I smile, and chuckle a bit "An agent of order. That is the most cliche'd answer you could have come up with. We are far from agents of order, we have been known to start a revolution or two. There was a notable time approximately a couple of centuries ago when we had a minor civil war in the ranks. one side supported monarchs for the future, the other republics. The side of the republics decided to prove their point by starting an experiment, the opposition thought it too dangerous and wished to stop the experiment from beginning." I sip my coffee. "Agent Cornwallis was almost successfull in stopping the experiment, but Agent Washington was able to get support from the french groups, and the rest is history." I take another sip of coffee.
"My motives are the preservation, or reality. It's pretty self explanatory why that is important. We have gotten quite adept at it too over the past millennium, though we've never had to act this drastically. God is quite strained at this point, but repairs are already underway. You haven't noticed alot of the problems with the world, because as far as everyone knows they were always there. For example. can you tell me when the species of anthro pairie dogs came into being, or the wolves and mole men? The mole men are a prime example. They exist and don't exist at the same time, and yet no-one bats an eye at this paradox. Some of them have solidified by now, but many of them are still in quantum superposition. I doubt you can help fix the problem. If you could, you would know what it was. what was causing it. though perhaps after you learn you could do something." I drink from my coffee some more "also I believe the answer at this point to be the Higgs Boson; AKA the god particle. I have a question for you. Who are you, and how did you gain your 'powers'?"
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Random Nonsense
King of the mountain/hill/mound/bump
(ooc; I just had an Idea. I've already got a bunch of background planned for the world, everyone involved seems to have enthusiasm for this world. when/if this game ends we can start a forum based role playing game based in the world. I have some GMing experience. just tell me in parentheses what you think of the idea.)
"You misunderstand. Being agents of order does not preclude starting revolutions, so long as you and your group still… keep things in hand. Preservation is Order, and Stagnation. Your group tries to adapt, but you still run things. As far as cliches go… well yes, you would be surprised how much comes down to cliches sometimes."
The teacup disappears.
"Why do you do this? Why not let reality collapse? Some would say that if it cannot stand on its own then it should not stand at all. Do you have an active adversary? Another sentient attempting to undo your… ahem… the universe? Or do you simply act to preserve? Stop the wear of natural processes? Either way, still an agent of order."
"You also decide what form of government people have. Why not let them choose? What makes you so right, so important, that you get to decide? Whence comes your authority? Do you receive it or take it?"
"Who are you? What do you want? And Why? Are all the same question in the end. Why you do things determines who you are and what you want, and the same for the others."
"The answer to the riddle is a natural phenomenon that people see from time to time. It has been attributed to (certain) gods, simply because of it's power and majesty. So it is not a Higgs Boson."
"Who am I? I've told you what, well, to a degree, what I am. Who I am is an entirely different matter. I am a person who believes in choice."
"As for my powers… powers… not so simple. Everything I have done so far has been done with the aid of a kind of technology. I am, very purposely, not using my 'powers' because that would completely undermine my purpose for being here. Well, at the moment. I can do what I can do because, simply, one day I realized that I could."
I smile. "Oh, alright. I'll tell you anyway. My reasons for being here are far more interesting than my own person. Particularly for you. My first objective in coming here was to determine if this reality, or world rather,… oh, what is the proper word? Desires. That would be correct. Desires my, uh, guarantee. Or protection if you will. Not protection from itself, I'll leave that up to you, but… There are outside threats, mainly my opposite. I prefer individual choice, he prefers control. I prefer… freedom of choice and slavery of responsibility. He prefers freedom from choice and slavery of will."
"My second objective? I am looking for somebody's creature, with the goal of putting it down. But that is a personal matter that, so far, shouldn't involve you. And hopefully will not. But if it does show up… well, you are having trouble maintaining reality as is. With that thing running around it would cause some further problems."
"As for me helping you, tell me what the problem is. I'm not omniscient."
(Interesting idea. I have always loved backstory! I would be willing to give it a shot, but I do not know how much time I have on my hands. And while I'm at it, Hark, the uh, whole religious holy war thing? I should have figured you have some KITW in you!)
I pull a gun from the white, and place it on the table.
"shoot yourself. fatally." I look you in the eyes "You won't do it. your too fond of being alive. We, and everyone in the world is fond of not just being alive, but of existing. asking why keeping reality from collapsing is important is like asking why you must breathe."
"We don't force our will. the few revolutions we did start were likely to occur anyway, we just made them happen sooner, and may have helped with their success. We don't do this for power. We don't run things like a shadow government. We don't dislike people having choice. We just dislike not existing."
"Throughout history you would be amazed how often civilization could have ended. At least at three different points the world could have been wiped out by plague. At one point everything could have been set back to bronze age at best due to the mongol hoards. And of course there was every single day of the cold war. We Helped stop all of those. Most realities aren't so lucky, especially with the cold war. Our world is in a small group that encompasses only 7% of 32% of the original total. All of the other surviving worlds have a group like ours. If your looking for agents of order, then look to 137, the group there is still stuck in the medieval ages, with a strict global totalitarian regime."
"When I get to the rather large answer, I believe you will have some more insight on your powers. You want to protect the world from an outside threat? I swear to you it is not as outside as you think. Almost all threats we face are internal. The current predicament originated from the outside, there's not much you can do about the weather. And weather is the only threat from the outside we've faced, just never this bad."
