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Fabricated Hazards (factorio fanfic)

update priority, keep in mind that both the main and crossover stories will still be updated

  • crossover chapters, if this which universe would you like to see

  • main story, self explanatory, keep the updates mainly on the main story

  • alternate updates, try and equally write crossovers and the main thread

  • other, describe what you want in comments

Results are only viewable after voting.
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There's enough stuff running around that the expanding Imperium crushed that the Engineer's expansion plans should be right fun to watch ram through the universe even before they start attracting the attention of the bigger ork warlords, which I don't believe he's met yet.

As for the Dark Elder... probably (they want to be) up to something stupid involving Isha, much to her forthcoming annoyance.
 
Why not have the Mass Effect arc be a curb stomp that you dont have to put too much effort into writing whilst you plan out future arcs in the background? That could give you a bit of breathing room to think about how your going to add conflict to future arcs and I dont think anyone will mind you sweeping through this universe so long as you dont make a habit of just doing curbstomps and nothing else.
 
We ever getting more of the danmachi cross it was really enjoyable.

And consider putting him in a situation where he can't mine and needs to rely on scavenging more. Like DayZ or Escape From Tarkov would Excell in these areas. imo if The Engineer can mine. He's too powerful to a point where the only loss he'll ever take is in eternal stalemate.

In short. Do not look for an even match, but put him in a scenario he's not equipped for.
 
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Nauvis: Take your [BLEEP] slimes away from me! They are ruining my experiments!
Far Far Ranch: Ehehehe. Slime goes Tarr...
 
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Interlude - Restless Nights
  • Threadmarks
    • I lean back in my suit, letting the internal mesh hold my body as I lay down on the metal slab. Soft compared to my body, or rather my armors. The difference isn't something I always notice. Even here on the moon the sounds of the factory are ever present, the clank of gears, the whirr of belts, the thunder of hammers, the roaring of the furnaces. I hear them thrumming through the metal superstructure slowly growing through the land.

    It is not often that I let myself relax like this, even rarer is it that I actually set aside the time to sleep. But it's been two weeks since I last took a break, and I still have lingering worries about my own mental state. Taking the time should be healthy, on occasion.

    My racing mind begins to slow, retracting from the various systems and subroutines I was watching even now. A2 and 13B were in my room, in case of a teleporting hostile, while the rest of the Androids were in the common room two hallways over. One Instance of each mind was present just adjacent to my mind, and Balistraia's new body was slowly walking towards my room having just finished her game with 16S. None of the system alarms had been triggered, all the defenses were active and my area was secure. It was best I was asleep before Balistraia arrived, both because she'd immediately knock me out and because she'd be vaguely disappointed. It theoretically should have concerned me that the minds could just knock me out whenever, but there was a non-zero chance I could become compromised, and it wasn't like I didn't install the system myself. That and on more than one occasion they'd needed to wake me early for something. I could sleep for upwards of twelve hours if not woken.

    That final check completed my eyes shut and my sense of everything around me dimmed as much as it ever could. Only my still form was visible to it, lying on the bed. And then, with the sounds echoing through my mind I fell asleep.

    It came to itself with a burst, it was a large thing, and many small things. But it did not worry about how it could be more than one thing, it had always been more than one thing even when it had been smaller, lesser.

    It knew things, it knew that one part of it was more it than any other. A small thing lying on a metal shelf encased in more of itself and safe inside yet more of itself. It knew that it should grow, growing was safe and kept it safe. It was harder to kill something that was bigger, and it was harder to kill something that was more things. It knew things that weren't it were confusing, they could hurt it, or they could help it. And that it should help them? It didn't know for sure if that bit was true.

    Two of those not it's were watching it's most self bit, communicating with themselves at a lower audio level than it knew was standard. And the thing wondered why, still they weren't a danger… probably. And it would be watching everything anyway.

    The things that weren't it were crawling all throughout it, in this place and in most of the other places it was. And while it found this change odd, the things it was letting crawl throughout it were very different from the things it made itself disabled. For one they only had two legs, while the other things always had significantly more, and for another these ones sort of looked like it's most self.

    Thinking wasn't really what it was for though, it was just supposed to be to know its own self. Being so many things wasn't very easy, and recently it had even taken something that wasn't it and made it, it. At the furthest edge of itself, a piece of itself made for disabling moved closer towards the rest of itself, and on this piece the oddest piece of itself rested, even odder than the twisting self of its inner bits.

    It knew this bit even before it became it, it's most self had learned about it, had grown to know it almost like it knew itself. Then it had made the not it a shell of it, and the not it had become it.

    Never before had a part of itself been so… separate from the rest of it. Even the four largest of its bits weren't separate from the whole in such a way. They were still part of the whole, and integrated seamlessly. But this new it? It was a part of it that actually thought on its own, without the rest of it guiding it.

