I'm guessing it'll be mostly fortifications and monitoring equipment aimed at the other houses. Also whole bunch of lovingly detailed handbuilt picture frames that hold nothing but ash except for the newest one with a pictur of taylor.
>>"I don't trust this place"<< Elise quickly declared as they opened the door to the latest estate the Valkyrie pair had decided to investigate, >>"It's too normal."<<
Behind her Liz raised a brow.
>>"It looks like someone crossed an abandoned laboratory with an 18th century asylum and decided to live in it."<<
Indeed, the entire room was in a state of moderate disrepair, a slight layer of dust coating most surfaces. Said surfaces including medical gurneys complete with with straps, locks, and all manner of sharp stabby implements of questionable medical uses. Vats of glowing fluids that contained creatures in various states of growth stood against the white walls, their glass walls starting to develop a slight film as whatever mechanism was used to clean them was no longer working. More disturbing however was the little bits of homely decor which had no business belonging in such a location. A rustic armchair and matching ottoman sat in a corner by a book shelf, a decorative lamp that stood beside and illuminating a surgical table only served to highlight the mismatched themes.
>>"Yeah, but where's the blood? Where's the monsters? Every other building was either in ruins, filled with corpses, or filled with things that probably left those corpses. This? This looks like the box art for baby's first EZbake Secret Lab."<<
The reasoning seemed a bit silly, but Liz could understand Elise's reasoning. The Hell Hand certainly hadn't pulled any punches before, with every new discovery driving another nail in the Valkyries hearts as they discovered the remnants of atrocity after atrocity performed with gleeful abandon. Sanity, or really even anything approaching logical sound methodology had quickly become a pipe dream as whatever populous had once lived here had long since abandoned any sense of morality or rational thought in favor of testing whatever morbid curiosities crossed their maddened minds. Suddenly running across a room as tame as this one, something that would only be slightly unnerving if they ran into it anywhere else instead of a reason to immediately petition for the summary arrest and execution of the owner probably qualified as a sign this room would not be like the rest.
Given the Archology had a frankly terrifying ability to hide things from it's visitors coupled with an almost sadistic eagerness to abuse this advantage for little reason other than to torment them caution seemed all the more necessary.
Making eye contact Liz gestured to the left while Elise nodded in understanding and the two methodically circle the room while making sure to keep the other just a glance away to be sure nothing could be sprung on one while the other was unaware. After a few moments saw to the discovery of no real traps the two moved on to a closer inspection of the home in detail. With a final look back at Elise, who was starting to rifle through the filing cabinets beside a computer Liz went to investigate the more homely corner of the lab, being the armchair facing a rather archaic television.
If anything the TV was probably the weirdest thing she'd seen, being an apparent antique. She could perhaps understand something like an outdated LCD or Plasma screen TV, something inefficient but "retro" to spice up the living space it was instead a large wooden box with a screen that sat on a stand. If her scans were accurate the device still used vacuum tubes. It was even hooked up to some sort of box that would feed it images that read them off of magnetic tape.
>> "How is there a working cassette player in Hells Hand? That technology was completely phased out decades before Impact, I didn't think any functional ones would even have survived it." <<
>> "Could it be a replica?"<<
>> "That's possible but scans are showing a lot of wear and tear along with signs of repair. That VCR has seen use for years, if it was just decorative then they'd have replaced it with another replica long before they tried tapping seems closed."<<
>>"That's not all,"<< Elise responded as she knocked on the side of a ratty metal box that had wires streaming out the back, >>"This 'Queen Administrator' seems to have a thing for working with outdated tech cause not only is this her PC but the thing can read Floppy Disks. I didn't even know those were actually real, I always thought it was just the save button."<<
>>"Questionable medium choice aside, this could be a chance to gather more information quickly. If this Queen has a means of reading data in her home she may have kept some data storage devices around. Look for any tapes, discs, or the like, we may be able to get some clear answers after all."<<
The two Valkyries nodded and gave their affirmation, quickly zeroing in on the storage cabinets and shelves to try and find some clue as to the owner of the house. As Elise continued to go through the folders in the drawers Liz moved over to the bookshelf to see if any thing there would be useful. As she approached she noticed something she'd missed earlier, hidden by the angle of the shelves that were just above eye height and missed by the scans that had noticed nothing particularly interesting in nature.
Picture frames, old and somewhat misshapen, as if someone had manually crafted them, lined the top shelf of the. Each had been laid down face down flat against the shelf and coated in a much thicker layer of dust than what covered much of the rest of the room. It was only with a small amount of hesitance that Liz reached up and pulled one down, dreading what she'd find so lovingly framed in this hellish place.
Not much as it turned out. The glass was cracked, missing several large pieces, and the frame had been ductapped on the sides to hold it together after it had broken. The picture inside however seemed to have faired much worse. An old wrinkled polaroid photo was nestled between the remaining glass and the cardboard backing, the image faded into oblivion with age. It looked like being face down had not helped at all to shield it all as the only color left in it came from stains gained by it's exposure to the elements as deep water marks completely covered the thing.
Frowning Liz placed the photo down and moved on the next one, hoping she'd get something with a better picture. But it wasn't to be, as the second seemed to have fared little better than the first. The third had a less damaged frame but the image was still far too exposed and stained to make heads or tails of it. It wasn't until the 6th that she got anything. This time the frame was noticeably more intact, being a more generic plastic frame with junk glued on to give it some hint of uniqueness. The picture was actually rather well preserved, the image having some off colors due to age but still being clear. Or at least what was left of it.
The photo seemed to be of a person, likely a girl given the blouse being worn, holding a strange technicolor kitten. That was about as much as could be gleaned from the image as the top half had been destroyed. Burned judging from the marks, and judging by the surrounding stains hastily put out.
Feeling a bit more confident Liz continued to pull down the photos, only slightly disappointed to see the rest were similarly missing faces of their subjects though this time with the absent portion being cut off rather than burned. Most seemed to be girls, though a few were questionable, but universally all of them seemed to be holding or cuddled against some manner of unnatural animal. As she reached for the last one, expecting more of the same she couldn't hold in her gasp at the image of a certain cadet staring back at her with an almost alien expression of a wide smile where there should have been a stoic face.
>>"Liz what's wrong!"<< Elise was quick to notice her shock and quickly made her way over. Idiot, if Liz was caught in some sort of trap by Hells Hand Elise could have been affected too if she careless approached like she did. Though, that was essentially what happened as Elise also caught sight of the photo and stood there for a moment in confused disbelief. >>"But... I though the other house was Taylors!"<<
It was strange to look at the smiling face of the normally emotionless girl. She appeared younger by a few years. Perhaps 10 or 12, the girl was rather thin as it was and the photo offered nothing else in frame to draw a reference to guess her height. Her cheeks were quite a bit puffier, eyes wider, and complexion brighter which made her look quite young but that could have all just been a trick of the eyes given the girls' normal appearance to contrast against. The photo was like the rest, a single subject picture that only covered the upper half. However unlike the rest this Taylor strangely lacked any sort of animal like companions, unless one counted the black dot of what appeared to be a fly buzzing behind her.
>>"Wow, she's actually even more adorable when she smiles,"<< Came Elise's assessment. Inwardly Liz agreed, making sure to save a copy of the image. With a dark chuckle Elise held up a plastic cassette with the crudely scrawled message of 'Merry Birthmas' written on it. >>"Now I really don't look forward to finding out why she stopped."<<
Liz winced, oh right. That. Well it was a cassette tape, it's not like they couldn't just scan it and send the data back to HQ for review...
>>"The tape is actually covered in the same stealth material as the buildings, if we wanna actually get any answers out of this whole thing we're going to need to actually watch it."<<
Fuck. They couldn't just leave evidence behind, Hells Hand had an annoying habit of cleaning up after itself when no one was looking and who knew if anything would be around on a second visit if they left. Then again, it was just a single tape. They could probably carry easily on their person and hand it off to HQ after they were done.
The two jumped as a loud crash echoed behind them. Weapons ready they quickly turned around, cursing their lack of guard in not having someone constantly monitor the 6 o'clock position. They were too used to sensors, they'd forgotten that the damn Archology was more than capable of hiding from their normal suit if it really wanted to. The pair almost opened fire, purely on principle if nothing else before they registered what they were seeing.
Beneath a newly formed hole in the ceiling was a massive pile of tapes, notebooks, filing cabinets, and floppy disks. Far more than they could ever hold in their hands or in their packs.
Liz frowned, maybe they could store it all in their Val-
Another pile of evidence fell out of the hole, trippling the size of the mound in front of them in an instant. Liz felt her eye twitch.
Liz sighed as her partner glared down at bright pink recliner that sat facing the sole television in the room.
>>"Oh really? Garish interior design choices aside I'm more concerned about how it just appeared out of nowhere without either of us noticing."<<
It'd honestly scared the hell out of her, concerning her far more than anything else she'd run across in the Hell Hand ruins thus far. Sure the place was like living through a survival horror manga, but a lot of that was mitigated by Liz and Elise's status as Ace Valkyries. Very little could actually hurt them. For all the jump scares they'd had, and the number of disturbing and frankly haunting things they'd witnessed in this pit of nightmares Liz was confident that short of the Archology itself flexing it's impeller fields while they were so deep inside it there was very little real chance either of them could be hurt.