"Now, on to a very important matter. This creature you mention, and your "opposite". the fact that such a creature that can cause such problems exists without our knowledge is very troubling. We will require more information on this creature. origins, properties, abilities, where it might be that sort of thing. If it is as you say something we should leave to you, then we will, but we would rather know just the same. If it is deemed necessary, we may lend you aid in that quest. also, we need information on this opposite. It is likely both the creature and this opposite were birthed by the outbreak of anomalies. Doppelgangers have been reported. We had to take out an opposite of Prime Minister Putin. He was a fanatical anarchist, with codes to Russia's nuclear arsenal."
I sip my coffee.
"If you are not going to use that gun, please toss it to the side"
(my new goal is for this game to go over 111 posts, that way we'll have the largest topic on the forum, currently "Golta" has the most. We already have the most on Random nonsense.)
"I am fond of being alive? Yes. But at the same time it hardly matters." I leave the gun on the table. "It would not actually hurt me, unless I really willed it… and even then the situation would not be… permantent. Just terribly, terribly uncomfortable. And that would give me away."
"You do not force your will? You forced your will on the Mongols, did you not? What of the cold war, how did you act there? You must have been subverting choice at each of these opportunities. But I think I understand. You work for survival. You are more desperate than dictatorial. Good. You do have your own ideals though, which you attempt to channel into others. Progress? Back to the Bronze Age? Why not go back to the Bronze age? Think about it. Why not allow the cold war to escalate? Perhaps the survivors of the world would learn something, like responsibility for their actions!"
"But we all have our own choices to make, I suppose. I do intervene from time to time, so I think I can understand that. It would be hypocritical of me to give choices to others, but leave none for myself."
"But beware calling it Civilization. The plural form is recommended."
"This threat is from outside. My opposite is… not your concern now. My decision has been made. Perhaps I can negotiate with him. I am sure he will find 137 to his liking." I grin. "Little would change there, probably. And no, my opposite was not birthed by the anomalies. Though perhaps the creature got here through them… I don't know. And my opposite is not a simple doppelganger, doesn't look a thing like me. I call him my opposite because our philosophies are completely opposing.
"The creature is an entirely different matter. Let me explain… There are four of us, three you need to be concerned about. One is myself, one my opposite, the other is… is… insanity. I am for choice. The third one is for nothing other then it's own gratification. A veritable monster, but with incredible power and will, and vanity to match. It is the worst of us. Thankfully, this is one of the few things my opposite and I agree on. We have it nice and locked away, far beyond your reach. Unfortunately, we are not entirely beyond its. Now and again it spawns these things… They act partially on their own, like hunting hounds, but it also controls them. It is paradoxical. It can also feel what they feel, if it desires. I do not know what this one will look like, as each is different, but they usually share a certain similarity. A kind of wail they unleash, before or after attacking. They are also extremely difficult to find if they wish to not be found."
I smile. "But I know one is here. Somewhere. And I will find it." I pick up the gun, crush it in my hand and discard the pieces. "If you do come across it though, do not attempt to engage it with ranged weaponry. If you must fight it, attempt to hit the more fleshy bits and avoid the armour. And beware, it has more ways to attack you than it appears. And none of these fancy tricks like white space, stasis, etc, will effect it. If it decides to kill you it will chase you until you are dead or something else piques its interest. Ironically it is best if it does not change target, well, if you care for your fellow sentients. The good news is that if you do see it then it is pretty obvious what it is. Boot boy and his ilk have no sense of subtlety."
"But we need to focus on one problem at a time. The riddle. You have answered plenty of questions as is, and already, technically, three riddles. I know what I wished to know. And, well, would you like to know the answer to the last riddle I asked? Or wish to keep on guessing? We have all the time in the… world."
There is a beeping sound.
"Oh, one minute." I pause and tap the walking stick I am carrying. "Calthorne? Is that you boy? Where is… yes… fair enough. Tell her to tell Zerus my response… what do you mean?… oh, right, yes… silly of me. My response is he can go stuff it, but that there is another place his master can have… yes, without my resistance… nothing special at all… they have it coming… yes… that one… no, I shouldn't need any help… very well."
I look back at you. "Sorry about that. They were demanding an answer."
(It's here, the big reveal!)
I put a finger to my ear piece, and nod in unknown agreement nod
"I mean no offense when I tell you you are deluded. But maybe all will become clear when I explain the severity of the matters… fully. Your opposite will not be able to find simulation 137 to his liking, because he can't get there. to get there you would have walk across thousands of miles of land, and travel across an ocean. all of which is impossible to do with out a body. Come I will show you."
I stand up and the table disappears with the chairs, I assume you have good reflexes and refrain from falling. A screen appears in the air. on the screen is the ruins of a compound, and an endless wasteland.
"That is the real world". The screen changes to an interior shot, that is dimly lit. Shapes move in the darkness. there humanoid in shape, but are obviously metallic. "Those are maintenance droids, there busy cleaning up all the dust that got in after the storm. Usually in the event of a storm the facility seals itself shut, but a motor burned out and a vent was left open, and got in the systems. much of the damage has been repaired, so there are far less anomalies to deal with then there were a week ago." the screen changes again and it is obviously a view of earth from space. The earth's oceans remain blue, but the land has no signs of greenery, it is mostly grays, whites, and browns. "Do you still think letting the cold war end differently is a good idea? There are no survivors on earth, the closest thing to survivors are us, and the 21 other simulations remaining from the original 1000. We are simulation 013."
the screen turns to static.