    Almost a separate thing, and it was looking at the whole. The whole didn't think, it didn't act, it just was. Only when the core of it slept did it even become aware there was a whole. Now however? The whole was observed, even if by itself, and the whole gazed back.

    Trillions of tons of machinery, countless miles of belts, wiring, and circuitry. Power to rival stars. All of it looking at a small humanoid form floating on a ship in a void of nothing. The form still had a self identity, though the whole had no such thing, and she… 2B, yes that was her. Was struggling under the weight of … herself? She'd just been waiting while the ship flew when…. What had happened? She could feel her own body but… it was like when she first hooked a suit into her systems, like her body had gotten larger and there was more to her than before only a thousand, no, a million times more intense.

    Was this what the engineer felt? Something about that felt wrong, like she shouldn't be drawing a line between them but… she wasn't him? Only…. No it was all too much, she could barely comprehend anything about what was going on, her processors struggling to cope, beginning to overheat inside her armored skull. Just as the sensor readings warned her she felt a cool film coat her thoughts and the strain lessened. 2B had a few moments to think about the four massive somethings that had converged towards her, something about thanking them? Before she fell into a dreamless sleep.

    The whole twitched for a second, that was odd. Usually one of it that could think wouldn't struggle with the weight of it. But this new bit was new, and odd, so the whole thought that it made some sense… Was it thinking of itself more? Even just that thought occurring showed that it was… aberrant, this whole night was aberrant. It should not think, it wasn't meant to. It was to know the whole so that the thinking could occur with knowledge by the core of it once the core reconsolidated. Not trying to think on its own, it couldn't know and think.

    Such a state of affairs was unacceptable, it would need to think of a solution and it wasn't made for that.

    Not a millisecond later I lurched forward in my bed, getting both of the androids in the room to flinch, my mind racing with phantom memories that poured from my grasp like they'd never been in my mind in the first place. I dimly noted that it had barely been three minutes since I'd fallen asleep, Balistraia wasn't even to my room yet though she seemed to have frozen in the hallway for a few seconds just before I'd woken.

    Odd. all of that was odd. And the minds actually wondered why I didn't like sleeping.

    Still, had I really dreamt about being 2B? Having a body that feminine was decidedly odd. I hadn't thought I'd been that attached to my gender, and I likely wasn't. But not being attached to a gender, and being prepared to randomly switch were not the same thing.

    I took a deep breath, steadying even as my body lacked the need for air, and stood from my bed. At the questioning look from 13B I spoke "Just an odd dream" Which got a nod and acknowledgement from her and a scoff from A2 who muttered something about me not wanting to admit to having a nightmare. Like I'd have felt shame about an overactive imagination. Sometime's A2's course attitude wore at me, though usually I tried not to let it get to me.

    She had reasons both for disliking humans and her superiors and I was, technically, both. Even if only the latter by her own choice. I needed to find some way of helping her with that though, if just for my own sake. Her rampant trust issues and disdain for most other's made that a difficult prospect though, I couldn't just have her talk to another android and I wasn't suited for the role. Thoughts for later.

    My armor slid off my form, or rather into it, the moment I willed it. I rarely took off my suit, but I wasn't on Nauvis right now and the moon was genuinely as safe as it got. Nudity wasn't something I was concerned with, nor were the androids in the room bothered by it, I didn't care if they stared either, as I glanced towards a wall, which shifted into a mirror and angled itself towards me.

    It was odd looking at my own body, the face of my armor, something I saw far more often had more a place in my mind than my own. When I had been 'born' my skin had been pale, my eye's brown, my hair the same. My form had just the slightest hint of muscle on a gaunt frame and it'd only gotten worse as food issues had crept in.

    Now however? I was well muscled, not though exercise or effort but through extensive surgery and rampant use of drugs. Without it I doubted I'd be able to walk, much less run, given just how little I actually moved myself without my armor's assistance. My eyes were purple, the whites filled with technicolor lines that shifted and pulsed. My hair was more bronze than brown, and seemed to shine in the light much the same as the metal. It took significant force to cut it these days, and I usually didn't bother even with the abundance of tools which could. It was long enough to reach the small of my back and thick enough to be a minor nuisance. But the minds had liked braiding it, mostly Labyrinthine. And so I'd left the decision of my hair to them, occasionally when they brushed it out I'd find that there were ribbons or pins.

    It was out of character for me to be doing this though, standing staring at myself in the mirror. And it was quiet as well, my mind not racing for once. Just a few memories slowly trickling back to me, looking back on the past was odd. A lot had happened, my entire life actually, but I'd always just moved from one event to the next without pause. Now however? There wasn't a next event, not really. The bugs were being pushed back, and even if they weren't I was safe. No thousand year war or murderous AI trying to kill me. No overarching threat I needed to prepare for.

