was teleported here from somewhere else, as well." You say. "Seems like I managed to defeat the extreme good looking bad guy."<Onyx, where are we?> You ask.<Approximately. . . Ten light years away from the galactic cluster. the gravity would normally kill you instantly, by my reckoning.>"Extremely good looking? Tch, yeah." She said. "He looked like you did. Didn't act like it, though."She opened her eyes, and looked at you more levelly."You do look a bit strange, though." She said. "Your entire frame is different. Taller, more muscled. Can't see under your power armor, but.. you got augmented, didn't you? Like... really, really augmented."You look around- you only see the small chamber Amy was in, full of tech, and the golden walls all around everywhere else. And a wrist computer, sitting near the small pile of red goop.
>>19992807"Yeah, I had to. For some reason, augmentation prevents their bullshit mindhacking. Made sure I could remove most of it once the mission's over, though."
rolled 99 = 99>>19992807yup, they hate augments so we stopped by holy terra to get a round of new ones. you might have noticed some of them flying out the exit wound.
>>19992807I may have slightly beefed up. If I hadn't already burned out all those shiny new chips Azure put in my head I'd be mad at you for breaking them.
rolled 99 = 99>>19992807also we hack any tech we see and see if there is a way off this rock...
>>19992836>>19992852Dafuq mono, stop stealing the good rolls.
>>19992807"Yeah. I'm mostly tech right now. Any idea how to get out of here?"<Onyx, can you get within range of my teleporter?>
>>19992836>>19992852Stop wasting rolls, monotreme.
rolled 91 = 91>>19992857no their mine, get your own
>>19992858The Onyx in our spine is already well in range of our teleporter. We have no communication links to the Sleipnir. We'll have to try and find an alium teleporter/spaceship/something.
rolled 41 = 41>>19992807additionally to any other thing lets get to healing this nasty head wound
>>19992893Oh. I thought we were communicating with the Slepneir onyx through our bullshit comm link.
>>19992807They're reversible, but they, among other things, keep the aliums - called Emperors - out of my head.Grab the wrist comp, have Cyan try to decipher what - if anything - he can, so we don't have to fuck about with trial and error.
"I may have slightly beefed up." You say. "Any idea how to get out of here?""Not really." she said. "They just put me in that chamber with all the tech, and told me to make things. I haven't left the room."You pick up the wrist computer, just in case. "Let's see. . ." You murmur, and close your eyes, turning on your nervous system.Your awareness spirals out, reaching everywhere, and then you grab ahold of something. Exotic matter, identical to the teleporter. If you hadn't known how they worked, you wouldn't have been able to do this, but. . you do. With Onyx's help, you take ahold of the teleporter, charge it, and then activate it, sending you and Amy spiralling through space, landing on the bridge of the Sleipnir. It was all but empty, save for Ishelda sitting in the captain's chair, and Lucca, not wearing her power armor's torso, lying on the table."Sup." Amy says.". . Your hair got long!" Lucca said, grinning. "Welcome back."
rolled 93 = 93>>19992907speaking of bullshit commlink we can use the bad-guys equipment. lets see if we can find it with bullshit hacking magic
>>19992928"Hello. I'm going down to medical to fix my head."Proceed to do so.
rolled 5 = 5>>19992928the game's not over yet. we're just a little more single minded now.also Amy, DO NOT SHOOT the woman onboard that looks like Alison Templar. and don't shoot Abel either.
"Hello." You say. "I'm going down to medical to fix my head." "Be careful." Lucca said. "Douglass, Dani, and the. . coffin thing is still in there.""Dani?" Amy asked, following you. She stumbles once or twice, but you hold her up. "And what's the coffin thing she was talking about? Fill me in, Dave."
>>19992951This. We can bullshit hack the wristcomp later, when we aren't leaking brain matter.Fill Amy in on Dani."Oh, remember Alli Templar? The crazy bitch? She got rebuilt from scratch. Dani's good people, though. She's latched onto me as her brother."
>>19992928Hey Lucca, mind getting me a hat i think you left the AC on...
>>19992988Dani is a girl who was created by the Emperors based on Graysons memories of Alli Templar.The coffin has an Emperor who looks like you in it.
>>19992988"Remember Alli Templar? The crazy bitch? She got rebuilt from scratch. Dani's good people, though. She's latched onto me as her brother. The coffin-thing...I was hunting an alium and forgot the first rule of building clearing. Which turned out to be a good thing, because he'd shapeshifted into you."
"Remember Alli Templar? The crazy bitch? She got rebuilt from scratch, based on Grayson's memories of her.""Really? Damn." Amy said. "Is this 'dani' insane too?""Dani's good people." you say. "She's latched onto me as her brother.""That's.. strange.""Also, the coffin has an alium who looks like you in it.""What.""I was hunting an alium and forgot the first rule of building clearing. Which turned out to be a good thing, because he'd shapeshifted into you.""So. . you shot and killed me." Amy said, with an impish grin. "I feel so good about that."
>>19993053"Hey! You tried the exact same thing on me!"
rolled 5 = 5>>19993053"well you did splatter my brains across a room too...""azure's head would you do a check on that by the way? it seems I've had some more inter-cranial redecoration..."
"Heh. Look's like we're even then.""So, what tech DID you develop for them?"
>>19993053It was an accident, unlike you shooting me.
rolled 83 = 83>>19993153cause I want some too...
"Hey, you tried the same exact thing on me!" You say."Yeah, I did." She said. "That's why I'm forgiving you. We're even. I ventilated your braincase, and you. . killed an evil clone of me without knowing it wasn't me."She stopped walking and thought about that for a moment."God, we're fucked up."You open the door and step into the infirmary."Hey, bro." Dani says, examining Douglass.Douglass.. didn't look good. He was pale. Uninjured, but pale, and shaking uncontrollably."Calm down, okay?" She asked.He kept shaking.Dani sighed, and took out a small syringe, injecting it into Douglass. The man's eyes closed, and he drifted off to sleep."Who's that?" Dani asked, eying Amy as she walked into the infirmary.
>>19993053As for Douglass...I honestly don't know. All that I know is that he wasn't in good shape when we picked him up. Same place I was hunting. I was...a little preoccupied, what with the whole "just shot you in the face" thing.
rolled 82 = 82>>19993160this is Amy, you find out what happened to the guy? and you got a cranial splint?
>>19993160"Dani, this is Amy, my girlfriend. Amy, this is Dani, my semi-adopted little sister."
>>19993160"My lovely technicolor death-machine-on-wheels girlfriend, Amy."
>>19993160"I thought you remembered Amy? Ah, well. Amy, Dani. Dani, Amy."
>>19993199But she's not technicolor or on wheels any more.
Have we kept the coordinates of the place we just teleported out of? We might want to salvage that tech. Also, weren't we supposed to find a sphere or something for 1-ship-1? We should maybe go back and look for clues.
"I thought you remembered Amy?""... That's Amy?" Dani asked. "I remember her being. . really really little. Like- like twelve."She shook her head. "No, no. those aren't mine. Hi! Nice to meet you, Amy. I'm Dani.""Sup." Amy responds. She looks down to the coffin with the power shields attached, with a strange look on her face.You quickly get to work on the hole in your head, patching it up with the medical nano-meta that Azure had stocked the place with, after Abel had ended up so hurt."So, what tech did you develop for them?""I don't even know." Amy said, sitting down on one of the empty cots. "They just had me taking apart and putting together the most random stuff. Plasma weapons, power cores, power armor, and I broke some shit I didn't know what it did. Then fake-dave showed up and tried to get into my pants, so I kicked his ass."
>>19993207Ah, very true. Just thought it'd sound like a cute introduction.
>>19993259"Nice. He seemed intent on fucking with us. Really they all seemed rather childish."
>>19993259Uh, ok.
