--Portal Corp Courtyard--
Cory looked askance at Archlich.
"Despite my prior loss of cool, I don't actually believe that you warrant destruction... Everybody's capable of redemption. I just lack certain emotional controls, and the pressure had built up. Not everybody can be Roland Grey..."
"I'd give up half the gizmos in my lab to be Zen like that," Sheldon sighed exasperatedly, "How that fat [dastard] has gone through life without losing his cool is beyond me."
Cory turned to Essex, took her hands and smiled.
"Why, hello there, little one. No, I won't be seeking your associate's demise. It's not really in the cards for me. But look at you! How does someone so young fight the Freakshow?"
"She's an android," Sheldon explained dismissively, "Oddly enough, much like one of my Ryats... Just a different schematic."
Simmons looked shocked at his friend. Tsking at the inventor disappointedly, he patted Essex appreciatively.
"Don't disparage the girl, Sheldon. If your androids, that lack actual faces mind you, can stand up to the likes of the Freakshow and the Rikti, then certainly this sophisticated little gem is more than capable of handling herself."
"I was merely stating that there is nothing special about her appearance in ratio to her capability," Sheldon remarked, his tone perfectly neutral, "Her skin, plastic and rubber. Her voice, synthesized. Her capabilities as an android were programmed from the start..."
"Much like your androids?" Cory asked as he pointed to Ryat66.
The diminutive android was on all fours, calling into the ground, asking if there was anybody there. Sheldon slapped his face lightly and started rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Ergh... That is not a good example of Sixty-six's behavior..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Essex took a sigh of relief when Cory asserted that he didn't want to fight, and the little android seemed to loosen. Straightening up, she removed her helmet, the girl's short, shaggy blonde hair curling absently about the pink semispherical autoreceptors that served as her 'ears.' She smiled sunnily at Cory, her cheeks glowing with a soft, artificial blush as he expressed his amazement at her capability.
When Sheldon began commenting on her specification, she shrunk a little, her gaze falling.
"Actually..." she murmured, tentatively though barely audibly. "...My voice is synthesized, yes, but it works on the same basic principles as humanoid vocal cords, with the exception of the sonic amplifiers I use for self-defense. It's...um...actually caused by a multicorded vibration/resonation retrieval unit. And...um...My skin isn't plastic or rubber, it's actually a silicon substrate...Though I have to admit, the metallic parts are an ultralight filament-related alloy."
Glancing back up to Cory and Sheldon, she ducked her head.
"...But it's nice to meet you, all the same."
Nevertheless, Essex seemed a little downtrodden, and kept her gaze down...suddenly noticing Ryat66.
"...Who's this?" she chirped curiously, approaching the other android hesitantly.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
--Portal Corp Courtyard--
Ryat66 glanced up as Sheldon cleared his throat. Noticing the tiny pink android approaching him, he cocked his head to one side and pushed off the ground. Righting himself with a slight hop, he dusted off and extended a hand to the female-based android.
"Hiya! I'm Ryat Sixty-six! I'm a construction and assault android, well... I was originally a construction droid... A quick attack from the Clockwork changed that, though!"
He started laughing. Sheldon was rolling his eyes behind his shades.
"It wasn't funny," he groaned.
"We all seemed to be doing okay... Well, except for Ryat Eighty-four... but you shouldn't be meeting him anytime soon. Oh, hey! Ryat Prime sends his regards, boss! Says he found another one of those brute types Eighty-four's been building and shot it to slag. He just e-mailed me!"
"Good for him," Sheldon grimaced, "Ryat66, and his brothers... and sisters... is one of my androids, Essex. He's not even a year old, but he's been kicking the tar out of bad guys across the city."
"Good times," Ryat66 chirped as he turned to the pink android, "Good times. So... When do I get a face?"
"Don't."
"Darn."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Your belief in redemption makes one of us, warlock," Archlich said briefly before Cory started talking to Essex.
The mage watched in silence as Cory praised the young construct's mannerisms and creation and regarded with interest Sheldon's dismissive response. As Essex walked over to greet Ryat66, Archlich looked at Sheldon.
"There is another point where she differs from your creations, mortal," Archlich said as he shifted in place so as to face the two androids. Somehow his voice managed to reach both Cory and Sheldon's ears clearly, despite his change in facing and lowered volume. Cory would probably be able to identify slight traces of the modified vantriloquism spell that allowed Archlich to do this.