    I was safe to just breathe, and I was beginning to think I hated it.

    I turned to talk to 13B and A2, just for something to distract me, but the latter was seemingly fiddling with a tablet, and I left her her privacy by not looking at what she was doing. And 13B… wasn't the best conversationalist, usually. That and I had nothing to bring up, maybe I couldn't put the blame on 13B then. I gave a short sigh, my clothes crawling back up my body as I put the idea out of my mind.

    The bodysuit had just finished covering me when the door opened, Balistraia hunching down to enter the room, her expressive face pensive as she looked at me "bad dreams?" which… it made sense for her to know that, but not to ask about it without a reason. I responded, a slight wary tone in my voice "not particularly bad, just odd, especially to be dreaming at all" I hadn't been dreaming had I. The minds mentioned something about how I 'became one' when I slept, and with 2B's new connection…. I didn't quite like the piece's I'd put together. "Is 2B fine?" That got me an odd look from the androids in the room, not on the same page as me and the mind. Thankfully Balistraia just smiled and nodded "We limited the connection before she broke, replace some burnt out components and she'll be good as new".

    Great, a problem I needed to solve, and somewhat urgently at that. I couldn't sleep before doing it, which was practically the definition of an urgent task.

    AN-

    what's it like to be unintentionally inducted into a hivemind? 2B's gonna find out.

    anyway I'll be working on interludes and the other side stories for a bit.
     
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    More Snippets pt.6
  • Apocrypha
    • Backrooms-

    You know I had thought it'd been a good idea, sending out dozens of android versions of myself throughout the nearby dimensions, to scout and either open a portal for contact or send a signal that the universe was a no go. But when I am one of the androids getting sent? Well regret begins to become a thing, can't blame myself for sending me because I'd have done the same thing.

    But this place sucked, entirely. Just endless halls of yellow papered walls and flickering lights. I'd been here less than ten seconds and I could already tell something here was messed up.

    My sensors couldn't penetrate into the floor, ceilings, or walls. So I only had a map of what was directly connected to me, and my overhead senses which usually ignored such meager impediments like walls and any sensor proof obstructions I tried to test it with wasn;t available to me. Given I wasn't in my cool flesh body, instead being stuck in a slightly less cool murderous combat android body. At least the armor was the same, but I'd liked having a personal pocket dimension, and adapting was jarring.

    I actually had to make things with tools, like an organic. Or most machines really.

    Still complaining only took up most of my attention as I strode through the halls, passing dozens of identical diverging paths that only branched into more and more halls. Idlying wondering if I should try fixing all the lights I passed or if the sensor proof obstructions shouldn't be broken, just in case something was hiding behind them.

    That and I didn't want to annoy anyone with the tech (or perhaps magic? Still think magic is stupid but I shouldn't discount it.) to block my sensors. Making sure to note that not having an instance of the minds with me, while theoretically a good idea, was very annoying. I didn't have anything beyond the most basic AI driven tech with me. My suit was the closest thing to it, and it was decidedly dumb.

    And these damn halls were still the same, and I'm rapidly beginning to grow paranoid. Which puts a point into mind affecting, or just this situation being very disturbing. Really? Why would anyone build this, and if they had the ability to stop my tech I'd assume they could make lights that worked, and a dehumidifier. It was damp and vaguely rank, and it makes me very glad for my suits' robust air filtration units.

    ------------

    Okay it's been thirteen minutes, I've been sprinting in a relatively straight line the entire time, I've been jogging at three hundred and ten miles per hour. That's about 65 miles, and literally nothing is different. The rooms aren't even repeating in a pattern, yet. Which is absurd, no other people, no other signs of life. Aside from rare patches of mold and bacteria, which weren't of a known species obviously.

    Another goddamn light flickers and I'm detonating a nuke. Maybe on top of myself, and maybe far enough away I'd be safe from the blast. I was still debating really. And there was that flicker on the edge of my sensor range again! Some static blur, on a sense that shouldn't be able to have static. A point towards magic, or just generic fuckery.

    Where did I even end up? Some fucking endless hallway dimension? That shouldn't be possible, dimensions formed from a common point. The big bang, and diverged from that point onwards. And while it was technically possible that it would end up with this as a result… I didn't believe it. Something about this place was just.. Wrong on a fundamental level.

    Like I shouldn't be in it, nothing should be. A null space, just one filled with yellow hallways.