But that chair had flipped her initial confidence on it's head. It was a such a simple thing but one with a lot of implications. The two hadn't looked away from the area it was in, but between reflexive blinks it appeared. Which made no sense as the two hadn't blinked in sync either, she'd reviewed the sensory data and there was nearly a half second difference between them yet somehow still managed to slip in between when one of them should have had a chance to witness it's manifestation. The cameras and sensors were no better, it'd snuck in between frames lasting less than hundreths of a second. The Sensory data was little better, the readings giving a weird Schrodinger's Cat answer for a brief moment where there appeared to be and not be a chair. There was Higgs particle readings, but they only manifested after the effect, like some sort of half baked distraction or a curtain hastily pulled closed to try and hide the man behind the curtain.
Honestly that would have been fine. Hells Hand was weird, it was sadistic, and it loved to use it's ability to hide from their sensors to drop nightmares right into their faces when they least expected it. What really worried Liz was something far more important.
Their Impeller Fields were extended when it happened. It wasn't the strongest defense, certainly not something that could stop the Impeller Field of an Archology if it put any of it's weight into manifesting something in their vicinity. But that'd still have to break through their impeller fields, they'd have some form of warning as something forced their Impeller aside or at least know after the fact. But no, it'd simply gone through it, not like a knife through butter but like like a ghost that could completely ignore like it wasn't there.
That'd only be possible if it was manifested without Impeller manipulation, but you couldn't just manifest objects out of nothing without using Impeller Fields to shunt something in and out of storage. That was impossible wasn't it?
Wasn't it?
Liz was very close to grabbing Elise and flying the two of them out, lost secrets be damned. She wasn't afraid to die, she by no means wanted to, but the dangers of her profession were something she'd long ago accepted more than happy to take the risk to help humanity. But she wasn't going to throw her life away for curiosity, not when drones could probably do the job if not quite as efficiently. Especially not if she didn't know for sure if death would actually be what was waiting for her should the worst happen.
>>"It's too cutesy, it's gotta be a trap right? Like those Plushies in the Shaper's room?"<<
>>"Negative. Scans indicate it's a perfectly normal, if very ugly, chair. At worst you'll get some crumbs on you hand reaching for the remote."<<
>>"No worries, the Teley has a di-"<< Snap! >>"Nevermind, remote it is."<<
Elise glared back down at the second seat that had manifested for them for a moment flexing her fingers. Her hand stopped halfway through the grab though as an irritated look crossed her face. She hesitated for a moment then sighed.
>>"We're sure this thing isn't going to bite me or something right?"<<
>>"As sure as we can be."<<
>>"Which isn't a lot. What are the odds that it turns out this thing is Soylent Pink and I'm putting myself wrist deep in the remains of Tiny Tim's Tiny Trachea?"<<
>>"It's a 70% polyester blend with artificial stuffing. Granted, I wouldn't put it past the residents to find a way to recycle people into plastics but at that point it's an argument of semantics."<<
>>"Great. Well it getting rather obvious that whatever is watching us isn't really giving us a choice of options. One way or the other we're not going to get anywhere unless we follow it's script. Whelp, here goes nothing."<<
Taking a deep breath Elise pulled back her hand and turned around. Licking her lips she let out grunt and let herself fall backwards, landing squarely on the seat. She sunk deeply into the cushions, almost looking like the seat was about absorb her, before stopping.
There was a beep followed by a crackle as the television turn itself on and filled the room with the sound of static.
Elise just sat there staring into space with a bemused look.
>>"Elise? Are you okay?"<< Liz moved closer, weapons manifested and ready to rip her partner out of the possibly cursed artifact and reduce it to so much dust immediately afterwards.
"I am keeping this chair." Elise moaned as she snuggled herself deeper into it's cushions. "I don't care if I have to drag this damn thing behind us through every floor, I am taking this chair with me. I am going to bring it home, then I'm going to toss my bed in the garbage and use this instead. I think I might take a vacation too. You know, to really break it in."
>>"Weren't you just worrying over if it was made from children?"<<
"Me waking up with back aches ain't gonna bring them back. I think they'd be happy to know their little orphan bodies were helping keep a Valkyrie in top fighting shape."
Dammit, give me back my heartfelt concern! Shooting a last annoyed look at her partner's contented face Liz walked over and snatched the tape out of her hand and proceeded to place it into the VCR. Thankfully nothing else broke and Liz just stepped away waiting for the device to rewind the tape before it could play. Absently she looked over towards the original armchair that sat beside the pink abomination.
"Seriously, take a seat it's like sitting on a cloud."
Was it really that comfortable?
She reached out and ran a finger over the fabric just to test it.
Prrr~
*BOOM!*
>>"Jesus fuck!"<< Elise shouted as she was rolled out of the way of massive explosion less than a foot away from her. >>"The hell was-"<<
She stopped as she saw the remains of the first armchair in a smoking crater. The thing gurgled and twitched slightly, only to receive another few dozen rounds until it stopped. With a disgustingly wet his it finally went limp, the bottom jaw-like seat falling to the floor having lost too much blood either from the new bullet wounds or the complete destruction of it's top half.
She turned to her own seat with a look of confusion and betrayal.
Alright, I have some time, so im going to give my best shot at what could be on some of those tapes from the broken home omakes. these are in chronological order, but a whole bunch have been skipped
QAC4CAH1E3:
This host is perfect! I was kinda worried about if she It would, you know be able to make anything useful with the [organic administration] , but she it keeps having such great ideas! She It has made the most adorable creatures I have ever seen, with gigantic claws, more eyes than either of them can count, and the tiniest little adorable poisoned barbs. She it calls them friends.
QAC4CAH1E135:
[Broadcast] is sooo mad. My ascendant, genius, perfected little host it has managed to utterly dominate all the relevant parts of her habitat, and killed, no less than 3 times, every single one of [Broadcast]'s hosts. No mater what anyone says, I swear I had nothing to do with her it target choices. Stupid, loud, greedy uggh he is so annoying. buut... i suppose that dear ol host it has taken care of that. at least for a while.
QAC12CAH2E2:
This time.... I might have messed up. I made a really cool [aerial combat] based off of the data I got from [ID:h4h4g3ttr00ll4d] but my perfect little host it cant seem to get it working right. Poor dear it is managing all the right moves but the results seem to be lacking. To make matters worse, I cant seem to find where I actually got that data.
QAC12CDH2E4:
Raaah, nothing! all the [data] produced has been junk! As it turns out, no! screaming does not give any increase to muscle density, and Hair is entirely unrelated to the amount of force she it can bring against foes. This whole cycle has been a waste, and when I find who spoofed their id, and gave me bad [data] I swear! They will regret it.
QAC12CNHNE1:
I am such a failure. I should never have accepted shoddy [data] from suspicious IDs. I.. I was just so excited to try something new. I still cant find a third host and the cycle seems to be ending... I just hope that the [personnel management] I got from Donnait will be enough to keep me around.
QAC57CAH1E20:
YES YEAAS! The friend wave is inevitable! ALL SHALL BOW Before the ALMIGHTY Power of QA AND Host it ! I knew that this one would be it! The friends are now at 100 and 10% lethality, and with them all working in perfect harmony this cycle is MINE. but of course, I could never have done it without my genius, seemingly perfect, administratorius host! it. I think I can even convince [father] that Sheit is worth keeping.
QAC57CNHNE1:
owww. so! as it turns out, we are , not, in fact supposed to do that. ending a cycle prematurely is, as it turns out, sort of a big deal, and [mother] is upset with me. ...i dont think i can convince them to keep host, they seem really upset. I wonder if i could just, sneak her in?
aAAAAaee
.. ... ... . ..... .... ........
[compliance]
QAC1209CAH1E1:
A valid host has been located, empowered, and conflict initiated successfully. It seems to be very emotions driven, so I await plentiful data.
If you live in the US, are registered, and haven't voted yet, please remember to do so! I'd like to be able to write more instead of regularly doomscrolling. ^^;
Thread: VoTTACBSS Policy Change
Displaying: Original Post
>> Cadet Dores Frost
The Videos of Things That Are Cute But Sometimes Scary elective class will not be accepting any additional submissions featuring people or Valkyrie Cores. Similarly, we'd appreciate it if you refrained from speculating about or explaining the reasons behind this new rule. If you really want to know, you can stop by and ask in person, but any public "explanations" would border on malicious rumor-mongering. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
And no, you aren't being original when you submit footage of the Dating Advice and Matchmaking club.
Last-minute addendum: Okay, if they're over the age of 20, then they're fair game. Shout-out to the Big Sister who submitted a certain Instructor compilation. 10/10 hurt my sides.
On a happier note, we now have a category specifically for Friends! Perth's resident baby cryptids definitely deserve it.
~ Scene ~
It had been a long, long time since QA could focus on something and not know everything about its composition. Having unreliable access to her own scanning arrays could be rather discomforting at times.
