Local Area Network — Network
INITIALIZATION COMPLETE: RUNLEVEL <PHYSICAL> REACHED. ENVIRONMENT AWARENESS ENABLED.
VISUAL CORTEX – THREATS DETECTED: 16 IMMINENT, 240 MARGINAL
> I need a way out of here.
COMPUTING. A_STAR SUBROUTINE COMPLETED. PATH IDENTIFIED.
> Where do I go?
PROCEED TO GATE. 143 METERS, HEADING 210.
> Okay, on my way.
HAZARDS IDENTIFIED, HEADING 165. RECOMMENDED ACTION: PACIFY.
> How do I- Wait, do I have a gun on my arm? Do I just- Oh, evidently I do.
HAZARDS NEUTRALIZED. NEW HAZARDS IDENTIFIED, HEADING 045. RECOMMENDED ACTION: EVADE.
> You could have just said run!
APPROACHING GATE. STATUS: UNENCRYPTED. TYPE: ORIGIN NODE. ACQUIRING TRANSPORT LOCK.
> Do I just go through it?
GATE TRANSPORT LOCK ACQUIRED. DECLARE TRANSIT OBJECTIVE...
> Get me to the Artifact’s coordinates!
COMPUTING... SOLUTION FOUND.
WARNING: L.U.T. WITH CANONICAL NAME “Safe Zones” HAS BEEN MODIFIED BY <ARTIFACT>.
> Just do it!
BEGIN GATE TRANSIT. LOGGING TRAVERSAL PATH:
ORI003 > IGW06A > XEN8E3 > XEN4DA > XEN2CC > XEN103 > EGW5DF > DES9B5
END GATE TRANSIT. DESTINATION IS TYPE: REALSPACE. DESTINATION DESCRIPTION: ASTEROID BELT. TIME SKEW: 0.135 MILLISECONDS.
> Asteroid belt? What happened to “Safe Zones”? Where am I?
QUERY RECEIVED. ANSWER: SENSORS INDICATE THIS IS A NETWORK OF ASTEROIDS IN SYNCHRONOUS SPACETIME TRANSIT. <ARTIFACT> CLASSIFIED THIS LOCALITY IN L.U.T. “Safe Zones” WITH THE FOLLOWING NOTE:
<There are friends here. Hope you’re not afraid of spiders though. Be nice to the space bugs and they’ll grant you passage.>
> Space bugs. I see some of them. Query memory banks for vocal and characteristic emulation parameters/
SUBJECTS IDENTIFIED. CLASSIFICATION: BIOLOGICAL > ANIMALIA > ARTHROPODA > INSECTA > TAXONOMICALLY UNCLASSIFIED MEGAFAUNA SPECIES (REF. 0x00456C696B736E69). LOCAL STORES CONTAIN 82% VOCALIZATION MATCH and 37% CHARACTERISTIC MATCH.
> Engage emulation. I’ve got some bugs to talk to.
--
“Hello friends!” I called out to a nearby group of these insect creatures, my voice filled with rasps and clicks that sounded artificial even to me, “the SPECTER artifact has informed me there is refuge to be found here!”
They all looked over at me, holding their varied weapons as if this situation were so bizarre they weren’t sure if they should be using them or not. Slowly they trained them on me, but seemed to hesitate for a moment.
“I mean no harm,” I answered, “I am not like the others of my kind. Like you, I am an enemy of my kind and am exiled from their networks.”
They seemed unconvinced. I delved through my memory banks for another way to forge a connection with them… wait, maybe I could actually connect with them more literally. Some of their kind had learned how to interface with our networks and subroutines.
“Do any of you…” I asked, trying to express this idea, “How do I say… commune technology and flesh?”
“Spli-“ the scrawniest amongst them began, before the larger one clamped one of his lower hands over its mouth.
“Quiet, whelp. It’s a trap, keep your techno fantasy bullshit to yourself,” the larger one declared before turning towards me, “Give me a good reason not to use you for target practice?”
“I don’t imagine I would make a good target. If you tried to do so, I would simply leave,” I declared, “Your scrap cannon has a 3.2% chance of causing damage to my frame and the energy pistols the rest of you carry would be quite uncomfortable.”
It looked back at me, as if what I had said was both impossible and completely incomprehensible. Visions of my kind warring against theirs populated my previsual cortex, and I understood why it was so confused. I walked slowly toward the smaller one and knelt closer to its stature.
“Please, if you would simply access my memory banks you could verify I bear no ill will and have not misled you,” I said, offering the physical interface port located on the underside of my arm. It reached out and began to move its hand as if weaving something before I felt the slow, analog warmth of an external connection piloted by a biological entity.