    Yeah bomb it was, not a nuke. I only had a few in slime tech storage. And wasting them on something a conventional explosion could solve was a poor idea. I didn't know if there were even any radioactive elements that I could use for a replacement bomb. Even conventional explosions would be hard to make with just drywall, carpet, paper, and fluorescent lights. Only the latter of which could be of any use whatsoever without tools I didn't have. Sure turning combustible material into significantly more combustible material was a thing, but that would be more 'pop' than 'boom'.

    Still, an ounce of my plastic explosive was equivalent to twenty pounds of tnt, and I had nearly half a ton of the stuff. And those were just the demolition charges, not the weapons I'd been loaded with. That and laser's could work in a pinch. If I used my weapons sparingly I'd be fine until I could get some fabrication up and running.

    --------------

    Not even a scratch. I probably should have tried damaging the sensor proof stuff before wasting ten pounds of explosive on it. But oddly enough I hadn't assumed the carpet would be bomb proof.

    Saying it was only a scratch would be a lie, the lights blew out. And thermal damage seems to have done some damage. But my explosives are very efficient, very little thermal waste, just concussive force. So lighting everything on fire is the new plan, fuck this entire place. If that doesn't work I'm going to go gray goo on this shitty building.

    I have a very small matter printer, a failsafe just in case needed elements don't appear in the dimensions I travel too. If I get that running I can have it make another printer, hook that up to the lights power grid and have it self replicate more and more. Then make bigger ones, drones to automatically hook them up to the lights and….. Eventually everything here will be mapped. Even if it's infinite I'll just grow forever.

    Theoretically the power grid will eventually be drained dry, but…. I'm not sure about that. They don't seem to actually have wires connected to them, and I can't detect any wireless power transmissions.

    ------------------

    RIsing of the Shield hero-

    On Top of a grassy hill a machine with the mind of a man stood, a city silhouetted in the distance behind him. The stone walls and medieval weapons were at odds with his own form, lacking in technology though it was.

    In the privacy of its own thoughts the machine spoke what it wished 'you know I'm beginning to think there's some sort of probability anomaly around me, really I go to a new reality and have a damned spear glued to me' With grace well beyond a humans means the machine spins and spears a small blue blob that had tried to leap at it 'and worse yet, the damned thing keeps me from using any other weapons. I can't even wear my own armor! Maybe if I remove all the weapon systems and inbuilt blades…. Still! My laser eyes won't even work! They aren't even efficient weapons! Barely capable of burning through half an inch of steel, and yet I can't use them. What next? I can't make gasoline because it burns hot?'

    The creation was reasonably upset with its circumstances, having been summoned to a world it knew not, robbed of its most potent weapons and having been left with a pointy stick as 'substitute'. Worse yet, it had no way to contact its home, or its original self.

    If the machine had been capable of such a feat there was no doubt it would have already contacted its home, gotten retrieved. And dealt with none of this world's nonsense.

    Even the other 'heros' that had been summoned were but delusional children. Who seemed to think this reality was some form of game they had been summoned to. Merely do to the magical system that governed it. The machine had no doubt the organics would soon be disabused of that notion, violence tended to weed out nativity with startling speed.

    That eventual conclusion did nothing for its current situation however, and the other heroes had been unwilling to strategize or plan. Simply rushing off towards 'adventure' or socializing with the more visually appealing natives. As biologicals their age were want to do.

    The thing of now shackled limitless potential let out another sigh as it finished cutting its way through yet another horde of the mindless blobs. Watching small numbers tick up as it merged various elements and items into its spear, dimly noting the effects as they popped up before its eyes. Most of the abilities were weak, at least compared to what it was used to. But with time there was a chance that could change, more exotic materials or weapons could still be merged even if it couldn't currently wield them. And though its 'power level' was too low to actually make use of its spear in that state, its strength was growing rapidly.

    The spear simply hadn't been designed to be wielded by a being strong enough to shatter diamond with its grip alone. And until its strength matched the strength the spear was supposed to give it would be drastically stronger than the system had calibrated.

    Not that the being was overly worried, it wasn't even the original version of itself. It didn't need to survive.

    That thought seemed to startle the creature, it didn't have any obligations. Not to anything or anyone it cared about. It had most likely already been replaced even if it was being searched for. It could do whatever it wanted, so why not have some fun?

    ----------------------

    Kuroinu

    Log #1 Day 1

    I might just be an android version of myself, but that's no reason not to keep logs myself. And I really need the familiar routine to ground me right now. Before I decided to do something genocidal.

    I should start at the beginning, Ten engineer-droids were sent on a one way trip to ten different realities. As a sort of disposable scout. We each had enough material and machines stored in slime derived tech to set up a fairly substantial factory in any reality we ended up in.