"She, despite being artificial life, has clearly developed a soul," he said, pausing a second to observe Sheldon's reaction. "I know of few other constructs that can lay claim to such an achievement, so I would suggest you do not take her at face value. She has an odd inner strength to her."
This last sentence was pitched even lower as though Archlich was mainly speaking to himself, though both men would be able to pick it up.
"Something else that might interest you, construct," Archlich said, trying to gain Essex's attention. "Toy Dispenser is currently assisting Vanguard in their tasks through that portal over yonder. If you wish to help, I believe they are looking for any heroes or villains that consider themselves up to the task. Regardless of how powerful those volunteers might be."
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Ineffable and anyone else who chose to storm the main chamber found they'd greatly misinterpreted the situation. Vanguard operatives were all about, but certainly not in combat. Except for the few that the Psi-Scout had barreled by and/or through, the personnel busied themselves with finalizing their equipment set-up.
Indeed, it had been somewhat silly to think otherwise. Lk'Onik had last been seen in deep concentration, taking a closer look at the Rikti mental network with methods most covert. It stood to reason that what had upset him so lay upon the mental plane, not the physical.
Of course, in actuality it turned out to be a mixture of both.
The translator may still have been warbling nonsense, but to Cher'yak and Sah'Teece, the reason was quite clear - he simply thought too fast for the machine to keep up. To a Rikti, however, his words rang clear as day in the mind.
It didn't take him but a few moments to convey the news: Nemesis had practically taken the leadership of the Lineage of Science whole, replacing member after member with finely crafted machines of deception - automatons so sinisterly chameleonic in nature even the Rikti couldn't tell them from their own unless they subjected the mechanoids to extreme scrutiny, as Lk'Onik had done.
Nemesis had taken his second step. And as the Jade Moon's orbit gave rise to the Rikti homeworld on the horizon outside the main chamber's window gallery, the planet showed its scars.
The celestial orb was still Terra, no doubt about it - or more precisely, it had once been. War had wracked this world, this was undeniable, the atmosphere carrying a foul taint of venomous greens and yellows as penance for the scourge of war...
--------------------
With the situation defused before it had gotten out of hand, Unai Kemen ordered the alarms liquidated again, Longbow personnel about returning to their former duties.
True, the group gathered here behaved mighty strange, but when one had seen as many things as the Security Chief, one learned not to ask questions. With the portal up and running properly again, they could depart any time they wished. If anyone asked, Kemen would be sure to explain to them the destination and current situation there: the site had been secured, and the Vanguard task force currently looked for a way to the Rikti version of Terra.
Currently, however, he busied himself performing the same task Matt had just set out to accomplish - and the audio clip by no means pleased him. Everything pointed to the conclusion that a Malta Operative had made contact with either his own or another cell, and that yet another such squad had listened in on the conversation.
Most likely, it had been for blackmail purposes. Malta's goons were famous for carrying dirt on even their closest associates, though for just what reason no one quite seemed to know.
"Odd." the Security Chief commented, scratching his head, "Who in the world talks like that...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
--Portal Corp Courtyard--
"No one is born with a soul, zombie wizard," Sheldon replied coldly, and pointedly ignored Cory's shocked stare, "Not me, not you, not her... One is earned. My androids have yet to earn theirs, most of them, anyway."
----------
--Jade Moon--
"This is bad," Randall grunted as he looked upon the alternate Earth, "I never thought I'd get to see something like this... And when I actually do, I almost wish I hadn't."
He turned to Lady Grey and Lk'Onik.
"We've just been wasting our time up here, smashing things that were never meant to stand in our way. We need to be down there, putting a stop to that mess, and we need to get down there pronto!"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
After Unai Kemen had briefed the team on the current situation they made their way over to the portal. On the way they conversed, keeping their voices low to the conversation from prying ears.
"Okay, 48, you deal with the item. The rest of you, once we get through to the other side, carry out the mission, just as we planned. Don't take on any supers alone. Don't take on a group of more than three. Don't do anything stupid. If they're winning, we retreat. It's that simple, got it?"
Everyone aknowledged Hammerhead's speech. Upon finally reaching the threshold of the portal the team broke into a single file line, with Ghost and Scarab at the front and HK 48 at the back.
They crossed the treshold a second later, arriving on the Jade Moon seconds later.
