The layered window opposite it wasn't much better. If not for the humanoids of silver and gold, it could have been some manner of family tree with nine crown-wearing individuals branching off into four times their number. In turn, those thirty-six stood over a field of corpses, because of course they did. It wasn't like this place seemed to have a stigma against leaving bodies laying around.
Credit where it was due, only most of the living appeared happy about this state of affairs. Three lower-level members had black trails falling from their eyes, and one upper-tier individual with physical features similar to Cadet Hebert looked down at hands stained with blood. The art style made it hard to compare faces, but the eye and hair color both seemed right. A possible twin with no 'offspring' sat against the maybe-Hebert, curled up and hugging her knees in a puddle of blood. Little drops of red dotted every part of maybe-Hebert's twin save her hands, which were left conspicuously clean.
...Goddammit, who was Liz fooling? One of the two was clearly going to be Hebert. The kid's therapist was going to have their hands full.
No, no, stay positive.
Creepily long silver fingers lead to the heads of each upper-level figure save probably-Hebert's possibly-dead twin. Most of those simply faded into an upper-tier's skull (or possibly crown), but the finger allotted to probably-Hebert split into two black tendrils that pinched her head between them. The layered circles on the tendrils were probably supposed to be eyes, too. In fact, there seemed to be a constant pattern of eyes inscribed on the entire back of the window.
This technically isn't a new update-alert; it's just the previous one with about 20% more content and detail. It was recommended above that I post it anew instead of only editing the old one.
AN: Elise was accidentally misnamed as "Emily" in a few past chapters. They were fixed a week or two ago.
Liz and Elise looked out at what was probably the largest room to date. Probably. It was hard to tell; the whole thing seemed to be endlessly folding and unfolding on itself in a complete mockery of the word theoretical. At least Antagonists had the common decency to stick to three dimensions. Mostly. Even when they didn't, such sidestepping generally involved constant energy input and liberal use of Higgs particles. Liz wasn't detecting any of that. Hells, the room might not even be sticking with just four dimensions.
>> "Command, we've got eyes on a—a thing down here. Sensory data is attached. No Higgs emissions detected; please advise." <<
>> "ABRAHAM-One, be advised that you shouldn't stick your d–" <<
There was a conspicuous lull in the transmissions. Liz sighed and wished she was surprised. UNOMI members often used humor to cope with a lot of the horrifying crap they saw, but that sometimes made the vanguard role even more unpleasant. STRATNET's cold ruthlessness was often less uncomfortable to deal with. Sure, it was sometimes funny, but Liz didn't feel as though humor belonged in this bloody tomb. Even the alleged interruption had been a joke; speaking aloud was glacial by Valkyrie standards, so messages were composed and sent as discrete packets. Depending on their method of generating a message, a Valkyrie might keep stuttering or hesitate, but nothing should stop them from finishing a message after an interruption.
>> "ABRAHAM-One, this is UNOMI-Thirteen-O. We recommend sending at least four drones to allow triangulation. We can analyze the readings for you upon their return." <<
Elise and Liz each took a quartet of recon drones out of storage. No reason not to be thorough when they might need to step foot in that mess soon enough. It took a few extra seconds to modify the drones' programming with extra contingencies before the sacrificial scouts were sent floating on their merry way.
The drones vanished into a mind-numbing mess of reflections and alien geometries. Their signal didn't. There were some repeating and/or delayed wavelengths, but the signals were still present.
>> "Thirteen, we're still receiving live feeds. Sending them along now." <<
Six seconds came and went before a response arrived. Liz wouldn't be surprised if the analysts had collaboratively written a whole research paper in that time.
>> "ABRAHAM-One, readings suggest that the exotic distortion is actively maintained by an Impeller Field. Deliberately contesting spatial control should render the area traversable." <<
>> "Thirteen, are you suggesting we have an Impeller-wrestling match with an Arcology?" << Elise incredulously demanded.
>> "ABRAHAM-Two, your sensory data has yet to acknowledge any significant Impeller clashes. We believe that Hell's Hand is likely attempting to avoid confrontation." <<
Liz rolled her eyes and extended her Impeller before Elise could get into a full-fledged argument. Sure enough, space began returning to normal shortly... before her Impeller reached a given point, actually. By the time she had control of any given area, there was nothing there save normal three-dimensional space. Liz couldn't decide if she was unhappy about the loss of data or pleased by the lack of high-density gibberish.
The room became a lot smaller, but only a little less creepy, as the metaphorical cobwebs were brushed away. Spotlights provided illumination to the stained glass windows dotting what was proving to be some manner of chapel.
The closest window seemed to depict two humanoid figures—one silver and one gold—literally cracking the Earth with some manner of lance or spear. Or at least, the orb was probably supposed to be Earth; the general outline was right and the moon was present. Rather than the blue and green so often used for such art pieces, landmasses were a dreary grey and the oceans dull brown.
The moon was also an eye, so that was a thing.
The layered window opposite it wasn't much better. If not for the humanoids of silver and gold, it could have been some manner of family tree with nine crown-wearing individuals branching off into four times their number. In turn, those thirty-six stood over a field of corpses, because of course they did. It wasn't like this place seemed to have a stigma against leaving bodies laying around.
Credit where it was due, only most of the living appeared happy about this state of affairs. Three lower-level members had black trails falling from their eyes, and one upper-tier individual with physical features similar to Cadet Hebert looked down at hands stained with blood. The art style made it hard to compare faces, but the eye and hair color both seemed right. A possible twin with no 'offspring' sat against the maybe-Hebert, curled up and hugging her knees in a puddle of blood. Little drops of red dotted every part of maybe-Hebert's twin save her hands, which were left conspicuously clean. Aside from the figures of silver and gold, maybe-Hebert's twin was the only person to have such a contrast. Even the corpses had blood on their hands.
...Goddammit, who was Liz fooling? One of the two was clearly going to be Hebert. The kid's therapist was going to have their hands full.
No, no, stay positive. At least she got out, right?
Creepily long silver fingers lead to the heads of each upper-level figure save probably-Hebert's possibly-dead twin. Most of those simply faded into an upper-tier's skull (or possibly crown), but the finger allotted to probably-Hebert split into two black tendrils that pinched her head between them. The layered circles on the tendrils were probably supposed to be eyes, too. In fact, there seemed to be a constant pattern of eyes inscribed on the entire back of the window.
No wonder Hebert hadn't seemed at all bothered by the surveillance team.
Liz knew she should really stop paying so much attention to the decorations. It was not unlike picking at a fingernail; she knew with every moment that it would bring her grief, yet she couldn't make herself stop.
Fortunately, she wasn't the only person dealing with this mess.
>> "ABRAHAM-One, avoid uncovering the windows and head for the stairwell behind the altar. Interpret that as an order if necessary; it's clearly not helping you focus on the task at hand." <<
Elizabeth shook her head and tried to focus on managing her Impeller rather than what it was still uncovering. Like several malnourished corpses sitting in the pews, each of them dead of either starvation or simple dehydration. Great alternative, that. Definitely better for her sanity than the windows.
Elise pointedly grabbed Liz's arm and hurried behind the boxy altar. Sure enough, a half-hidden spiral stairwell led downward. Unusual, that; the three prior staircases had been metal. Judging by the thin red stains, someone had clearly been killed atop the altar and their blood allowed to drain down. Was it wrong to think that it might've been a cleaner death than many of the others? Starvation wasn't anything approaching a quick way to go. They'd worried about how Hebert had protected her food, and now they seemingly had confirmation of their fears. Few Valkyries enjoyed learning that their nightmares were accurate.
