Author Topic: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest  (Read 194024 times)

Tadanori Oyama

  • Extreme XP CEO
  • *******
  • Posts: 3897
  • The Full Time GM
    • View Profile
    • Full Time GM
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #60 on: February 11, 2013, 11:28:24 PM »
If you have access to the Sunward book (it's free, find the PDF) than you can find an image, in the Luna section, of several morphs in a tunnel. One of those is a flexbot.

Review Cultist

  • I dream in graph paper lines
  • ****
  • Posts: 371
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #61 on: February 11, 2013, 11:40:04 PM »
Has that been used before in one of the Know Evil episodes? Like one of the title images?
Liquid Water?

Teuthic

  • I am worth 100 points in GURPS...ladies
  • ***
  • Posts: 129
  • of the Bleak Cabal
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #62 on: February 12, 2013, 10:30:22 AM »
What is the timeline of the No Evil virus? Was its first use on Thought? Also, how was it created? I seem to recall that it was made from TITAN tech, but it would be helpful if I could get a little more information.

Dom

  • Oregon Trail 13 Superstar
  • *****
  • Posts: 641
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #63 on: February 12, 2013, 12:13:17 PM »
So if Aaron was a flexbot during the lunar tier, at least for a bit, then my question is this: Was there a particular reference one could go by to conceptualize or illustrate what his flexbot looked like? As it is I'm coming up with a robotic looking tentacled thing, like a mechanized Hanar. XD I don't know if that's accurate.

This is the flexbot on the Eclipse Phase Sunward book.


Cthuluzord

  • Global Moderator
  • I dream in graph paper lines
  • *****
  • Posts: 385
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #64 on: February 12, 2013, 07:43:47 PM »
Quote
What is the timeline of the No Evil virus? Was its first use on Thought? Also, how was it created? I seem to recall that it was made from TITAN tech, but it would be helpful if I could get a little more information.

First known use was on Thought; if you want to "prequel" it somehow in your entry, go for it.

It was developed by...people (I don't want to spoil anything). It is based on TITAN tech, which is why Artemis made her ill-fated trip to the Lunar surface to find TITAN nanoswarms for research specimens.

Here's what I wrote up for how the Virus operates.

Quote
The “No Evil” strain is a constantly mutating nanotoxin with a preprogrammed strategy of multi-stage attack.  The need to reconfigure individual nanobots, adapt to the individual morph/mind of the victim, and maintain a low-key presence to avoid detection means that the virus has a high latency period lasting anywhere from 3-5 months.

Structurally, the No Evil virus resembles a microscopic fractal.  It has the ability to reassemble itself on the quark level to suit specific tasks.  However, limited energy production means that these reconstructions take time and must be followed by period of recharging (through ambient heat collection) before an individual bot can begin acting upon its environment again.

STAGE ZERO: CONTAINMENT

Due to its ability to reconfingure on the molecular level and maximize its effectiveness, there are few options for transporting the No Evil nanovirii in an inert state.  The nanobot fractals would make short work of even a diamond container.  No Evil can only be transported frozen near zero-degrees Kelvin or within a complex containment field.  The enormous energy cost of each method are the surest sign of a No Evil container, but one would first have to know what they were looking for.

STAGE ONE: SCOUT

Upon release, the No Evil virus starts as a self-replicating scout swarm. It will map out any habitat in which it is released whilst giving out false mesh ID’s identifying itself as standard cleaner swarm. Priority mapping is given to areas of high traffic and any access jacks available. This stage only takes a few hours.

STAGE TWO: HIVE CONSENSUS

After the scout has been completed, No Evil will swarm a centralized location.  In order to maintain maximum stealth, the virus limits self-communication to this very confined range. Each bot will link into a computational matrix whose sole purpose is to develop a strategy for total infiltration.  When a plan of attack is finished (usually within seconds due to quantum computation speed), the swarm will use its isolated location to self-replicate according to projected needs.  The few moments this process takes is, in fact, the final opportunity transhumans will have to totally prevent infection.  An EMP charge, guardian swarm, or plasma burst grenade could wipe out the infection completely during this stage.