~Portal Corp Courtyard~
Essex listened to the conversation intently, looking between Archlich and Sheldon while unconsciously edging towards Cory. When Sheldon expressed that people aren't born with souls, but must earn them, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.
"What about children?" she suddenly burst out. "The minute you look into a newborn's eyes you can see it's soul, right there at the forefront of its existance, and --"
She flushed again, fidgeting nervously.
"I'm sorry." she murmured. "I didn't mean to burst out like that. It was rude..."
The boosters on her boots warmed up, gently levitating her into the air, and the android girl skimmed back a few inches.
"I...I guess I'll be going to Portal Corp, then. That's probably what I was on my way to do in the first place...I just can't remember."
She hesitated, smiling at the group of them, including Ryat66.
"I...I don't suppose any of you want to come as well?" she suggested hopefully.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Archlich just stared at Sheldon after he made this comment. His eyebrows would have been hidden in his hair at this point if he had had either of those but the slightly slack-jawed look to his skull expressed that emotion easily enough. It took Essex's outburst to snap the lich out of his disbelief.
"How a mortal, even a human scientist," Archlich began with a tone of sheer disbelief. "How even a human scientist could not believe that one is born with a soul is the greatest folly I have yet heard. One is almost always born with a soul, you fool, and those few who are truly soulless are to extended our pity and support for they are truly cursed by the gods."
Shaking his head, Archlich continued. "I will not argue with you that one may grow a soul of their own, after all, I live with one such example, but every living creature capable of thought already has one. And I emphasize that it is folly to believe otherwise. But if you need proof," Archlich huffed. "Then I can provide it for you. I hear that mortals such as you often require firsthand evidence of things they do not understand."
As answer to Essex's question, Archlich merely waved his hand at her in a shooing gesture. He was not much interested in the Rikti right now, this foolish mortal had gained his full attention.
***********************************
"One: Moment," Cher'tak said to Grey as he cocked his head and ran through what Lk'Onik was saying. He need to be absolutely sure that the Psi-Scout wasn't accidently garbbling his own speech. It was known to happen when a Rikti got overexcited or stimulated.
"Situation: Worse: Than Imagined," Cher'tak said at length, translating what Lk'Onik was still babbling out. "Lineage (Science): Nemesis: Controlled. Leadership: Automatons: Unknown: Other: Rikti."
The Warmaster crossed his arms and put his head into one almost unnoticeably shaking hand. He had feared the worst and this was almost as bad as it could be. The Lineage of Science was very influencial in Rikti politics and was in a prime position to allow Nemesis to do whatever he wished with almost no questions asked. As long as he didn't trample on the domains of the other Lineages, then Nemesis would remain undetected and unchallenged. Seeking to find something to distract him, Cher'tak glanced over at Grey and saw his home slowing panning by the porthole.
"Beautiful: Yes?" Cher'tak said as he lowered his arms and walked over next to Grey. "It has been: Forever: And a day: Since last: I saw this: Sight. My: Our: Home."
Cher'tak had made a special effort to conform his thoughts to the human way of thinking in order to properly convey the emotions he felt at seeing his homeworld once again.
"And yet: I return: Enemy: Not ally."
************************************
"I'm not sure I want to know what that haze is made out of," Solid said to anyone nearby as he peeked inbetween Cher'tak and Grey to see what they were looking at. "Looks damned unhealthy, whatever it's made of."
"Hopefully it isn't," Toy replied. "It will be a pain in the [censored] to make sure the humans on our team can breathe properly in that case."
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Ineffable simply discarded the problem after it had been resolved and went back to simply keeping watch.
--Portal Corp Courtyard--
Cory shook his head sadly as he saw Sheldon's dismissive shake. He figured the inventor had turned zealot, but he was startlingly wrong.
"The fact that I even consider the possibility of a creature having a soul should be noted, wizard," he intoned, "Science has uncovered nothing to indicate that we have any means of transcending this existence, and the fact that I am willing to believe in such a mythical concept would set most die-hard scientists on edge."
He turned to Essex. His tone remained impassive and neutral.
"Of course you can see the soul within a newborn's eyes... Birth is an ordeal. Even if doctors treat it like clockwork, which it isn't, there are records enough of children who have not survived..."
His left hand's index and middle fingers twitched a little.
"It is not my place to determine how one is earned."