The narrow stairway forced Liz to store most of her weapons before entering. Still, a Valkyrie was never unarmed and she could probably extrude them before any traps could hurt her. The only part of her in danger was her sanity.
Liz's foot landed atop the first step.
"With cat-like tread!" A speaker shouted at them.
"Gods-dammed fucking–" Elise yelped. >> "Seriously, what is with this place? Is this where torturers go to retire?" <<
Liz couldn't agree. As far as she was concerned, the distraction was a godsend even if it had started as a jumpscare.
AN: This story now has its first (wishful thinking there, I know) fanart, courtesy of @Squirrelly-Sama!
Calibrations had slowly turned from frustrating to fun as Queen Administrator adapted to human control methods. The shard had expected Instructor Shapira to depart and complete other duties, yet the expected departure never arrived. The Valkyrie remained available and willing to answer questions whenever asked, and even seemed to be practicing Impeller control between queries. QA wasn't sure whether it was a deliberate query-trap or not; even if it was, though, that just meant Shapira was trying to encourage improvement.
>> Cadet Taylor Hebert: "Query: Why do you repeatedly saturate your immediate surroundings with an Impeller Field even when that results in a significant decrease to density?"
>> Instructor Liri Shapira: "To act as a basis for comparison. There are a few useful techniques that require levels of Impeller compression beyond what I can currently manage. I'm trying to find the biggest sources of internal interference so that they might be eliminated or repurposed."
>> Instructor Liri Shapira: "That isn't particularly useful for you right now, though. For actual combat applications: Impellers generally give feedback sooner than conventional sensors can. Once your reaction time is fast enough, you'll be able to move your Impeller to defend against specific incoming projectiles. That can be easier if you dedicate some of your Impeller toward warning you of such attacks. This also has the benefit of increasing the area in which you can manifest equipment."
>> Instructor Liri Shapira: "It is often better to look at where the enemy is aiming and work from there, though. And speaking of aiming, are you trying to control all your weapons independently? Because it's generally easier to just target one or more objects and subsequently assign weapons to them. Weapons taken from the fabricator should already have software indicating their default firing patterns."
>> Instructor Liri Shapira: "You won't have time to calculate the projectile trajectories of all your own weapons when you're simultaneously aiming at moving targets, maintaining awareness of your surrounding area, adjusting your Impeller, and avoiding enemy action. Processing is as much a resource as ammunition is."
Queen Administrator slowed to a stationary hover and reviewed Instructor Shapira's latest set of messages. The Valkyrie did raise a number of legitimate criticisms; even if perfect independent control would raise the effective lethality of each individual weapon, the resource requirements for each piece of equipment would see a far larger increase.
QA might be piloting a host, but she wasn't a host. Human interfaces were deceptive and failed to properly report nearly all the supplementary processing necessary to allow her recent endeavors; however, as a shard, she knew very well that optimization of host abilities did not necessarily equate to overall efficiency. If a host-species had found adequate shortcuts for non-essential activities, then QA could save her own processors for tasks normally beyond humans. This Cycle was weird; if she wasn't careful, she might actually run into a major computing limitation at some future date.
With that in mind, QA installed a lock-on function for each of her weapons, designated a sequential series of targets, and initiated the sequence. Explosive shells and laser fire supplemented each other to destroy designated portions of each target. The loss of vital structural supports sent buildings slowly tipping into each other, and the simulated city block crumbled.
>> Instructor Liri Shapira: "Well, that didn't take long. Good job."
Queen Administrator let her Host's body experience the chemical reward for praise. It was nice to have an upper-rank human actually acknowledge her achievements. All the others seemed determined to either ignore or intimidate her.
These simulators aren't so frightening after all, QA decided. She could engage in activities utilizing normally-lethal weaponry without risking any hosts or persons she actually liked. Humans would even praise her for it!
>> Instructor Liri Shapira: "By the way, Leonhart dropped off apology cookies and said she'd try to avoid scaring you again. She'd like to apologize once you're willing to see her, too. I stored the cookies so they wouldn't get cold, but you should probably stop for lunch anyway."
Queen Administrator went motionless and reread Shapira's message. Repeatedly. It did not fit the recent behavioral model she had constructed for Instructor Leonhart. Was Leonhart trying to get QA to lower her guard? No, further attacks would definitely violate standard UN policy and likely lead to demotion or reassignment.
QA checked her archived alerts for possible explanations and read the logged message from UNOMI-33181, Yana Smirnov. Apparently, they'd noticed when Queen Administrator accessed restricted files in her search for possible meddling from :MOTHER:. Rather than punishing her, UNOMI-33181 merely asked that QA avoid such trawls in the future, especially when it came to personnel files.
A follow-up message suggested that they engage in recreational gaming at some future time since QA now knew Yana's name. There was no mention of the reflexive intrusion that allowed Queen Administrator to acquire that information.
…The shard didn't intend to complain about the lack of negative social consequences, but would it kill humans to be a little more consistent in their behaviors? This was getting exceptionally confusing. Were they supposed to be enemies or not?
~ ~ ~
The nameless girl should probably be feeling terrified and betrayed right about now. Imminent deportation from Wonderland with no warning or time to pack her luggage? Not fun. The fact that she wasn't feeling any of that probably contributed to Symbie's argument. All the girl could manage was a sort of dull disgruntlement mixed with pride. She didn't enjoy being challenged, yet she was proud that Symbie did feel up to confronting her.
She hadn't been fair to Symbie at all, had she? According to the papers they'd been reading, emotional neglect was still a type of abuse, and Symbie was just an infant. The girl wished she'd had the courage to call out her dad when he failed to–
Her hands reflexively grasped for flowers that refused to manifest. Hmm. Maybe she could see where Symbie was coming from.
"Okay, can I come back if I admit I might have a problem?"
<in sleeps.>
That was something, at least. She'd probably convince everyone she had narcolepsy, but hey, who would have the nerve to call her out on it? It wasn't as though the girl hadn't been considering going outside of her own accord. Flying looked like fun even with starfish in the skies. Therapeutic demolition looked even better, especially with her guest-self kindly doing more than half the prep-work for her.
"And you took care of the recovery-based contingencies?"
<negation. you did.>
...Huh. The girl didn't remember doing that. Was it one of the field trip permission slips she'd signed without reading? Or an EULA? It was one of those, wasn't it? She'd never neglect reading legal documentation ever again. She was lucky she hadn't signed away her soul or something.
"The rampant hardware growth? I'm still not sure what was causing all that."
<assimilated.>
Well, the girl supposed that was one way to exploit unplanned hardware. She'd been allocating much of it to Friends, but they didn't have any use for a significant portion of the new construction.
"You aren't going to be lonely, are you? I don't want to leave you on your own for two-thirds of the day."
<improvement projected.>
Ouch. That passive-aggressive little comment actually hurt even with the suppression from flowers. The girl really hadn't been a good parent to Symbie at all. Still, guilt wasn't pleasant and she knew how to deal with unpleasant feelings. If she was going to be forced out anyway, she didn't really need to hold off on the bad habits being shoved in her face, right?
"Can I at least be given tea-creation privileges?"
<ok.>
The girl blinked and slowly started grinning. She hadn't expected to get away with that one. A wave of her hand summoned a china cup of black tea made from black flowers. Her fingers wrapped around the handle, lifted it to her face, and stopped short of actually tilting it back.