"I will give you the short version of the history of the simulations. At the height of the cold war, the real one, the international community conceived a plan to learn the probable outcome of the rivalry between east, and west. 1000 simulations would be made of the world. the simulations would each start at the dawn of the human race. Important historical events, and times were made to occur, but other then that the simulation could differ from the real events. Once the simulations reached their cold wars, the world would watch with anxiety as simulations ended in nuclear war, and they would be tallied up against those that survived like a score for the hope of humanity. That was the plan anyway. around the time the simulations were in the medieval ages, the war began, and ended. that wasteland is what remained. the Survivors did learn something, but none are left alive on earth to make use of this new knowledge."
The screen shows image after image of destroyed towns, and failed attempts at resettlement. skeletons are seen laying about, some bent over in hunger pains, others in beds on stained sheets. some just laying about, or blown apart.
"in the war 68% of the simulation facilities were destroyed, or damaged beyond hope"
The screen begins showing similar facilities all in ruins with computer parts broken and strewn about.
"of those 320 left, at this point only 7% of them remain for a remaining total of 22. we are able to communicate with these other simulations, but because of how the simulations were set up to limit contamination, the links are analogue, and closed circuit there is no travel between simulations, it is a literal impossibility."
"In short. The world is a simulation to determine how likely it is the world will end. the simulation became superfluous when the likelihood became 100%. There are no real humans left on earth."
the screen goes to static.
"Now for the history of 013. after the war, the scientists, and programmers left alive, safely in the facility got in contact with the rest of the surviving facilities. In this congress a plan was formed. They knew they would die soon enough, so they worked towards preserving something of humanity. They contacted some of the residents of the simulations, and told them what was going on. it took awhile obviously, since the residents had never heard of guns, let alone nuclear war. after the explanation was done organizations were formed in every simulation. in ours it is the Knights Templar. Every group formed it's own idea of what to do and how to preserve themselves. 137 Decided to solidify it's world, and make it as eternal as stone, but just as stagnant, and immobile. We had a different plan. We decided that survival was not enough, we needed to live. It may not be as stable this way, but we thrive this way. progress is all we have left beside survival."
the screen shows video of pilgrims traveling guarded by knights.
"Originally our plan was to promote religion, by ensuring safe passage for pilgrims. We promoted trade this way, and the intermixing of cultures. It was good for awhile, We expanded, and recruited people who were not ware of the world's nature to fill the lower ranks. Unfortunately these new recruits were corrupt, and wanted money. We saw the problem too late, and the crusades began."
The screen shows the slaughter of Jerusalem.
"We continued to promote religion, as it is a grand thing when not corrupted by greed, and hate. We focused our efforts to quelling anomalies that came up due to damage sustained in the war. That is where tales of knights fighting dragon's and various other mythical creatures come from. We would step in when needed. We saved the world from from being wiped out by the plague by promoting study of it, and the development of quarantine procedures. We stopped the mongol hoard from it's endless laughter, though we were too late to stop them from decimating the Arabic world. We save civilization, and don't split hairs about plurals, and the thanks we get is accusations of forcing our will on others. I hope you begin to realize how unfair you've been. there's a lot of other history, but I'll fast forward to our cold war. How did we stop it?"
The screen shows a series of peace talks.
"We promoted diplomacy, and communication." You notice me glare and shake my head at you for a moment.
The screen switches to showing views of an earth not ravaged by nuclear war.
"your definition of subverting choice is incredibly loose. According to you simply influencing someone in some way subverted their choice. And somehow it is automatically wrong. consider this. What would have happened if the allies never subverted the choices of Hitler. Sorry to invoke Godwin's law, but there's a reason Hitler get's referred to so much. We could have let chance decide how the cold war ended, but that would be the same as playing Russian roulette, a game you only play if you want to die. We're part of this world too, and to not act would be the same as too commit the crime ourselves."
The screen goes to static
"It sounds like if you were in charge then there would likely be one less simulation left. Good thing your not in charge or you could have 6 billion lives on your conscience. Also, the one you mentioned you had locked away, insanity, thanks for answering a question we've been trying to figure out. You may not have realized it, but you put it in the quarantine of the anti-virus program. We've been trying to figure out what it was, and how it got there. This also explains why it's been shouting your name over and over. It may not have been the recent anomalies that spawned you four, and your powers, but they are an anomaly of some sort, and we need to know more about that."
the screen disappears for now
"You must understand, there is no part of reality that is out of our reach, we just need the proper warrants for some places. For example, we're in heaven right now."
"Ah. That sneaky bastard."
I sigh.
"You know what the moral of the story here is? Watch where you're going or you might end up in a computer program. It also explains why I am having so much trouble finding that thing. Either you are right and I am entirely deluded, which is the preferred situation, or you are in a good deal of trouble."
I sit back, in mid air, and let out a breath.
"And the answer to that riddle was "Lightning", it lives less then a second, there were gods who used it specifically, like Zeus and Thor, and the Thunder that comes after it is loud and long."