Cory pulled Sheldon aside and sent a thought into his brain. The inventor glared at the wizard from behind his glasses, but before he could say something more, Cory sent another thought. A small trickle of blood escaped from Sheldon's nose. He wasn't used to having his mind invaded.
"I'm sorry," Cory breathed, "But you had to be made to see..."
Sheldon wiped the fluid from his face and stared at it. Removing his glasses, he pointed them at himself for a moment before placing them back on his face and examining the readout.
"I need to go back to the base, now," he said calmly, "Unless this place has at least a moderate medical facility. And no, I don't mean Aquarius. I'm not setting foot in that deathtrap of a city until I'm reasonably skilled enough to do so."
He turned to Archlich and Essex and bowed his head slightly.
"I apologize. I meant no offense... Except for the zombie wizard crack, but I apologize for that, as well. The things I said, I said through my own research, with my own limited view of the world. Please accept my apology, for it is the one thing I have to mend a hurtful conversation."
Cory sighed with approval. Things may turn out better now. He turned to the other two in the conversation and clapped his hands in a friendly manner.
"Your little friend here may have a soul as well, Archlich, but I do not doubt that Ryat66 and Ryat99, as well as the myriad of their peers, have theirs as well. Each android in the series is unique in their own personal way. Such quirks are not the product of a random personality generator, but of how each individual android views the world. If such idiosyncrasies are not indicative of a soul, albeit one of silicon and gold, I do not know what is. If they truly lacked such an identifying mark, then they'd simply be, and would have no capability of protecting others or even risking their own lives for a common cause, as young Ryat66 did just a short while ago."
"I did what now?" the android rubbed the top of his head a little, "I don't remember being in any real danger..."
"You were cut off from the computer," Sheldon remarked as he worked at a quick remedy for his hemorrhage (tissue paper), "The USB cable that attached to you was burned to nothing."
"That explains the error message I got after the failed forced logoff," Ryat66 warbled thoughtfully, "Wow... They had to burn the USB cable to continue... What the heck to you put into those jacks, boss? Hooks?"
"Sometimes..."
Ryat66 shook his head.
"That made a simple situation difficult," the android sounded as if he was sighing, "Boss... You need a girlfriend. And not one you built!"
Simmons chuckled at that. Matt McGinty was chortling from the Portal Corp sign. Sheldon didn't seem to react, he just absorbed himself in his efforts at stopping the blood from flowing from his nose.
----------
--Jade Moon--
"It is beautiful," Randall rumbled back to Cher'Tak, "And I'm sorry for your loss... And don't worry about what i can and can't breathe..."
He popped his knuckles and cleared his throat.
"I've been through enough poison gas to know that whatever this stuff is..." he gestured to his rock armor, "It's protectin' me from those inhalants..."
Hm. I coulda' said worse...
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
The four man team quickly took in their surroundings. Almost immediately they activated their cloaking technology. After a few seconds pause they set off, each of them at as fast a pace as their legs could carry them. They darted down the hallways.
They silently transmitted messages back and forth to each other. "How do we know we're on the Rikti homeworld?"
"Our boss's intel is good. However, there's something wrong." The team passed the former battlegrounds throughout the facliity. "In fact, I think the task force ran into a welcoming party."
HK 48 had previously remained silent. He had waited until he had collected all the necessary data to make a decision.
"We are not on the Rikti Homeworld."
"Then where are we?" Jack asked in reply.
"Their moon."
"So how do we get to the homeworld?"
"Let's ask the Rikti." 48 replied.
From here his thermal sensors could pick up the distinct forms of the task force.
"I agree with that guy." Jake said, gesturing in Grey's direction. "We gotta get down there a-sap. We're not gonna complete the objective sitting up here."
Jake folded his arms and looked upon the rest of the task force, awaiting a comment.
"Um, ma'am..." a passing Longbow agent turned her attention to Essex, having overheard the conversation, "You are at Portal Corporation. Would you like me to get one of the techs here to have a look at you...?"
--------------------
Acid remained silent at Cher'tak's paraphrase, taking his time to carefully listen to every word. The Lineage of Science still held a major amount of power in this world, even though the Lineage of War had currently assumed true leadership.
Still, without the support of this body, Hro'Dtohz and his forces didn't have much influence here at all. If Nemesis swayed the Rikti populace in favor of his agenda, things could get very bad for humanity indeed. Worse yet, such a distraction would likely allow the Prussian to seriously move up his timetable.