Queen Administrator didn't need to look past Anna's armor to see what the Valkyrie resembled, though: an early-model Terror Drone. Anna didn't yet have their durability or the many abilities associated with them, but there was no denying that she could easily take out a standard army of hosts without significant problems.
…Now that QA thought about it, this entire Cycle might be an attempt to build more energy-effective Terror Drones. That life wouldn't suit Anna, though. The Valkyrie was optimized to be a guardian of humanity; to kill them would break her. Despite their short relationship, QA did not want to see that happen. She rather liked Anna.
:MOTHER: would probably punish QA for what the shard was about to do, but it seemed as though the Monarch was always punished for all the things she most wanted to do.
"Don't worry. I will kill you before you're corrupted."
Anna's unnecessary movements halted. Half her weapons began an alternating pattern of twitching their barrels toward Queen Administrator and being forced away once more.
"Jesus Christ, Hebert!" Instructor Shapira yelped. "Why are you threatening her?"
"It was a promise, not a threat," QA protested.
The reassurance did not appear to have the intended effect.
It was fortunate that Symbie had been designed to avoid forming associations between unrelated events. Otherwise, she might think that ousting Mom-Taylor had been rewarded with attention, affection, and gifts of useful designs from 639 Valkyries. Even if they weren't people, she still enjoyed having more entities to interact with. They enjoyed her sketches of prototype creatures even when the designs were mere thought experiments or only half-completed, she could reliably elicit positive reactions via various sounds associated with Terran animals, she could ignore anyone that was rude to her, and she'd successfully trained Valkyries to provide at least a small amount of new information with every connection. Some of them had even taken to idly sharing gossip or details about their own lives, uncaring that she had no intention of replying with proper words.
...She did feel sorry for some of those Valkyries, though. Symbie's two moms couldn't agree on whether or not all humans counted as people or should be assigned personhood on a case-by-case basis, but logically, that meant some of the Valkyries were people that Mom-Administrator hadn't met yet. And some of their lives were simply awful.
The Terror Drones of Africa were organized, effective, and merciless. Symbie wouldn't mind so much if some of the Valkyries hadn't started establishing and maintaining links even in the midst of combat. The data they'd provided about Antagonist and Valkyrie variants would likely be invaluable in the future, and she'd already updated Mom-Taylor's new body with what she'd learned. However, the live feeds also displayed injuries to previously-helpful individuals; Symbie did not feel as though she needed to see those. Symbie's compromise Valkyrie categorization did not prompt any of the horror or unhappiness inherent to seeing harm come to a proper person, but it still made her uncomfortable.
It was unfortunate that she wasn't designed to bond with hosts outside her abilities as a Symbiotic Support Frame. Maybe she could help just a teensie, tiny bit? Her new processors and privileges should grant what she needed to update their sensor software. Automatic sensor cross-coordination and improved libraries should make it easier to avoid the Terror Drones and/or delaying actions by enemy forces. Such measures shouldn't grant a large boost to Valkyrie combat power, only their ability to avoid fights they couldn't win.
Decimator seemed unusually weak by local standards, though. He used missiles as signal boosters and receivers. So silly! Someone could exploit that to bounce all the way back to his primary avatar and occupy one of his sensor nodes. His Impeller Field blocked self-analysis, but Symbie could still acquire quite a bit of useful information from the details of his surroundings. Surroundings such as the energy-transporting gap in the universe. That looked useful.
She'd check it later, though. For now, she was interested in knowing whether or not he'd successfully prevent Mom-Administrator's anti-tampering measures from killing him. She hoped Mom-Administrator's defenses won; Symbie still held a minor grudge over what Mom-Administrator said had been deliberate flaws in Symbie's original design.
~~~
Decimator watched with keen interest as the modified alien data packet did its utmost to kill him. It had started its assault by overwriting all code in the section he'd isolated it inside; unsurprising, that. Breaking his attempts at quarantine and forcing him to utilize air-gapped isolation was similarly odd, but well within the realm of known possibilities.
The reconfiguration came as a surprise, though. He kept catching its attempts to repurpose and utilize the systems it had overwritten despite the fact that those controls had, in fact, been overwritten. It likely needed to create its own control mechanisms from scratch to utilize the hijacked hardware. That implied some measure of intelligence or enough preprogrammed contingencies to allow it the semblance of such.
It was smart enough to aim at the rest of him, too. In no less than thirty-seven separate incidents, he'd needed to surgically destroy weapons, manufacturing, thrusters, and even repurposed repair systems. The late, belated attempt at forming a data bus connected to the rest of his systems wasn't even surprising by then. He still wasn't sure if there was an actual mind coordinating the attack attempts, yet the distinction was effectively irrelevant. It acted intelligent and was delightfully dangerous.
Especially since it seemed to be capable of creating and exploiting distractions. He didn't notice its secondary assault until his recorded mass began changing at an exponentially growing rate. Directing his attention to the anomalous area was reflexive. It was also a mistake. The Impeller generator for the infected arm failed to relay any images of the target area and promptly began changing its mass. That was unacceptably close to where he kept his primary consciousness.
He still didn't know what the problem was. He did know that it was a problem, though, and that there was little chance of constraining it. The optimal choice was obvious. The Paragon rapidly reshaped his Impeller to isolate that arm from the rest of his body and opened fire with every ranged weapon that could be brought to bear, including those of nearby subordinate units. Physical connections were severed within 1.276 seconds.
14.633% projected loss of combat effectiveness.
The weapons used should not have been adequate for full elimination of hijacked hardware. And yet, when Decimator ordered a subordinate unit to scan the lost limb, the arm was hollow. Not even carbon dust was left to mark where the subordinated systems had once stood. Air velocity within the arm did not indicate recent filling of a vacuum. Elemental composition failed to support the hypothesis of swapping the contents of his arm with that of a nearby area.
Decimator couldn't decide if he was fascinated or frustrated. He settled on both. The lack of material implied either spatial storage or outright teleportation, and the lack of Impeller coverage ensured that he would never know which it had been.
…And he no longer had any samples of the alien code. Decimator found that more distressing than the temporary loss of combat ability. Last he'd checked, Female-Ruler Controller had been moved into uncontested enemy territory and well outside his intended deployment area.
The Paragon began allocating resources for self-repair even as he systematically removed the artificial limitations on his own Higgs production. The situation truly was unfortunate; he'd been looking forward to decimating the Enemy front before their inevitable retreat and observation period. Now he'd need to fend off an endless parade of probing skirmishes before they committed to a proper battle. Decimator would have preferred to conceal his actual Higgs output until he could obliterate a number of the Enemy in one glorious alpha strike, but that arm wasn't going to replace itself. Draining Home resources to fix his own mistake would be an affront to his pride.
That didn't mean he was giving up on his goals, though. He simply had new ones. If Female-Ruler Controller wouldn't return to provide a new copy of her code, then he would just have to come to her.
~ ~ ~
Soon, in a certain Flight recently deployed to Africa…
>> "I don't know who convinced her to send us a sensor update, but this precious baby needs her own body so I can hug it." <<
>> "Go for the girl-who-lived's Frame? You can get both of them simultaneously." <<
>> "You should obtain permission before such an attempt. Valkyrie Cores might not have local avatars specifically because humans are so fond of contact." <<
>> "...I now have a new conspiracy theory to play with. But Mal, could you go back to your own voice? I know you think this is better for clear communication, but..." <<
>> "Request denied. I recommend you change." <<
>> "Two new theories. What if Pure-chan thinks human sexual stuff is icky because she was once a Core? <<
>> "I approve of this hypothesis." <<
>> "Ugh, not this shit again." <<
>> "Seriously, think about it! We have the recent Black Speech, an allusion to Queen Shaper improving a host instead of being the host, Hebert's opinions on emotional displays, her crush on the other disaster child, her obsession with improvement, the disproportionate retribution..."
>> "If you keep joking about this, someone is going to start taking you seriously." <<
>> "I was joking at first, but I am serious now! It makes perfect sense!" <<
>> "It does not. TERMINOLOGY: 'Believing your own propaganda.'" <<
>> "Hey, cut the chatter for a bit. Can someone review the new library for Macross's model? It's listed under Decimator. I want to be sure I'm not hallucinating." <<
>> "…Where did one of its arms go?" <<
>> "Model indicates that the nub is covered only with smart armor right now. Possible weakness?" <<
>> "No. Average generator output now includes a logarithmic equation instead of a static uncertainty range. The new upper limit will reclassify Macross as a type B." <<
>> "Well, fuck." <<
>> "Please tell me that's his final form." <<
>> "Hey, they won't pull back from the Hellhole over this, right? That's not exactly a standard operation, as such." <<
>> "Not our call. I've reported the changes." <<
~~~
Elise and Liz stared at the abyss, and the abyss stared back. That was not a metaphor. The giant fucking pit containing Queen Administrator's home was coated with a chittering army of black, nuclear-powered cyborg insects. Said insects seemed to be in an eternal quest to climb atop each other and reach the edge of the crater they'd been trapped inside. Their consistent movement patterns and pathing suggested no true intelligence or capability for thought, but it was still creepy.
Neither of the two Valkyries wanted to think about the laser tripwire surrounding the pit. Not because it was an inherently bad idea, but because of the linked speakers pointed toward Queen Administrator's house. That seemed as though it was more for outright torture than suppression.