>>19993259Good riddance. Guy actually tried to get me to kill Dani and the Asurians.
>>19993259It's sounding increasingly like they don't understand their own tech.We probably aught to swing by earth next, so that Amy can reassure Verne she's not dead, I can give my brain time to reconstitute, and Douglass can get seen to by an actual expert.
>>19993322And Amy's mom needs to see her hair. That's the most important thing.
"Good riddance. Guy actually tried to get me to kill Dani and the Asurians." You say. "Really, they all seemed rather childish."You start explaining what had happened- How the first Emperor had Grayson and had made Dani, how the second Emperor *tried* to keep Abel trapped, but failed horribly, and how the third had created some kind of murdermaze, and stuffed the science team and Karin into it. "Speaking of Douglass." Dani said. "I. . I think he needs actual psychiatric help. He's convinced he can't control his body, and he's scared of killing anybody.""I do think we should swing by earth next. Verne needs to know you aren't dead, I can give my brain time to reconstitute, and Douglass can get seen to by an actual expert.""Let's do that, then." Amy said, closing her eyes. "I might leave my hair the way it is for now, just to see how he reacts. Mom, too."<Onyx, can you send us to earth?><Certainly. Charging. . .>The Sleipnir suddenly appears above the earth, soaring above Valhalla.<There's another message for you.> Talos says. <Verne sent one and said he'll be waiting at his brother's place.>
>>19993367"Well, we'd best get this over with."
>>19993367Ok, that brings to the end of our species' exciting first excursion outside the solar system. I hope everyone had fun!Tell Onyx where you'd like to be dropped off and I'll call you when we do the next one. Anyone know a good place to send Douglass?
rolled 63 = 63>>19993367send 3 a text message "your science team was abducted by aliums we got douglass here he needs help where should we drop him off for you?"call verne audio only, claim there is an issue with our video equipment. "amy got abducted but we got her back"
>>19993367All right. Time for me to face the music. Amy, you want to teleport straight there?Dani, why don't you, Grayson, and Abel use the Ravens and take Douglass down to the EE building and find him a psych? Make sure Grayson fills Jun in about you first, so that Security doesn't shoot first and ask questions later on account of the whole "Alli" thing.
>>19993367Time to get a proper dissection going on that fucking alium!
Guys, don't forget we kinda promised the Ship AIs that we'd help them find their Mindcore, so they can make ship AI babbies.
rolled 12 = 12>>19993467oh shit. yeah we need to get in contact with them to inform them we defeated "the emperor" and give them the location of that place so they can check it out.
>>19993467Kinda sure it will become the Davecore, the moment we find it.
>>19993467We will do that, after shore leave. Amy needs to rebuild her legs, Grayson needs to get his wrist things back...No point in rushing into things until we're ready again.
>>19993220>>19993467After earth this should be our priority. Then we should try to help Phi's people now that there's a little breathing room.
>>19993467We have a list of shit to do. This is on same.>>19993483Preeeeetty sure that wasn't the only/strongest Emperor. There's at least four unaccounted for.
You roll your shoulders, and walk over to one of the intercoms, clicking them on. "Okay, that brings to the end of our species' exciting first excursion outside the solar system. I hope everyone had fun!" You say."Yeah." Abel clicks back. "Fun.""Heh, it was better than just sitting around in KI waiting for something to do." Sigma says, his voice coming through the intercom. Whereever everyone else was, they each had an intercom of their own."You gonna drop us off at EE, or have us swim all the way?" Karin asked."Right, right." You say. "We do still need to find the mindcore for the Alium ships, keep in mind.""I don't think I'm coming along." Karin said."I'm out of vacation time, too." Sigma said. "KI probably needs me.""I can stick around." Lucca spoke up. "Lucas keeps whining about getting blown up, so he's not, though."You notice Amy roll her eyes."Well then, for now, shore leave." You say. "We'll be stopping at EE, and then Amy and I can take the Ravens to antarctica or soemthing""Well, Amy, before you go," Lucca says. You hear something strange in her voice. "I need to talk to you."
>>19993536Quick! Secure the plasma weapons and weapons of other kinds!
>>19993536Why are we stopping off at places when we can just teleport everyone where they need to be?And if Lucca's going to ask about a threesome again, she only has herself to blame for her broken nose.
>>19993536No weaponry for amy, and make sure they meet in a room without movable objects.
>>19993536Anyone else up for using the next days to make as much money as possible from our aliumtechnology and building a giant warship? Maybe more than one.
rolled 93 = 93>>19993536"amy, I want you to give me all of your weapons before you go over there. I remember last time you two had a word..."call threeor jun or both at once and have an anonymized threeway conversation to discuss things...
>>19993532And how often is said list posted?I was just saying, really. Things are easy to slip the mind.
>>19993566agreed
>>19993587Like bullets.
rolled 59 = 59>>19993536>in game question>I forgot if we brought the original Abel with us. is the one on the ship a copy? >or will there be shenanigans?
>>19993580"Amy, plasma weapons are not to be used for emphasis onboard Sleipnir."
>>19993609He's the original.
>>19993536She wants her own Daveclone.I'm not sure if we should be flattered or insulted.
"You know what," You say. "There's no need to drop anyone off anywhere- we can just teleport you!""Wait, we can do that?" Amy asked.You nod."Okay, send me, Karin, and Ishelda to my apartment, then." Grayson said.<Onyx.><Computing... Done.>Next, Abel, Lucas, and Douglass all went to EE- something about finding him a psychiatrist- and then Sigma went to one of the KI buildings, leaving You, Amy, Dani, Lucca, Azure and Phi on the ship."Amy," You tell her as she leaves the infirmary to go talk with Lucca. "Plasma weapons are not to be used for emphasis onboard sleipnir."She giggled. "Well, I can just hit her for emphasis instead." She said, and left the room.Well. You finish plugging up your head, and Dani frowns."So... everyone's just letting me start again?" She asked.
>>19993644"We're letting you start, period.Speaking of which what are you going to do? I don't have a problem with you hanging around with us if you want."
rolled 40 = 40>>19993609>>19993624ah good...>>19993587it normally isn't posted. that said we need to set things down in text so we can keep track of what needs doing...we need some smaller fighter craft...perhaps the thinker knows a builder or 4we should find out how to tele-bomb people...amy and the thinker might but heads over the how its done.and there-s other stuff
>>19993644"Yeah, you've proven yourself to be a nice and reliable girl. You can stay, or, if you decide to leave, we should be able to set you up with whatever you want."
>>19993644"Pretty much, you're obviously not her and no one can hold what the other ali did against you"
>>19993644"Yeah. Why shouldn't we? You might want to call ahead if you plan to visit EE, though, on account of the whole 'look like Alli Templar' thing."While I'm thinking about it, tell Azure that this would be a good time for her to build herself a new body.
>>19993644Honestly we've all had a long enough week that we aren't going to worry that much about an alium construct based on Grayson's fond memories of a girl who went nuts. This isn't a fresh start or anything like that, you're Dani, assuming you don't feel like changing your name again, not Alli. This is your first start, though you will have to be prepared for some odd looks and a bit of wariness from people who knew her.If you need somewhere to crash you can stay at Valhalla until you get somewhere set up.
rolled 68 = 68>>19993644for now it would seem so...here aboard the slepnir we'll be your training wheels to the whole "I'm alive after all" thing...I know some people who might be able to make you totally new papers so you can start from scratch.
>>19993682Good point."You're not exactly starting 'again,' Dani. This is your first go. You just...got a bit of a head start."
"We're letting you start, period." You say. "This isn't a fresh start or anything like that, you're Dani, assuming you don't feel like changing your name again, not Alli.""Even though I'm an alium construct?" She asks, not meeting your eyes. "That could have secret hidden commands to kill everyone or something? You still feel safe enough to let me. . to let me take care of your wounded, to let me hang around when people are vulnerable, to . . "She shook her head, then hugged you."Thank you." She said. "I will be a different person than her. I am a different person."
rolled 49 = 49>>19993730>aliumYup, she's made of Dave's memories.