"I seriously doubt you'll need to worry about breathing whatever's floating around in the high atmosphere." the reptilian took a moment to point out, a finger wandering about the planet's faraway image, "Those are high-altitude clouds. The ground's got air just like your planet. Well, maybe a little different."
"He is correct." Sah'Teece confirmed, "Our atmospheres are very alike near the surface. The discoloration of the high atmosphere is merely an after-effect of a recent magnetic field trough. And by 'recent', I mean a few centuries ago. The scars you see, however, are very inhospitable. Your word 'wastelands' describes them very effectively."
"You mean to tell me Nemmy did all that with his automaton attacks?" Acid questioned disbelievingly, seeing devastation on a planetary scale, "I might be naive there, but..."
"No, you misunderstand." the former athlete interrupted, adding hand gestures to explain himself better, "These scars are of war, yes - but their true causes lie far in the past. There existed a few archeological sites before the Human War, but ever since Nemesis' counterfeit heroes attacked, they have sat barren. Thus far, all we know of this ancient war is that it resulted in what you see. Nothing more."
"This is all very fascinating," the Lady Grey remarked, "but We nevertheless recommend we find some way down there. Sir Zero, is your ship capable of ferrying us all?"
"Negative." the Khelari gave answer through closed teeth, his clawed hands performing a helpless shrug, "Even if I could move it right now, it's only a two-seater. We'll need more. There's gotta be some Rikti ships around here somewhere, right? I mean, I didn't scan any, but that probably just means they're powered down."
"Logic would suggest so." the head of Vanguard replied, turning to the Warmaster, "Any ideas on such a location...?"
--------------------
The HVAS units belonging to Gaussian's Sword division remained motionless as the quartet entered through the portal. Standing to either side of the transport terminal, the duo of machines had their orders - as did the ones standing here and there in the main chamber. Assaulting security-cleared individuals was certainly not one of them.
Vanguard's personnel could have cared less about the four cloaked runners. The HVAS units weren't shooting them, so it stood to reason they were just another gaggle of heroes or villains who'd joined the expedition. Now that the portal functioned both ways again, traffic through would increase; this was only natural...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Ineffable faded into view at the mention of transport.
"If you can tell me what direction I should look in, I can instantly transport us there. I could just transport us down to the planet using the same method, but that is probably not advisable."
--Jade Moon--
"As much as that helps us," Randall grunted to Ineffable, "I'm certain we'll still need the support of the Vanguard troops. We're going into unfriendly territory, broken as it may be, and there ain't a one of them down there that would call us friend right now."
He gestured to the Rikti in their group.
"Them? Maybe someone down there."
Randall pulled his flask from his pocket and took a swig. It was a somewhat long swig. When he was finished, he looked at it, shook it a little, then corked the container and replaced it in his pocket. Stretching, something he did rarely, but found a need for it every so often, he turned his attention to Lk'Onik and Cher'tak.
"Well... You guys are the experts. Tell us where to go, and we'll help make sure all barricades are out of the way."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
If only the HVAS suits could detect the quartet.
They weren't just blending into the background or making themselves unregisterable on thermal sensors, they were quite simply 100% undetectable .
The team monitored the task force with mixed hope and disappointment.
They now regrouped, huddling out of the way of the task force.
"Suggestions?"
"Beat them to the ships."
"Bad idea."
"And just why the hell is that?"
"They'll know we took the ships. They'll think a Rikti or Nemesis spy did it. We can't be raising suspicions just yet."
"Suggestion: Perhaps we could sabotage the other ships."
"No, HK, they'd still find some way over to the homeworld. And without some form of clearance the Rikti on the planet would shoot us down just as they would the heroes."
"Query: Just how did you plan on getting us there then meatbag?"
"My guess, there's a portal of some sort here on the base. Just in case there isn't, I want Scarab to go down to the hangar and try to delay the heroes. Try to stay non-lethal for now." Hammerhead cautioned, his invisible hand waving in front of the assasin. Scarab nodded and then took off down the hallway, narrowly avoiding one of Toy Dispensor's machinations.
"48, try to link up with the computer database here."
"Answer: Yes master."
"And don't you ever call me meatbag again or I'll turn you into scrap."
"Reply: You humans and your cliche replies are so boring."