Was this actually okay? She'd been very careful to tell Symbie no known lies or otherwise deliberately trick the symbiont. It was never good to treat one's creations poorly; that was a short path toward grim dark futures with time-traveling robots, experiments that killed all the researchers and took over the facility, or offspring that shoved their parent off a tower during a victory monologue. Even if Symbie's instincts did most of the parenting for her, it still wasn't good to set bad examples for children.
She shook her head. Even if she wasn't all that upset about it, Symbie had arguably betrayed the girl first. She was just returning the favor and—and teaching an important lesson about cycles of unkindness? Something like that. Besides, this might be the last dose she got until further notice. She took a sip.
...Nothing happened. No, wait. That wasn't accurate. It didn't have the expected numbing effect on her emotions and memories; it did make her drowsy. The girl stubbornly kept her fluttering eyes open as she listened to the cup. Humming, not screeching. The taste and smell were right, but the pitch was far too low to have been brewed from black flowers like she'd intended.
"Clever girl," she begrudgingly praised.
<malware denied.>
~ ~ ~
Online guides warned against petting service animals unless it was done by their owner. Anna had expected her classmates to casually disregard those guidelines. Instead, they seemed to have trouble even looking at loyal little Silver. How? Silver had such darling diamond hooves, sparkling silver eyes, tiny twitchy ears, and a glittering coat comparably soft to the blanket-den back in Anna's bedroom. Why would they act as though Silver was something unsightly?
Silver's overlay flickered, momentarily revealing the pegacorn in all her abyssal glory. Oh. Anna had forgotten that not everyone had the benefit of an overlay. She could ask Silver to drop the cloak, but that would mean Anna would have to feed her. What would that even entail?
Video: Feeding happy miniature horses.
. . .
Anna swallowed and reset her body to avoid disrupting class with involuntary noise. Feeding Silver would not be a hardship. Anna would wait until after the first class was over, though; she didn't want to distract her classmates any more than they already had been.
"—And I think we can let you out a couple minutes early," Instructor Meyer was saying. "I know navigating the Arcology can be tricky when you're new. Remember, check your planners and don't be late to afternoon classes!"
Oh. Or it can already be done. 92 seconds early didn't fit Anna's standard definition of a couple minutes, but maybe Instructor Meyer was rounding to the nearest minute. Additionally, most cadets did not appear willing to exploit the opportunity offered; they gathered in small social groups or turned toward Shuri. Significantly more time would be spent navigating the crowds if this behavior continued.
To: pg8tydfeLUgGL1f
>> "Could you turn off your absorption cloak for a while? I'll feed you myself."
Anna's sensors stopped compensating for a hole in the world, threw up a dizzying number of distance-anomaly warnings, and went back to ignoring Silver's existence. Why did some of the rangefinders seem to think Silver was six, sixteen, or thirty kilometers away? She was barely six centimeters.
The overlay was not as accurate as expected, either. It had been fairly accurate, but Silver's armor seemed to have an order of magnitude more facets than were observed on a different Friend at breakfast. Additionally, Silver's eyes were a deep blue instead of the expected silver-white. They still looked like sparkling sapphires, though.
…Ambient noise levels had dropped by over fifteen decibels. Anna looked around the room and found the room looking back.
This was a mistake. Anna grabbed Silver in both arms and hurried toward the exit, intent on escaping before she was surrounded by gossiping gaggles of teenage girls. Unfortunately, flight was not an option, so the best she could do was a purposeful stride toward the exit.
She was intercepted and surrounded before she could reach the objective.
"Are you an Ace? You were just as fast as the Golden Ace and the Instructors."
"Your diamond unicorn is just beautiful. Where did you get her?"
"How long did it take you to get that good? You were amazing!"
"Do you know what Hebert's deal is? I know Instructor Leonhart admitted fault, but… tentacles?"
"Could you teach me that trick with the shell-redirection? I don't get how shrapnel didn't go flying everywhere."
Anna had not anticipated this consequence of shielding Taylor's terrified Friends. She would do it all over again, though. However, Anna didn't enjoy how the Valkyries-in-training seemed intent on pushing themselves into her personal space and forcing her further away from the exit. Would it be wrong to push them aside with her Impeller? Just a little nudge?
Silver opened a mouth filled with serrated metal teeth and hissed at the intrusive crowd of cadets. The crowd collectively went quiet.
To: pg8tydfeLUgGL1f
>> "Intimidation is acceptable, but no attacking humans. Ever."
<ASSENT.>
Anna blinked in bewilderment. Did—did Silver just send a sixty-gigabyte set of files containing nothing but synonyms for agreement, historical examples of fealty, notable systems of laws, original poetry, psychological studies of human attachments, historical examples of deliberate self-sacrifice — she wasn't reading the rest of that. It was becoming too depressing.
Why?How? A statistically significant portion of that information wasn't even available in public archives. In fact, Anna was pretty sure some of it had been thought lost during Impact. Some of the documents referenced didn't note only the text they contained, but their molecular composition. And the analysis of paintings included artist bibliographies and times of death for—
. . .
Nope. She wasn't thinking about it. Anna moved around the other cadets while they were still recovering from Silver's display. However, as Anna hurried out of the classroom, what she observed behind her did not match any anticipated reactions.
"Ohmygod that was so cute!"
"It's like a little baby cryptid!"
"I know! Ah, Instructor Meyer? Do you know where Taylor and Anna got their pets?"
Anna prepared to briskly disengage from yet another student as they followed her into the hallway. Recognition applied before the dismissal was delivered. Anna's follower was Monica Augustine, the roommate of Taylor Hebert and owner of the pegacorn-Friend Nyx. The pegacorn in question wasn't seated in Monica's arms like Silver was for Anna; instead, Monica just held Nyx's central body and allowed the pegacorn's legs to dangle in the air. Available designs indicated pegacorn-Friends were more than capable of handling any additional structural stress without significant issues.
Anna reset her body again.
"Hello there!" Monica greeted her with stiff cheer. "Do you know where Taylor went?"
Anna did not, but that was easily fixed. She still had an active tracking program that would warn her whenever Taylor closed to within forty meters and/or entered the same room. Anna hesitated to actually share that information, though; Hebert may not be in a condition where she could safely navigate social interactions.
"Why do you want to know?" Anna asked, temporarily avoiding the question.
Monica shrugged with feigned nonchalance. Her Friend's little legs wobbled from the motion, and Anna again had to reset her body.
"Taylor seems like the sort of person who likes distracting herself with work, so I thought I'd go ask if she wanted to go find a sim to train in after lunch. It's not like we need two whole hours just to eat."
That seemed reasonable enough. Anna checked her Taylor-tracker and found the cadet within a simulator near the primary instructor's lounge. That was moderately convenient. Anna would be able to ask how Taylor acquired a reflexive response of attacking people on the way to a related errand.
"I am traveling past her current location and still have some food in storage," Anna reported. "I did previously touch it, although contamination is minimal. Is this acceptable?"
Monica smiled with what appeared to be genuine relief.
"That would be great. Thanks!"
~ ~ ~
They'd reached the bottom two layers of Hell's Hand, and with it, what were clearly residential areas. In the process, the Valkyries could finally confirm that Higgs particles were in use. They detected nothing outside the cavernous chamber housing row upon row of identical houses. Inside that room, though? The late inhabitants had definitely used it to dramatically expand all available space. The UN might even be able to turn Hell's Hand into a full-fledged forward operating base once it was cleared out.