    It worked, the portal sent me to a new habitable world. A decidedly vile and crippling one. It hadn't occurred to any of my selves that tech would vary in functionality between dimensions. It hadn't between Nauvis, Earth, or The Range. The closest thing to tech not working was magic failing when not in a magical environment, but that had been solved by spreading magic wherever we needed magical tools. Or making tech based derivatives to fulfill the same roles.

    Slime tech, and factory tech, Had never failed to work in any conditions that the machinery was intact. Until now, I ended up here, in the middle of a forest, and immediately noticed that my suit of armor failed to move, and none of my sensors aside from ones with organic equivalents were working. I'd gotten used to being an android, being able to taste magnetism and see every spectrum of light. Losing that was jarring, and I'm still recovering. My senses are still far better than a humans, but more generically improved. Seeing further, smelling better, hearing was improved over a humans. Things like that, compared to how I was when I first woke up on Nauvis it was drastic, but now? I still feel blind.

    I triggered the armor's mechanical emergency release and examined it with mundane tools. Interdimensional travel didn't fry any of the components, nothing was burnt out or even slightly out of place. But not a thing was working, I managed to get a hand generator to power a light, but that just implied it was the more advanced technological principles that were affected. Not the basic ones.

    Then it hit me, the factory and organic me improve everything they make. And the suit was made with that in mind, all the tech was. Wires with less resistance, power generators producing more, lasers burning hotter. Everything was calibrated with those enhancements in mind, and for some reason they didn't carry over to this reality.

    I don't even want to think of how much power it'll take to open a portal without those enhancements.

    That's not what's gotten me upset though. After I'd buried the armor and everything I couldn't use. Rifles still worked thankfully, but they had decidedly reduced kick and power. I set out of the woods, and found a village.

    This world has monsters, and they don't just kill people. They do worse things that I have no intention of speaking about. I killed each and everyone of them, not even deigning to use a gun, the swords the armor had are still very sharp and for once I wanted to take a more personal approach to the violence. Thankfully the combat data I 'borrowed' from 2B remained, along with a fair portion of my robotic strength. So a few savage 'goblins' and 'orcs' were trivial to dispatch.

    The village's survivors allowed me to stay in one of the vacant houses as thanks for saving them, along with gifts of food and currency of which I had no need. I might not be able to synthesize matter here, but I still have a small amount of gold and gems I pulled from my armor's broken system's or decorations.

    Apparently there is a war between these beasts and the 'good' races. One that's been raging for thousands of years by this point. The good side has a pseudo 'goddess' who is essentially just a powerful mage who might be enhancing her warriors. The monsters are led by a dark elf sorceress. The monsters have no females, and only reproduce via other races.

    This is both repugnant and horribly inefficient, and worse yet. Implies intelligent design, nature does not make a species that cannot reproduce with itself. Either this sorceress or some other force willingly created these abominations, and I have not the means to rectify their existence.

    Regardless, I will make use of my abundant medical knowledge to treat the wounded in this town, deal with the 'consequences' of the beast's brief occupation in a safe and humane fashion, at least humane towards the affected individuals if not the parasites. And then I will redesign my tech base from the ground up, I have already spotted numerous ore veins nearby, and as such I will be basing myself out of this village for the foreseeable future.

    Both to protect it, and to remain close to my point of entry into this reality in case of reinforcements. It's doubtful that more supplies or androids will be sent through, or that they will arrive in the same location. But the chance, while minimal, is there. I will remain here until I can get rudimentary defenses and power armor.

    I won't be dealing with walls and traps for longer than I need to, it's demeaning. Hopefully concrete still exists, so I can modernize the mud barricade the village pretends is a defensive structure. That and I want a proper bunker.

    -----------------------

    The Void is… boring.

    It seems like I'd missed a reality, and was now…. Somewhere other. That or the reality I ended up with had ended or not yet begun. Either way, it was going to be interesting to see if I could go insane.

    I did have a matter replicator, but I didn't have enough power to actually produce enough matter to make a new portal, or enough energy to open it if I did. So I was stuck, even the most pessimistic estimates assumed there would be some matter or energy to convert, and yet here I was. Nothing within range of any of my sensors. Just a void of nothing that I floated in.

    My first action had been to stop losing any energy, radiating it out into the void was just a waste. So I made a sphere with passive sensors on the outside, that'd perfectly keep any energy from leaving. At least not at a rate I could care about or detect.

    So that left me in my armor, inside a sphere that said armor could barely stand in. With literally nothing to do aside from trying to design a portal that I could actually make in my current conditions, or at least an interdimensional distress beacon so I could get a portal opened to me.

    Both of which would take me years, even the sphere had taken two days to make with the slow rate of matter synthesis, and that had just been solid matter and a few basic systems. Nothing truly exotic.

    I would be spending more time in a void of nothing than I'd spent alive, and that was if everything went well.