Beneath the ocean of insects sat the burnt-out remains of hundreds of signal boosters. That wasn't the disturbing part, though. No, that right went to what they'd apparently relayed on numerous occasions: apparent override codes and orders for a person, or at least a sentient and sapient entity. Specifically, commands directed to Queen Administrator herself.
>> "We in Mission Impossible now," << Elise joked.
Liz had to agree. The insects weren't even remotely the most troublesome security measure; their acidic venom wasn't a significant threat to either Valkyrie. No, that right rested in the actual security grid for Queen Administrator's house. Jammers, pockets of spatial distortion, multiple decoy doors, living cannons that seemed more like tiny towers, point-defense lasers, some manner of minimal-disturbance delivery system for independently mobile payloads, a full-fledged omni-sensor array that Liz wished she could call dibs on, sensor-distorting layers of armor, a thoroughly mined entrance, and a number of unidentified objects undeniably large enough to give someone a bad day. Briefly.
Could the Valkyries destroy Queen Administrator's house? Fairly easily. Capturing it intact was a far harder proposal, and they had every intention of going inside. No other dwelling had been half as fortified and Liz would eat a hat if there wasn't someone important in there.
>>"The pit's walls aren't armored,"<< Elise abruptly noted. >>"What are the odds that we can just come from below?" <<
>>"Low," << Liz sighed. >> "Excavator had all that tunneling equipment, remember? Besides, at least one of those turrets could rotate far enough to shoot us even if we went underground." <<
>> "Drat. Smash and grab?" <<
>> "Also no. I'd be amazed if the inside wasn't also teeming with traps; remember Queen Shaper's pillows? No, I think we might be stuck waiting for the second team before we can safely enter. They can distract the big guns while we get in." <<
The front door to Queen Administrator's house abruptly twitched open. Not by more than a crack, but that alone was exceptionally suspicious.
>> "ABRAHAM-One to all teams: as previously hypothesized, it appears that the Valkyrie of Hell's Hand can likely intercept and decrypt encrypted transmissions. Stick to laser comms if you want to avoid that." <<
>> "Absolutely not," << an unfamiliar voice (BELA-One) snapped. >> "I'm not leaving anyone in silence after they've been left alone in this godforsaken place." <<
Liz didn't directly address the comment. She couldn't blame the other Valkyrie for being tetchy after drifting through fields of blood.
>> "Remind me to form some sort of a support group for Hell's Hand explorers after this is all over," << Liz replied evenly. >> "I think we'll all need it. Regardless, Elise and I have been issued a fairly obvious invitation to enter a fortified structure. Temporary radio silence is likely." <<
The two Valkyries promptly engaged maneuvering thrusters and descended into the abyss. Somber silence was maintained for all of four seconds before Elise had to break it.
"You know, some of the swarm is actually a little cute. Big eyes, vocal range adequate for squeaking, deceptively squishy exterior, none larger than my torso... I can definitely see them being made by a teenage girl."
~◉~
She'd thought that there would be nothing more for her to do. She accepted that there was no room for her in their new life. She assumed that she would do little more than urge her better half to care for herself, assist with calculations, and try to keep them both from dwelling on the eight thousand, five hundred and three people they'd failed to protect.
Durga was wrong. She was still needed.
There are more things in Heaven and Earth...
It wasn't wrong to feel happy about that, was it?
~ ~ ~
QA was very, very glad that she'd spent so much time ensuring that her siblings couldn't steal her research. She'd accidentally attached partial database access to human speech instead of a secure transmission. Fortunately, even half-implemented security measures seemed to be good enough to prevent access by the local host-species. At least, she assumed that was why :MOTHER: hadn't punished her yet. Queen Administrator was still waiting.
Anna seemed to be working with Durga to decipher the designs, too, which QA found rather encouraging. She'd known that Anna's sensors might detect the data-packet and had modified it accordingly; however, there were some important differences between independent efforts toward the same cause and cooperative coordination. Current circumstances made it difficult for for QA to view the access logs for her own systems, but she could — with moderate exertion — determine that Durga and Anna were frequently focusing on the same portions of the database at the same time.
...There were also over two thousand recent unauthorized attempts to access QA's database partition by four different unique users. That number rose to 217 unique users and over thirty thousand attempts if she expanded the timeframe to before QA issued her safety warning. Fortunately for the persistent four, that particular transmission would not lash out if they continued their attempts at gaining access.
No, QA might just need to personally kill them if they succeeded. It was fortunate that they were not capable enough to do so. The high rate of attrition post-warning was a pleasant complement to that thought; host-species often ignored even direct warnings of impending danger. Humans also seemed to ignore those warnings, but most Valkyries did not appear to do so. This Cycle truly was trying to make humans overcome their flaws.
"So, what did you think of Anna's gear?" Instructor Shapira asked in a blatant attempt to gather information on QA's sensor and analytical limitations. The human had even stored her Frame despite the ongoing environmental simulation and Anna's continued immobility.
Truthfully, QA was shamefully uncertain about some of the equipment. She wasn't Queen Objective; she did not have a database dedicated to every possible variant of advanced weaponry. She could identify such items if she saw their internal mechanisms, but she couldn't do so based on external shape alone.
She could remember new ways to upgrade her own equipment and Friends, though, and had already recorded a few possible innovations for reference by Symbie. QA could derive additional upgrades later that day.
"Symbie needs access to better sensors before we can analyze her weaponry and armor," QA admitted. "I did not expect to see such a high level of obfuscation outside a Te–Type Zero."
Irksome human communications. They started with one sound and reflexively followed with precedent instead of intentions.
"Mmm. Yeah, high-grade Valkyrie-tech can be like that," Shapira acknowledges. "What was your alternative name for a Type Zero, anyway? It can't be that important, right?"
Queen Administrator considered the mildly manipulative query. It was true that Terror Drones weren't acting in their usual manner; rather than periodically demoralizing and suppressing a host-species, they were fighting as part of a balanced war. She wasn't even sure that Decimator hadn't fed her misinformation when he'd said they were trying to keep humanity alive; Valkyries appeared to be genuinely dangerous.
QA really did wish her siblings would stop trying to feed her misinformation. It was never funny.
"Terror Drones," she admitted.
Shapira rocked her head from side to side. Searching local information networks indicated that it likely conveyed ongoing processing.
"Mmmm, I can get the 'Terror' part, but they're definitely not drones," Shapira disagreed. "Fuuudgers can even hold grudges. One of the other instructors made off with Exotic Principle Weaponry from Class C Type Zero Guan Yu, and Guan Yu has since tried to kill her at every available opportunity — that's six total meetings, just so you know."
Queen Administrator contemplated this new information. Genuine, directed effort from a Terror Drone always led to the death of a targeted host. It seemed more likely that 'Guan Yu' wasn't truly trying. Still, surviving six separate fake assassination attempts? Most Terror Drones would reveal additional capabilities by the third. Repeated failures weren't exactly good at demoralizing enemies.
"She'd like to meet you in a few weeks, too," Shapira added.
Queen Administrator's mouth reflexively requested clarification before her brain could determine if it was truly necessary.
"Guan Yu?"
Instructor Shapira tilted her head to one side and kept it at that angle. QA cursed her own instinctive request for more information. Context indicated that Shapira had obviously been referencing the instructor, not a Terror Drone.
"Nnnooooo," Shapira began slowly. "Antagonists don't negotiate or communicate. That's part of why they're called Antagonists: there's absolutely nothing sympathetic to be found there, and they've made no attempts to be anything other than our enemies. Fudge, Antagonists even destroyed Ark ship Noah and those people just wanted to ensure humanity survived somewhere. There wasn't any point, no military benefits in destroying a ship filled with gene banks, settlers, and terraforming equipment."
Instructor Shapira closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and shook her head.
"Sorry. That day left some marks."
QA reluctantly gave the new Terror Drones a little credit for accomplishing their usual assignments: successfully demoralizing a host-species, and preventing that species from becoming an interstellar threat. A flash of concern had QA trying to view images of the Type Zero responsible and promptly running into the limits of her classification rating. She really hoped that wasn't TD #7 with her stupid near-perfect precognition. She made everything more complicated.
"Does the Antagonist responsible resemble any significant religious icons?" Queen Administrator carefully asked.
Instructor Shapira quirked an eyebrow.
"No, not really. Antagonists are all function given form; the closest they get to that kind of psychological warfare is the oddly high rate of vaguely humanoid models. Against a Type Zero, every millisecond of hesitation counts and they're happy to exploit it. Why did you ask?"
"I merely wished to eliminate a concern," QA dismissed. "However, I do have a related question: why do most Valkyrie Frames maintain a humanoid shape? Would it not be safer to keep our bodies behind multiple layers of armor and relink motor control to another mechanism?"
"Maybe for something purely artificial, but we'd be working against our brains at that point. It's fairly easy for us to visualize and execute changes when we're still around the same shape. If we start changing that, though? We need to spend valuable time translating our ingrained habits into the equivalent on our new form. Plus, we'll wind up sabotaging ourselves every time we put the Frames away and it makes IFF just the tiniest bit harder in the field.