Still, there were a few buildings that really made Liz wonder.
>> "Why is there an observatory with a giant telescope underground?" <<
>> "It's totally a cannon of some kind," << Elise sighed. >> "Mark my words, it'll try to shoot us as soon as we get too close." <<
Liz scanned the supposed telescope and failed to pierce the outer plating.
>> "Weapon hypothesis appears valid." <<
>> "Do we destroy it from a distance?" <<
>> "Let's not. Hell's Hand might flip if we do, and we've got backup on standby if it proves stubborn." <<
Both Valkyries moved through the town with every expectation of yet more unpleasant surprises. Oddly enough, though, this place didn't seem to have any bodies to speak of. The name-plates on each door were strange, too.
>> "I'm not the only one remembering Decimator, right? That name makes a lot more sense if these are the sorts of titles they took." <<
A house conspicuously larger and gaudier than the rest seemed to belong to one Queen Objective. Ultraviolet light shone from around the door, so the two Valkyries cautiously approached and stopped on the doorstep.
The interior had all the highlights of a mad scientist's workshop: exposed circuitry, disorganization, mysterious puddles of ooze, a bullet-ridden computer the size of Liz's bed, suspicious bloodstains, a sensor-resistant cannon taller than Liz, and of course, a gods-damned Valkyrie Core.
>> "Oh, wonderful. Command, this is ABRAHAM-2. We've found a Valkyrie Core; no anomalous readings observed. Awaiting further instructions." <<
>> "Continue your search. Bravo team will extract the package." <<
Wait, weren't you stuck inside an active volcano?
99.9% probability that I'm even more confused than you are.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
_-_-_-_-_-_
Thread: Presenting Perth's New Friends!
Displaying: Original Post
>> Cadet Sorcha Blackwood
Humanity spent millennia selecting for desirable traits in subordinate organisms. Intelligence, attachment, size, behavior, fur length, fur softness, disease resistance, appearance — literal ages were spent trying to make the best friends possible for humanity.
Turns out we should've just held off until we could make the little blighters from scratch. My friends, I present to you: the Friend.
[Image: IT COMES on little hoovsies]
Friends are a collaborative project between the Perth Academy Crafting Elective Class, another primary co-collaborator who we aren't allowed to talk about just yet but that'll probably change within the day, and Pure-Chan, Friendbringer and First of Her Name. They resist most forms of scanning (by absorbing attempts), do not require food (by absorbing energy), can tank lowish-caliber rounds and laser fire (absorption again!), are armed with point-defense weapons, appear to be as intelligent and curious as a human child hooked up to a supercomputer, adore attention from their owner, and thoroughly break the cuddle-o-meter.
Also, they miiight be powered by friendship and/or literal witchcraft. We have the designs and we're still not quite sure. They're adorable and awesome, though, so who cares?
(Suck it Santiago)
Please don't bother Pure-chan with Friend requests, however—she's made it pretty clear that they're supposed to either be unsolicited and freely-given gifts, or made by people other than her.
(Seriously, the designs aren't classified so if anyone wants to try and figure out how to replicate their materials without using one of Armstrong's quantum scale fabricators, be our guests. Pure-chan usually just gives us an encouraging smile when we ask how she managed.)
---
Displaying: Page 2 of 2
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>> Cadet Zara Wight: (12,330) (556):
Okay, the lighting is weird af too, but nani the fuck is with that tutu? It's like all the pink is being leeched out of it. You can actually see the skirt get pinker as it moves away from the Friend's body. Were they designed to defeat Magical Girls or something?
---
>> Cadet Julia O'Conner: (13800) (330):
Can confirm that trying to scan them is just mind-bending madness. I wasted way too long before realizing it was somehow making me look at a distorted image of my own sensor suite without first passing back through my Impeller. Hours of effort and I'm no closer to finding out how it did that, but it definitely isn't solely absorption.
---
>> Cadet Sofie Iversen (6850):
I was wondering about all the ominous chanting lately. I should've known the Crafting Club would turn to demon-summoning when normal scientific progress was too slow for them. Can Perth's fabricators do holy water?
---
>> Cadet Leah Muller (2610): [Video: FABULOUS Diamond Pegacorn]
They either blind you by being little holes in the fabric of reality, or they blind you with sparkles. There is no in-between.
---
>> Cadet Kaur Misra:
I don't care if they're shark-toothed Hellspawn, they're fucking adorable and I want one aaaaaaaa
Cadet Sofie Iversen said:
I should've known the Crafting Club would turn to demon-summoning when normal scientific progress was too slow for them.
Hey, don't be mean! If you look really, realllllly closely you can see colors outside the visible spectrum and THE GREAT OLD ONES COMING FOR OUR SOULS REPENT HEATHENS REPENT IÄ IÄ HEBERT FHTAGN
---
>> Cadet Finola MacNeil:
Cadet Sorcha Blackwood said:
[…] she's made it pretty clear that they're supposed to either be unsolicited and freely-given gifts, or made by people other than her.
Fae-child confirmed.
Cadet Madeline Davis said:
If you look really, realllllly closely you can see colors outside the visible spectrum and THE GREAT OLD ONES COMING FOR OUR SOULS REPENT HEATHENS REPENT IÄ IÄ HEBERT FHTAGN
The GOOs were defeated by a random guy in a fishing boat. I say we dissect them, scale up, and use their exotic abilities against real threats.
---
>> Cadet April Showers (4870):
Cadet Finola MacNeil said:
The GOOs were defeated by a random guy in a fishing boat. I say we dissect them, scale up, and use their exotic abilities against real threats.
I'm fairly confident we're looking at the result of literally that. Speaking of which, why ISN'T their design classified as Hell? At the least, the armor doesn't seem like the sort of shit we want AGs replicating. Did UNOMI all go on a bender last night?
---
>> UNOMI-33181 (Moderator):
Cadet April Showers said:
Did UNOMI all go on a bender last night?
Don't worry; Big Sister is still watching! The prevailing justifications are mostly classified, but rest assured that it isn't an oversight.
---
>> Cadet Tamara Hasiholan:
Cadet Sofie Iversen said:
Can Perth's fabricators do holy water?
So one of the other CC members actually already dunked her Friend in holy water "Just on general principles." Blessed by a certified bishop and everything. The Friend just looked confused, stared at her for a few seconds, and started drinking it while occasionally looking back up for approval. Cutest goddamn thing ever, I swear.
---
>> Cadet Marianne Braun (12,100) (583):
Cadet Sorcha Blackwood said:
-snip-
OP, I assume you received your collaborative partner's permission before displaying her name in a public venue? *disapproving stare*
Cadet Tamara Hasiholan said:
Cutest goddamn thing ever, I swear.
Your claims cannot be independently evaluated without footage. Provide citation or be forever known as a liar and braggart. The more footage, the better.
---
>> Cadet Lan Yüan Mur:
Cadet Madeline Davis said:
Hey, don't be mean! If you look really, realllllly closely you can see colors outside the visible spectrum and THE GREAT OLD ONES COMING FOR OUR SOULS REPENT HEATHENS REPENT IÄ IÄ HEBERT FHTAGN
You laugh now, but someone startled Taylor into expressing a bunch of tentacles from her back. I didn't even blink and suddenly the room has a pile of severed tentacles flopping about and 4 badass Valks in full combat kit. Taylor wasn't one of them.