During Sheldon's explanation Archlich had stood as still as a statue with his arms crossed and cape lightly stirring in an unfelt breeze. The only outward indication of his annoyance gradually turning into anger at this mortal's idiocy was of his eyes glowing steadily brighter and more intense. But it appeared that the inventor's apology had its effect, as Archlich's eyes dimmed slightly and the lich offered him a slight nod before focusing on what Cory was saying.
"Simple artificial sentience, however unexpected it might be, does not automatically confer a soul upon the construct," Archlich replied after Cory had finished speaking. "It is instead the foundation that a true soul can be built. A construct is inherently 'born' without a soul and only by consistently acting above and beyond the limits of its programming can it begin to gain one. And even this takes time, you see."
Archlich paused for a moment and then continued with a note of irritation in his voice. "But of course I have had little conclusive proof of all that. This construct here and Toy Dispenser are the only bases I have for my hypothesis and I have yet to find another such suitable construct to examine and study the growth of. Perhaps these 'Ryat' constructs already have souls. Perhaps not. I would require an artifact not currently in my possession to observe that."
******************************************
Cher'tak tilted his head back in thought as he fished back through his memories to see if he could remember how a standard research base was set up. Unforetunately, he had no clue and could only rely upon his general knowledge of Rikti space stations, which was lacking even there. Before he spoke to Lady Grey, he made sure to send a mental query to Sah'Teece and Lk'Onik asking for their advice on the matter.
"Best approximation: Indicated direction," Cher'tak said as he pointed in the direction the team had found Acid in. "Portal technology: Mainly replaced: Inter-system: Transport. Docking bay: Located: Older section: Research base."
"And around and around and around we go," Solid muttered as he slung his rifle and started walking around to the rear of the group.
"The next question would be if there are even any ships in the docking bay," Toy said. "We'll have to assume there are, though, because otherwise we'll have to try the portal again."
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
--Portal Corp Courtyard--
"In my own defense, like to think I have a soul," Ryat66 warbled, then he rubbed his lower torso (the area where most humans have a belly), "It kinda makes me feel fuzzy inside..."
"Well that's not a good sign..." a deep voice said from behind Ryat66.
When the android turned to see where it had come from, a massive android that was similar in appearance to Ryat66 stood there, Ryat99. He was muddy and spots of his plating were scorched, but he seemed otherwise fine.
"Feeling fuzzy, little brother," the big android sounded almost morose, "Sounds like something you should get checked out."
The big robot turned to the rest of the group. He seemed to take special interest in Sheldon and Matt, finally settling on his inventor.
"Howdy, boss. I thought you said we weren't supposed to be helping Matt tonight."
"Too late," Sheldon waved to Ryat66.
"I should have figured. You and Fifty-two have been little pains in the butt about those sorts of things."
"I only had to hook up into a computer..." Ryat66 said sheepishly.
"Well... In any case, I gotta report to Ms. Macintyre. The whole operation was a bust, and we lost a couple brothers. Sixty-Four and Thirty-two. They're in the base as we speak, getting put back together by Ten and Twenty-four. We need to up our ethereal defenses, boss. Turned out it was another blasted world, and the ghosts dropped by to tell us we weren't wanted. Not in so many words, mind you, but in necromantic energy blasts. No idea what hero or heroine they were yelling about... It didn't matter. We can't set an outpost on a world of ghosts yet. Not without more mystical support."
"So..." Ryat66 tapped his larger brother on the hip, "What are you doing here?"
"I saw the group," Ryat99 shrugged, "People I recognized, and what looked to be an altercation. What is this? The line to Reno? What's everybody so uptight about?"
"Boss did a good job of insulting some of the people here..."
"Oh. Yeah, he does that sometimes."
"I'm," Sheldon waved his hand in the air with his palm hovering near his face, "I'm right here, guys."
"I know," Ryat99 replied, "Never said you weren't, boss."
----------
--Jade Moon--
"We'll do what we gotta do," Randall grunted, "So, I guess the Vanguard troops are already dealing with the portal. Right? We should get to the ship bay and see if we can fire one up. If that doesn't work, the portals are right here and there's gotta be something we can do, now that we've handled most of the problems, and this facility is designed for research and such like that. There's gotta be something here we can use to fix them."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Essex couldn't help but giggle. Sheldon's apology had seemed unnecessary to her; the little android usually assumed herself in the wrong when it came to matters of life and rarely allowed herself to get indignant over disagreements. Nevertheless, it had proved a delightful surprise to her.
