- Location
- Here
I should probably feel annoyed with the lack of story progress, but the thought of 'Instructor Penny' was too adorable.
Limit Theory [PA Multicross SI]
- Location
- 3 million years into deep space
After forcing myself to slog through all of this, after bailing out the first time at RWBY I've finally caught up. Glad to see we're getting closer to home.
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I mean, this is part of the story. She traveled through all these worlds, now she has to travel back. And she might as well clean up her messes as well. It's only responsible, after all.
Chapter 230 - First Trip End
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Chapter 230
-------------------------
Rachel
-------------------------
Return Day 544/544
Twenty minutes until the final portal opened. 66 levels remaining.
Andromeda 3 was mostly stable. The Purple Hearts would be holding their first parliament for their protectorates soon. Gargantia would hold together. It wasn't like everyone loved Ridget, but no one was going to try to split the fleet.
The Half-Life Earth was doing okay, but there was still the very real potential for a population crash. I wasn't sure how well they would handle. Even with the ability to have children restored after the deactivation of the Combine Suppression Field, it didn't guarantee their ability to raise those children.
Return was doing wonderfully. Galapagos's Beak Academy had gotten through a lot of growing pains, crime was down, trade was up, education was expanding, and most importantly, there was a lot more hope for the future. Faunus racism hadn't vanished, crime hadn't gone away, and it wasn't perfect.
I couldn't do perfect. All I could do was my best. And I couldn't know if I ever actually did my best.
I slowly moved my hand up, and watched as a shark a bit smaller than my arm nosed into it. After a few nuzzles, it decided that my lack of smell or electrical activity was boring, and moved on.
Fish were relaxing to Blue even when she was outside the aquariums, and I found them very relaxing when sitting at the bottom of a bay or delta in one of my gardens. Blue found going for walks relaxing, while I really didn't. My mind whirled too much and I usually just wound up a bit more stressed.
Hence, sitting at the bottom of the lake. And with Extech's ability to change its surface properties I didn't even need to worry about water or dirt sticking to me afterwards. Who needs showers?
Still, it was time to get moving. I stood up in the water, and swam towards the shore. Once I got close enough, I rode the breaking waves onto the side of the cliffs, then gripped them like a gecko.
My clothes shifted from a one-piece to my typical outfit, splitting into the different parts as I climbed up towards the cottage on top of the cliffs. Waiting outside the small house was my chassis. I delinked from my avatar and beamed it into storage.
Then I blinked out existence, flashing back nearly a million light-years away instantly. I'd landed only three kilometers away from my programmed target, a third of the possible error. A few moments later, Penny's chassis translocated a dozen kilometers away.
It was time to head back.
---------------
Lindy
---------------
The portal glowed across the full spectrum of light, waves crossing its surface. The gap between the tiny portal and the massive frame was filled with streamers of exotic particles - the full knowledge of the Asgard, processed through Progenitor software to create something that looked like something someone once saw.
Then the portal shifted, flaring with the power of a star. It swelled, the ribbons of particles deflected. The generators on the kilometer-scale ring shut off, the control software giving up.
The portal shone like a nova, the stabilizing jackets shredded by the sheer power, the particles decaying into light. And then it calmed. The shining surface replaced by a clear discontinuity. A tunnel, a full kilometer across, stretched outward, empty space overlapping empty space.
And two presences connected to the command network.
"Hey girls!" Came <Mother's> voice.
"Salutations and greetings!" Came another presence. ssc_Penny_0 was the name.
"Hello?" Lindy responded, glancing at Drei. Meanwhile, Chrono and Drei glanced at their older sister.
"Hi!" "Penny" chirped. "You're Lindy, right? I'm Penny Polendia! Nice to meet you, almost in the flesh."
"Um, mother, what is going on?" Lindy asked over a private channel.
"I made a friend." <Mother> replied. "The portal will be able sufficiently stabilized for us to travel through it in 22 seconds. We'll talk once we're through."
Lindy had noticed the construction macro that had summoned all the fabricators in the area, building up another massive ring around the first one. Resources enough to bankrupt several planets flowed out, filling out massive generators and projectors.
"Mother." Lindy said.
"We made several poor assumptions, and I made several mistakes." <Mother> sighed. "We're going to talk about them."
And then the new equipment activated. Energy shifted, and the portal warped, sensors screamed errors into the net, and then everything settled.
<Mother's> chassis streaked through the portal, her passage down the overlapped space causing more sensor errors, and then she arrived. Lindy took note of the modifications to the Bulwark chassis - the glowing lines, the new weapons, the pylons and the second chassis docked to the back - before it landed on the observation platform.
With a flash of light, <Mother's> avatar materialized in front of them.
"I'm back." She smiled. Then she hugged them.
-------------------------
Rachel
-------------------------
Return Day 544/544
Twenty minutes until the final portal opened. 66 levels remaining.
Andromeda 3 was mostly stable. The Purple Hearts would be holding their first parliament for their protectorates soon. Gargantia would hold together. It wasn't like everyone loved Ridget, but no one was going to try to split the fleet.
The Half-Life Earth was doing okay, but there was still the very real potential for a population crash. I wasn't sure how well they would handle. Even with the ability to have children restored after the deactivation of the Combine Suppression Field, it didn't guarantee their ability to raise those children.
Return was doing wonderfully. Galapagos's Beak Academy had gotten through a lot of growing pains, crime was down, trade was up, education was expanding, and most importantly, there was a lot more hope for the future. Faunus racism hadn't vanished, crime hadn't gone away, and it wasn't perfect.
I couldn't do perfect. All I could do was my best. And I couldn't know if I ever actually did my best.