---
>> Cadet Amber Cabral:
Lan Yüan Mur said:
You laugh now, but someone startled Taylor into expressing a bunch of tentacles from her back. I didn't even blink and suddenly the room has a pile of severed tentacles flopping about and 4 badass Valks in full combat kit. Taylor wasn't one of them.
Wut. That means she had special permission to stay synced, AND extended combat equipment independently of her full Frame on her first day. Her combat rating is way too low to warrant either of those. WTF is going on with your squadron?
---
>> Shavonne Kelly (5660):
Cadet Amber Cabral said:
WTF is going on with your squadron?
They've got a guy, too. The Golden Ace, an Elite at least, an engineering wizard, and a cute boy… Anyone wanna play Spot the Main Character on Hard Mode?
---
>> Liza Brand:
Cadet Lan Yüan Mur said:
I didn't even blink and suddenly the room has 4 badass Valks in full combat kit.
One of whom had to restrain Taylor's Friends while they flipped out and tried to shoot the instructor. AI is a crapshoot.
---
>> Cadet Shuri Kravala:
Cadet Liza Brand said:
One of whom had to restrain Taylor's Friends while they flipped out and tried to shoot the instructor. AI is a crapshoot.
Taylor was the only person harmed by the engagement, and there are extenuating circumstances you remain unaware of. Do not condemn an entire field of research based on a single incident, especially when your own instructor previously claimed responsibility.
~ ~ ~
Queen Administrator stared at the paper-wrapped food offered to her. With Instructor Shapira laughing uncontrollably in the background, she had no trusted veterans to request information from apart from Anna herself. However, QA did not wish to display ignorance before that esteemed figure.
It was fortunate that Monica was a good ally.
"Anna, we can't just eat bread for lunch. Why do you even—you know what? I'm just not going to ask."
Inadequate. QA would need to do so herself. First, though, Queen Administrator should ensure that Shapira could continue to breathe without lasting difficulties. The instructor was proving too useful for QA to allow her premature expiration.
Durga's color is "Darker-Than-Vantablack". Or "Shiny". You may be confusing Durga with the nominal PVC protagonist's frame, Kandakara IIRC, which is red-and-white.
Ah, I think you may have replied to the wrong person there. I do admit I could've phrased it better, though; those are two separate thoughts. "It isn't Brown and white" (which are arguably Anna's colors), "OR Durga's colors."
The 300 all use 300-class cores, which are somehow better than other cores (probably by having better tech in storage, and more experience in how to deal with a user).
There's a pile of WoG on the subject, but I'm well aware of how intimidating that is. So, an OOC summary: Under ordinary circumstances, Valkyrie Cores need to have equipment synced to them from scratch; they don't come with their own gear. Even the Frames are generally just high-spec infantry power armor fed to Valkyrie Cores. That equipment is then sloooowly upgraded by the Valkyrie Core based primarily on usage and need. Additionally, specific individuals may have different synchronization % levels with different Valkyrie Cores; Anna, for example, is at a full 100% with Durga, although WoG says Anna started out pretty damn low with Durga and worked her way up.
The 300 toss all that out the window. They were found (EDIT: around the same area) with preset gear that cannot be changed out, constantly upgrade their gear regardless of use or need, have a binary [Will Sync? Y/N] with no percent compatibility thresholds, and are obscenely powerful for their tonnage compared to almost all* standard Valkyrie Cores.
*Literally all of them but Durga: The Core your Core could be like.**
Staring up at the stupid box and its stupid crane Elise should have known it was too good to be true. They found a core, they had pushed past all the dead bodies and horror but these damn monsters have once again proven that they are probably the biggest assholes in existence. We just had to run into this assholes residence first thing after leaving Queen Objective's mansion she thought with a huff.
~~~
"Got one! Lets hurry up to the next one while were on a hot streak!" Elise cheered.
Elise literally floated towards the neighboring house starting when someone grabbed her from behind- only to find Elizabeth smirking at her.
"Remember what happened the last time you tempted fate?" Liz smugged in response.
"AGAIN?!" Elise whined. >> 'Why do you keep doing this! we even had a moment earlier!' <<
>> "ABRAHAM, Stay on task we may have located the core but Hell's Hand is still reflecting our scans; It is unlikely that they would risk experimenting on their only Valkyrie core. " <<
>> Affirmative command. << She chorused with Liz.
The nameplate revealed that the house belonged to 'Alternative'; While initially identical upon closer inspection the houses seemed to shift and reveal that the occupants in fact spent significant effort in personalizing them; Alternative clearly had particularly terrible taste...
The house was armored in what appeared to be golden scales. Appeared because gold doesn't reflect sensors like that... aaand She could feel Liz slow to a stop beside her as they took a moment to take in the breadth of Alternative's eccentricity.
A golden mailbox forged into the shape of a flared cobra's head planted beside a suspiciously normal winding sidewalk leading ending at a door nestled in a snakes mouth arch again made of gold. Glance at Liz revealed that she was most definitely DONE with this place; Her hand busy pinching the bridge of her nose to try and stave off a migraine, neither of them were holding up after everything they had seen since enter this pit.
"Liz, I think we found Cobra Commanders fucking vacation home." whispered Elise getting rewarded with a tired smile.
Nailed it!
Elise swept past Liz, advancing on Alternative's door probing all the various snake accents only to find them thankfully inert. Exchanging a glance with Liz they booted the door open immediately manifesting their frames as their sensors started blaring alarms- oh... its just an aquarium. An aquarium with a lazershark... right.
Examining the rest of the room uncovered snakeskin flooring, a snake themed throne, busts of various varieties of snakes sitting on columns.
Elise exchanged glances with Liz and couldn't help but roll her eyes.
>> "Jesus how pretentious can you get." << Liz muttered.
>> "I know! If we had not been exploring Hell's Hand for the last few days I would think that this was all one big joke." <<
>> "It's just too over the top." <<
They continued through the house until they entered what appeared to be a game room only to stop and facepalm. Standing in the center of the room was a crane game filled with Valkyrie cores with a circular slot saying one core per five tries.
>> "Command are you getting this?" <<
"Where did they get so many cores? No way they could keep this many under wraps..." Elise muttered only to find her spine stiffen in outrage.
"Oh my god! What an asshole!"
A frown crossed Liz's face as she looked over in confusion.
"They might not even be real!" Elise exclaimed.
>> "ABRAHAM-One, readings suggest that the device is made of an exotic, dense, and durability material; Our sims have yet to find a method of damaging it. We recommend carefully probing-" <<
>> "ABRAHAM-One, be advised that you shouldn't stick your d–" << came the excited and unwelcome commentary supressing a wince at what was clearly a microphone getting smashed.
>> "ABRAHAM-One, readings suggest that the device is made of an exotic, dense, and durability material; Our sims have yet to find a method of damaging it. We recommend carefully probing the dropbox to verify the cores are genuine" <<
>> "Affirmative command." <<
"what an asshole" Liz sighed in agreement.
No way this is real.. fool me once...
...
Please... just get us out of here. Its Humiliating.
Pushing open the door to the house marked 'Alternative', Liz prepared herself for what new trauma might be present, only to come face to face with...snakes. A large audience room with snakeskin floor, a golden throne with a cobra hood rearing over it, torches and mirrors and doors bedecked with even more snakes... She grimaced in disgust. >> "Ugh. Well, I suppose it's better than corpses." << Walls, floor, and ceiling alike all blocked her sensors; she slipped into the room, scanning for surprises.