>>19993730Hug her back and ruffle her hair."I'd if you'd stay around for a bit, to get your bearings, you know?"
>>19993730I always wanted a little sisters.
>>19993749Nah, she's just picked up her bro's term for ETs
>>19993730Now I'd like for you to stay at Valhalla for a while. It means we can keep on running tests so we can better understand what you are and make sure none of those "hidden commands" exist and to help resolve any existential crises. You also just need a place to get your bearings. I did not think that hunting down Aliums would net me an adorable little sister. Return her hug, ruffle her hair.
rolled 19 = 19>>19993730good...(a companionable arm over her shoulder is fine from here)"now there are things to do, and such.""phi; any luck with the translation? is cyan any help?"lets give the room amy and luca are in a quick peek via the onboard cameras; just to be sure that nobody is kicking anyone to death...or
rolled 92 = 92>>19993730>>19993666oh and we need to make a new helmet
>>19993730You deserve it, Dani.You do realise you're going to have to meet my...our? Meet our parents at some point. That's bound to be interesting. Just a heads-up, Mom's an utter bitch.
rolled 82 = 82>>19993837oh I don't think we should be adopting her just yet...
>>19993848We pretty much already have.
You ruffle her hair and return her hug. "I'd like if you stayed around for a bit. To get your bearings, you know? I always wanted a little sister, anyway.""I'll stay, for now." She said. "But once I feel more comfortable with. . .with existing, then I need to do a few things."She shook her head before you say anything, forestalling your questioning.<Phi, any luck with the translation? Is Cyan any help?><<A bit of help, yes, and a bit of luck, too. Not much, though. I'll get back to you when I have more.>><Okay, good to hear.> You say. And then you decide to check up on Lucca and Amy, using the bridge's on board cameras."Well, I did kiss him. . .so it's only fair I do this." Lucca said, and then pulled Amy into a kiss.Your higher brain functions utterly falter and stumble for a moment. Even though you don't have a brain.What.What.... what.
>>19993900What.
>>19993900Good thing we're wearing solid pants.Save the footage for... research.
>>19993900"Heh. Lesbians."Not really, perhaps, but that's beside the point.
>>19993900How our higher brain functions falter when our brain is good I still don't understand. Record this footage, store it somewhere safe in our spine.
>>19993900...no wonder Lucca thought I was serious about polyandry.
>>19993900Out loud, over the intercom. "What."
>>19993900Can it be our turn to flip out and discharge plasma weaponry? But, not really. Seconding >>19993962 instead.
>>19993962Considering the possibility of this going wrong we give no indication that we saw this until the aftermath of the kiss. If positive we can react to it in a positive manner, wander in and give Amy a kiss, if negative we never saw a damn thing.
>>19993962No, they'll stop if you do that.
We should invite Phi down for a trip as well, probably been a while since he's seen a planet. One with an atmosphere, at least.
>>19993992Hi Amy. So the new look is really working out for you, huh?
Shouldn't we... you know, inform the government and all that about visiting alien planets and making contact?
>>19994014Do YOU want to tell the government that we started a war with an alium race?
>>19994014Pfft, boring responsible stuff for boring responsible people. They'll find out aliens exist when we finally piss the Emperors off enough for them to destroy Earth with relativistic wormhole weapons.
You quietly copy the footage to the bullfrog, and make your way toward the bridge.". . . Y-you're forgiven." Amy stammered, bright red. "Never again. Never. Again.""Hey, Amy." You say, walking in. Amy 'eep'ed and turned around."...Dave." She said, giving you a nervous grin. Lucca raises an eyebrow, perfectly composed.
>>19994014The government didn't even try to contact the big fuckoff spaceship in orbit. They're not gonna care about aliens.
>>19994043"eep?"
>>19994043"You two finally put that spat back at Valhalla behind you? Kiss and make up, so to speak?"With accompanying shiteating grin as if we know something. Which we do.
>>19994043Reiterating:>So the new look is really working out for you, huh?
>>19994043Lucca, you know this means war. I'm going to have to snog my dearest beloved Amy until she can no longer imagine your lips on hers. And then I'll have to bring out the drites and get creative.
>>19994072don't do this. We might get them both angry at us for spying.
>>19994043"Is everything okay?"
>>19994072Yeah... how about.... no?
>>19994043I don't see any shiners, Lucca. She didn't need to emphasize?You both ready to head down?
"Is everything okay?""Yeah." Amy nods. "I won't shoot at her.. this time." She says, shooting a glare at Lucca. "I don't have my hydra now, anyway."Lucca gives you a shit-eating grin the moment Amy looks away- She knows that you know, her eyes say."You both ready to head down?""Well, I thought you and I would go to mom's place." Amy said. "I want to see how her and Verne react to my hair, so I can hurry up and chop it off."
>>19994152"What about your legs? Going to chop those off too?"
>>19994152Sounds like a plan. Lucca, why don't you take Dani down to Valhalla when she's ready and show her around?
>>19994152Conspiratorially whisper to Lucca: "Don't worry, we'll get there, eventually. It's the final frontier."
Momentarily throw up a Cheshire Cat grin, then this >>19994165
>>19994152Amy, I love you. How do I look by the way? I just reconstructed half of my head, haven't slept much and I don't remember the last time I ate. There are better ways to check if its me, you could have asked for Onyx, Magenta and Cyan to start talking.
"Sounds like a plan. Lucca, why don't you take Dani down to Valhalla when she's ready, and show her around?""Yeah, I can do that. Will you two take the ship itself, or the ravens?""Probably the Ravens." Amy said. "I have no clue how the teleporter works, and I don't want to use something I don't know much about. Yet, at least. I'll have to ask Azure about how it works. . . Plus we have to get back somehow." She said, took your hand, and led you down into the storage where Lucca's drones and the Ravens are kept."So, Dave." Amy says. "What do *you* think of my new look?"
>>19994270I'm cool with long brown hair. Probably cute. What about the other anons?
>>19994270"Kinda invalidates the technicolor death-machine. But it looks nice, in a different way. Doubt I'll get used to these legs though, I'm afraid they'll have to come off."
>>19994270"You look best however you think is best honey"
>>19994294She's blonde."Technicolor death machine is no longer applicable."
>>19994270"I think you look cute. It's not what I'm used to, but I'm not objecting."
>>19994270It's...different. It looks good on you.
>>19994270It's kinda cute.
>>19994270Give her a hug and a kiss.I don't say this often enough, I love you. You look great no matter if you're blonde or technicolor or if you have legs or cyberlegs.
rolled 81 = 81>>19994270well I haven't gotten to run a through inspection on those mighty fine legs of yours, and the hair you could change or leave alone...but you wouldn't be my technicolor death machine anymore...and you know what they say bout blonds...(wink)let me synth up a good suit for my suit so I can be double fancy then we can go down and say high
>>19994301You. Shut up about the legs.
>>19994270"Well… It's not bad, but the uniformly colored hair just doesn't seem right." run our fingers through her hair and add, "Length is nice, though."
"I think you look cute." You say. "It's not what I'm used to, but I'm not objecting. Technicolor death machine is no longer applicable... but the length is nice.""Fuck. You're right." She says. "I'll have to color it eventually, then.""I don't say this often enough." You say, and kiss her. "I love you.""Love you too." She says, and pulls you into the Raven. "So, just how many aliums did you kill to get to me? Anywhere near my killcount yet?"
>>19994380Okay, so counting pets we're probably... into the low forties? That's my guess. Aliums only.