I smile.
"I suppose me using that nuclear device was a little bit… well, of a low blow then, so to speak. Heh."
"Now, however, I understand. I have been unfair, but only to a degree. And your Hitler example is flawed. The choice to subvert choice is a choice. And a conflict is inevitable. You are nothing like my adversary, however. He has a much more permanent method of eliminating choice, it is impossible to choose against his will. You understand programming, obviously, he reprograms people. Then again, I may be being delusional, right? Oh, that would be so very relieving!"
I frown. "But if I am not… my very presence here could be contributing to your problems. If I am not delusional, and I stay… more problems may persist, though for now my arrival has been controlled, especially with me here. If I am not delusional and I leave then that thing is left here to do as it pleases, which is even worse. If I am delusional, and I am imagining this… then the creature does not exist. Or it only exists because I have changed the system."
Your Anthropomorphic Prairie Dogs are dying, but one makes it back to the surface. It is heavily wounded and barely conscious.
I tap the top of my cane again. "Calthorne, are you there?… I fear I may either be insane or I may have overshot a tiny bit… Not funny… Not at all. I have one order. Retract and watch. If that thing appears, bring in the troops and kill it. Kill it good. I wanted to have this one, but I fear it isn't going to happen… Off."
I look at you. "I have one final riddle for you. I intended a different one, but the way things are going this is better."
"Hear me you may cry,
See me you may die,
Many say they search for me,
Most of them never see,
Others wish me ever unseen,
I am all that has ever been."
"I suggest you monitor the surface of the real planet for a time. Just in case I am not delusional."
I stand up and pull a long thin sword from the cane. "This is a weapon of elimination. If I can be killed, this will do it. I mean that, if I am some kind of computer program, I will not be ending up in this heaven of yours, or any other one. I will entirely cease to be. And so will this sword… and that thing running around down there. Then again, it will be almost impossible for you to tell if I was right or you were." I smile. "How much do I truly love life Mr. Tiberius?"
I turn the sword on myself and it slides easily through the heart. I grimace. "Oh, I hate this part." I completely disappear, along with the sword and any evidence of me. Instantly.
I blink for a few moments.
"What an odd day I'm having. I'll have to give that riddle some thought, but now…" I go back to the bridge of my ship."
"report."
"the anomalous area has been relocated. We've been hearing garbled chatter, and mixed reports from the tunnels. one of the diggers has resurfaced."
"good. Get that digger medical care, but make sure he can answer questions. Also, call outwatch and tell them to watch for anything strange on the surface. it's probably nothing but the delusions of a super powered mad man, but there was confirmed truth in some of his stories, so let's be sure. I'm assuming there already looking into the thing in quarantine more deeply after that dialogue?
"yes sir. I was told to inform you that it is now laughing nonstop."
"That's troubling."
with that I go to question the digger.
(I was trying to not make the riddle too complex. I have worse ones. If you think something is obvious here, it is worth a guess).
You are going to question the digger. Here is the story it relates to you.
"At first we… weren't sure what had gotten the other group that went down. But as soon as we were unable to contact the surface… something started… singing over the radio. It was… it was… well… I still remember."
"Cold be hand and heart and bone,
and cold be sleep under stone:
never more to wake on stony bed,
never, til the Sun fails and the Moon is dead.
In the black wind the stars shall die,
and still on gold here let them lie,
till the dark lord lifts his hand
over dead sea and withered land." (JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring)
"Over and over again. We wanted to shut the radios off, but we didn't at first. We had to keep going down, and other than the singing there was no evidence of anything having been there. We finally shut the radios off, but the singing continued. At first we thought that the creature must be nearby, but sound was still coming through the radios. We smashed the radio sets and tried to leave the sound behind, but it kept coming."
The digger covers its ears. "Then one of us, I forget who, broke and ran." He sobs. "We heard an… a… it was like… a wail. It was long, loud, and… and… it stopped. And we didn't know what to do. Then we realized that the singing had stopped too. And… Then it started again, but the same line, over and over again."
"Can you run a little faster?"
"We thought that the gas had to have killed everything down there. We figured out we were wrong pretty quickly. But we refused to run. We found sold stone and hollowed out a defensive position, we tried to contact the surface, but something was preventing it. But… we seemed to anger it when we stopped running. We heard the wail and it came right at our defenses."
There are a couple minutes when it is not possible to get more out of the digger. Then it continues. "It was dark enough to make seeing it well difficult, but what I do remember is that there were these shimmering crimson holes all over its body. And things came out of them! I… It makes no sense. Believe me! Things came out of the holes! It was as if they were snakes without bone, only muscle… and… I… there was a different type of animal head at the end of each limb! And the whole thing, it was just massive."
The digger composes itself. "Fire didn't hurt it, bullets seemed to have no effect. And… and… we filled the room with gas and retreated. Then we made the place explode by igniting the gas. But we could still hear the wailing! And… when we tried to head for the surface it pursued. We turned to fight again, but our weapons were almost useless. The only thing that seemed to be more effective was getting in close and cutting at it with our close quarters short swords." (For tunnel fighting there is little better close combat weapon than a good Gladius or short sword. Easy to maneuver).