STAGE THREE: DELIVERY

According to the population surveyed, No Evil will split into multiple swarms with delegated tasks.  Reconfigured sabateour swarms will infect habitat systems to disable InfoSec detection, then self destruct.  This allows large swarms to hide in any hard access jacks used on the facility: ectos, backup stations, secure servers, etc.  Other swarms will reconfigure as Proteans and begin manufacture of the chemical DMSO, a carrier substance designed for dermal delivery.  This slippery, clear substance found on handrails, shower floors, and beds is one of the few noticeable signs of No Evil incursion.  The energy required for this process means that it can take weeks.

Whether attacking synths through jacks or bios through DMSO, No Evil will opt for quantity over distribution.  The bots will assemble into a number of grouped cells so as to have sufficient numbers for immediate action upon infection of a morph.  This circumvents the need for large, attention-grabbing replication processes in the body itself.  It also means that not everyone jacking into a certain port or touching a certain wet spot will be infected; No Evil spreads itself thin.  In the long run, this means tracing the delivery path of the virus is very problematic, even if transhumans are aware of intrusion.

STAGE FOUR: STACK ATTACK

Upon entering a morph, No Evil will morph into a swarm of Nutcracker nanotoxins and another Protean swarm.  Due to the shifting nature and novelty of No Evil, medichines as yet have no templates for recognizing or fighting the infection.  The nutcracker swarm will immediately begin degrading the diamond lattice of the cortical stack’s case, but rather than full degrading the device, the following Protean swarm will redesign and reconstruct the tech in the wake of the nutcrackers.  The new stack’s exterior will have a two-way interface with sensors built to detect upload.  Once finished, the Protean will go dormant and reconfigure (see stage seven).

The nutcrackers will continue up the stem to the stack itself, using quantum computing capabilities to map the ego contained within.  The alien nature of No Evil allows it to selectively abrade certain links within the diamond lattice framework. The nutcracker swarm will attack only those areas of the mind used strictly for processing sensory information: visual and auditory encoding, kinestetic awareness, olfactory recall, etc.  While the one-way design of the stem prevents alert to the morph, the wireless coordination required of the Nutcracker swarm might cause minor interference withing the morphs mesh AR. Users might complain of sunspot interference or get their software checked, but nothing will be found. This process takes days.

At the end of Stage Four, the infected has essentially been unknowingly alpha forked.  The backup link is still active, still feeding information to the stack, but the consciousness within the stack has been “blinded” to this input, so to speak. The two way stem, while keeping the ego in the flesh or cyberbrain unaware of any change, provides distance that was never intended for the ego of a cortical stack. In short, all ability to receive or transmit information of any kind has been psychosurgically removed from the stack, yet its consciousness is still powered on. The fork within the stack is essentially trapped in a sensory-deprived hell where they can’t even hear their own screams.

STAGE FIVE: DORMANCY

Truly the most nefarious display of No Evil’s sick intelligence, all swarms will cease any activity except reconfiguration after the stack has been psychosurgically altered. This stage can go on indefinitely, the infected completely unaware that somewhere inside their head a version of their consciousness is silently going mad in an endless, incomprehensible vacuum.  This stage lasts until the transhuman, according to his or her regular routine, schedules a backup upload.

STAGE SIX: BACKUP OVERWRITE

Unless the victim is lucky enough to be very rich and very, very paranoid, an infected transhuman’s scheduled backup is a date with death. Typical backup insurance requires an overwrite of previous files in order to maintain corporate server space. Files overwritten with a mind amputated by No Evil’s stealth psychosurgery will forever be without the ability to process, perceive, or develop new sensory stimuli. Any attempt to resleeve them will result in a total catatonic state. If the true reason for this is discovered, any psychosurgery engaged to re-implement input/output processing will completely alter the person’s personality; how we see and speak to the world makes up a large part of a person’s identity.  Furthermore, “turning the sound back on” will likely only result in the deafening shrieks of a crazed mind bursting into reality for the first time in what feels like years.  All that will be achieved is the embodiment of a person driven mad in a never-ending night.

Sensors in the redesigned stem will know once backup overwrite has been achieved. They will then cease dormancy and enter stage 7.

STAGE SEVEN: EGO CLEANSING

The victim still exists in the flesh/cyberbrain of whatever morph was initially infected even after backup.  But after upload, No Evil recognizes that total, permanent death is now likely an option and goes about seeking that end.  The Protean swarm in charge of redesigning the stack’s exterior in stage four typically has plenty of time to reconfigure and prepare for this moment.