>>19994380"Sadly, no. There aren't a whole lot of them, but they were tough SOB's. Pretty much the only thing I could use to kill them were the nuclear rounds and the plasma blades."
>>19994380Do the pet things count? There was only one Emperor in each place so it was kind of hard to build up a decent number of them.
>>19994380I... I-don't really know how many aliens were on the ships I blew up.
rolled 24 = 24>>19994380I've killed shiploads of aluims, I think I'm getting there...
>>19994380Honestly I'm not sure. We might not be counting pets and I blew up a number of ships that may have been inhabited. Probably not that many Aliums though, they're tough buggers and not many of them. You have the honor of going out with the only man to kill an Emperor in close quarters combat.
>>19994380"Just eight, but they were nasty motherfuckers."
>>19994439In case anybody's wondering at my math, I'm counting 2 Emperors in personal combat, 1 Emperor in the escape pod, 2 of the nasty bear things when we rescued Abel (Abel got credit for the third), and three bear-things before Lucca provided fire support.
"Just eight, personally. There weren't a whole lot of them, but they were tough SOBs." You say. "I think I'm getting there.""How romantic." Amy says, and then she closes the Raven's canopy, sets the Raven's autopilot to her parents' mansion, and gets to work removing your power suit. "Howsabout we test out my new legs?" She asked, slyly.Victoria and Alexander Tolstoy are very rich individuals. The former, a high-strung socialite who used to be a model, and the latter, a casual cyberpunk writer. You've met them before- Amy has some kind of rivalry with her mother, but everyone gets along with Alexander, for some strange reason. The Raven sets down, and the two of you climb out, once again fully dressed."Should I knock, or you?"
Isn't it entirely possible that there's still a load of Emperors out there? We still have to get the Mindcore too.Hah. I'm calling it now, we'll be having fun on Earth and then a bunch of wormholes open up in orbit. Then "End of Thread!"
>>19994482"Stand behind me so they can't see you when they open the door. I'll act all serious. It'll be hilarious."
>>19994482How about I knock, and then they open the door to see us kissing. You with your new blonde hair and doing the cute thing girls do when they kiss, where they're standing on one foot and the other is bent at the knee extending behind them.
>>19994482I'll knock.Do so with the 'drites.>>19994487You! Don't give him ideas!
>>19994482"I'll knock. You keep out of sight while I deliver the grave news that you're... You're... BLONDE. Sob. Think my parents told your mother about my homecoming? She must've thrown a classy party or two while we were away and I wouldn't be surprised if they had a chat."
Shame Verne was too ill to come actually, being kidnapped would have done him good.
"Stand behind me so they can't see you when they open the door. I'll act all serious. It'll be hilarious.""Okay!" She says, and sneaks up behind you, out of sight."Come to think of it.. think my parents told your mother about my homecoming? She must've thrown a classy party or two while we were away and I wouldn't be surprised if they had a chat.""Oh, god, you're right." Amy says. "And I wanted to keep your upbringing secret because she makes such a big deal out of class."You shrug, and walk up to the door, knocking on it with a 'Drite.Victoria Tolstoy opens the door, wearing a classy dress and an exhausted expression."Mrs. Tolstoy." You say, folding your arms behind you back, very solemnly. "I have some grave news about Amy.""W-what is it?" She asked."She's. . .She's. . . Blonde." You say, starting to choke up.You see Tolstoy's mind screech to a stop."What?""Hey, mom." Amy said, grinning and leaning out from behind you."Amy!" She said. "Thank god you're okay. Verne's been trying to get ahold of you for some time.""Really?""All week." Victoria said. " . . . I do like your hair like that, though.""I might keep it long, but I'm re-coloring it." Amy said, walking in through the doorway."I wish you wouldn't."
>>19994616Follow quietly.
>>19994616"Sorry about the scare. Our vacation went awry to say the least."
>>19994616It doesn't matter what color her hair is, she's still the prettiest thing I've ever seen.Guys, with this new teleportation thing we actually ought to be able to improve computing power by several orders of magnitude. The biggest restriction on chip processing is heat dissipation, most of a computer chip is meant to keep it from melting. But with this we ought to be able to set up a system to teleport the heat away from the processing bit into somewhere we don't care about. We can also transfer information at FTL which also takes out a thing that slows it down. So we can just make a giant brick of microprocessors that would normally turn into a pile of slag within 5 seconds and throw the heat elsewhere.
>>19994616Sorry, we've been mostly out of the system.
>>19994644Probably the best course of action.
>>19994676Can we teleport heat or information though? We've only teleported physical objects so far. We could have a system of heat-sinks on rotating shifts that teleport into the Antarctic ice and then back once they're cool but it sounds very expensive and mechanically complicated.
"Sorry about the scare. Our vacation went awry, to say the least." You say."To say the least." Amy said, as the two of you walk through the enormous dining room, where Verne is sitting, his augmented arm hissing as he crunches into a truly enormous sandwich."Verne." Amy says.Verne, in response, hugs her."Glad you're okay." Verne said. "I had a bad feeling when you weren't taking my call.""I was out of the system." She responds.". . why wouldn't you take your phone with you?""Uh, I mean literally." she said. "Out of the solar system. You okay, Verne?""Sanya's dead." Verne says, and you see Amy's face crumple with worry. "An assassin got to him. We think. Because of that, Oleg, Dresden, Hanussen and I are all staying underground." He says, without ascribing any particular tone to his voice.
>>19994745We can teleport information, we set up a drop box for that with 1-Ship-1. If we can transmit information we should easily be able to transmit heat, at a fundamental level it's the same thing. >>19994775When and where? If possible who? I'm not going to bother asking if you have enemies but knowing the most likely one would be nice.Daedalus, I have a job for you. Start sifting through information, there might be something related to this. Give him the details we get from Verne.
>>19994805With enough energy could we teleport.....the sun?
>>19994775Daedalus. Find out who and, if possible, why.Verne, you're all welcome to lay low at Valhalla.
>>19994829Maybe, it'd take a bit.If we work at this we can make a superweapon, just teleport a pile of heat nearby the sun onto wherever we want to destroy. It's like a kid using a magnifying glass but so much more deadly.
Just saying, but what happened to thread 9 on the archive? Did it get archived improperly or did you forget outright, Exabyte?
>>19994859If we can find something that doesn't melt/transmit heat we could encase a teleporter in it and have the sun power it when we drop it into it.
>>19994872There are two thread 8s if I remember correctly.
>>19994872>It's archived as thread 8. So there are two thread 8's and one of them is actually nine."When and where? If possible, who?" You ask."No." Verne says. "You." He says, pointing to you. "And you." He says, pointing to Amy. "You two are staying out of this. Completely.""What? But I went with you guys-""Not on every mission." Verne said. "We can handle it on our own, and you're not at risk. I'd thought they'd taken you to get to me."
>>19994886"No no, she was kidnapped by aliums. Nothing to worry about."
>>19994886"Well if they're the type to do that then it is our business."
>>19994886Verne, in all likelihood I am the single most dangerous combatant on earth, and after the events of last week possibly the known galaxy. I also can access communications throughout the world. Even if you don't want my help at least ask Daedalus for information.
>>19994886"We just tangled with a bunch of brain-hacking lizard-fly-monsters from outer space that shapeshift like The Thing and use other sapient beings as toys. We can handle whoever's messing with your old group, Verne. Besides, I haven't seen Oleg in forever and I need to thank him for selling me alien technology at a serious discount."
We really need to set up some sort of defensive network around the Earth against these motherfuckers. Or at least put the world governments in the space at a lower tier than us, but still high enough to fight them. Because I really don't want to see them come and fuck the Earth over.
>>19994886Your brother's house is not exactly a top secret hiding place. You don't mind getting Mr & Mrs Tolstoy involved but you won't let the people with actual combat experience help?
>Has no one noticed her legs yet?