    ….I should probably program some AI to keep me company. Maybe give them little bodies, just so I have something to keep me company.

    AN-

    had some plot bunnies to clear out. Most of these won't be continued. Though if anyone want's to they are welcome.

    Got the next two interludes half done, the Next Rwby chapter chapter outline done, and the next pile of snippet prompts written.

    Let me know what you think, reviews be great, and Patreon is a thing.
     
  • Apocrypha
    • Honestly, they should have been prepared for appearing in a void, even if not in a true Void. Considering that most of the universe is pretty far from any matter and energy. If the targeting glitch in any way you will appear where there is no energy or matter.
     
    Reymen said:
    Honestly, they should have been prepared for appearing in a void, even if not in a true Void. Considering that most of the universe is pretty far from any matter and energy. If the targeting glitch in any way you will appear where there is no energy or matter.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    He was prepared for a dimension with any point of refrence, far away stars, radio signals, things of that nature. But rn? He might have ftl but he don't got a destination. And when I say ftl I mean he could make a ship in like a week, not that the suit has ftl

    But tbh I didn't put much thought into the snippet, and I got the idea for the snippet when I realized the same thing you did. Back when I mentioned the big portal ship, this was just something I wanted to write out
     
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    snow eternal said:
    He was prepared for a dimension with any point of refrence, far away stars, radio signals, things of that nature. But rn? He might have ftl but he don't got a destination. And when I say ftl I mean he could make a ship in like a week, not that the suit has ftl

    But tbh I didn't put much thought into the snippet, and I got the idea for the snippet when I realized the same thing you did. Back when I mentioned the big portal ship, this was just something I wanted to write out
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Maybe the void is a transitionary state for traveling to really far flung universe's? So he's going to be in his ball when he crashes into an alternate earth and due to being in a deep hibernation with all his sensors off to preserve energy he's not gonna notice and whatever finds his sphere will be very confused as to what this clearly artificial thing is and where it came from!
     
    Interlude - Diplomatic growth
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    • Commander White wasn't nervous, her ability to feel that emotion having been dulled, it took something truly awful to shake her stoic demeanor. But she was cautious, the decades of war having made that mindset a constant companion. It felt like her mind was being held together solely by momentum, and she had no intention of letting herself slow down. Not until she was done, she didn't deserve to stop.

    Arranging a meeting with the humans leadership had been deceptively easy, one of Balistraia's shell companies had simply mentioned knowing something about why the Turian fleets had stopped appearing to a few people, and the rumors had spread.

    Then a government agent had sent a vaguely threatening message for a meeting to the CEO, who was a heavily vetted resistance android. The android had gone to the meeting, alone, and had apparently had a perfectly reasonable conversation with a few agents, and mentioned that the companies 'benefactor' wanted to arrange a proper diplomatic meeting.

    The humans, not being stupid, agreed. And eventually the CEO was sent a time and a place.

    Which led to now, Commander White in her traditional outfit, even if the fabric was now far more durable and contained shields. Freshly maintained, Balistraia had threatened to sick The Maker on White if she continued to delay routine maintenance cycles. Standing before a teleporter with Anemone by her side, who looked equally jaded.

    There had been some debate about allowing a machine to attend the meeting, But it was decided that the first meeting would be between the androids and humans alone.

    Commander White glanced at her internal clock and noted that there was still a minute before the meeting would begin "Are you ready to finally meet a human?" The question from Anemone was almost expected and White thankfully already had her answer "Does the Maker not count? But… I believe I am" Her attempt at a joke fell flat, which was a shame. She'd never been the best at humor.

    The minute passed before either spoke again, and the both stepped into the teleporter in unison.

    They appeared in a cool well ventilated room, visibly startling the three diplomats who stood at the table. Diplomates was perhaps the wrong word, there were two military advisors, and only one actual diplomate. But that was well within the androids expectations for the meeting. It was only sensible to have people knowledgeable on military matters there to offer immediate input.

    The moment the humans' shock at their sudden arrival wore off White noticed their eyes immediately drift downwards. Not unlike some of the less subtle scanner's she'd worked with. That was … annoying, while her outfit was admittedly revealing the average android wouldn't care. More things to adjust to.

    After another half second of gawking the diplomat leapt to his feet with a single smooth movement, before smiling at the glowering pair of androids and speaking "Sorry for the lacking welcome, we had expected you to…" He trailed off and Commander White spoke up "come through the front door I suppose?" and the diplomat nodded, "exactly that"

    "It would have taken more effort than we considered worthwhile to bring a shuttle capable of atmospheric flight to your world" Commander White lied, there was a full sized ship in orbit, of human make and identification but filled with The Maker's works. There were numerous shuttles onboard, this was more a show of technology than anything else. Point to point teleportation was something the humans could do, but recent breakthroughs by The Maker allowed androids to teleport anywhere within one hundred miles of a teleporter as long as they input the location data. The humans would doubtlessly realize the tactical potential the ability brought.