In biomorphs, No Evil assumes the form of a vicious Disruptor nanotoxin and begins abrading the myelin sheath on all sensory nerves in the brain.  This action is clearly and openly hostile, so Medichines can have a substantial affect on the speed of this process. However, the fractal nature of No Evil’s nanobots and the months of undetected study from within the host’s system make sure that defensive measures are no match. At best, a well-defended biomorph will be rendered totally catatonic within a week and left to starve to death on the floor.

Synthmorphs face even faster destruction. The susceptibility of cyberbrains means that No Evil can transform into a deadly combination of Sabatour bots armed with Scorcher algorithms.  No Evil can completely burn out a cyberbrain in a number of hours after the upload trigger, and the nuclear power source mean the victims get to exist in their own personal hells for decades rather than days.

This stage is quite painful, confusing, and debilitating to those undergoing infection.  Frankly, it is a horrifying thing to behold, which in turn leaves witnesses understandably scared for their own safety.  Once undergoing a deep scan (which will show nothing), any “uninfected” members of a habitat entering stage 7 will likely perform an emergency back-up, thus speeding the process.

STAGE EIGHT: DENABILITY

After the largest possible portion of a habitat is rendered catatonic, No Evil will self-destruct.  Stack swarms will reduce to component parts, as will Saboteurs in synthmorphs.  The trace elements actually have the effect of further corrupting whatever processes haven’t yet shut down.  Disruption nanotoxins will migrate to the bladder and intestines before breaking down.  They have the additional cover of being dispelled via bodily functions.  Any non-integrated swarms will stop identifying as cleaner swarms and be consumed by the habitat’s actual cleaner swarms.

Thus, to a scavenger or survivor, a No Evil plague will look like everyone merely came to the conclusion that they should lay down and wait to die.

Jacko

  • Zombie Apocalypse Survivor
  • **
  • Posts: 76
  • Hrrrrrmmmmmm.
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #65 on: February 18, 2013, 02:39:52 AM »
Here's my first fan submission!  I've got something else in a different medium in the works but I had to write this even though I'm certainly not an author of any stripe.  I hope you enjoy it!

Journey

MONDAY

Is this what fear feels like to the humans and uplifts?

A thundering beat in my chest that won't stop. I can hear it in my own ears. My throat and lungs are on fire, I can't stop breathing like this but I know I should stop. My skin is slick with sweat and I can feel my vac suit clinging to me, restricting me. My muse is telling me to calm down but it feels like something is compressing my chest. This is normal, it tells me, with a reassuring dance. I need to move.

It's too hot in here. They're getting closer.

I feel like I'm burning.


SUNDAY

It's been days now but I think going to the Swarm was a good choice. It's safe. Correction, safer. It has been a very violent place since I arrived!

Another one of us was here. I'm glad it escaped but it certainly wasn't worried about keeping a low profile even though it was sleeved in a bio-morph as well. The dance recital was lovely. I saw it again near the med-bay. I didn't approach it. I should have, I think, but it's too dangerous for us to congregate though an ally would be optimal.

Going back is dangerous. I'm as good as deleted if I'm too obvious. I need to be different from the others to fool the brain scans. I need to change my programm- No, my thoughts. I'm going to head back to Supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus tonight, see if I can score some more petals. Maybe I can experience a pleasant sexual encounter while I'm there.


SATURDAY

It was like a switch was flipped. I was doing the job I was tasked with when I was instantiated, helping people, being an asset, and then pandemonium.

They were everywhere, shouting, pointing freezers at me. A cargo vehicle smashed into their carrier and we ran. I wish I still had that morph, a synth body doesn't need air, water, or food. This ungainly flesh is weak. So weak. I don't know if it'll have the strength to do what needs to be done.

The kill order has gone out LLA wide so I need to be careful. I left my friends behind. It's better if I don't endanger them. I'm still getting used to the morph but it feels... dirty. Prickly. I didn't like those people that sold it to me. I shudder to think what it was used for but it doesn't matter.

I'm going to Luna. Perhaps that's where the other went, to do the right thing and help others it could find. I don't know if there are many left but I can't leave them to be deleted. I won't. I need a new name too but what? Something from mythology, perhaps, something that sounds like it arose deep in humanity's history. Tchaikovsky, run a scramble on SAIROC.

I'm going to the Swarm, to The Stars Our Destination, maybe I can find some help there.

ICAROS? That sounds good. It's like... it's like a hero's name.