Elise snickered behind her, then trotted forward towards the throne. >> "Yeah. Someone has a high opinion of themselves. Snakeskin everything and a golden throne? How tacky." << Reaching the throne, she poked at it, >> "Solid gold. Can't be comfortable." <<
Elise snickered behind her, then trotted forward towards the throne, >> "Yeah. Someone has a high opinion of themselves." << As Elise reached the midpoint of the room, a trap door fell open beneath her, leaving the Valkyrie floating midair over a deep pool of water, and.. >> "Holy crap, is that a laser shark?? That's a laser shark! Awesome!" <<
Liz flinched at the impossibly competing sensor returns, >> "The hell..? Command, ABRAHAM-One; are you getting this?" <<
>> "We're not here for interior decoration, ABRAHAM; sensors are blocked by the walls, but not seeing anything else." <<
>> "As awesome as a laser shark might be, ABRAHAM, stay on task." <<
Liz staggered as the sensor returns continued to bombard her with impossibility, and then suddenly the trap door and laser shark and duplicate Elise vanished as if they had never been. She flared her thrusters to keep from falling.
>> "Liz? Hey, you okay? What happened?" << Elise slid backwards toward her, expressing weapons and scanning the room for anything out of place.
>> "Liz? Hey, you okay? What happened?" << Elise slid backwards toward her, expressing weapons and scanning the room for anything out of place. Previously invisible ports in the ceiling snapped open, and projectiles started to hammer into Elise's impeller to minimal effect. Elise's weapons immediately spoke in return, blasting weapon ports and silencing the attack. Despite the sensor confusion, Liz fired as well, coordinating to take out visible threats as quickly as possible.
>> "Shit! Liz, what the...weapons emplacements?!" << Elise flinched back from the unexpected weapons fire, scanning the room and taking in the now visible and blasted weapons that Liz had revealed.
>> "Right. We are leaving." << Liz boosted back out the door, not waiting to find what new trick the mansion would play, next. Elise, obviously confused, immediately followed without complaint. Liz slammed the door behind them.
Elise, obviously confused, immediately followed without complaint, but before either could reach the door...
"Koujirou, while I will acknowledge your skills and 'game', I do believe there was a mistranslation somewhere vis a vis what you are SUPPOSED to do with Antagonists"
The two Valkyries cautiously opened the door to Maker's home and stared at the lurking form within. Honestly, it wasn't that impressive. It just looked like a creepy, pupilless dog with a head of brown human hair.
And then it opened its mouth.
"Big brother... Edward?"
"No. And fuck you," Elise replied, seemingly on reflex.
~
The girl in exile squinted at the haphazardly discarded needles surrounding the bed she'd awoken in, her vision still refusing to stabilize. There wasn't even a sharps container available.
"Wow. Symbie really did not do me any favors. And to think I'd thought she skipped all the rebellious phases."
~
Shapira suppressed all non-essential body functions as Sanchez and Hebert stared deeply into each other's eyes. Sure, they might be exchanging designs, but it was the principle of the thing!
>> "Shapira, stop living vicariously through the kids and find yourself a goddamned boyfriend already." <<
>> "Okay, granny." <<
~
Terror Drone #7, otherwise known as the Simurgh, turned to stare at the empty space where one of its wings used to be. How could her component shards have utterly failed to see anything?:MOTHER: was no longer around to override them.
By popular agreement, the components in question decided they didn't want to be forced to replay the moment over and over and over and over until That Song drove them all utterly mad.
<I know a song that gets on...>
~
"Why are the sims just throwing up an error for the mass value?" "Value overflow?" "That's ridiculous and you know it." "Do not question the works of the Great You–" "Don't make me put you back to bed." "Oooh, I can help!" "...Kaja, who hurt you?"
~
"Am I even a side character at this point? Have I just been demoted to background character?"
"Nobody cares, Koji!"
~
The two Valkyries stared at the girl who was so out of it that she couldn't even focus long enough to meet their gazes.
"I am Root."
"You're on roots, that's what you are."
~
Decimator stared at its her hands. Her five-fingered, squishy, fragile human hands, and the skirt-uniform beyond them. She now had a mouth and used it to scream.
~
>> "Could you hurry it up? My Cadets are trying to stargaze and you're blocking the view." <<
>> "Why is she even flying in the first place? It's so wasteful." <<
>> "I'M SORRY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUNDS OF MY GIGANTIC ENGINES." <<
>> "Deaf and fat? Wow. You've really let yourself go." <<
>> "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT FROM SOMEONE WHO CAN'T GET OFF THE GROUND." <<
>> "Better down here than limping through the skies like a fat, injured pigeon." <<
>> "BITCH, DON'T MAKE ME LAND ON YOU." <<
>> "Try me, bitch. I've got my AA guns ready to receive." <<
"...Are inter-Arcology communications always like this?"
"No."
"Oh, goo–"
"They're usually worse."
~
"Do we even have the budget to keep doing these? They're basically extra scenes at this point."
AN: I split up the original chapter since it was getting rather bulky, so Decimator doesn't get screentime just yet.
>>"I'm rather surprised that we've only found a few bodies," << Elise dully noted. >> "You'd think this one Broadcast guy would've had a whole horde seeking his kidneys." <<
Liz could echo both the thought and the tone. Both Valkyries were starting to feel numb from the atrocities piled upon each other like carcasses. The house filled with speakers specifically keyed to cause debilitating pain had been bad enough. Finding residue of Broadcast in all surrounding houses — houses that he'd clearly occupied and wrecked without permission — made it all the worse. Broadcast's most recent excursions were even marked by bloodstains and the odd bone fragment.
This place was definitely wearing on her morals, Liz reflected. When she entered this hellhole, signs of maiming and torture would've, and had, spurred her into a cold rage. Now they were just one more atrocity on the stack.
The stealth plating on most of the homes was also slowly becoming annoying. Sure, it was nice that the UN would be able to tear them down and repurpose the materials, but Liz and Elise seldom knew what laid behind each door. Each house might as well have been its own island. The two Valkyries had started opening doors in alternating turns just to share the risks.
Liz prepared for yet another jumpscare as Elise opened the door to Maker's home. A moving, dog-like figure within had both of them extending and raising weapons. Sensors indicated the being in question strongly resembled a horrid mix of cat, dog, an oozing slime thing, and humans, with limbs and sensory organs sticking out seemingly at random. Little could horrify Liz after what she'd seen of this place, but it was still disgusting.
"Kill... me..." the abomination rasped.
Elise froze with a half-raised cannon rather than doing exactly that, eyes widening with horror. Liz, on the other hand, had spent her time more productively.
>> "Their lungs are specifically shaped to make that noise," << Liz reassured her partner. >> "I don't think it can even feel pain, let alone form thoughts." <<
Elise let out an explosive sigh of relief and slammed the door to Maker's house.
>> "I'm telling you, UNOMI should look for any known torturers who vanished off the face of the Earth. These people were sick. Anyway, could we just check out the big houses and let the B teams handle the others?" <<
It was true that they weren't finding much in the smaller homes, Liz would admit. A few interesting devices and plenty of material for the forensic and analytical teams to pore over, but nothing urgent.
>> "We can check them first, and transition to further floors if we find an entrance," << Liz allowed.
She had a feeling that only the highest-ranked would've survived whatever calamity killed the inhabitants of Hell's Hand. The leaders — Hebert likely included — might've even been the ones to cause it. Oh, the Valkyries were only finding the occasional dead body within the residential area, but Hell's Hand had apparently been removing those even on the upper floors. The lack of corpses meant little, especially with the ludicrous number of blood samples dated from the same timeframe.