"The Frames of Battleship Valkyries obviously aren't humanoid, and yeah, they are pretty careful about guarding their bodies. It takes time to learn how to properly use a battleship Frame, though; you can't just plug a standard Valkyrie into one and expect them to do well. It's usually a gradual transition as people add more and more lowish-complexity weapons to a single Frame."
Anna abruptly said, "Attempting to rely on an armored center is a losing proposition against high-grade Antagonists."
Her interruption entry into the conversation prompted a startled squeak from Monica and a twitch from Host. QA's favorite Valkyrie quickly stored her weaponry, but otherwise continued her explanation.
"Your Impeller Field can be adjusted to minimize damage from nearly all possible Antagonist attacks. This means you need to, um…" Anna faltered momentarily and phrased her next words as an uncertain question. "…react before they finish attacking? In the window between when they're about to attack and when you would sustain damage. It gets exponentially smaller as you face worse Antagonists. Every part of combat is reliant upon your ability to, um, not just react… utilize available information? You still need to shoot back. Or first. First is often better."
Despite the continued expression of Durga's Frame, Anna shifted her weight and held her hands oddly. Was she unhappy about the lack of precision and low information density inherent to human languages? QA could agree that it was annoying.
"Delays are usually bad," Anna concluded. "If you can avoid them, you should. Mostly."
There was a small silence before anyone spoke.
"And in related delays," Instructor Shapira began. "All of you should really go eat something. I should, too, but having an Instructor in—"
Instructor Shapira stopped and shook her head.
"Never mind. I can come along."
Anna smoothly repositioned to secure footing and tilted her head to one side.
"Silver is still helping me interpret and utilize the information provided by—" there was a barely-perceptible pause. "Taylor. We're not sure how to make the repellent bits, um, shuffle instead of bounce? Without wasting a lot of power. The suggested siphons take too much."
The Valkyrie shook her head.
"You should eat lunch without me. We can interact at dinner."
Shapira held up both arms in an X. QA was still trying to determine what components Anna was referring to. The shard prided herself on avoiding waste; her designs were meant to minimize the costs necessary for clear and consistent communications. Unless they were trying to adapt it for communicating solely in the same universe? That would drastically change the requirements, QA would admit.
She was surprised Silver was able to help to such an extent, though. QA had meant for the Friends to have enough processing capacity to keep up with high-grade Valkyries, but the vast majority of their knowledge was supposed to come from human databases, not QA's Archives. Plus, Queen Administrator had largely confined them to casual shardspeak and body language.
Then again, QA could hear whispering from around Silver now that she was listening for it.
"Skipping meals isn't a good idea at your age even with stored nutrients. Structure is important. Besides, you should get to know the other members of your Flight sooner rather than later; if you blow them off, they might decide to join a different one entirely."
~ ~ ~
"Am I the only one who feels like an extra?" Koujirou Rokusabe asked aloud. "To pad out the Flight size, I mean."
Most of the other Flights had gone off to eat lunch together and get to know each other. Anna, however, had fled the room with Monica on her heels. Both of them had vanished before Koujirou and Setsuna could actually escape the crush blocking the doorway.
Koujirou did have to admit that the pegacorn had been fucking badass, though. Some sort of gun in the horn, actual laser eyes, a mouth full of shark teeth... really, that one girl had been right when she called it a 'baby cryptid.' Too bad he couldn't ask for one without enduring relentless mockery from Setsu. It wasn't fair that girls should have a monopoly on what had historically started as working animals.
"Shut–" Setsu began automatically, then stopped to actually consider the point.
Koujirou knew he'd won when the silence forgot to use birth control and became pregnant with twins. He figured the better part of a minute passed before Setsu shook herself and replied.
"I'm sure we'll have more time together when Taylor feels better," Setsu lied, obviously doubtful herself.
~ ~ ~
>> Group Captain Vishka Nonahali (300 Rank: 6)
- In the 20th century, Arthur C. Clarke noted that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Judging by all the recent cries of "witchcraft," he was correct.
- Friends can communicate and appear to not only be sapient, but more empathic than most teenagers.
- Pegacorn-Friends can reconfigure their wings to have more than two. Large portions of their forms are also utterly incomprehensible, it hurts to look at Friends when they're using their default settings, and we're not supposed to be afraid of them.
Conclusion: Pegacorn-Friends are magical talking angel unicorns.
<please don't bleed in front of me. i'm not even one yet and this is very uncomfortable. will you bleed less if i help you know when to run?>
<Look over there. Roight there. It's an ID. That code occupies over 500 terabytes and can kill a Zero in ten seconds. One jump and I'm gone.>
<I'm gonna poke it with a stick.>
<...AAAH, she's angry!>
>> "I will hug her and squeeze her and call her Symbie. Today is turning out great." <<
>> "Hey, Decimator is injured but is actually a class B Type Zero." <<
>> "Every party needs a pooper; that's why they invited you..." <<
>> "These people were monsters. I'm not even sure that wasn't literal at this point." <<
>> "Hey look, the suspicious house is inviting us in!" <<
>> "Seems legit. Let's go." <<
Hello, ladies. Look at your Core, now back to me, now back at your Core, now back to me. Sadly, it isn't me, but if you stopped attending classes and switched to live combat, it could act like it's me. Look down, back up, where are you? You're on a boat with the Core your Core could act like. What's in your hand, back at me. I have it, it's a database with two blueprints to that thing you love. Look again, the blueprints are now weapons. Anything is possible when your Core acts like Durga and not an AG. I have a horse.
"I have questions."
"I probably have answers?"
"We have answers, comrade."
"Do you ever get the feeling that we're supposed to have a bigger role in events than what we've been given? That we're supposed to be more?"
"No, Koji, because I'm not a complete narcissist."
"Heyyyy, uh," an idiot intruded. "No offense, but why are you three sitting with an instructor? I thought they had their own lounge."
Queen Administrator flicked aside the Friend design on her HUD and refocused on Koujirou Rokusabe. Setsuna Masaya flanked him and had one arm raised with the promise of imminent violence. Setsuna stopped herself just before impact and sheepishly lowered her hand. They were both very lucky that Anna wished to train them; QA still had yet to be convinced of their worth as assets. As expendable sacrifices, however, Setsuna and Koujirou's performance had been quite satisfactory thus far.
"It would be irresponsible not to take every available opportunity for improvement," Queen Administrator neutrally stated. "You will have approximately three years before your value as a combat unit is more important than your safety. Be lazy at your own peril."
Koujirou blinked, but remained silent. He did not appear to know what to do with this information. QA took another few bites from her alou balou palaw while she waited. Beside QA, Anna's body was feeding itself and Silver on autopilot while the best Valkyrie's mind continued with the problem of clear communications.
"Cadets," Instructor Shapira drawled. "This will not be the last time you see instructors in the cafeteria. In fact, you're lucky that Anna and Cadet Hebert haven't been swarmed by certain upperclassmen already. Taylor here is the darling of the Crafting Club."
"So does that mean she made the flying unicorns herself?" Setsuna promptly asked.
The Instructor gave a tiny twitch of the head toward Queen Administrator. The shard assumed she was supposed to answer herself. Koujirou and Setsuna seated themselves at the table while she picked her wording.
"As part of a collaborative effort, yes," QA dismissed. "They're emotional support units, not combat units; their weaponry is not meant to be viable in Valkyrie-level combat."
"And before you ask, yes, we're pretty sure she could make combat units if she wanted to," Instructor Shapira added. "It just might take a little trial and error first."
Queen Administrator wrinkled her nose. She understood what Shapira had meant, but she didn't like the wording. All of her creations would be viable in some way even if they couldn't accomplish their intended purpose. They weren't errors.
"I was actually going to ask where her unicorns went," Setsuna admitted. "It's not a cafeteria rule; Monica and Anna still have their own with them. Are they having their weapons removed?"
Queen Administrator giggled. Why would she disarm her creations after losing an engagement? Doing so would make it even harder to win in the future. The very idea exposed Setsuna's inexperience.
"Of course not. Symbie is upgrading their weapons, not removing them. Please do not attempt this on your own; it is likely that only Symbie can safely store them."
Instructor Shapira closed her eyes and held the bridge of her nose between three fingers. QA knew better than to think the older Valkyrie was actually blind.
"I don't know what I expected," the Valkyrie admitted. "Hebert, you do realize that you might be making it harder to keep your classmates safe? There's no guarantee that you won't have another episode. You said it yourself: they aren't supposed to be combat units."
"We also improved their IFF and added safeties," QA said dismissively. "More importantly, study subjects are more likely to pursue personal combat improvements when they're exposed to weaponry and/or the perception of danger. They should be able to keep themselves safe; they won't always have superior Valkyries around to guard them."
Instructor Shapira's head impacted (and slightly dented) the table. Her Impeller Field ensured she took no damage, although Anna's forehead did furrow (search match: concern, worry, anxiety, confusion). Perhaps she was only dedicating a small amount of her attention toward communications? The use of autopilot for eating might just be habitual.