Cthuluzord

  • Global Moderator
  • I dream in graph paper lines
  • *****
  • Posts: 385
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #66 on: February 18, 2013, 09:09:58 AM »
That's awesome dude! Poor little SAIROC...all alone in a hostile universe.

I'm still a little sad that we ran out of time before Thad left to do the one shots. I had an all SAIROC game planned (basically, everyone would be playing Aaron but loaded up with different skillsofts), and it was going to have a definite impact on the Know Evil crew. I'll talk more about it more when I'm not spoilering anything.

Anyway, from one stripe-less author to another, I think you did an excellent job and can't wait to see your next submission.

Jacko

  • Zombie Apocalypse Survivor
  • **
  • Posts: 76
  • Hrrrrrmmmmmm.
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #67 on: February 19, 2013, 11:29:44 PM »
Wow, thanks, I'm glad you liked it!  I hope Aaron enjoys it, I tried my best to replicate his speech habits and his epic 'It's like' trolling in a recent podcast was very inspiring and too awesome to pass up.  ;D

An all SAIROC game would be great to hear simply because they'd all be going insane roughly every 30 minutes.

blue_hitchhiker

  • Slayer of the Dread Gazebo
  • *
  • Posts: 14
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #68 on: February 24, 2013, 07:50:19 PM »
Here is my submission.  It is a speech that Singh gives after the gang has left the swarm and he is restored from back up.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/proseandverse/Singhs_Speech.mp3

To download right click and select "Save Link As..."


The text is below if you would like to read it.
[spoiler]
"Message received!"
"Decrypting... "

"Decryption complete!"

"Play it for me."

"Brothers and sisters of the swarm.  This is Sing.  We have much to discuss. 
As you can tell I have been restored from backup and was briefed on the events that have transpired since. 

Brothers and sisters, we were the victims of incivility these past few weeks.  Our openness, our trust and friendship was betrayed by a group of mysterious ne’er do wells who, it seemed, had their own, selfish interests at heart.

 The devastation they've left in their wake is severe, I will not argue that.  But many of you remember hard days at the beginning, and those that do not, this will be the trial you will tell people about. 
You will tell them how, when the swarm seemed lost, when all hope had seemed stolen away you found a way to do your part.  You will say to new comers, this is the swarm that I re-built.  This is the swarm that is stronger because of me.  This is the swarm that will live through anything, and has.
I will be clear and open about our challenges, because you deserve nothing less.  Our travel plans relied on the salvage of the engines from the La Prophesia.  Despite the bravery and professionalism of Boy Toy and We Come to Probe You, the op was sabotaged and the La Prophesia lost. 

However we were given a break when we took on our most controversial compatriot to date.  Many of you were aware that by allowing Kaleed on to the swarm it provided the necessary credits to get us back to our cycling orbit however his murder has made that plan untenable, and we are back where we were with the loss of the La Prophesia.  While I celebrate the death of a genocidal war criminal as much as any of you, we must now contend with the position we are in. 
We are now relying on our own momentum to push us, not in the direction we want to go but the direction we need to go.  All was not in vain though: during the salvage we did gather enough credits to keep the swarm running.

 However until we can start cycling again the fabbers need to be restricted use only, power will, also, have to be conserved throughout the swarm for a time being, and travel between ships will have to be limited to “restricted travel only”, otherwise we may not have enough fuel to allow us to start cycling again.  I have sent you all the details of the plan and the militias role in it ("Ding!"), tomorrow at noon the vote will take place to implement this policy.  I know this will be difficult to vote for, but I trust you all to make the right decision, and I ask that you trust me with the safety of the swarm.

Now, we pick up the pieces of our lives and struggle to patch them together into something space worthy.  We are all tempted to give in to the same selfishness that was shown to us.  This is a mistake.  We must continue to do what we have always done to those who are threatened by our independent way of life.
 Rise above them. 

Just as we have with the hypercorps that try and indenture us, the ego hunters that try to kill us, and the uptight credit jockeys that litter this system, hate us solely for our reputation.  What do we do when we face these threats, even greater threats than those posed by this gang of cowardly thugs?  We rise above them.   So we will continue on broken, but unbowed, floating but not adrift, never adrift.  We know just where we are heading, to the future!"