"Well if they're the type to do that then it is our business.""You're right, but.. we don't know anything. He just ended up dead due to a drug overdose, but. . .he was the healthiest one of us. There's no way he'd do anything like that. We all suspect foul play, and I don't want you mixed up in this, Amy.""We just tangled with a bunch of brain-hacking lizard-fly-monsters from outer space that shapeshift like The Thing and use other sapient beings as toys." you say. "We can handle whoever is messing with your old group, Verne. Besides, I haven't seen Oleg in forever, and I need to thank him for selling me alium technology at a serious discount.""What?" Verne said, standing. "Alien technology?"
>>19994972She got proper prosthetics a few weeks ago.
>>19994978"Yep."Then teleport to the other side of him."It's pretty impressive stuff."
>>19994978He didn't know, but yeah. Van-Co is in some pretty serious shit on Mars right now.
>>19994986Right now she has real legs.
>>19994978"He didn't know it was alium when he sold it to me. It was a locked box special."
>>19994978Yeah, this neat little teleporter. I don't think he knew what it was.
>>19994978"Oleg is pretty good at what he does."
>>19994978Yes, long story. He didn't know its origin, I found it was a teleporter. I reverse engineered it and can teleport anything to pretty much anywhere.I'm thinking about making a sun cannon, it teleports a chunk of raw murderous heat from the sun to whatever we need dead.
"He didn't know it was alium when he sold it to me. It was a locked box special."Verne growled, and slipped on a headset. "Hey." he said. "Yeah, this is damn well important enough to call. Where'd you get the locked box special from? The one you sold to our tentacled friend. Right."He slammed the phone down."Damnit, damnit." He said. "Sanya gave it to him. Said it was contraband. And now Sanya's dead."
>>19995106"hmm. I know where it came from originally, but that corporation wasn't aware of its purpose, and it was stolen from them soon after they found it."
>>19995106Well it looks like we're involved now. I'll have Daedalus see if there was any traffic about this on any of the satellite networks. He might have caught some footage from here or there. Where was Sanya when it happened? Could you give me a date and time of death to help narrow it down?I'm dreadfully sorry for interrupting your hospitality with this sort of talk Ms. Tolstoy.
>>19995106Well if he enjoys tentacle rape we could bring him back to life.
>>19995106"Alright. We need to get Oleg here, now. If anywhere is safe for him, it's Valhalla. May be wise to get the rest of the gang, too."
>>19995187Also we can tell them not to worry about dangers in transport, we can send a raven or just port them. Just have them gather up their necessities and give us a location.
>>19995106Hmm. That and possibly the nano-meta came from one of Van-Co's enthusiastic bad ideas. They said it was stolen shortly after they found it. Unless Sanya went to Mars at some point, I'd say he probably stole it from whoever stole it from Van-Co.
rolled 21 = 21>>19995106call gareth direct, deadalus use extra caution to not be detected."did you order anyone killed recently G-man? cause if you did then you're gonna quit that shit right now."
>>19995242That's a terrible idea. If he's the type to organise assassinations he's not going to just say "ok yeah my bad I won't do it again", is he?
rolled 79 = 79>>19995260we could easily destroy his teleportersor did we give him the plans too?
"Hmm. I know where it came from, originally, but that corporation wasn't aware of it's purpose, and it was stolen from them soon after they found it.""Oh? Then Sanya probably stole it from whoever stole it from them." Verne said."Alright, we need to get Oleg here, now. If anywhere is safe for him, it's Valhalla. May be wise to get the rest of the gang, too.""Getting everyone in one place is not a good idea." Verne says. "Especially if you need to lie low. You're a lot of things, Dave, but you're not subtle."Amy snapped her fingers."What about that one chick?" Amy asked. "While we were taking down Twelve's gunship? She did the whole blue glowy teleport thing too."
>>19995275He's not going to admit he did it in the first place.
rolled 94 = 94>>19995289that normally isn't the case.but the depths of space are very very big.
>>19995289I don't know. I'll call up Three and talk to him about her.Also how am I not subtle? I am a graceful and mysterious creature.
>>19995289"I forgot about them. I bet three knows at least what they call themselves."
>>19995289Ok, but what if that one place you were all in was a space station near the galactic core that's unreachable by conventional means due to crushing gravity?
>>19995289I don;t have to be subtle. Valhalla could withstand a direct attack from a first-world military.
>>19995289"Oh yeah. And the huge dude with the powerclaw. Why did we never call those two up again? They were pretty fuckin' awesome."
>>19995356The Nearfuture world powers.USA, Russia, China, Japan, Various Megacorps, DAVE!
>>19995289"Did she teleport? I thought that was a stealth module."Pull up the footage of it.
>>19995405We really are. We can easily perform surgical strikes (Teleport into -INSERTLEADERTITLEHERE-s office and kill him/her), and large-scale devestation (Orbital strikes.)
"I forgot about them." You say. "I bet three knows at least what they call themselves.""That might work." Amy said."I'll need to pull up the footage." You say. "Later, though.""How am I not subtle?" You ask Verne. "I am a graceful and mysterious creature.""You have four giant limbs sticking out of your back." Verne says. "And you're augmented from head to toe.""I don't have to be subtle. Valhalla could withstand a direct attack from a first-world military."Verne closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Amy stepped behind you."No safehouse is safe." Verne said. "Tell me, how did you get into Valhalla? How did you take it? You tore in and took it!" He stood."If you can, then others can! You're not the only invulnerable juggernaut in the world, you know! You're not the only one with bombs, not the only one with plasma weaponry, or even the only one with those 'drites."
>>19995466I'm the only one with a teleporting spaceship though, right?
>>19995466"Your right, I just killed a nega-Dave that had all that too. I am the only one with a space ship that fires a cannon that turns anything it touches into dust. I am the only one who can teleport light years away in an instant.
rolled 57 = 57>>19995466but space is very big. I can put you down on mars or even saddle you down with some rather pleasant aliums or a race of alium robots that'd take care of you
>>19995466No, but I am the only one with bullshit hacking.
>>19995466Inter-stellar-space-ship-with-tele-porters.
>>19995466"I am the only man on Earth who can survive not having a brain, though. I think that's something. Or I would think so... If only I had a brain!"
>>19995466Teleport behind him."But I am the only one with the wonderful combination of teleporters, magical bullshit hacking, and relativistic orbital weaponry."
>>19995466I am the only one with Deadalus, I'm the only one with perfected teleportation technology. If you want a better safehouse then how about Alpha Centauri, the star, a number of lightyears away.
>>19995466If you want to get technical, I took it by bullshit magic hacking the turret controls away from the defensive AI. But I take your point.I should probably talk to Three. Those kids are probably either on the hit list or the ones doing the hitting.
I hope Dave has a deadpool moment."Who said chimichangas? Oh, wait, that's just the sound of my brain leaking out my ears."
>>19995466Now calm down bro, you gotta see, On our space vacation, I brought down alium scum pretending to be me! There's bound to be "juggernauts" like me, but the thing is, no one can compete with the utter mad of Dave-David-Davidson!
"I'm the only one with a teleporting spaceship, a cannon that turns anything it touches to dust, I'm the only one with bullshit hacking. . The list goes on." You say. "If worst comes to worst, we can send you guys to Alpha Centauri, the star, a number of lightyears away."His lips quirked."You don't operate in the secrecy you should." He said. "But I concede the point. But we're already entrenched, and I doubt Oleg's going to stick his head up, even if I ask him to. Voice synthesizers are too good, nowadays."
>>19995539Or mars, we have a teleport bridge set up there.>>19995503We need to tell amy about 1-ship-1 since we said we'd give them the disintegration cannon after we got her back. And they were instramental in getting her back.
>>19995637Which actually reminds me. Amy do you mind if I give the D-cannon design to our alium allies? They requested the schematics and I told them I'd leave it up to you, since you built it."