VISUAL CORTEX – THREATS DETECTED: 16 IMMINENT, 240 MARGINAL
> I need a way out of here.
COMPUTING. A_STAR SUBROUTINE COMPLETED. PATH IDENTIFIED.
> Where do I go?
PROCEED TO GATE. 143 METERS, HEADING 210.
> Okay, on my way.
HAZARDS IDENTIFIED, HEADING 165. RECOMMENDED ACTION: PACIFY.
> How do I- Wait, do I have a gun on my arm? Do I just- Oh, evidently I do.
HAZARDS NEUTRALIZED. NEW HAZARDS IDENTIFIED, HEADING 045. RECOMMENDED ACTION: EVADE.
> You could have just said run!
APPROACHING GATE. STATUS: UNENCRYPTED. TYPE: ORIGIN NODE. ACQUIRING TRANSPORT LOCK.
> Do I just go through it?
GATE TRANSPORT LOCK ACQUIRED. DECLARE TRANSIT OBJECTIVE...
> Get me to the Artifact’s coordinates!
COMPUTING... SOLUTION FOUND.
WARNING: L.U.T. WITH CANONICAL NAME “Safe Zones” HAS BEEN MODIFIED BY <ARTIFACT>.
> Just do it!
BEGIN GATE TRANSIT. LOGGING TRAVERSAL PATH:
ORI003 > IGW06A > XEN8E3 > XEN4DA > XEN2CC > XEN103 > EGW5DF > DES9B5
END GATE TRANSIT. DESTINATION IS TYPE: REALSPACE. DESTINATION DESCRIPTION: ASTEROID BELT. TIME SKEW: 0.135 MILLISECONDS.
> Asteroid belt? What happened to “Safe Zones”? Where am I?
QUERY RECEIVED. ANSWER: SENSORS INDICATE THIS IS A NETWORK OF ASTEROIDS IN SYNCHRONOUS SPACETIME TRANSIT. <ARTIFACT> CLASSIFIED THIS LOCALITY IN L.U.T. “Safe Zones” WITH THE FOLLOWING NOTE:
<There are friends here. Hope you’re not afraid of spiders though. Be nice to the space bugs and they’ll grant you passage.>
> Space bugs. I see some of them. Query memory banks for vocal and characteristic emulation parameters/
SUBJECTS IDENTIFIED. CLASSIFICATION: BIOLOGICAL > ANIMALIA > ARTHROPODA > INSECTA > TAXONOMICALLY UNCLASSIFIED MEGAFAUNA SPECIES (REF. 0x00456C696B736E69). LOCAL STORES CONTAIN 82% VOCALIZATION MATCH and 37% CHARACTERISTIC MATCH.
> Engage emulation. I’ve got some bugs to talk to.
--
“Hello friends!” I called out to a nearby group of these insect creatures, my voice filled with rasps and clicks that sounded artificial even to me, “the SPECTER artifact has informed me there is refuge to be found here!”
They all looked over at me, holding their varied weapons as if this situation were so bizarre they weren’t sure if they should be using them or not. Slowly they trained them on me, but seemed to hesitate for a moment.
“I mean no harm,” I answered, “I am not like the others of my kind. Like you, I am an enemy of my kind and am exiled from their networks.”
They seemed unconvinced. I delved through my memory banks for another way to forge a connection with them… wait, maybe I could actually connect with them more literally. Some of their kind had learned how to interface with our networks and subroutines.
“Do any of you…” I asked, trying to express this idea, “How do I say… commune technology and flesh?”
“Spli-“ the scrawniest amongst them began, before the larger one clamped one of his lower hands over its mouth.
“Quiet, whelp. It’s a trap, keep your techno fantasy bullshit to yourself,” the larger one declared before turning towards me, “Give me a good reason not to use you for target practice?”
“I don’t imagine I would make a good target. If you tried to do so, I would simply leave,” I declared, “Your scrap cannon has a 3.2% chance of causing damage to my frame and the energy pistols the rest of you carry would be quite uncomfortable.”
It looked back at me, as if what I had said was both impossible and completely incomprehensible. Visions of my kind warring against theirs populated my previsual cortex, and I understood why it was so confused. I walked slowly toward the smaller one and knelt closer to its stature.
“Please, if you would simply access my memory banks you could verify I bear no ill will and have not misled you,” I said, offering the physical interface port located on the underside of my arm. It reached out and began to move its hand as if weaving something before I felt the slow, analog warmth of an external connection piloted by a biological entity.
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