The digger shrugged. "I only say more effective because it seemed more cautious than when we had used our other weapons, I don't think we really hurt it. It just… tore us to pieces. We decided that someone had to get back to the surface. We all went off in different directions, thinking that it could not get us all. If I am the only one to come back then we were wrong."
It coughs up some blood, though its condition is stable. "It grabbed me, attacked me, but refused to kill me. It let me go. Why did it do that? I don't know. I do know that it continued to talk after it let me go. I could hear it. It said that my… my comrades… they were devoured by it… body and soul. And that they were its forever… and they would never see heaven. Even… even our heaven. It said that."
The digger starts crying. "It said it would come back for me, when it could. It is going to get me!"
(It did stop all the communication and transmission equipment… but not by jamming it… and this was more then death which stopped them from showing up in "Heaven" it was complete annihilation).
I order the digger to be taken care of. and go back to the bridge.
"Get me command". the communications officer does so. "I need to declare an emergency. We need as many available agents as can be spared." I relate the situation. "We need to face it in melee, so I suggest we get out the old Knight's equipment. a suit of armor, a shield, a longsword, a mace, a dirk, and a War Horse for each agent. It seems there is one more legend to be added to the tales of chivalry. We're going to need room to fight, and it does not want to leave the tunnels, and I suspect moving it by command won't work, So we need bigger tunnels. do we have the land's code isolated?" We do. "Good, I request you resize it bigger. This should make the tunnels relatively bigger compared to us and the monster."
the tunnels are resized
Agents begin to arrive with equipment. The equipment is almost the same as what was used by the original knights Templar, but with some updates. The plate mail is made with cubic zirconium plates, instead of an undershirt of chainmail, it's a shirt made of nanotubes (which many agents already wear.). The sword is titanium, reinforced with nanotubes, the mace is depleted uranium. The horse, is just a really well trained and bred horse.
I don my equipment, and prepare to lead the charge. one last thing. I put a finger to my ear piecce. "Permission to go superluminal speeds?" after a moment I turn to the gathered knights/agents "Breaking of the speed of light has been authorized."
all unessential ground personnel are evaced to the ships, and the ships pull back some. in all their are about 50 agents mounted, and ready.
I call one more time "any word from outwatch? anything strange occur? Canuoeva's story is getting more real then I'd like."
(about to have a physics breaking brawl.)
I am busy in my buker trying to get my mole people to convert to a more angry and extremist branch of Hark-ism.
I am also tryign to genetically manipulate them to make space marine mole people, but all they do so far is walk slowly while talking in boring voices and holding flags.
I cant help but think that this would be going better if I wwas more certain that my minions actually exist.
The following conversation is heard by those present around and including Tiberius:
"You have new orders Calthorne. Pull back, we are abandoning this world."
"What?"
"We are leaving these fools to their doom. Whether that thing kills them or Varamortian claims them, it doesn't matter to us anymore."
"We cannot do that!"
"Yes. We can and we are."
"Where does this come from, may I ask?"
"Her."
"Well, you tell her to sod off! I'm not going anywhere."
Silence for a moment. "You can't defeat that thing alone Calthorne. Come home." More silence. "Respond! Damn. I told you this would happen!"
And now… Tiberius, you have forgotten one thing. The creature is an extension of a being almost as powerful as Canuovea, which in turn allows it to do some things similar, except it doesn't need technology to do them.
As you enter the tunnels you realize that there is something terribly wrong. The creature is simply not there anymore.
The digger had been attempting to get some rest. It is awakened by a wail and something chanting… "can you run a little faster?" The digger only gets a scream out. The Medical staff are almost instantly slain. It then moves towards the bridge of your flagship, killing all in its path with a kind of backhanded ease.
You and your agents hear something in their minds. "Can you catch me? Can you not? Can you kill me? you cannot!" And it begins repeating.
Then it hits the command bridge and you get a transmission. "Sir! Its on the bridge! Our swords have some effect, but…" it breaks off for a moment then is reestablished… "It has some kind of thick exoskeleton that even our weapons cannot crack. But" there is a gurgling scream, "damn. There are softer parts… and…" the wail comes over the transmission… "it regenerates quickly, but it can be ki-" there is the sound of a sword snapping and the communication goes dead.
The voice continues in your head.
"When midnight mists are creeping,
And all the land is sleeping,
Around me tread the mighty dead,
And slowly pass away.
Lo, warriors, saints, and sages,
From out the vanished ages,
With solemn pace and reverend face
Appear and pass away.
The blaze of noonday splendour,
The twilight soft and tender,
May charm the eye: yet they shall die,
Shall die and pass away.
But here, in Dreamland's centre,
No spoiler's hand may enter,
These visions fair, this radiance rare,
Shall never pass away.
I see the shadows falling,
The forms of old recalling;
Around me tread the mighty dead,
And slowly pass away." (Lewis Carroll)
Then: "You will never see them again. They are mine now, all mine. Terror, fear and PAIN!"
I shake my head in frustration, then I get an idea.
"There's more ways to harm something when it is in a computer. Prepare to perform a second Philadelphia experiment. Let's try sending it to another world, and hope it turns out like last time." some of the agents chuckle.
"set up a link with simulation… 034, and prepare the audio conversion algorithms."
My eyes go wide, then I turn to the assembled group. "We just got transferred to a separate network. We are alone. The experiment may be our last chance. If it fails, we'll have to try to kill it manually. We're going to have to close to melee anyway, we need to locate it, and keep it occupied, so the experiment can begin. split into ten teams of five, and get ready to fight." I speak into the ear piece. "delete, fill, and reboot." The agents brace.
reality blinks out, and in. the flag ship is gone, all personnel within fall to the ground. most prepared for the impact with various devices to cushion the fall. The tunnels are also all gone. the reboot is rather uncomfortable for all.
to clarify the area of the hill has been put into a seperate system, completely quarantined, on an un-networked computer. It is now it's own mini simulation. all that is in this world is the crater, beyond that is literal nothinness.
after some thought I've determined why ranged weapons don't effect it. A projectile carries a large amount of kinetic energy, almost all of which is delivered at once. A melee weapon has kinetic force being fed into it in a constant stream even after contact. there's a glitch that causes the creature to only get hurt by energy delivered over time, a pressing force, not a striking one. I believe I have a solution to this problem.
The thing to remember is no matter how powerful you are, you are constrained by the rules of where you are. in this world you are computer code…
A defensive perimeter is formed on the surface. and we prepare to fight.
(note: these aren't regular forces, these are agents. they are not easy kills. in a toe to toe fight, one could probably hold out for some time against the beast. With 50 of them in groups of five, it's, not going to be like before with people getting slaughtered with ease. superluminal was not an exaggeration.)
(2nd note: I love Hark's newest post-
I cant help but think that this would be going better if I was more certain that my minions actually exist.)
(Interesting theory about the ranged weaponry. You will have to test it out!)
The creature is confused for a moment. But quickly recovers. And wherever you are, you hear it wail. It knows where you are and it is there. You are just unable to find it for a moment.
(I already said that it wouldn't be so easy to shake it's direction or position.)
(I never thought it would be easy. time for the most epic game of hide and go OH GOD IT'S RIGHT BEHIND ME!)
Luckily for me, I have admin powers. I summon crates of ammunition and guns. They get passed out. they're gyro jet guns.
If you don't know. Gyro jets were an interesting idea conceived in the late 60's and early 70's. Unlike regular guns that shot a projectile using an explosive charge, gyro jets fire what is basically a mini rocket. the bullet has propellant in the back, with exhaust ports angled to make it spin as it flies forward. They were quite effective, but had some problems. the main one i remember is that the ammunition was impractical to make, and that you could stop bullets by putting your finger in the barrel. these should do the trick, since at least at close quarters the jet should still be going strong at impact, so as to continue pushing it.
the regular troops are given sub-machine guns, and the agents get high caliber pistols to compliment there melee weapons, and armor. of course we have worked out all the kinks of the system, like reliability.
I say aloud "If your going to help us, who ever you are, now is the time."
(Wait… your giving out 40K Boltguns? Okay, only sorta…)
"He isn't listening, program." The voice that had been coming from the creature announces. "Canuovea's troops have pulled back. It is amazing how easy it is to manipulate those fools."
Evidently it is not aware of that conversation you managed to catch in your heard.
"And I would have thought you would know such weapons have no effect on my little creature here. Or, perhaps you fail to understand? Ranged weapons do not work because they have no will behind them…"
A bird's beak attached to a mass of rubbery scaled flesh shoots out of the ground and straight through the armour and gut of one of the agents. The agent turns and cuts the head from the limb. The limb shoots back into the ground, leaving the agent with a giant bird's beak sticking out of his gut.
"Where do you stand when the ground is your enemy? You cannot hope to defeat me." The creature cannot expect to get such a surprise attack in again, no matter how confident the voice sounds. "You are doomed, either to a slow death or a quick one, as I please."
You hear a voice in your head, it is the same voice that refused orders to leave the place to its fate. "Agent Tiberius? It doesn't know I'm here and it can't hear me. It thinks it has one more advantage than it really does. Taunt it, get it angry, then it will show its face. You may not be able to quite kill it, but if you defeat it or hurt it enough I can become involved. Its controller, by the way, hates cliches. Goad it. and when it does show, you may have some trouble ganging up on it. But it will attack you directly if you do this right. It should be too busy fending off your allies to bring its full might against you. Good luck."
(what's a bolt gun?)
I begin laughing, as do all the other agents. a medic tends to the agent's wounds.
"You are an idiot. you know that right? All it takes is some "will" behind the bullets? Thanks for solving that riddle for me." I snap my fingers in a very cliche way. "problem solved."
The bullets are now mentally linked to their owners, so their is just as much will behind them, as their is behind a sword.
(though there already was. you have to aim a bullet. you don't just fire mindlessly)
"the ground is my enemy? What part of SysAdmin, do you not get?" Another cliched snap, and underground gets incredibly deadly for the creature. specifically it's going to get stabbed, by me, a lot, if it doesn't go above ground. Unless it has a death wish, it comes up rapidly.
"Fire"
A hail storm of rocket propelled lead peppers it, most of them harmlessly hit the armor plates, but some hit the fleshy bits, though that doubtlessly won't kill it. more like flesh wounds probably.
"You are quite arrogant for someone with such a poor grasp of what they're dealing with. This is a computer. there are rules. right now, I make those rules, and me and my men, are exempt from the rules."
the creature is suddenly surrounded by 50 agents, but the 50 agents seem to still be where they were for a moment. this is what happens when you face a faster then light foe. The agents begin slashing, and dodging at the creature, inflicting grievous wounds, but not quite killing it.
I "accidentally" forget to keep the underground dangerous, thus "accidentally" letting it escape.
"Is that all you got?"
It doesn't try to escape. It too is moving fast. It has been wounded though.
You now have a better look at it. It is like half a large beetle. The head is a heavily armoured dog like thing, attached to a hunched body covered in thick armour. It has two large, in fact oversized arms, also covered in thick armour, and ending in wicked claws of the same material of its armour. But there are gaps in the armour, and underneath you catch glimpses of a pinkish flesh. The legs (there are lots of them) are as long as the body and made of more bonesless muscle and there are plenty of them, all helping to propel the thing forward in a snakelike manner. All over the body there are hundreds of red holes in the body that glow a dark crimson, including the face, which seems to have several smaller holes in the place of eyes, but the largest of the crimson holes was on the chest, and it had a diameter of a foot. It stands over fourteen feet tall and five in width.
The voice laughs. "Not so simple. Will is will is will. And they have to contend with mine."
One of the agents that was standing still suddenly isn't anymore. The creature caught it in its hands and completely crushes its chest before biting the head off. "It knows where you are, no matter how fast you run." Boneless limbs with a of different type of animal jaw attached to each one come pouring out of every one of the crimson holes, except those on the face.
An agent loses his shoulder to one of the jaws, it looks like a giraffes, and only just gets pulled away on time to avoid another hit. Your other agents start being far more careful.
And the damage that had been done to it is quickly re-knitting before your eyes.
"You cannot run from me."
(well you could do that, but as soon as you turn your back it will have you. It may not seem to be moving as fast as your agents, but it would spring the instant you tried to run.)
Meanwhile, the knight who took the bird's beak in the gut is shocked to find that the boneless limb is re-knitting and wrapping itself around his head and neck. Before he can do anything else the beak's mouth opens and cuts him in half. Now there are 48 of your agents.
You have to face it yourself Tiberius. You have a choice of targets in the front of it.
I still have lots of tricks up my sleeve.
"You still haven't grasp the nature of your battlefield." and with that I initiate a denial of service attack upon the creatures central mind. this has the effect of making it numb, as it's body parts can't access the mind, thus it can't feel them, and can't control them with any sort of agility (try walking when your leg is completely asleep. you might pull a muscle, and not feel it. I did). the insane guy also can't feel it.
with it severely slowed down the agents next to it attack, while still careful to not get hit by the limbs still flailing about, since it's numbed, not immobile. the rest are taking shots with their guns at the fleshy bits.
I take my sword and plunge it into the biggest hole, and cleave through to the side.
The area just around the creature feels incredibly busy, but there is no discernible reason why. the creature can't feel the vast majority of it's own body, but there is one thing it feels about it's entire being; a very uncomfortable tingling.
(God, I love knowing a lot about computers)
A large fox's head rolls out of the large hole in the chest.
The beast slows. Twitches. Gives a kind of bark. "Kill him! Kill him!" Instead the creature drops to hands and begins rolling in a playful manner. It barks happily again. "No! Stop! You are mine!" It lets a tongue out of its mouth and happily licks Tiberius in the face.
"No, you have elected the quick death." The creature disappears.
"Sir!" Someone yells, "Outwatch is reporting something strange."
You bring up the view of the outside of the facility. There, slowly making its way towards the vents, is the creature. It begins to re-knit its body
The voice returns. "Now, do you see? A quick death along with your entire system. I can slow it down I suppose, by just destroying your maintenance bots and vents…"
The voice chuckles. "I will admit, I doubt I will be putting the controller in such an obvious place next time… Ah, full control returned. Your little machines will have no chance."
The creature reaches a vent. And stops, straightens to its full height, and sniffs.
There is a flash of light and the creature tumbles backwards and lets out a wail.
Now Outwatch also picks up sound outside the facility
"Oh, did someone really think it would be that easy? Hello Caligula."
The creature rears up and hisses. "You? Which one are you? And don't call me that!"
A man in segmented plat armour appears thirty feet from the creature. "My name is Calthorne. I am Auxiliary to Praetorian Earatar. Prepare to die."
The voice, Caligula, gives a laugh. "An Auxiliary? Oh please. What hope have you?"
"Enough."
"NONE! You shape yourselves like humans, but you are not! Such foolishness."
"We were shaped as humans. We retain a love of our form. And you now, your gallivanting about ends here!"
"You are far to confident in your own abilities, little Auxiliary."
Calthorne pulls an open faced helmet out of mid air and puts it on. "Now, you will die."
The beast charges towards him, a large round shield appears on his left arm and a short sword appears in his hand and he begins running forward too. In the clash Calthorne gets a single thrust in at the creature's neck before he is smashed aside by the claws. Calthorne rolls to face the thing and it drives the claws of its right hand through his gut and severs his lower spine.
Calthorne doesn't make a sound.
Caligula laughs. "Now, you are doomed. And I intend to make it slo-"
Calthorne smiles. The beast topples over and disappears. This time for good.
Standing just behind the creature is another humanoid. The satin black armour on it flows seamlessly over the body. It is wearing a mask of purest white and ashen gray hair flows down its back. It looks almost like a monochrome painting. There is a blade extending from a device on the forearm of the thing's right arm.
Calthorne coughs but it ignores him. The voice from the humanoid is emotionless and business-like. "Zerus, we have been tricked. This world holds no more life, there is no reason he would desire it. Analysis suggests he was only after the creature. Acknowledged. Moving on to next planet." It disappears.
Calthorne heaves himself up with his hands. "And thats what you get." He turns towards the viewing screen. "Have you guessed the last riddle yet? Some of them never see… and I have made sure of it." He disappears as well.
"truth"
the hill has been reintegrated.
A council is formed to discuss the events. 23 worlds are represented. it's like a giant conference call.
.
I give a debriefing to the council on the events
the delegates debate theories of what was going on, what sort of threat might be. It can be summarized bluntly as "WTF was that?".
The rep of 013 takes the floor.
"It is our opinion that this threat requires more study. based on what was said we can conclude this is an interstellar group, as hard as it is to believed." he turns to another rep. the rep has short hair, pale skin, a gaunt face, and a very weak look. "did you catch anything with any of your sensors? where they came from, where they went?"
"our global observation network did register a couple of anomalies during the duration of the crisis. We also picked up similar anomalies with our deep space arrays. we're analyzing both now. We can confirm however that they match the anomalies associated with this group."
"How soon will the Enterprise and the Matrix be ready? and will they be armed?"
"we foresaw their need, and have rushed their completion, and arming. They'll be ready as soon as their crews arrive."
"excellent. I put forward a motion that we follow this unknown group, to learn more."
a vote is made, and it is almost unanimous.
"will simulation 016 be able to supply transport to the ships?"
"we can".
"The crew of the Matrix should be made up of agents from the simulations closest to 016, so that we do not have to wait long to get the crews to the ships."
the council agrees. The crews will consist of agents from 013, 016, and 137. there will be 50 from 016, and 25 each from 013, and 137.
the council ends.
the crews are stored in drives, and transported over land to cape Canaveral, near the 016 facility. from there they are launched to the moon…
(a few notes. When I said travel between worlds was impossible, I wasn't entirely honest. there is the method of storing someone on a drive, then traveling over land to another facility. there is theoretically another, faster method, but the last time it was tried was called the Philadelphia experiment, and it ended badly. wiki it to learn more. it involves people being fused to the hull of a ship. this method would be done by converting the target into an audio signal, and then transmitted by audio to another world. the problem is that with such complex and large code, there is alot of degrading, and corruption done by the conversion, and by the unstable method of transmission, since there isn't a wire connecting the worlds. the worlds talk by looking through a camera at a screen that shows another screen of another world. so the signal is sent through two microphones, and two speakers. results are horrifying.)
(another note. the ships are called the enterprise and the matrix for a reason. when the space shuttles were made, one was called the enterprise because of star trek's legacy, this ship is named for the same reason; the name enterprise has been on ships for ages, from sailing ships, to nuclear ships, to space ships, so it's only fitting it go on the first interstellar ship. The matrix is a bit different. The movie the matrix has gained incredible popularity with the various guardians of the simulations, for obvious reasons. this is also why in every simulation the matrix can be found in the pop culture of the regular populace. It's presentation is often different tho. in most it's still a movie, just different actors, and maybe some difference in story. In a few it's a famous novel. In 137, since their still in the dark age, it is an incredibly popular play about a world contained in the head of a sleeping man, built to contain the souls of people who's bodies are being used as slaves by the fair folk. since this story has such relevance to the actual world these agents all live in, it only seemed appropriate to name a ship after it.)
(I said earlier there was only 22 simulations left)
(I said there were no humans on earth)
Truth is the answer.
Elsewhere another group is meeting. All of them wearing armour similar to Calthorne's, though more ornate in most cases.
"We need to make a decision now. What do we do with the world?" A deep voiced male speaks.
"Claim it and move on." Another male, but with a lighter voice.
"Wait for instructions, he cannot be out of commission too long. A self inflicted death often allows for a relatively qui-" This female is cut off by another.
"I suggest we completely incinerate the planet."
"What?" the deep voiced man.
"Two reasons. Caligula's presence there was more than just in his creature, we need to remove it utterly. Second, I place full blame on the mortals there for the loss of our leader. I want them annihilated."
"Inconceivable." The other female replies. "He did it himself fully knowing he could simply have fled. There was a reason for it."
"There was also self doubt." The lighter voiced male. "But this is not an idea I can support with a full conscience."
"You are taking this too far Earatar." The deep voiced male. "There is no reason for us to take such a drastic step. Besides, given that one of your Auxiliaries ensured that Caligula's manifestation was destroyed and that he fooled the Karian into believing the world was devoid of life… it seems a waste."
"Three to one, Earatar." The lighter voiced male.
"Ve… What are the fools doing?"
"Earatar?" The first female asks, "what?"
"They are launching ships!"
"What!?" Exclaims the deep voiced male. "They can't be that stupid!"
"That will surely give them away to the Karian!" The lighter voiced male.
"Oh, you're the master of the obvious, Lucifer." Earatar sighs. "Prepare the troops for combat."
"Ground or space?"
"Space. They may not figure out those ships came from the planet for some time."
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