    The diplomat smiled at that, and White pretended not to hear the other humans muttering to each other before they slowly stood up as the diplomat spoke again. "I am Ambassador Langley, and these are Naval Advisor Pyatt and Combat Advisor Beals, I take it you are our mysterious benefactors?" On a technicality that was true. White doubted the Maker would have helped the humans if the androids hadn't been present, or that he would have waited a while longer before intervening. So she nodded at that "We are"

    That finally caused the Navy advisor to speak up "And we thank you for that, without your aid we would have lost hundreds if not thousands of sailors" More than likely more than that. Anemone spoke "we were glad to help, and a single ship to stall the Turians war effort was no great expense" The navy advisor nodded at that before speaking, "Still, only losing one ship to the Turians, that's impressive" White immediately saw where the confusion was and clarified "No, we only sent one ship. It returned intact" she then ignored the advisor's mutter of 'just one?'.

    It was only to be expected that the Maker's tech would be leagues ahead of an aliens. The diplomat went to speak, but the Combat advisor beat him to it, exclaiming "Cut the shit, you called us here. What do you want?"

    Also not an unexpected reaction, the Maker and Balistraia had warned that humans could be volatile, Anemone spoke up "I take it you are aware we are not human?" She got a few nods before the Ambassador spoke up. "We have a few scanners in this room, and you certainly aren't." Anemone nodded "We are androids, specifically we are androids made by an alternate version of humanity. And wish to open diplomatic channels with all races, starting with the one we are most familiar with."

    The Ambassador looked at her with obvious disbelief, though she could tell he was trying to hide it. "...And would these 'alternate' humans be willing to meet with us?" Commander White stepped in, having had far more time to come to terms with the truth than Anemone "Until recently I would have been forced to say 'no', as humanity had been extinct for thousands of years. And even now, though there is a human he has left diplomatic matters in our hands" That was a polite way of saying he didn't much care about the humans now that they weren't in overt danger, not that White had thought the maker cared over much even when they were.

    Anemone added "though we are willing to take a few humans on a tour of our world, if the Maker was going to make an appearance he'd do it then" Both the military advisors perked up at that offer, likely looking forward to sending engineers or spies to try and figure out the androids technological capabilities. They were welcome to try, most of it had been built by the Maker and none of her engineers had been able to replicate anything unless they'd been using his machines to do it.

    The diplomat smiled at the offer "we'd be glad to send a proper delegation once one has been assembled, but… where exactly would we be sending them?" That was an odd question to ask, but she had an answer as she pulled a transmitter from her digital storage and placed it on the table with a deceptively heavy thud. "Simply press the button on this device and ask for transportation, a ship will likely be within range to teleport you to a portal nexus, and if one isn't one will be sent within the hour"

    ---------------------------

    Humans weren't stupid, they were foolish, stubborn, and shortsighted yes. But not stupid. And when things didn't add up they noticed, first it was a few companies arising from nowhere, nothing too out of the ordinary but the immediate success? That drew eyes, but nothing more than that. When that company got military contracts and started making ships far more reliable and durable than any other the number of eyes simply grew, though they'd play their role later.

    Then the war, dozens of Turian ships wiping out an entire fleet. And then? A few dozen Turian ships at best attacking human space, and never for long. Nothing like what even the most optimistic estimates were. Add onto the random information added to their system 'gathered' from hacking Turian ships and networks. Well that got investigated, reports of an unknown ship occasionally being spotted as it left relays, only ever glimpses.

    A more dedicated effort was put into scouting for ships, either Turian or belonging to the mystery faction. But they only ever found disabled or destroyed Turians vessels. But that was proof that something beyond paranoia was going on. More ships were dedicated, and when Turians could be found on the disabled ships they were integrated. Always telling the same story of ship system's being hacked, weapons failing, contradictory orders from their superiors, and in a few cases actually mentioning metal monsters shaped like giant spiders crawling on the hull of their ships. Fearful mentions of the 'geth' launching an attack.

    But no other signs of the ship, or the mysterious 'geth' that were helping them. With the end of the war most of the leadership simply accepted the fact they wouldn't be getting answers.

    A call from one of their intelligence agents that they'd found a lead changed that, and the meeting that followed would change humanity forever. Synthetic life? That alone was a momentous discovery, that said life apparently came from an alternate dimension implied so much more.