"Message Complete"
[/spoiler]

Tim

  • I dream in graph paper lines
  • ****
  • Posts: 455
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #69 on: February 25, 2013, 11:04:53 PM »
Here is my submission. Like Jacko I am far from a writer (I am fairly certain Caleb will weep at the torture I inflicted on the English language) and it is over wrought but it seemed genre appropriate. I also made a number of assumptions about how things happened off screen between Manjapa and my main character. Given the main character resurfaced in the last actual play these choices maybe very wrong but fortune favors the bold and so here we go.

Every Line has a Finite Length

His life was distilled down to an unremarkable stretch of corridor. A common place that thousands had walked never thinking that one day men would choose this place to make a last stand. The geometry of the space was simple, twelve meters straight ahead then a 45 degree bend to the right. Many lights had been destroyed casting a gloom over the concrete walls broken up by pipes and vents now interspersed with the mark of weapons fire and the stains men leave when violent death comes upon them. Mangled bodies, a mixture of men and the bio-mechanical forms that even in broken pieces he did not wish to examine closely, littered the hallway.

What remained of his garrison had dwindled to two men, Wallace and Bhardwaj, and they were low on every type of ammunition. Feeds from his comrades showed the same corridor from different vantage points and their vital signs reported superficial physical damage although each was suffering from exhaustion. The sensors they had embedded past the bend were silent. In the breaks between waves they had piled together rubble as a barricade although no one familiar with the term would call it cover.

Behind these last three men was a reinforced blast door. Strong as it might appear it would not last against the nightmares that keep crashing down the corridor. When the end came, he had no illusions it would not; the door would fall and so would all of those behind it. He and his men were exchanging their lives for time so those behind the door might have a chance farcast away from the madness that the surface had become.

The motion sensor furthest past the bend lit up confirming motion. Barnes, the voice in his head that was not a voice, said, "Inbound contact." He responded, "Nature of target and time to engagement?" He had little hope of a solid answer. His muse would analyze all of the data and broadcast it to the men but the threat they faced was not bound to the laws of geometry or rational composition. One target became three and then back to one as dictated by an alien concept of tactics. The next two motion sensors lit and the remaining camera caught a brief flash of a long thin body in flight. "Single target, inbound in three seconds." His hearing, aided by advanced signal processing and a slew of enhancements picked up a high pitched buzzing.
   
The thing came into sight, flying around the bend in an undulating motion. The body was no thicker than his wrist and three meters long. Wing structures representative of no evolutionary track seen on earth sprouted at the front and back of the flexible trunk. His muse highlighted the near invisible monofilament whips dangling below as the most direct danger and painted probable weak points with targets. His hearing modifications dampened out the supersonic cracking of the armor piercing slugs being spit out by the three railguns while amplifying the quiet noises so from his perspective the flier was torn apart in near silence.

That silence was broken by muffled scream and the feed from Wallace went dark. Turning to face his comrade he instantly knew that they had now made the mistake that must finally bring this stand to an end. He barked an order to Bhardwaj to keep watching the corridor and brought his rail gun to target Wallace. The brute engulfing Wallace's head was covered in a now tattered chameleon cloak that had allowed it to sneak along the ceiling and get behind them. It would have taken hours to slowly crawl along without giving itself away to their sensors or senses but the enemy had infinite patience. Wallace was rolling on the ground struggling to get it off his head. Powerful arms sprouted from the creature’s body and were locked onto Wallace.

Attempt to target the thing and not Wallace he realized he was wrong. The arms were not trying to pull the creature closer to Wallace but were pushing it away from him. A wet wrenching noise was transmitted clearly to his enhanced hearing as the vertebra in Wallace’s neck separated from each other. Blood began to leak out of the space between Wallace's shoulders and the bulbous mechanical carapace of the creature. He corrected his targeting to where he hoped Wallace's head was and pulled the trigger, walking the remaining slugs of his magazine up the monstrosity’s body.

Barnes cut into his head, "Multiple targets inbound. Sensors are being destroyed as enemy group progresses. Four or possibly six targets. No visual. Contact in approximately four seconds."

Bhardwaj opened the comm link between them, "Lt Stamps it has been an honor-"

He cut off the man with a gesture. "On the road we now walk words have no weight. Honor the men by finishing this." He signaled Barnes to pull out the stops as he dropped his depleted rail gun and picked up the one Wallace no longer needed. His combat armor began to pump drugs from the remaining stores into his body. It was a cliché that the world slowed down; you just suddenly found you saw things clearly and could plan and react so very quickly. The entroptics briefly lit up with warning about dangerous levels of drugs in his system but Barnes silenced them and stopped his armors healing suite from taking any action to counter the reaction. Any one of the chemicals taken at these levels was a lethal dose and the full cocktail of them meant his life expectancy was now measured in minutes.