>>19995637The funny thing is Verne, I am holding things back from you. Now we should apologize to our host for ignoring her hospitality in order to discuss such unpleasant business. My deepest apologies Ms. Tolstoy.Oh, Alexander, I just came back from space. It was cool.
>>19995682We should also ask if she stumbled across something that looked like a mindcore.
>>19995637Right. Next order of business. I need to call Three and get some information so I can set Daedalus to tracking down K and whatever her companions were called.Then I need to sleep. I've been up for something like eight days straight.
"Funny thing is, Yerne, I'm not explaining *all* of my advantages." you say."My deepest apologies, Mrs. Tolstoy." You tell Victoria. "For discussing such unpleasant business.""No need to apologize, Mr. Wh- Davidson. With a brother in law and a daughter like they are, I'm . . much more used to it than I was." Victoria said. "More than any normal person should be.""Alexander, I just came back from space." You tell him- he's simply leaning back in a chair, balancing a pencil on his nose. "It was cool.""Cool." He responded. "Make sure to take care about radiation. It's nasty and you'll die."
>>19995835"Wanna hear about what real aliens are like?"
>>19995835"I'm more worried about the murderous dogmatic space aliens than the radiation, but thanks for the tip."
>>19995835Ms. Tolstoy, you are far too revealing. You met my parents didn't you?
"I'm more worried about the murderous dogmatic space aliums than the radiation, but thanks for the tip.""Right." He said, raising a fist. "Get them Xenos."He snatches the pencil off of his nose, whirls the chair around, and sits forward."Seriously, though. Good luck, and be careful.""What." Amy says, eying you "You broke. My dad."
oops
>>19995925Well it is his field after all.
>>19995925It's cool, he'll bounce back. We are going into space, using reverse engineered technology and we fight Aliums. If anything could concern him it'd be the fate of his daughter and future son in law. I'm just wondering why your mother started to say my original last name before correcting herself. I shouldn't be surprised, they move in similar circles as my parents. But I figured she'd be better at hiding it.
>>19995925"No worries Alexander. If I come across any particularly literary aliens, I'll send them your way."We staying for dinner or clearing out?
>>19995925This must be what Grayson felt the first time he got Ishelda to care.
>>19995925What do you mean I broke your Dad?
rolled 26 = 26>>19995925nope, I unlocked his inner awesome...all parents are boring till you move out of family care for a long enough time.you want to meet some? I know a planet not far from here...I'm not welcome, but they never said humans in general weren't...
Oh man, you know what we forgot to do?Get back that Asurian who was an expert on Humies.
>>19996036Oh yeah, we'll go on another expedition in a bit. Onyx and the rest of our AIs are still sifting through the data we got, once we have that we can track him down easily.
"This must be what Grayson felt the first time he got Ishelda to care.""That's what I was referencing." Amy said, and patted you on the head."You want to meet some?""Nah, I need to finish this." He said, motioning to the paper. "I'm on a deadline.""Deadline?" amy asked. "You haven't had deadlines since I lived here.""I know." Alexander said, and grinned. "It's awesome.""I'm a bit more concerned about why your mother started to say my original last name before correcting herself." You say, and turn to her.Victoria gave you a prim smile- one that's vaguely reminiscent of Amy's own smug grin- but she said nothing.
>>19996077"Well you'll be happy to know I was disowned a long time ago. No high class son-in-law for you."
>>19996077Amy, I can see where you got some parts of your personality from. Victoria, don't make we start going to fancy dress parties in power armor and dancing with as many women as I have tentacles.
>>19996077"By the way, my mother thinks your daugher looks like a whore."Mother-in-law fight!
>>19996077I'll have to read whatever it is when it comes out, then.Seriously, though, we probably aught to head out. I have a call to make.
>>19996140Oh no, nononononono.We do not want to get involved in that!
"Well, you'll be happy to know I was disowned a long time ago. No high class son-in-law for you." You say. "Seriously, though, Amy and I ought to head out. I have a call to make."". . Very well." Victoria said, and gave Amy a hug. "You two be safe, now.""We will." Amy says."Also, leave your hair the way it is." She said."We won't!" Amy said happily, and the two of you leave the house, walking toward the Raven. "Also, fuck, this is *really* cold." She said, looking down to her bare feet. "I need to learn to use shoes again."In response, you pick her up. She doesn't struggle away as she usually does."Son in law?" She asks, staring into you.
>>19996255Eventually. I hope you don't start saying something about not wanting a commitment, since we got past that part quite some time ago.
>>19996255Put a finger on her lips to hush her."Future son-in-law"
rolled 13 = 13>>19996255do you have a problem becoming an honest woman dear?
>>19996255I said I love you and I meant it, dammit.
>>19996255"Just a thought."if she presses,"That thought being I can't really imagine being with anyone else but you."
"Eventually." You say. "I hope you don't start saying something about not wanting a commitment, since we got past that part quite some time ago.""Yeah, eventually." She said, nodding. You open the canopy and climb into the Raven, surprised as always about how large it is on the inside, now that it's been upgraded."Also," She said. "Lucca kissed me earlier."
>>19996255Or we could just give you back your robotic legs. You did get those ones that look normal anyway, so it's the best of both worlds.
>>19996255"Eh, why not? Whenever we feel like doing that."<Onyx, Azure, I need a diamond ring.>Get on knee, hold out the ring, "Amy Tolstoy, will you marry me, my technicolor death machine?">>19996312Damnit, too slow.
>>19996312Is that why she was giving me that shit-eating grin?
>>19996312"I know. I've got it on video from three different angles."
>>19996312"Oh yeah? How was that, then?"
>>19996312WHAT?! How dare she kiss my girl!Begin playback on head screen.
>>19996312I saw. I tuned in to check on you two at exactly the right moment. You have no idea how tempting it was to cheer.
>>19996312"I, uh. Kinda saw. Already. I was expecting one of you to go crazy-kooky on the other and was worried, so I looked in on Sleipnir's cameras to make sure someone wasn't about to get shanked, shot or melted. I was pleasantly surprised that nothing went down."
>>19996385And then a little disappointed that nothing went down.
>>19996312She kissed me too. There's something odd about that girl.
"I, uh. Kinda saw. Already." You say. "I was expecting one of you to go crazy-kooky on the other and was worried, so I looked in on Sleipnir's cameras to make sure someone wasn't about to get shanked, shot or melted. I was pleasantly surprised that nothing went down.""You mean that you were pleasantly surprised about what did go down." She said."I've got it on video from three different angles."". . .Oh." She says, and goes very slightly red. "What do you think about that?"
rolled 93 = 93>>19996433I think she wants you more than she wants me...and that concerns me a little. but only a little...
>>19996433Pull her close, and give her a soft kiss, "Didn't seem too bad, but I wanna be there if it happens again."
>>19996433"I've got it on video from three different angles."
rolled 24 = 24>>19996446>>19996433say what do you think of giving slepnir a proper onboard AI cluster of his very own? or a binary AI system, I was thinking a little of Magenta and some of deadalus
>>19996464And we need to talk about the aliens and the disentegration cannon, no time for idle chit chat!
>>19996433Depends which part of me you ask.
>>19996433"I like Lucca, she's been a great help in the past and a friend I value greatly. I love you, Amy. You're my technicolour death-machine. Nothing's gonna change about that without your input."
"Lucca's been a great help in the past, and a friend I value greatly." You say. "I love *you*, Amy. You're my technicolor death-machine, and nothing's gonna change that without your input.""Hmm. Cautiously optimistic, without shooting down the idea but without embracing it either." She said, and kissed you. "You pass. Now, let's go meet your alium sister."The Raven revved up, and shot toward Valhalla.<Welcome.> Talos says, and opens the canopy for you, as you set down the Raven. <Lucca and three guests arrived. Two are nonhuman, and one is robotic.>Huh; seems Azure rebuilt her body."Robotic?" Amy asks, and pops open the Raven's canopy.