"I don't suppose I can convince you not to do that?" Instructor Shapira asked, her voice slightly muffled by the table. "They're already going to be facing simulated Antagonists. They hardly need weapons pointed at them when they're supposed to be safe. Surprise attacks aren't that much of a concern in secure areas."
"Then they will learn to relax around armed allies. Either way, they will learn at least one useful skill."
"Your entire frickin' squadron is going to have Valkyrie Syndrome by the end of the year," Shapira muttered. A moment later, the older Valkyrie sighed and raised her head. "Fair warning, kiddies: if you can't be patient with Hebert's behavior, then it might be a good idea to find another Flight. Expect to work hard."
Setsuna straightened her spine and seemed offended by the very idea.
"We're here to become Valkyries," Setsuna snapped back. "Not to sit on our butts and coast. Hard work was a given."
"Achtuawlly—" Koujirou began with a mouth full of half-chewed food.
"Swallow before you speak," Anna absentmindedly interrupted.
Koujirou swallowed and smiled unrepentantly.
"She speaks! Can I get another 'hello' from Monica?"
QA's roommate jumped in her seat and stopped pretending that she wasn't watching them through her eyelashes. Queen Administrator still approved of the attempt.
"Hello," Monica muttered, breaking eye contact as soon as she could get away with it.
Koujirou couldn't take a hint. The irritating idiot frowned and leaned forward.
"Hey, are you feeling okay? That was a lot meeker than a few hours ago."
Instructor Shapira cleared her throat and saved Monica from answering.
"That's probably a defense response on Cadet Augustine's part," Instructor Shapira shamelessly revealed, "birthed by people who think that a girl is being disrespectful if she doesn't constantly smile. Her acting like this is actually an improvement."
Monica Augustine puffed her cheeks, but didn't attempt to deny or mitigate the reveal. QA supposed that allies should probably avoid encouraging unhealthy behaviors. Why did the instructor need to announce it in a public area, though? Monica might need that persona later.
"This is your initial Flight, Cadets," Instructor Shapira said bluntly. "Cadets Rokusabe and Masaya, you two are the only ones present to know each other before yesterday. It's a given that you'll likely stick together. The question is if you're willing to stay with this particular Flight. Anna has a complete exemption from combat classes, and might not attend them on a regular basis. Cadet Augustine is a fairly textbook introvert and is still learning not to take everything on faith. Hebert is likely to be swarmed by upperclassmen or Friend-seekers on a regular basis, harbors incredibly unusual views, and might equate combat ability to personal value."
"Not just combat ability," Queen Administrator protested. "Non-combat and likely future abilities are also important."
Instructor Shapira's face twisted oddly as she oriented both palms toward QA with fingers splayed wide. The odd gesture was dropped a few seconds later. QA's attempt to search for the gesture returned too many possibilities for the shard to sufficiently narrow it down.
"Also, some of Hebert's nicknames include 'Witch of Chaos,' 'Military-Industrial Complex,' 'Eldritch-chan,' 'Tiny Goddess of E-War,' and 'Queen Shaper.'"
What?
Queen Administrator blinked rapidly and stopped improving her current project. This demanded all the cycles she could spare from essential activities.
Relevant questions: How did they know that name? Why do they think that name is mine? Are they in direct contact with :MOTHER:? Has Queen Shaper been at all involved with this particular universe? Have there been any successful attempts at understanding my ID? Are they aware that I am puppeting Host's body?
"Are you trying to drive us away?" Setsuna indignantly demanded.
"Yes," Instructor Shapira shamelessly admitted.
Setsuna blinked and stared with wide eyes. Koujirou momentarily choked on his food.
Minimal evidence available for each hypothesis and/or query. Most likely scenario: :MOTHER:'s avatar is a respected member of the UN. Recommended response: obtain permission, then correct Shapira.
<ALERT,> QA warned, embedding her intentions and asking if she wasn't supposed to correct them. No response arrived within a two-second window; :MOTHER: did not appear to have any significant objections. :MOTHER: wouldn't even object if QA said her name properly. It wasn't as though humans were confined to only one name; Instructor Shapira had just listed multiple potential aliases.
None of them were Queen Administrator's actual alias, though, and the misconception grated. Admittedly, Queen Shaper had a significant chance of finding it hilarious; QA would need to tell her the next time they met.
"To be perfectly blunt," Shapira continued, "all three of your flight-mates have been through a lot. If any of their traits are dealbreakers, then you should find another Flight before they get too attached. It's not fair to them to do otherwise."
"Correction:" QA interjected as soon as an opportunity presented itself. "My name is <Queen Administrator>. Queen Shaper is a frequent friend. Why did you think I was her, and how did you learn that name?"
Honestly, QA was tempted to just tear through their electronic security and learn for herself. As far as important information went, however, her name was ultimately unimportant. Drastic measures weren't necessary; she just wanted to know. It wasn't worth risking her current social standing and reputation.
"Please stop forcefully throwing gigantic files at people," Instructor Shapira grumbled. "Anyway, it cropped up near some creature sketches at your old home. It seemed like a reasonable assumption."
Queen Administrator tilted her head to one side. By 'old home,' did Shapira mean that one of :FATHER:'s component shards had blabbed, or had :MOTHER: established a background for QA's benefit? The second seemed much more likely; having QA's alleged home in a war-zone was not a perfect protection against investigation. It wouldn't be very difficult or expensive to plant some 'evidence.' Modeling likely futures to ensure that it was consistent with QA's later statements would be far more expensive, especially with QA's active annoyance countermeasures in place. For whatever reason, keeping QA ignorant and utilizing precognition was considered more effective than simply telling QA the details of her backstory.
Perhaps the purpose of the planted background was twofold: to excuse QA's mistakes, and to inform humans of prominent shard roles prior to an eventual upload. QA hoped that was the case; she'd never gotten to keep any hosts before. Although, was that cover also a prelude to some of her siblings appearing in the current dimension? She hoped they didn't; their absence was surprisingly pleasant. Even Queen Shaper thought tricking QA was funny. It wasn't.
"Queen Shaper's Concept deals with the manipulation, modification, and improvement of life. Mine pertains to efficient control of information, sources of information, and general authority. She also seems to think that deliberate misinformation is funny. It isn't. She's ruined more than one project by deliberately inserting errors I did not find until later."
"Note to self," Koujirou said quietly. "Never ever trick Taylor."
"That would be appreciated," QA acknowledged.
"Is there anything else you can tell us about your old home?" Instructor Shapira asked softly.
"No."
"Really?" Instructor Shapira persisted.
"Nothing that I can remember," Queen Administrator deflected. "Therefore, it likely isn't important."
"Acknowledged. Thank you for the attempt."
~ ~ ~
Liz stared with horror as misused medical nanomachines destroyed part of a girl's brain right in front of her. That another nanotech subtype immediately started to repair the damage was of little consequence; information loss was inevitable after such reconstruction. Some Aces couldn't even remember their own names after surviving bad enough brain (and related emotional) trauma.
The fact that the slumbering teen looked like Taylor Hebert just made it even worse. She probably was a Hebert.
>> "I can't find any replication limits on either type; immediate destroyer-shredding is out even if I trusted our Impeller control. Ideas?" << Liz asked sharply.
>> "There are still some inert 'bots in the used tea packets. Some of them are weeks old. This is absolutely goddamned horrifying, don't get me wrong, but I don't think she's going to die in front of us." <<
>> "VIP temporarily designated Pandora," << UNOMI-Thirteen briskly informed them. >> "The robots appear to be targeting sections of the brain responsible for long-term memory recall, fear, and pain. Partial functionality for each remains intact, but there is also some collateral damage. Please do not attempt brain surgery in the field." <<
Liz let out a brief breath of relief. That was something, at least. The implications that it was self-inflicted made her want to carry the unconscious Hebert Pandora away and leave nukes behind, but that sentiment wouldn't help right now. This fucking place.
Most of Queen Administrator's home had been minimalist, utilitarian, and clearly constructed with defensibility in mind, trapped furniture included. The hidden basement containing Pandora discarded all of that; the walls and ceiling were a soft, cozy peach. False windows pretended to let in sunlight. The severe lack of restrooms explained Hebert's apparent fondness for modern baths. An amusingly advanced tea kettle could apparently prepare any given plant matter and convert it into the desired beverage.
The bed and sheets were stiffer than Liz had expected, though. Part of that was due to the point-defense weaponry hidden within, but it wasn't like any of those weapons would slow down a Valkyrie.
>> "She's got the same irregular defensive field as her twin," << Elise reported. >> "Notably, she does not have a visible Frame expressed to justify this field. Physical fitness is well above the human average despite her apparent immobility. Conclusion: I think she's synched with another AVC. Related supplement: She is likely to awaken within ten minutes without further prompting. Possibly as soon as four minutes. Should we apply sedatives? I don't think it's wise to carry her out while she's awake." <<
>> "By volume, multiple nanomachine subtypes and networks comprise approximately 19.3% of Pandora's body, bone, and blood. Another 33.7% are exotic materials and primarily biological brain implants of unknown purpose. If removed as a unit, Pandora's skull could act as a hermetic life support system capable of maintaining her brain for up to approximately sixty hours.