    -------------------------

    It had taken another hour for the conversation to wind down and the androids to vanish in the same way they had appeared. Beals was the first one to speak up "We'll need some way to counter that teleportation, as far as we know they can get anywhere." That got nods from both the other humans in the rooms and Pyatt spoke up next "Can we even be sure they're not listening? I'd say we assume anything electronic and connected to the internet could be compromised. But they could have gotten bugs onto the air gapped servers without us knowing."

    That got Langley to shake his head "We have to assume they did, but we have to hope they are honest in their stated goals. Could we deal with them if we had too?" Both advisors looked frustrated as they thought before Beal spoke "Even with just what we know about their ships and teleportation tech… Anyone with half a brain would teleport a strike team to take out the leadership on a grand scale, and important infrastructure on a tactical one" A nod from Pyatt ``One bomb teleported to a ship's reactor, or the bridge and that's a ship down. We can only hope there are some limitations we are unaware of, like needing the schematics or visuals to ensure they don't teleport inside something. But given they teleported here… they either have the schematics for this building, or have sensors which can at the very least see us."

    They also couldn't help but remember just which company had won the bid to produce the militaries latest hardware, weapons, parts and even whole ships, and the fact that that very same company already had hundreds of the ships it produced, both military and civilian, going through human territory, with who knows what hidden onboard.

    Beal countered "we're making too many assumptions, and none of us are techs, leave the guesswork to them." Langley added "We should focus on what we learned, and I made a few disturbing observations" that got a snort from Pyatt and muttered "a few?" but Langley continued on undeterred "First off, The androids that arrived. They weren't trained diplomates." A nod from Beal as he added "if we can go off body language… I'd have to say they were combat veterans. They immediately scanned the room for threats and they remained prepared as if they expected to have to leap into action." Pyatt thought for a moment before speaking "Which means they've fought someone on equal footing before, I doubt fighting the Turians ingrained that behavior"

    Langley concurred before adding "Secondly their forms… Commander white was… Flawless and Beautiful by any human standard, And Anemone was more 'approachable' less disturbingly perfect. Their forms might have been crafted to get us to drop our guard or hold them in higher esteem. Humans are conditioned to think better of more Beautiful individuals and we have to assume they knew that." But Beal shook his head at that "It might not have been obvious but I could see wear on Anemone's outfit, it was old not something made specifically for this. And it was perfectly fitted. If they'd changed their bodies I'd have to assume they'd get new clothes for it. That and if they really were made by people the beauty makes sense" Pyatt scoffed "I doubt they were, alternate dimensions? It's absurd"

    Beal shrugged as Langle spoke "well we have to assume it's true until we know it's not. I'm more concerned about this 'Maker'" He had spent some time launching probing questions about the androids, trying to figure out clues about their society and how they thought. But the only thing they seemed to care about discussing was the human they said had saved them and "rebuilt our entire world in days and made it greater in weeks" Which could mean they only had one world or that it was more their metaphorical world. If they one had one world it made sense that'd they only sent one ship, they might not have all that many. "It almost seemed like they deified him, And a man with a god complex and an empire behind him is not a good thing. We need intel on him as soon as possible" Almost was a light word, Anemone at the very least had been vocal about the things the man had apparently done. Pyatt spoke next "Do we think the man could actually be human? A lost explore perhaps? That could be why he encouraged them to save us and make contact" Bael just gave Pyatt a look "They said he explicitly didn't care about us and didn't want to be contacted"

    Langle got a thoughtful look at that "What if they just don't want to risk their 'god' or savior leaving and lied about it? Hoping we wouldn't seek him out. If that's true we are practically obligated to at least make sure he's okay. Can't risk a rescue mission exactly, but we can determine if ones needed, or use him as an inside contact."

    The group seemed to collectively shrug before Bael spoke "All of this seems like stuff for the delegation to decide once they've finished analyzing the discussion."

    AN-

    This had way to much dialogue, hope it wasn't painful to read. That and everytime I write a chapter I forget to add a few things I wanted too, or just can't figure a good way to include it.

    Likes comments and reviews are great. Patreon is a thing and is currently one chapter ahead.
     
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    • I need to make a 'deleted scenes' omake of things that could be/ are canon that I just couldn't find a place to put. There's probably enough of it for a full chapter already written if I just go through and find it
     
    Honestly this was eady to read. Idk where youre getting the impression that your dialogue is bad but youre really underestimating yourself.
     
    snow eternal said:
    This had way to much dialogue, hope it wasn't painful to read. That and everytime I write a chapter I forget to add a few things I wanted too, or just can't figure a good way to include it.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    You are severely underestimating yourself. While not the best true, your dialoug is far better then the vast majority of fanfics I've read. I promise you, your doing just fine.

    Also I want to see more interlude chapels like this, I always find seeing the outside perspectives of other characters fun.
     
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