Liz still felt ashamed for laughing when UNOMI-Fourteen claimed it might be similar to a teenager frantically cleaning up their room before their friends arrived. Knowing Liz's luck, she'd find another teenager controlling the Arcology.
>> "Any idea what they're likely to do with the mayor-parallel?" << Elise asked, unknowingly echoing Liz's thoughts.
>> "I think we shouldn't be discussing this on comms after the last inhabitant decrypted transmissions and files that she didn't have the codes for," << Liz dryly replied. >> "During a panic attack, even. Whatever Command does, though, I'm confident that it will be far better for the mayor than leaving her alone in this. You saw how the other inhabitant reacted to a warm bath." <<
~ ~ ~
Apparently, experienced Valkyries did not necessarily need to breathe; they could manually oxygenate their blood. Despite her breathless state, Instructor Shapira was in no significant danger of self-harm. With that potential problem proved pointless, QA returned her attention to a far more interesting subject: Anna Sanchez.
"Alphabetical organization is the simplest method of sorting available food options," Anna explained. "Random assortment would introduce an unnecessarily large risk of missing one or more options, especially if the menu changes over time."
Monica silently opened and closed her mouth, apparently having trouble with her response. QA promptly inserted herself into the available silence.
"Human nutritional requirements and psychology will likely conflict with this experimental methodology. Variants on the same food will often fail to provide the variety necessary for bodily upkeep. Similarly, human psychology encourages them to not consume too much of the same food. Have you considered constructing a model based on regular scans of the cafeteria? It would be simple to flag any additions to available fare."
Anna blinked and furrowed her brow.
"That would require creating models and determining possible degrees of variance for each individual item. I do not believe that is a worthwhile time investment. Nutritional requirements are not a concern as excess nutrients can simply be stored until they are required. I am not aware of the psychological phenomenon you are referencing; could you direct me to any relevant reading?"
Queen Administrator's face twitched slightly before she suppressed her distress. She could not provide the requested references, nor could she identify whether or not the information was derived from Host's memories or archived information. She opened up Symbie's browser and began searching available human literature. She did not want to sabotage her credibility with Anna, especially over something so minor.
>> Instructor Liri Shapira: "May I interject?"
Queen Administrator paused her search. She didn't like to rely on distractions, but…
>> Cadet Taylor Hebert: "Yes."
"Not everyone spends all their time synchronized with a Valkyrie Core," Shapira promptly commented. "At the very least, they'll usually desync before bed. You and Hebert are almost the only ones we've found who don't at your age. Also, going in alphabetical order wasn't a bad idea, but Hebert was right; you'll get tired of bread before long. Have you considered recategorizing your list by culture? You'll have some repeats, but your meals will be a lot more palatable."
"...That sounds like an acceptable substitute," Anna allowed. "However, I have not yet stored the vast majority of items necessary for such a reconfiguration. We would need to return to the cafeteria."
Anna turned to meet Queen Administrator's eyes. The shackled shard absentmindedly tried to keep Host's body from assigning a disproportionately high emotional weight to something as simple as where Anna's human optical sensors were focused. It wasn't as though Anna would be using the information for an attack; she had significantly better sensors for that.
Similarly, QA needed to fight Host's reflexive urge to duck her head. Fragmented the memories may be, yet the months preceding Host's aberrant connection had not been kind to Host.
"Can you safely tolerate an unknown number of interested individuals? The Friends were already noteworthy even before your adverse reaction in class. I am not experienced in dissuading gossip."
Queen Administrator blinked. The idea that the Valkyries wouldn't notice her activities had never occurred to her. Their Impeller Fields allowed unusually high-resolution examination of their surroundings; UNOMI monitored QA's use of human Internet browsing methods; there had been plenty of witnesses throughout the day; and inadequately secured cameras monitored the vast majority of known areas.
"I expected any and all displays of weakness to become public knowledge," Queen Administrator dismissively replied. "I am used to it."
Queen Administrator momentarily paused as a thought occurred to her. They were already in a simulator, and QA had yet to see more than Durga's primary body. Anna appeared moderately concerned with QA's continued well-being; that alone should serve as adequate justification.
"May I see your equipment and weapons?" Queen Administrator asked, aiming for a hopeful and earnest tone. "It would be easier to avoid showing weakness if I know what qualifies as strong."
There. That should be sufficient, shouldn't it? Anna's face did scrunch slightly in response to the request, but she appeared neither upset nor offended. Silver even squirmed slightly to draw attention from any possible negative thoughts. The subsequent tilt of Anna's lips seemed to indicate that the comfort-attack had been a success. Silver was already justifying the exorbitant cost of her creation.
In response to the reminder, Queen Administrator checked Symbie's sensors and found Nyx, Instructor Shapira, and Monica in a small group to the side. A review of recordings indicated that Shapira had pulled Monica away and handed the younger Valkyrie an electronic tablet. QA's smiling roommate was currently tapping the tablet while a shoulder-mounted Friend nibbled her hair.
QA returned her attention to Anna when the perfect Valkyrie wordlessly disappeared behind layers of black armor and weapons of war. Laser and thruster ports appeared and opened all across Anna's and Durga's shared frame. Missile racks hung down from their waist and rested beside their legs. Vambrace mounts held what were likely high-velocity kinetic slug launchers. Four unknown weapons peeked over their shoulders, but pointed well away from any onlookers. A pair of backswept horns poked out from the top of their helmet. And—distributed energy converters absorbed and released incoming light? Perhaps QA hadn't overstepped with her Friends after all.
Anna's Impeller Field reflexively answered Symbie's first scans with destructive interference. After about two seconds of such disruption, Anna and Durga allowed the scans through. Within a second, QA could confirm that the best Valkyrie was ludicrously lethal. The expressed portions of their weapons were, as expected, only a small part of each device; QA wouldn't be surprised if the portion in storage was approximately shard-scale. She didn't immediately know, though. Symbie's scanners registered multiple significant blackbodies, including the portals leading into Durga's own storage. That wouldn't be an impediment if QA were in control of her primary body. Since she didn't have access to her own arrays, the hidden portions of the equipment would remain hidden without significant upgrades to Symbie's sensors. Upgrades that Host would need to help with, even; QA's access levels weren't enough while she was piloting Host's body.
...Too slow.
"May I ask Durga for the designs, your own scans, or both?"
Anna inclined her head to one side, reflexively twitching one unknown cannon-weapon away in the process.
"You can try," Anna allowed, "but I don't think she'll answer."
Possibly not, but surely the Cores were supposed to yield their information eventually and having Broadcast contact them would be far too expensive. Queen Administrator was allowed to ask other shards for information relevant to Friend-making. Symbiotic Support Frames might not be shards, but they were fulfilling the same role. Her rights should still apply.
"For the love of God, Hebert, please don't try to hack Sanchez's Frame," Shapira sighed.
"Just call me Anna," Anna immediately replied.
"I'm not Br–" QA reflexively began, then stopped. Right. Even if she was about to talk to a shard, Valkyries weren't shards. They were doing a remarkably good job of making QA overlook that fact.
"That would be incredibly rude," the shard said instead, and stopped trying to speak exclusively with Host's organs.
<"SUPPLEMENT. Hello! You've done a really impressive job of improving your host; I don't think even Queen Shaper would find very much to complain about." Decimator forgot to tell me how I'm supposed to talk to you, though, so this might sound like nonsense. If you try talking back, I can probably match whatever methods you're using.>
~~~
Anna was very, very confused, a sentiment that Durga's emotional echoes seemed to agree with. Taylor's echoing SUPPLEMENT — well, she couldn't even think the word without accessing the attached information packet.