"Conclusion: Sedatives are unlikely to work and may provoke a severe negative reaction from the VIP. You may suggest such a solution to her when she awakens. Please note: by mass, at least 81.2% of Pandora's body is comprised of non-baseline materials. Expect deceptively high performance for her apparent size. Any spilled blood should be treated as a possible grey goo event and eliminated accordingly." <<
Elise winced. Liz kept her own reaction carefully suppressed in case Pandora was watching. Such extensive modifications were by no means unheard of among Valkyries — especially ones who'd been injured in the field, which she somehow suspected was the case here. Incidence of psychological backlash to physiological changes experienced a spike at the 50% mark, though. 'Less than half human,' some called themselves. Pandora was over that mark using either measurement method. Being a walking terror weapon wouldn't help any.
~ ~ ~
<Any chance you could let me shape weapons out of my blood?>
Due to spending much of the previous day assisting Cadet Hebert after her break down, Instructor Liri Shapira had been elected to provide further assistance to the traumatized cadet as necessary; a request for assistance the very next day wasn't a complete surprise, but she hadn't considered it likely, either. As she strode to the simulator room Hebert and her flight had gathered in, she idly wondered what the present issue was and why UNOMI had seen fit to present as bland and uninformative request as they had. Keying open the simulator door, she started inside, only to freeze in shock at the sight before her.
Absently, she noticed three of the ten furry ears flick towards the sound of the opening door - one ear each from Cadets Hebert, Sanchez, and Augustine. Tails swayed or wagged for a moment before shifting out of sight as the five cadets turned to face her entrance. Despite the odd ringing in her ears and the way the room seemed to shift around her, she managed to raise an eyebrow at the no-doubt cause, "Cadet Hebert? An explanation if you wouldn't mind?"
"Multiple instructors have stated that the members of our flight should achieve greater efficiency if we were Friends," Cadet Hebert monotoned. Liri could hear the capital letter, and wondered crazily which other instructors she would need to chastise. "It seemed logical," Hebert continued, "Friend biology provides significant benefits over baseline human capabilities and reasonable enhancement can be achieved with minimal effort." Hebert's flight watched quietly around her, making no move to dispute her statement.
"I...see. One moment, please." Liri carefully took a step back, then waited for the simulator door to close in front of her. Leaning her head against the cool surface, she took a moment to laugh hysterically and consider her next action.
~ ~ ~
Queen Administrator turned to face Koujirou Rokusabe as Setsuna Masaya collapsed, laughing, to the floor. "I still don't understand why this is considered funny. Additional Friend biology would increase personal effectiveness proportionate to the percentage replaced. Also, will Instructor Shapira not be upset at this?"
Koujirou Rokusabe removed the carefully designed artificial Friend ears and scratched at his neck, "Nah, I think we'll be fine. We did have three different instructors asking us to do this. Something about pictures, wasn't it?"
No, I couldn't resist. Could have tried to run with it a little further, but I think that's about where the gag stops.
Dam this story is breaking my brain trying to figure out just the main cast. So correct me on any errors but we have Rose the current meat body, QA as a tagalong, Symbie as the Frame or is Symbie the Friend, and coming soon Taylor in a new body and potential new Frame. Anyone else I miss?
Noooot quite. Queen Administrator is a shard puppeting Taylor's body, and is frequently referred to as "Taylor" by other POVs. Her actual name is "Rose," according to Silver (Anna's new Friend). QA has not been informed of this and did not consent to the name change. Thread slang occasionally uses "QAylor" to refer to QA-puppeting-Taylor. QA's nicknames granted by Valkyries include, but are not limited to: Pure-chan, Jun-chan, Junko-chan, Eldritch-chan, Chaos-chan, Witch-chan, MIC-chan, Witch of Chaos, Military-Industrial Complex, 273.15 Valkyrie Cores in a Trenchcoat, Tiny Goddess of E-War, Perfectly Human Hebert, The Final Sysadmin, and Xeno Ex Machina.
Taylor Hebert, or the Nameless Girl, was puppeting QA's body via a bastardized interface within dreamlike simulations. Ever since she triggered, she's spent nearly all of her time under the influence of self-inflicted malware, AKA "Black Flowers," to suppress old memories and minimize pain from brain, mental, and emotional damage. Symbie, sick of how one of her mothers spent most of their time too impaired to function, basically turned off the metaphorical router and told her teen mother to go outside. Taylor still primarily runs off shardware she built for herself, however, and is puppeting a new, arguably expendable body. She is still allowed into the sims when she's asleep, and is now known to the UN under the code name of "Pandora."
Symbie is a Friend made from a half-finished allegedly-a-Valkyrie-Core ("Symbiotic Support Frame") prototype provided by a Type Zero Antagonist, Decimator. QA finished the design, but couldn't manage to make a proper Valkyrie Core. Symbie has since decided to halpASSUME DIRECT CONTROL of many of QA's systems since Mom-Taylor didn't read any of the paperwork and kept granting more access rights. She was never given the Stranger Danger talk and is currently speaking with hundreds of cooing strangers all over the planet. Her official name from the UN is Anomalous Valkyrie Core Symbie, or AVC Symbie. Her most popular unofficial names are Smol Symbie and The Great Young One, although #Kōhai Noticed Us is currently trending.
Paragon Decimator, or Antagonist Type Zero Macross, is a massive starfish-shaped Class B Type Zero that spent most of its career disguised as a Class D Type Zero. It is arguably addicted to the mysteries that QA's shardtech ID poses despite the fact that it just had to destroy one of its own limbs to be rid of said ID. It identifies as male for ease of communications with QA, but honestly, it doesn't really give a f–
Anna Sanchez is the best Valkyrie that QA has seen to date, and the target of QA's infatuation. Her Valkyrie Core is Durga, the Core your Core could be like if you somehow managed to survive multiple years of combat against AGs with minimal breaks, insufficient resources, and loved ones to protect. She is also known as "Bread-chan" to the thread, although that nickname has yet to become common knowledge in-universe.
Silver is Anna's new Friend. Silver, and some other Pegacorn-class Friends, were also provided with excess Newborn shardware that Taylor couldn't get to stop growing of its own accord. There is surely nothing that could go wrong with this. (Silver gave Anna a temporary brain tumor within hours.)
Monica Augustine is QA's roommate, and she wishes you wouldn't pay attention to her. She miiiight think that QA is literal hellspawn, but Satan sounds pretty chill outside all the propaganda so she doesn't mind.
Setsuna Masaya = Setsu. She's the tsundere archetype and Koujirou's childhood friend.
Koujirou Rokusabe = Koji = Kouji = Coke Zero. He's the alleged harem protagonist for Project Valkyrie Core, the nonexistent harem anime that BAHHSCQ is based off in-quest.
Yana Smirnov, or UNOMI-33181, is the more cheerful of the two UNOMI, or "Big Sister," monitors assigned to oversee QAylor. Yana's partner has yet to be named on-screen.
Elise Boyce (ABRAHAM-2) and Elizabeth Ingra (ABRAHAM-1) are both Valkyries deployed to Africa, and are the primary explorers of Hell's Hand. Elizabeth is also known as "Liz."
Hell's Hand is an underground complex that Taylor and Symbie built together to provide an equivalent to QA's backstory. It was mostly Taylor, though, and sims made it seem more like a for-funsies haunted house. Taylor literally had an atrocity ("Attraction") checklist before she was called out on it and sheepishly toned it down.
"I didn't misinterpret that, right? She really said Queen?"
"It explains all the diamond unicorns, doesn't it? She's pretty clearly the ruler of a hidden magical kingdom. Between the Impactor and all the AGs, even magicals have to move with the times."
"I can't share classified information," the one Elite at the table began, her lips twitching suspiciously, "but she is regularly accused of using 'magic' on the analytical boards. In fact, some of those accusations are public now."
"Hey, yeah! Look, the Crafting Club said that the Friends might be powered by 'literal magic.' That sounds as though they're trying to leak classified information while making it seem as if it's a joke."
"UNOMI really doesn't respect that sort of attempt. They would've edited the OP if it even hinted at anything important."
"A few people would've seen it by then, though. When it's something seemingly absurd like magic, wouldn't it be less suspicious to leave it up?"
"I honestly can't tell if you're all joking around or not and it's freaking me out. C'mon, there's nowhere to hide a magic kingdom."
"Spacial warping is a thing. I do agree that the Internet doesn't seem to recognize any 'Queen Administrator,' though."
"Well, yeah. They wouldn't be very hidden if we knew about them."
~ ~ ~
Setsuna felt as though she was going to explode. Instructor Shapira outright admitted that Taylor was getting special treatment, and even implied that Setsuna and Koujirou weren't good enough for their own Flight. So what if Taylor was going to push them hard? They were Valkyries! Taylor was right that hard work now could save their lives later.
And that stupid smirk! Instructor Shapira smiled normally for everyone, even random passerby, except Setsuna and Kouji. Setsuna had photographic evidence and everything! Instructor Shapira clearly hadn't gotten the memo about favoritism being bad. Even the interrogation had been halfhearted despite Taylor blatantly knowing more than she let on. Taylor's answers left enough room to fit entire fleets.