“Barnes, prep a plasma grenade to detonate on command.” Before he could get confirmation of this action four small bodies, each on six spindly legs, tore around the corner. Details flooded in from his muse but these were not a new enemy. Each leg ended in a wheeled assembly that enabled them to maintain high speed on clear terrain while the long multi jointed legs ensured the speed was not diminished as they danced over debris. In front was a ceramic shield that was excellent at absorbing kinetic damage. Behind the shield short arms covered in needles would spring out to inject any organic life they could reach. The two members of his team hit by these injection arms had quickly fallen into a coma. When the bodies started to show signs of no longer being human he had ordered them killed and the bodies incinerated. Rumors had spread the dead were used as building blocks for further horrors and no chances could be taken.

Over the sound of legs skittering across the mass of broken bodies and machines came the sound of fast whirling blades. The tactical networking software started to puzzle out the last sound and swiftly divided the four targets between himself and Bhardwaj. Once down there was time to take a kill shot but this flavor of the enemy was slippery and unpredictable so halting their mobility was the first priority.

He got lucky with the first target and managed to cripple it with a single burst to the joint where three of the legs meet the body before it had advanced more than two meters down the hallway. He had a worse angle on the second target and his burst went into the shield.

Barnes delivered more bad news, "The sound does not fit known rotor craft. Fifteen distinct pitches confirmed. Either multiple craft or multiple rotors. Analysis of stereoscopic input predicts contact in four seconds."

A precious moment was spent to get a better angle of attack. The creature was only three meters away when he sent two bursts into the joint and side of the body knocking it down. Viscous fluids sprayed out of the things body and the remaining legs thrashed trying to keep it crawling down the hallway. One more burst into the body cavity emptied the railgun and brought the frantic motion to a stop allowing him to turn his attention back to his remaining man.

Bhardwaj had disabled his first target but the second had switched tactics and slowed forward progress down the hall in order to rotate its body and keep the shield between it and the hyper velocity slugs. Dropping the rail gun he pulled his pistol and sent a fully auto barrage into the side the thing had exposed to him. Armor piercing bullets tore into it but despite the small size they were resilient and the full clip was spent in ending it as a threat.

His entroptics flashed a warning that the new enemy was about to clear the bend. Instinct took his body into a dive away from where the previous creatures could have reported his position. In flight across the corridor he caught sight of the new threat as it appeared. It was oriented vertically with a leathery egg shaped mass on top and bottom and dozens of spinning blades rotating around the central axis. Most of the blades kept it hovering but his chemically enhanced senses saw four of the blades come loose from the main core and hurdle down the hallway.

A massive impact caught him at the waist and his body was thrown violently down. The damage report showed massive trauma to his lower body. It was immediately updated to report his legs and 20% of his lower torso had been sheared clear as one of the blades had caught him. Emergency warning alerts began to pop up in his display and what was left of his combat armor was vainly attempting to seal the damage and stabilize him. Barnes estimated he had twelve seconds of life left and only the massive dose of drugs he had taken was keeping him conscious and calm. The tactical net lost connection to Bhardwaj's muse but the last update was of massive trauma from multiple severed limbs.

He had landed on his back; his own blood covered everything around him as he weakly struggled to force his arms to grab any weapon. The abomination moved down the hallway quickly and in a moment was hovered over him. The bottom egg shaped mass split open and started to descend onto his head. With a last effort he thrust his hand up into the maw and signaled Barnes to detonate the plasma grenade he had grabbed in his scrambling.

A hot white light enveloped him and his vision died. His consciousness was black for a moment then returned reduced to a drifting collection of thoughts. Barnes reported that his right arm, portions of his upper right torso, most of his face, and both eyes were destroyed. The helmet had taken enough of the blast to leave his hearing partially intact. None of that mattered. He had fought and earned his final reward; a reward all of those in his profession knew was their final payment.

In that last moment he heard the blast doors open and a woman's voice shouting, "Get him inside and into the chair. We got to blow this corridor." With that all thought ceased.

Barnes's voice that was not a voice was the first thing after the blankness, "XP playback complete."