>>19996588Wait, who's the other nonhuman? OH! Phi.
>>19996588That would be Azure, right Talos?Any word from 1-ship-1?
>>19996588"Must be Azure's rebuilt her body."
>>19996588Azure built herself a body. And rebuilt it, apparently, after getting suckered by an Emperor. The aliens will be Dani and Phi.
>>19996588Azure got her own body. It's pretty cool. She got her head blown off by explosive cat vomit in the alium death maze so she couldn't talk earlier but it seems she's better now.
I keep thinking of the Ravens as spheres, similiar to those used by Frieza's henchmen in DBZ. Is that accurate?
>>19996641I kinda keep thinking of them as smaller versions of the G-Police crafts.
>>19996641I envision them as ellipsoids (flattened spheres) myself.
>>19996641I think of them as bigger versions of the cybertron bikes.
>>19996641>Ravens are shaped roughly like a stretched, empty nautilus shell."Must be Azure's rebuilt body.""Azure has a body?" Amy asks. "Is it cute?"Azure steps out from around the corner. She's been... upgraded.She still looks like an inhuman *thing* made out of thick cable, and both arms made out of deadly, deadly claws, but now she's much taller, with digitigrade legs, wide hips, wide shoulders, and her head is strangely shaped- now it looks warped backward over anything. It looks like someone took a standard human, stretched it as if it were clay, and then threw claws and robotic parts on it."No." Amy said, eyes shining. "It's *beautiful*. Look at those claws!""I've made myself more efficient." Azure says.
>>19996666>Dat game.I could never get the second disk to work.
>>19996666Don't forget that they started out life as jetbikes. Think "lightcycle."
>>19996685"I should have known you'd say that, Amy.""More efficient how?"
>>19996685Get yourself a head optimised for social interactions, and I can get you a date with Lucas.
>>19996685What new measures have you implemented to counter explosive cat vomit?
>>19996685Yeah, it's a bit unsettling. I do miss having her in my head though.
>>19996717She was in our spine, not our head. Snuggling in there with our conciousness all warm and cozy, close to us in a way that Amy can never be...
>>19996739Head, spine, same difference for Dave.
"Yeah, it's a bit unsettling. I do miss having her in my mind, though. Azure, what new measures have you implemented to counter explosive cat vomit?""Not hugging explosive cats." Azure said. "Also, built in plasma weaponry, so I can destroy explosive cats from a distance.""Can I see what those repulsion drives in your back do?" Amy asked, somewhat excited."Certainly." Azure says. She takes a step back, then suddenly becomes a blur, red lightning blasting from her back.You see sparks of flame shoot across her body, from the raw friction of the sudden movement. Azure skids to a stop, claws extended forward."Oh. My. God." Amy says. "So cool!"
>>19996685Elegant. If Dani still wants you to augment her, though, you should probably add some fine manipulators.
>>19996777"Yep. That was my first reaction when I saw her body as well. I hope you have it in your heart to forgive me, Amy."
>>19996777So, how are the other three doing?
>>19996777On a related note, I'm now made of the same synthmuscle. Things got a bit out of hand when you weren't here.
"So, how are the other three doing?""Well, Phi wants to move his computer in here- but right now he's wandering around outside, getting stuck in snow drifts. He said that this is the first time in hundreds of years he's been terrestrial. . and he's never seen so much water." Azure said. "Dani and Lucca have been talking for some time, but they requested privacy, so I don't know what about."
>>19996777>She takes a step back, then suddenly becomes a blurWhy can't I help but think of this all of a sudden? Am I on the money or way off and being silly?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb2dxCSBoWs&feature=related
>>19996859"Let's go find Phi. He's an interesting fellow."
>>19996859Send Lucca a message not to take advantage of Dani.
>>19996859I wish we could just cue the song "Let's Get it On" at any one moment anywhere on Earth.
>>19996884I kinda hope she won't repeat that Abel episode, and I trust Lucca not to do anything questionable to somebody who's been alive for a few days at best.
>>19996888Lets refit the teleport recon drone/beacon thing into a levitating boombox we can teleport to us whenever we want. Problem solved.
>>19996888We can. Our suit has speakers and well over a few hundred megs of storage space, and we can access the internet whenever we want.
>>19996884Oh dear, that's a distinct possibilty.Let's not intrude though, they did request privacy.
"Let's go find Phi. He's an interesting fellow." You say."I feel obligated to inform you that Cyan uses pronouns improperly when translating." Azure says. "Phi is genderless, not a 'he' as Cyan uses.""Phi? Is he another alium?" Amy asked."He's quite interesting." Azure says. "I'll lead you.""Wait." Amy says. "I need. . .shoes. Or boots. Or something. This place is cold as hell.""Perhaps rollerblades." Azure says. You think you hear a grin in her voice.
>>19996959"I can hear that grin. Wait a minute why do you have pants, but no shoes?"Synthesize some boots or something.
>>19996959"Rollerblades don't work on snow. But we could give you your old shoes back if you want, Amy. Have those new claws been tested yet Azure?"Then chase Amy into the bedroom.
>>19996959Sounds good, any other important events on earth while we were gone?
rolled 29 = 29>>19996959I think you have that wrong. space is cold and hell is on fire...
"I can hear that grin." You say. "Wait a minute, Amy, why do you have pants, but no shoes?""It's a skirt, and they didn't give me anything after regrowing my legs and tearing my sockets out." She said. You quickly synthesize some boots for her, and she slips them (and some of your socks) on, and then you all go out into the cold."Any other important events on earth while we were gone?" you ask, as Azure daintily steps through the snow. Her gait and new body reminds you strangely of a pauldron-less eldar."Not that I've noticed." Azure says. "And I asked Daedalus, and he said there was nothing of note. Among other random things.""What does Phi look like?" Amy asked.<<Like this.>> Phi says, crawling along the snow. <<There are some strange avian creatures nearby.>>"He's cute!" Amy said, looking down at the large, cybernetic beetle.
>>19997030Actually space is pretty damn hot.Unless you find some shade, in which case it is well below freezing.
>>19997030Heat is the vibration of particles. Hell is non-existant and space is a vacuum so neither of them contain a significant number of particles making heat irrelevant.
>>19997072"Do not mock the genius survivalist-scientist cyberbeetle. That way lies destruction."
rolled 88 = 88>>19997072those are called penguins. sorry all the water around here is frozen, some time I should take you to see the tropics...they are significantly warmer
>>19997072"Those are called penguins. They're one of the few species indigenous to this region of Earth."
>>19997072You have a curious sense of cute, Amy.
>>19997072Still sure we shouldn't give the rest of your guys on the asteroids a lift to some planet?
"Do not mock the genius survivalist-scientist cyberbeetle." You say. "That way lies destruction.""Hi. I'm Amy. Also, those are penguins."<<Greetings. I'm Phi. Are you the genius mercenary-scientist cyber-human?>> Phi asks."Yes, yes I am."<<Good to hear.>>"You have a curious sense of cute, Amy.""Jealous of Phi?" She asked. "You're cute too, Dave." She said."Are you sure we shouldn't give the rest of your guys on the asteroids a lift to some planet?"<<If you're willing to risk your own planet and bring us here, I'm perfectly fine with that.>> He said. <<But all planets that are suitable for us, we've already sent our young to. there's no need to risk them by going to one of the planets we sent them to.>>
>>19997169I'm not really sure my species would be very pleased by that. Sorry.
>>19997169We shouldn't get involved in galactic politics. Moving around one or two aliens I can agree with, but not a whole species.
>>19997169"Are you saying there are some here on earth?"