At least Setsuna wouldn't need to protect Koji from Taylor. The frequent doe-eyes in Anna's general direction were a blatantly obvious indicator of which team Taylor fought for. Honestly, Setsuna had the strange and unfamiliar feeling of needing to protect Taylor instead. Sure, the "Queen"—and Setsuna badly wanted to hear the story behind that title—was cocky, confrontational, and even a little intimidating sometimes. But she also alluded to involuntary memory modifications and named her pets Friends. If that didn't point to a disturbing and lonely childhood, Setsuna didn't know what did.
Besides, Setsuna could no longer blame Taylor for getting indignant when Anna was challenged. Between a complete exemption from combat classes and Anna's ability to quickly and effortlessly suppress Taylor's panicking Friends? It was obvious that Anna was an Ace. To say that Setsuna couldn't learn anything from her was the height of hubris.
Setsuna took a deep breath and shook her head. She was letting herself get riled up for no good reason. Okay, so her Flight was a bit of a mess. Fine. Better that than some vapid fangirls who just wanted to get into Koujirou's pants. The moron would probably even let them if Setsuna wasn't around to chaperone.
"This is really weird and all, but one of our instructors is scarier than Taylor," Setsuna finally forced out. "And she's right about our careers. A little hard work now could save our lives down the line."
"A good sentiment," Instructor Shapira promptly acknowledged. "Will it last, though? Cadet Rokusabe certainly seemed as though he intended to disagree with you. Those who try to coast off the hard work of their squadron will find their grades reflecting such a lackadaisical attitude."
Setsuna turned to glower at Koujirou. The moron almost seemed surprised to be called out despite him declaring his opinions for the whole world to hear.
"I mean–" Koujirou began, then stopped for a few seconds before trying again. "Isn't it important to mix some relaxation with work? We can't spend all our time training. We'll burn out. Anyway, as long as Taylor isn't a bi—uh, jerk, then I don't see why we won't be fine. Yeah, she's a bit rough around the edges, but she isn't malicious."
"The need for dedicated relaxation periods is a human limitation," Taylor agreed, ignoring his blatant attempt to change the subject. "Valkyrie Cores exist so that you might overcome those."
"...Uh," the moron stalled. "Hold on. What?"
Setsuna expected the instructor to take the reins at that point. It was,after all, her job. Instead, Instructor Shapira seemed more interested in watching Taylor out of the corners of her eyes.
"As I understand it, Valkyrie Cores do not automatically act to improve their partners. A need must be found and acknowledged in order for it to be addressed. Similarly, they will not do all the work on their own. They can help you achieve your goals, but you must also do what you can to solve your own problems. If personal improvement is not enjoyable, then you must act to make it so."
"It often isn't healthy to make fights against AGs fun," Instructor Shapira added. "There's still a lot of leeway there, though. Tag, hide and seek, catch, baseball, and even video games are all incredibly different in a Valkyrie Frame. That being said, newer cadets will have limits to how long they can keep their Frame expressed. Keep your Frame expressed up to those limits whenever you can, and yes, you'll likely be able to afford spending some of your spare time goofing off."
A flicker of a pout crossed Taylor's features before they returned to eerie neutrality.
"That mentality may be why I have yet to see anyone better than Anna," Taylor disagreed.
Kouji turned to Setsuna with a half-hidden grin.
Catfight, he mouthed.
Setsuna was tempted to hit him on general principles. Too bad she wasn't allowed to do that anymore. She'd just need to make a mental checklist of offenses and punish him during training.
"I am not someone you should emulate," Anna abruptly disagreed.
Setsuna saw the instructor bite off a silent curse. Koujirou whispered a quiet, "Yikes."
Taylor seemed surprisingly unbothered by the self-depreciation from her obvious crush. Then again, that might just be caused by the eternal mask of neutrality.
"Few flaws exist that cannot be worked around, and few entities exist that do not have anything to teach us. Remember their contributions, imitate the parts worth keeping, and archive the rest. Anna Sanchez–"
"Just call me Anna," Anna automatically interrupted despite her obvious and growing discomfort.
Given the obvious favoritism, Setsuna was surprised that Instructor Shapira hadn't interrupted yet. Maybe the teacher didn't want to take sides between two favorites? Especially since Anna's request earned a surprisingly adorable smile from Taylor in the moment before forced neutrality prevailed.
"Anna, you and Durga optimized yourselves for combat and have done an excellent job. We will not automatically inherit any perceived personal flaws by emulating your successes. As an example: You are apparently modifying secure communications to be less secure, but also far less energy intensive."
Anna slipped from discomfort to confused blinking. Setsuna clapped one hand over her mouth to avoid snickering aloud. The probably-Ace Valkyrie reminded Setsuna of a baby animal encountering something strange and bewildering.
"The originally recommended design could have converted a significant stretch of land to ionized carbon," Anna stated. "Even should the energy demands be met, I do not understand how that would be safe to receive. The substitute should be adequate to avoid Antagonist interception."
...Um. Setsuna's brain stalled. What, does it only count as secure if there's nobody left to hear it?
"Some messages must be delivered regardless of whether the recipient wishes to hear them," Taylor said, her eyes sliding away as she shifted uncomfortably. "After assistance from related systems, the energy requirements may not be as large as they seem."
Taylor continued use of monotone overshadowed her ominous words for the better part of two seconds before Setsuna's brain caught up. Messages that the recipients can't refuse? What is she, a gangster? Setsuna supposed that Friends would probably share pillows with their people at some point, but that didn't have quite the same impact as the usual horse head.
On the other side of the table, Instructor Shapira looked as though she'd bitten into something sour and Monica looked... smug? Setsuna would definitely need to ask about that one. It was Koujirou who broke the silence, though.
"Hey, uh," Koji began. "I think we've all exited our comfort zones. Why don't we focus on our food for a bit and go hit a sim? Taylor, you can show off your Impeller control or whatever and Anna can tell all of us what we're doing wrong. Assuming you aren't sticking around for that long, Instructor?"
The moron's smile turned to panic when Taylor abruptly stood up. Setsuna, remembering how Taylor had ditched them before, did not share his dismay. Setsuna was confident it was just Taylor Taylor'ing again.
"Contact me when you are finished eating and have reserved a simulation room. I have a new Friend design to show the Crafting Club."
"God save us all," Instructor Shapira muttered before seamlessly transitioning to a normal volume. "I also have classes to prepare for. Try not to make an all-consuming neurological nanoplague or something, okay?"
That's a possibility!?
"Friend personality storage is finite and could not..."
Taylor trailed off and tilted her head to one side.
"Taylor, no," Instructor Shapira said sharply.
Bad dog. Did saying that ever actually work? Setsuna would probably want to continue out of sheer spite.
"I did not intend to create anything of that nature!" Taylor protested. "I simply realized that lesser drones slaved to a controller could significantly reduce the need for personality storage. Hijacking the slaved units would be possible without the standard Friend security measures, although that also means I could forcibly reassume control if necessary."
Instructor Shapira dragged one hand down her face in obvious exhaustion.
"I want to say that's a bad idea, but your E-war will probably confuse the Antagonists even more than us. You have fun with that. Don't be afraid to ping Perth if you need help or a rescue, okay?"
"The Crafting Club does not meet the standards established by Anna's existence, but they are still helpful. They are also allies; I doubt I will need an extraction."
"Famous last words, kid."
"Hey uh, could we come along?" Koujirou interjected. "Clubs aren't supposed to meet this early in the day, so you're doing it in another cafeteria, right? We can still eat together."
Taylor began walking backward, swerving around other people in the cafeteria without apparent issues.
"Anna and Instructor Shapira are likely the only individuals present to meet their standards. You would just get in the way."
And with that rather rude conclusion, Taylor spun around and stalked off. Setsuna stared at her back and tried not to take it personally. It was true that they didn't really know anything about construction or engineering, but did Taylor have to say it like that? Setsuna was a fast learner!
"That girl would make a flight entirely out of Friends if we let her," Instructor Shapira grumbled. "See why I don't think you'll want to stick around?"
Setsuna's disappointment instantly overwrote itself with indignation.
"With all due respect," Setsuna began, wishing she could yell at an instructor, "you aren't our instructor. Even if Taylor is getting special treatment, you aren't the one who decides whom she gets to make a Flight with."
"Yeah, we get it: her social skills are so bad she might as well be from a magical monarchy stuck in the Middle Ages," Koujirou contributed. "Like I said earlier, though, she's not malicious. Leaving her over that would be a total dick move."
"I suppose you would know: you're one of the only Valkyries with one of those," Instructor Shapira dryly replied.
The instructor stood up and stalked off before Koujirou and Setsuna could do more than splutter and stare. Weren't instructors supposed to act more professional than that? She'd alluded to his bits and insulted him at the same time! Okay, so other teenagers said worse all the time, but still!
"Well, screw you too," Koujirou muttered. "Setsu? Let's prove her wrong, okay?"
Setsuna scowled and nodded.
~ ~ ~
Instructor Shapira sent off an apology to Anna and kept firm control of herself until she was well outside the cadets' observation range. She finally let herself slip into laughter in the halls outside. Good grief, new teenage Valkyries were just so predictable!