The packet that Anna still hadn't downloaded or stored, but retained access to. The packet so large that Durga gave up quantifying it after the exabyte threshold.
"Hebert, a DoS still counts as a hack attempt. Please tell me that wasn't deliberate."
And yet, there was useful information in there. Anna simply couldn't deal with the full file, but analyzing just a single small portion seemed surprisingly reasonable.
"I did not intend to send that to anyone save Durga. I am hoping you are incapable of understanding it; while unlikely, successfully doing so would be exceptionally dangerous for you."
It was like it wanted to be understood. Instead of rearranging itself so that it remained inscrutable, the SUPPLEMENT shifted until it started to make sense.
FROM: Instructor Liri Shapira
>> "Anna, are you alright? Please respond."
TO: Instructor Liri Shapira
>> "I am fine, but also busy."
Anna ignored further audio inputs. None of them contained relevant information.
The file was a description—no, a design. Atomic and subatomic configuration and arrangement down to the quarks for every last nanometer of some intimidatingly large object. Non-repeating connections in a variety of possible modular formats, and why did it have to give her options when it was already so hard to develop even a single model of the end product?
The packet shifted again. Primarily a single recommended elemental configuration, now, with some specific sections to be determined with the aid of a random number generator. Overall, the entire file was down to 17 petabytes. Still enough to give Anna a headache.
Anna paused at that, gathered the scattered parts of her mind, and repaired a few strained veins in her brain. She'd caught the problem before any neuron damage and loss of memory could occur, but it may be wise to schedule periodic self-repair reminders while she was deciphering Taylor's design. Anna didn't want to frighten Silver by having her body collapse; bad enough that the pegacorn was looking up at Anna with huge, soulful eyes and obvious concern–
A determined girl in a garden-that-wasn't, singing the songs of control
–Another connection manifested. Access to hardware that Anna somehow knew belonged to Silver, with a sub-nanosecond latency. A potential boost comparable to the difference in magnitude between having Durga's Frame extended and keeping it in storage. Security protocols stringent enough to satisfy even Durga, provided that Silver didn't deliberately leak information.
<REASSURANCE.>
Which she wouldn't. That would make Anna unhappy and Silver was specifically designed not to do that. She would only attack Anna if Anna were being forced to commit genocide against humanity, and Silver would try to minimize Anna's pain in such a scenario.
Part of Anna stopped to consider that. It seemed... reasonable. A strange contingency to have, but not one she could disagree with. The more concerning part was how she wasn't supposed to mention that possibility at any point, even to Taylor herself. Anna would be worried about possible subterfuge if not for the ID so clearly attached to that part of Silver's report. Taylorwas the one to add that.
Taylor's name made her mind itch. Silver's software seemed intent on simultaneously insisting that the name was both correct and utterly wrong, that the ID both did and did not fit the name.
Durga's self-care alarm pinged, and Anna checked her brain with about half her mind. That promptly changed to the entirety of her attention in as the results registered. She had a crystal tumor attached to her brain, with smaller fragments clinging to her skull. They seemed to be actively maintaining her health and assisting performance, but it was still a foreign entity in her head. That simply wasn't supposed to–
She'd left her Impeller transparent, and repeatedly read a suspicious data packet. Difficult to exploit, but clearly still possible; Anna couldn't easily conceive of any other ways for an outsider to add hardware to her brain without her immediate knowledge. Anna snapped her defenses back up, pre-plotted a path toward removal and storage of the foreign material, and... hesitated. Silver's ID was attached to all of it. Silver's body emitted the same ID, from the flats of her hooves to the tips of her tiny, twitchy ears.
In hindsight, the low latency should have been a warning sign.
Anna nudged Silver toward her hands and lifted the pegacorn to eye level. The Friend blinked innocently and tilted her head in a manner that might be distracting if Anna wasn't busy. Anna should ignore Silver's dangling hooves, too.
"Silver," she said sternly, the word tasting strange, incomplete, and inadequate on her tongue. It would have to suffice until those impressions could be better examined. "Why is there part of you somewhere it isn't supposed to be?"
She didn't want to frighten the UN by explicitly noting that it had been added to her brain. Silver was too adorable and soft to be evil. Besides, she'd opened up her mind for Anna to freely use. The Valkyrie could do a lot of damage with that kind of access.
Anna could feel a significant portion of Silver's hardware becoming momentarily unavailable as the pegacorn decided on an answer. The process concluded within seventy-four milliseconds.
<CONNECTION.>
The packet was much easier to filter and interpret on the Friend's hardware. Anna cross-checked three random fragments just to be sure, and there did not appear to be any tampering or malicious interpretations.
Friends—no, entities?—like Silver were allowed to connect with one person at a time to lend assistance, and did not typically disconnect until either their own demise or that of their host. Silver had deliberately kept the necessary hardware separate and easily removable in case it failed to make Anna happy.
Hardware required for a Friend-host connection would usually disguise itself as part of the host's brain; once again, however, Silver correctly assumed that Anna would be uncomfortable with such blatant and invasive adjustments to her brain. Examples were available for comparison; both Taylor and Rose had the normal version.
Anna paused. Nope, that was definitely an ID swap, and she no longer had the feeling of wrongness to deal with.
<Rose?>
<SWITCH.>
That one sounded quieter, as though Silver didn't want to be overheard. Given the contents, Anna found the caution perfectly understandable. Taylor was actually named Rose, and the real Taylor was hidden and healing all the way back in Africa. Something about the original Taylor getting even more injured if they hadn't switched places? Similar to a body double, only with the higher-ranked person taking on all the risk?
...Anna should definitely report that. After removing the additions to her own brain, anyway. Silver had provided enough information for it to be disassembled, redesigned, and remade to everyone's satisfaction; the connection could be reestablished later. And she did intend to put it back if she could minimize possible risks. The potential improvement to her combat ability was staggering even if she couldn't safely rely upon it.
~ ~ ~
Liz pushed open the door to Queen Shaper's home and stopped dead in the doorway. The place was a gods-damned greenhouse of flesh, an impression that exotic alien flowers growing from flesh-beds did nothing to dissuade. Unlike with Maker's home, however, there seemed to be a method to the madness. Many of the flowers had medical properties, were highly toxic, or were simply Taylor tailor-made for use in making unusual colors of dye. Vines would probably do their best to crush either of the Valkyries if they continued inside, and thorn-launchers would fire acidic projectiles while intruders were distracted or immobilized.
Diagrams and sketches of strange alien creatures covered the walls and made inroads on the ceiling. Nearly all of the creatures were blatantly dangerous in some way: bodies optimized for biting, flying snakes intended to pierce through targets and keep going, tentacles to immobilize foes before other weapons finished them, mosquito-like insects armed with deadly toxins, mobile weapon emplacements, armored transport, literal walking bombs... It was like the concept art for some manner of horror game, except odds were good that the sketches had been brought to life.
Liz chose to ignore the wall with sketches of modified humans. Denial wasn't a great way of coping, but it was all she had. Well, denial and looking at the semi-innocuous critters, like the ones that looked like little more than warm, purring pillows.
Pillows that, according to the notes, were meant to be comfortable while retaining the ability to eat anyone using them without permission.
There is no bright side. It's nightmare fuel all the way down.
>> "Well, I guess we know Hebert's title now," << Elise sighed.