>>19997169Earth is actually very diverse in cultures and governments. I've been acting on my own, but most of the governments of Earth would not be very happy if I started migrating Aliums here.
"Earth is rather diverse in cultures and governments. I've been acting on my own, but most of the governments of Earth would not be very happy if I started migrating Aliums here."<<Fair enough.>> It responds. <<We're all old and sterile, regardless, so there's no need for us to do anything but die off. And you don't speak for your entire kind, so I don't mind at all. I just hope you'll come by our home system and grab all of our computers when we die. We don't want that knowledge to die off.>>Amy frowned. "That's sad."<<It is, in a way. But our kind and my children shall survive.>>
>>19997299Surely you'll outlive me. Humans rarely live longer then 100 years, and I'm not exactly living the safe life.
>>19997299Weren't the Asurians rather impressed by the "others"? Maybe we could get the old folks settled on their planet?
>>19997324I'm pretty sure nobody who has been on our team will ever die of natural causes, unless they choose to.
>>19997299Don't your children have that knowledge?
>>19997299"Isn't there any way you can be invigorated? Genetic therapy, something, anything?"
"Don't your children have that knowledge?"<<Most of it, yes.>> He said. <<But nothing new that we've worked on for the past long hundred years. Most of their computing runs while they travel, working on keeping the ship in movement. Ours, however, can develop new programs, software, and knowledge.>>"Isn't there any way you can be invigorated? Genetic therapy, something, anything?"<<Most likely. There's just no reason to. We don't have enough supplies to support an active population, which is why most of us still slumber in anhydrobiosis. One of our kind stays awake at a time, and we shift change every year. I was awoken as a special case, because you arrived.>>
>>19997414Well, would they mind setteling on one of the other planets in our solar system? Not the nicest places in the universe, but at least better than slowly freezing or starving to death on a bunch of asteroids.
>>19997414"If you wouldn't at all mind, I'd like a small biological sample from you. I might be able to work something out through it. There's no reason for you or your knowledge to be lost, simply from complacency or 'accepting your fate.' There's still hope. I could almost assuredly take you and your people to the Asurians; they'd be overjoyed to have you as their guests. I just hope the Emperors haven't attacked them while I've been gone."
>>19997414Won't you be needed at all?It doesn't sound like much of an existance, sleeping for years and only waking up occasionally.
>>19997471We're not doing that. How many times do we need to explain?
>>19997471Hey yeah, give them Neptune. They'll have all died off by the time we can even think about using it and it's got loads of water which is the main thing they seem to want.
We really shouldn't introduce them to our solar system. Certain nations will get pissy about it.
"If you wouldn't at all mind, I'd like a small biological sample from you. I might be able to work something out through it. There's no reason for you or your knowledge to be lost, simply from complacency or 'accepting your fate.' There's still hope. I could almost assuredly take you and your people to the Asurians; they'd be overjoyed to have you as their guests. I just hope the Emperors haven't attacked them while I've been gone."<<Genetic sample? Certainly, do as you will with it.>> He said.One of his pumps opened, and a small viscous liquid poured out. Quickly, Azure grabbed a petri dish and caught the liquid.<<That should have enough data for you.>> Phi said, and closed the pump."Won't you be needed at all? It doesn't sound like much of an existence, sleeping for years and only waking up occasionally."<<We lived when we were young.>> Phi said. <<And we can do what we choose. Some already have taken their belongings, created a ship, and left, going to sleep as long as necessary. Those that remain are those that are okay with their existence. At peace, in a way.>>
>>19997612Wow. These guys are the ultimate stoners. Don't even care about being extinct."So, how'd you like to sample some local plant-life. It's full of fun things. Like THC"
>>19997612"Uhm... I'm at a loss for words."
>>19997612Well I guess I'll leave you to it then.To the magic FTL dropbox mail device!
"Well, I guess we'll leave you to it, then." You say.<<Wait, please. It would be very good if you could carry me. I don't travel very quickly.>> He says."Aww, okay." Amy said, and scooped him up into her arms.The four of you walk your way back to Valhalla.With the Mindcore still missing, and with whatever is going on with Verne's old team members, you're not done.Not by a long shot.>>End of thread!>>I'll stick around to answer questions! Probably no interview today, though.>>My twitter is @futureexabyte and I'll be fucking around on the IRC. (#spacecyborg on Rizon)
>>19997805How tall are Dave and Amy? I kinda imagine her rather short-ish.
>>19997826>Amy's around 5'2 to 5'7, based on whichever legs she's using. Her organic legs make her 5'4.>Dave was 5'8, but now that he's augmented, he's 5'11, and in the power suit, he's 6'5
>>19997805Your cliffhanger-fu is weakening, that was almost a happy ending!
>>19997805Hi Exabyte, it's nice to have a non-canon copy of you to talk to. How are you enjoying questing? You've been at it for 3 whole quests now, almost 80 threads nonstop. Are you worried about burning out?
>>19997861Thanks.
>>19997873>I'm loving questing. If I didn't, I wouldn't have gone past the first time things got hard. Every time questing gets difficult for me and I get near burning out, I take a day off, or quest something completely random, and then I'm usually right as rain.>>19997862>completely noncanon, but here's to you, anon.When you get back to Valhalla. . It's in flames.That's when the wormholes in the sky start opening, and great spears come flying down, sparks trailing against them as they burn into the atmosphere.Oh shit.>End of thread blah blah>blah blah blah>blah blah blah blah @futureblah
>>19997949> I take a day off, or quest something completely random, and then I'm usually right as rain.I'd love to see Azure Quest, one day.
>>19997949We still need Catshelda quest.
>>19997986We should definitely get a super awesome robot dog to make that damn cat jealous. Didn't we have some robo canines left after NFCQ, now that I think of it?
>>19998016I don't think we ever got around to talking to the mechanic dude, Mike, wasn't it?
>>19998016>You gave those to Mark to reverse-engineer. When you talked to Jun about him, though, she said he was on vacation, so you'll likely need to wait until he gets back.
>>19997949Will we be seeing more Grayson quest and rolling mythical 1d144's?
rolled 70 = 70>>19997974seconded>rolling probability
>>19997974>Someday, someday. but I always have a slew of quest ideas that I really want to run, so maybe.>>19998302>Next time I get drunk, yep. Which may not be for awhile.
>>19998643Oooh, can you give us a sneak peek for a few of those?
>>19998643>Well, the one I'm seriously (god help me) thinking of running is HAREM QUEST, where the MC has to follow in their bard\archmage's footsteps and romance as many sapient creatures as possible, leaping through planes. Not just plain seduce- you need to work for it.>And then there's Scrap Quest, which is part post-apoc, part STICK IT TO THE MAN-esque, where you build shit with trashcans and such.>Some people wanted me to try an Envy Quest Redux, but I still need to re-read the last Envy Quest and see if I can get a hold on the idea.>There are more, but those are either not developed enough, or so over-developed that I'm just going to run an actual game based off of them.>mfw I start Void Queen Quest
>>19999029You did envy quest? Neat, I only played the one which fell apart when we managed to get back to hell.Fun ride up to that point, though.
>>19999029There is no face, there is only ZUUL?I mean, VOID?
>>19999073No, he didn't do the original Envy Quest, but I think he's capable of pulling it off to do another one, since Envy Quest only lasted a few threads.
>>19999073>Nah, I never did Envy quest- it was a request that I'm considering, and the concept is entertaining.
>>19999092Ah, okay. If you're taking suggestions, I'd really love to play some kind of G-Man quest. Being one of the bad guys from the X-Files, or something along those lines.
>>19999029I want to try Harem Quest.
>>19999279>So do I! The problem, though, lies in the fact that my future Quests are queued up in a specific order. I need to finish up Space Cyborg Quest, and then do SORQ, which could run up to thirty threads or so. So I can't really start any new Daily quests for a month.