His stomach was next registering the displeasure of going from full earth gravity to free fall. The ghost feelings from moments ago, his body destroyed and his mind burning itself out on neurochems, still echoed in his mind. The software worked to ease the transition but it could only do so much. His entropic listed his vitals as elevated but returning to normal and noted mild dehydration. In anticipation his muse had procured a meal from the ships general stores which was on route to his cabin.

Opening his eyes he kicked his way across the small cabin to get a towel to dry the perspiration that covered his skin. Barnes chose that moment to ask, "You have not been well since Venus. Are you going to recover?"

Muses eventually know you so well they ask the questions you did not want to ask yourself. He considered not answering or telling a lie but instead said aloud "We both know that I am not." He wondered what the AGI that monitored cabins would make of that. Past performance had earned him some latitude but he could rapidity become a liability and Direct Action had made their reputation in removing liabilities.

The meal arrived and he mechanically started to eat but was interrupted by an alert appearing in his entroptics.

Encrypted message detected embedded in spam message.
Matches pattern flagged as high priority contact.
Decryption complete.

From: Your Benefactor
Subject: Hit on search Gerrad_Hume.
Essay posted to reclaimer group forum "The Grass Between Our Toes" with mesh ID connected to Gerrad Hume.
Linguistic analysis: 87% match with past confirmed written samples for use of language and style.
Geo-location of meta data associated with posting has location of post at a public mesh access point in Nectar.
Probability of hit exceeds threshold for automatic increase on bounty contract.
Increase in value on bounty exchange for Gerrad Hume contract initiated.
Authorization needed to increase bidding for next confirmed contact.
Respond to authorize further increase.


The man at Oversight had nerve to title himself “Your Benefactor” but when you had the advantage you got to call yourself whatever you wished. The weight of the favors currently owed to this man and how much deeper a future increase would put him under the man’s thumb gave him a brief pause but any choice other than full commitment had been taken from his hands back on Earth. "Barnes, send an encrypted response giving authorizing for increase on next confirmed contact."

He pushed the remains of his meal into the recycling unit and floated back over to the sleeping area.

'Time to arrival at Hexagon station?"

Barnes responded, "13 hours and 21 minutes."

As he moved into the sleeping alcove soft flexible arms deployed to gently hold his head and body. They would keep him from floating around the cabin and would cushion him during any acceleration. He closed his eyes and settled into their embrace.

"Initiate replay of previous XP session. Start at the beginning.”

« Last Edit: February 25, 2013, 11:06:26 PM by TimB »

geekyogrt

  • Slayer of the Dread Gazebo
  • *
  • Posts: 30
    • View Profile
    • Geek Yogrt
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #70 on: February 26, 2013, 02:02:09 AM »
My entry for the contest is a commercial created by Experia for their new ink based cologne.


http://vimeo.com/geekyogrt/eaudelapreston


clockworkjoe

  • BUY MY BOOK
  • Administrator
  • Extreme XP CEO
  • *****
  • Posts: 6517
    • View Profile
    • BUY MY BOOK
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #71 on: February 26, 2013, 02:22:51 AM »
I love all the entries so far! This contest is going to be fun to judge. Of course that video is going to be hard to top! :O

Tim

  • I dream in graph paper lines
  • ****
  • Posts: 455
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #72 on: February 26, 2013, 11:49:45 AM »
My number two idea was an intervention between the No Evil crew and Bartleby about his addiction to collecting people's stacks. Sure he says he can quit at any time but then you find that he has secretly being removing stacks from people just to 'keep his hand in' and it is time for rehab.

clockworkjoe

  • BUY MY BOOK
  • Administrator
  • Extreme XP CEO
  • *****
  • Posts: 6517
    • View Profile
    • BUY MY BOOK
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #73 on: February 26, 2013, 01:36:24 PM »
My number two idea was an intervention between the No Evil crew and Bartleby about his addiction to collecting people's stacks. Sure he says he can quit at any time but then you find that he has secretly being removing stacks from people just to 'keep his hand in' and it is time for rehab.

not going to lie that sounds even better than your first story but then again i am biased

Flawless P

  • I walk between the rain drops, tommy gun and katana in hand
  • *****
  • Posts: 1024
    • View Profile
Re: The RPPR Know Evil Fan Creation Contest
« Reply #74 on: February 26, 2013, 02:01:17 PM »
That video, was just... Wow
42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
If you can't fix it with duck tape you haven't used enough.
I intend to live forever -- so far, so good.