When the Portal Corp tech overheard her, she shook her head quickly and smiled apologetically.
"Ah, no, but thank you." she said, ducking her head. "I'm sure it's only a little temporary memory short - and I remember everything important anyway. I was probably meant to head out to help, as sir Archlich mentioned."
Turning her attention back to the group, she was surprised by the arrival of another Ryat unit.
"Sir Ryat, you have a large family, don't you..." she giggled quietly, watching the two androids interact shyly.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Scarab darted down the corriodr. Now that his assumption had been proven true he knew exactly where to find the hangar.
He skidded to a stop at the end of a long corridor. No which way did he have to go?
------------------------
The others heard the team mention the portals as they split up.
"Plan B." Hammerhead muttered, quickly leading the team forward. "48, head back to the main portal, deal with any reinforcements. Ghost, you're with me."
Hammerhead and Ghost reappeared right in front of the Task Force.
They kept their hands down in a non-threatening position. Ghost had his rifle still slung over his shoulder, and despite the pistol resting against his thigh, stood little chance in a fight against these heroes right now.
"Are you the Task Force? My name's Ghost, and this is my associate Hammerhead. We're heroes, and we'd like to help."
Ineffable raised an eyebrow at Ghost and Hammerhead at their appearance.
"There's no need to lie to us. In case Vanguard's presence hasn't tipped you off by now, both Heroes and Rogues are welcome."
--Portal Corp Courtyard--
"One hundred members, strong, and one Black Sheep," Ryat99 rumbled to Essex, "Ryat Eighty-four is out there somewhere, building his dumb [censored] a small... Oh, you've already been told about that."
He tapped the antenna on the side of his head.
"Constant updates. Don't worry, I've got the totality of the conversation you had prior to this moment in my head, little one. Essex... Interesting name."
He turned to Sheldon.
"You know, for a guy that tries his damnedest to be stoic, you sure do dig a verbal hole for yourself when you're frustrated," the big android rumbled a deep chuckle, "Soul... An interesting topic to focus on for a machine. I never really saw the need for one, myself. I already can transcend my 'mortal coil' as it were, and come back to it. Still..."
He looked to Essex, kinking his head left and right as he gazed into her eyes.
"Huh. Nifty. Definitely a certain glimmer I see there that isn't in the average automaton. Can't say I've got the same, since I don't have a face..."
Wallace sighed.
"When do I get a face, boss?"
"You don't," the inventor said flatly.
"You realize we're going to plague you with this question from here on out, right?"
Sheldon's face scrunched into a grimace of rage.
"I'm counting on it!" he shouted.
His rage sounded oddly sarcastic, however. Cory started chuckling into his hand.
"Well, I gotta go report," Ryat99 declared, "then, I'm headed back to base for repairs. Later, all. You have a good one, Ess."
He started walking away. The android didn't go far away, just to Tina Macintyre, like he said. As he delivered his report, the professor frowned and started jotting notes into her notepad as she nodded sadly.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Jake gazed at the two a moment, taking the time to scan their faces and, once that was done, completely and totally disregard them. What Jake had pulled up on them was essentially nothing. Not any record of crime, nor any record of employment in Arachnos. Jake had assumed the obvious, and disregarded them with a yawn and a wave of his hand.
"Whatever." He said, not concealing his disinterest. "Can we please get to the planet now? I'm getting impatient."
"Aaah!" Essex squeaked, ducking her head quickly in an expression of respect and repeating the motion profusely.
"I'm sorry, sir Archlich! I didn't see you there, and I would have...I certainly...Ah..."
The android fumbled with her words despondantly, fidgeting.
"...Sir Toy is right, I've got clearance to operate in Peregrine Island....City Hall is utilizing me as a neutral negotiatior with the Malta Group."
Swallowing nervously, she turned her gaze up to Archlich, tilting her head. "But what you were just saying....You're not going to be...destroyed, are you? I won't let that happen!"
With that, she slid somewhat in the middle of the group, plaintively putting her hands out towards Cory.
"I'm sorry for not properly introducing myself." she said, hesitantly. "I am the prototype of the West-series replicated humanoids. My serial number is S6...But please, call me 'Essex.' I'm afraid this person is a friend of mine, and I'm asking...please, don't start any hostilities..."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace