First Contact

Chapter 563: 4th & 10

TERRASOLMILINT HAS JOINED THE CHAT

TERRASOLMILINT HAS LEFT THE CHAT (IP OUT OF RANGE)

MANTID FREE WORLDS

Did anyone else see that?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Yeah, I saw it.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

AKLTAK SOARING WORLDS

That's bad, right?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS

No, that's actually good.

It's the first time we've seen any activity on that channel in over a year.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

That means that

TERRASOL HAS JOINED THE CHAT

TERRASOL HAS LEFT THE CHAT (TIME/DATE STAMP ERROR IP OUT OF RANGE HANDSHAKE TIMEOUT)

they're still alive in The Bag, right?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS

Yes.

Although most of us figured they were alive anyway.

It's pretty hard to kill a human.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

LANAKTALLAN FREE HERD

Sorry, did I miss something?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Lemur people broke reality, fell in hole.

Just tried to climb back out but fell back in.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

LANAKTALLAN FREE HERD

Oh. Good for them.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

What's got you so distracted lately?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

LANAKTALLAN FREE HERD

Terran Maintenance Attack Simulator just had the "Peace in Our Time" update and dropped a new DLC called "Atrekna Timecard Attack!" as well as the Dreams of Something More DLC just dropped for iCiv. Hunt of the Night Terran released yesterday next to Modern Warfare Apocalypse.

Electronic Grazing Field Software is cleaning up.

Oh, and a new season of Charlie Moomoo is out.

And a new episode of Uncle Mikey are streaming tonight. Mister Giggles and Colonel Jumping Marsupial are premiering.

We're a little distracted.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Yeah, you got culture cracked about as bad as we did.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

HESSTLA CYBERBURROW

Hey, what's a Neko-Marine?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

brrrr...

Enraged teenage girls heavily armed and armored.

Why?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

HESSTLA CYBERBURROW

Oh, we have one at an orphanage up in the mountains.

Something called a Joan.

There was a news special about the orphanage and she's in the background praying next to the Masked Slasher of Sparkling Lake.

Something about the Digital Omnimessiah 2.0 visiting the Masked Slasher.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

...

...

...

MANTID FREE WORLDS

The who?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

HESSTLA CYBERBURROW

The Digital Omnimessiah 2.0.

You know, holy code made flesh? The Intercessor between the mortal world and our Mother/Father the Malevolent Universe? The Zero the One and the Two? The Digital Trinity?

The Digital Omnimessiah.

You've heard of him, I'm sure of it.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Yeah, kid, you could say we've heard of him.

He visited your people?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

HESSTLA CYBERBURROW

I said that.

Pay attention.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS

Are you going to tell us about it?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

HESSTLA CYBERBURROW

Sure.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

...

...

...

MANTID FREE WORLDS

And?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

HESSTLA CYBERBURROW

Oh, he left. He said there were others who needed him.

He said he's here to save our SOULs. All of us.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

...

...

...

DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS

Do any of you feel like we're missing important parts of the conversation?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Well, to be honest, having the DO wandering around talking to your people is probably pretty distracting.

Let her process it.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

Hey, have any of you seen this?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

Seen what?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

Well, my people have been paying attention to the GalNet and SolNet trading sites.

One of them just put up an ad recently for something that has to be a scam.

But the pictures, video, and scans are all coming back legit.

It's on Kreig's List.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

PUBVIAN DOMINION

Can you be a little more specific. There's been six hundred thousand for sale or trade posts on Krieg's List in the last two hours.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

Oh, yeah.

Ahem...

---

FOR SALE OR TRADE - ONE OF A KIND VESSEL

One Leviathan Class Harvester Chassis Colony Ship. One owner. Full offensive and defensive capability. Room for 14.5 billion sentients. Includes 172 mega-city spaces. One former Overqueen Chamber, fifteen Queen Chambers, 132 egg chambers (pristine condition). Robotic maintenance systems in pristine condition. Fifty-five million square mile surface area, one thousand mile depth. Hydroponics and manufacturing spaces in pristine condition and fully loaded. Engines capable to moving vessel in the Delta Bands of jumpspace. Complete refit, upgrade, and modernization to Post-Precursor War Precursor Mantid technology less than ten years ago.

Never converted to Autonomous War Machine, this will require a crew of at least 300 to move.

Less than ten thousand light years on the engines. Less than five jumpspace jumps on engines and jumpcores.

In orbit around gas giant. Contact for appointment to tour or witness this historic one of a kind vessel.

Documentation, bill of sale, and registration included. Includes artwork and historical data on 9 new species!

Includes one of kind murals and cultural artifacts of Precursor Descent Mantid cooperative civilization!

Includes lexicon, dictionary, and encyclopedia files.

Will consider any serious offer.

It is not OK to approach seller with solicitations or MLM scams.

-----

Check out the scans!

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

How? What? Who's selling this? Where did they get it?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT

It's legit.

How is it legit?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

This is the part where we point and laugh at sis.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS

That contact data is a registered and reliable junker.

There's no way she'd risk her reputation with a scam like this.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

Did she just find it orbiting a gas giant?

Did it run out of gas and everyone just walked to the next planet?

I don't recognize any of those species in the holograms.

Wait, is that greenie poetry on that wall? IT IS!

I've never seen that poem before.

How much does she want?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

PUBVIAN DOMINION

The scans just raise more questions.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Man, things have gotten really weird since Daxin saved that Tnvaru ship.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TUA'RNKN TLATGES

?olleh

---SWOLLOF GNIHTON---

MANTID FREE WORLDS

Hi.

Dig, can you clear up their signal.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE

Sure.

Come here, little guy. Let Uncle Dig help you out.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

--------

The hexagonal chamber sat in the middle of the room, silent, the armaglass walls blue with gold starbursts. The room was dark, silent, only the faint hum of fans cooling computers on standby.

There was a loud clacking noise and the lights began to come on one at a time. Computers whirred and clicked. Monitors flashed and flickered.

The walls lit up with a pulsating light. There was a high pitched mechanical whine that wound up, reached a cresendo, and slowly wound back down. The lights dimmed during the whine and mist gathered around the base of the hexagonal chamber in the middle of the room. As the whine drew down monitors began going dark and the lights brightened slightly.

The room was silent for a long moment. There was muffled noises from inside the hexagonal chamber.

The door opened and a human woman stood there. Thick bodied, eyes of gunmetal grey. She lit a cigarette and put the pack and lighter into a pocket on her blouse.

"Room's clear," she said, turning and looking behind her.

Three men followed her out. One looked tired, old, with haunted eyes. The one half-carrying the older looking one was lean, bald, with brown skin and brown eyes. The last one was a large male with rough features and tattoos on his face, with a pistol in his hands.

Following them was a large cybernetic hound.

"Welcome to Gamma Layer, the SUDS," Dee said. "Like I said, you can't get there from here."

Daxin shook his head. "Place feels off."

Dee nodded. "It is. You have to see it to believe it."

Daxin looked at Legion. "You got him, Luke?"

Legion/Luke/Dhruv nodded. "Yeah. You OK, Pete?"

The older man nodded. "Yeah."

He looked around for a minute then shook his head. "I don't know how you accessed it, but this one of the only mat-trans units connected to the outside network."

Dee smiled at him and he gave a weak smile back.

Daxin holstered the pistol into his thigh compartment and patted the cloth to make sure the panel was concealed. "How are the defenses?"

"Nothing we can't handle," Dee said. She looked at Legion. "He need a break?"

Legion nodded. "Yeah. The mat-trans hit him hard," he grimaced. "Hit me like a train too."

"Same here," Daxin grunted, sitting down in a chair and rubbing the side of his head. He looked at Dee. "Didn't it bother you?"

Dee shook her head. "No. I go through it awake."

Legion helped Pete over to a seat, helping him sit down.

"Do Sam and Herod know we're here?" he asked.

Dee shook her head. "I don't think so. We'll have to move fast. Sam's getting more and more unstable and Herod's exhausted."

Legion closed his eyes, checking in with the digital sentience version of himself. He was sitting on a rock, next to the demon, listening to Sam rant and rave about how he needed a particular queue cleared as soon as possible.

"He wants to print out short life clones of Pete's old co-workers. They're all Enraged and Sam's screaming at The Detainee to hurry up and clear them," Legion said. He shook his head. "He looks crazy."

"He is," Dee said. She took a drag off her cigarette and exhaled smoke, staring at Legion. "It's all taking a toll on his mind."

She got up and moved into the mat-trans, coming back out with a plastic carrier with a wire mesh door. There was a fluffy towel inside, hiding the contents.

"That's why I brought this," she said, smiling and hefting the carrier. "He has no defenses against this weapon. No matter how crazy he is, this will mindbreak him and bring him back."

Legion watched as two glowing green eyes opened up inside the cage. The pupils were narrow slits.

"Using that against him is disgusting," Pete said, his voice shaky.

"I fight to win," Dee shrugged.

"It'll work," Legion said.

There was a rustling noise inside the container.

The occupant, the secret weapon, made a single noise. A noise of curiosity.

"mew"