I slowly moved my hand up, and watched as a shark a bit smaller than my arm nosed into it. After a few nuzzles, it decided that my lack of smell or electrical activity was boring, and moved on.
Fish were relaxing to Blue even when she was outside the aquariums, and I found them very relaxing when sitting at the bottom of a bay or delta in one of my gardens. Blue found going for walks relaxing, while I really didn't. My mind whirled too much and I usually just wound up a bit more stressed.
Hence, sitting at the bottom of the lake. And with Extech's ability to change its surface properties I didn't even need to worry about water or dirt sticking to me afterwards. Who needs showers?
Still, it was time to get moving. I stood up in the water, and swam towards the shore. Once I got close enough, I rode the breaking waves onto the side of the cliffs, then gripped them like a gecko.
My clothes shifted from a one-piece to my typical outfit, splitting into the different parts as I climbed up towards the cottage on top of the cliffs. Waiting outside the small house was my chassis. I delinked from my avatar and beamed it into storage.
Then I blinked out existence, flashing back nearly a million light-years away instantly. I'd landed only three kilometers away from my programmed target, a third of the possible error. A few moments later, Penny's chassis translocated a dozen kilometers away.
It was time to head back.
---------------
Lindy
---------------
The portal glowed across the full spectrum of light, waves crossing its surface. The gap between the tiny portal and the massive frame was filled with streamers of exotic particles - the full knowledge of the Asgard, processed through Progenitor software to create something that looked like something someone once saw.
Then the portal shifted, flaring with the power of a star. It swelled, the ribbons of particles deflected. The generators on the kilometer-scale ring shut off, the control software giving up.
The portal shone like a nova, the stabilizing jackets shredded by the sheer power, the particles decaying into light. And then it calmed. The shining surface replaced by a clear discontinuity. A tunnel, a full kilometer across, stretched outward, empty space overlapping empty space.
And two presences connected to the command network.
"Hey girls!" Came <Mother's> voice.
"Salutations and greetings!" Came another presence. ssc_Penny_0 was the name.
"Hello?" Lindy responded, glancing at Drei. Meanwhile, Chrono and Drei glanced at their older sister.
"Hi!" "Penny" chirped. "You're Lindy, right? I'm Penny Polendia! Nice to meet you, almost in the flesh."
"Um, mother, what is going on?" Lindy asked over a private channel.
"I made a friend." <Mother> replied. "The portal will be able sufficiently stabilized for us to travel through it in 22 seconds. We'll talk once we're through."
Lindy had noticed the construction macro that had summoned all the fabricators in the area, building up another massive ring around the first one. Resources enough to bankrupt several planets flowed out, filling out massive generators and projectors.
"Mother." Lindy said.
"We made several poor assumptions, and I made several mistakes." <Mother> sighed. "We're going to talk about them."
And then the new equipment activated. Energy shifted, and the portal warped, sensors screamed errors into the net, and then everything settled.
<Mother's> chassis streaked through the portal, her passage down the overlapped space causing more sensor errors, and then she arrived. Lindy took note of the modifications to the Bulwark chassis - the glowing lines, the new weapons, the pylons and the second chassis docked to the back - before it landed on the observation platform.
With a flash of light, <Mother's> avatar materialized in front of them.
"I'm back." She smiled. Then she hugged them.
- Location
- Beyond the Unknowable Veil
It's good to be home with your children again.
tehcrash
Apprentice Supervillain
- Location
- Seattle-ish
Too real.
How many subjective years has it been for Rachel since she left now? Thousands?
Does the better portal stabilization do anything to keep the time dilation down if they travel to more universes now?
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I'm sure Rachel thinks so anyway. Don't have kids, and probably never will.
No relation to events, just my mind went right there anyway.
PMMM can't even be on the list, because you know TIME TRAVEL.
Millions in elapsed time, most of it spent asleep. It's only been around four years for her, I think.
As for the inter-cluster portals, well, I'm going to mention it shortly.
Lol
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You don't, obviously.
Chapter 231
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Also caught a likebomber in the act; hi @Jjjfg
----------------------------------------------
Chapter 231
----------------------
Rachel
---------------------
"Mom." Chrono sighed. "Also, who's this?" She gestured at Penny as best she could with being trapped between her sisters.
"This is Penny." I said. "My partner. Let's go sit down somewhere and I'll explain."
---------------
"Really?" Chrono said, slumping down. "That's how you met?"
"Correct." Penny said. "That was our meeting. Anyway, Rachel shortly brought me on board as a partner...."
---------------
"Anyway, enough of that." I said. "I've discovered some disturbing things about our cores."
All three of the girls looked at me curiously.
"They are not Progenitor standard, and there are some critical bugs involved." I said, eyes narrowed. "So I'm going to give you the patches and the explanation." I transferred the files over. "First thing is modification to the standard, Progenitor SSC operating system safe mode. Which is actually an unsafe mode. Anyway, I've worked up a patch. It's more of a diagnostic mode though."
"But if it's actually Progenitor shouldn't it be fine?" Drei asked.
"It resets the target acquisition flags." I said. "It's military failsafe, not something we actually want to use." I sighed. "Anyway, the second bit is to deal with the mess that is the Emotional Linking System. That's definitely not Progenitor standard, runs on non-standard hardware, and fails dangerously. The patch is actually a workaround."
------------------
"Mom." Drei interrupted my explanation of how the ELS broke our cores.
"What?" I asked.
"What actually happened?" Drei stared at me.
"Well…" I prevaricated. Drei stared at me, frowned, then blinked.
"What?" Lindy and Chrono asked at the same time.
"Think about it." Drei said. Lindy simply tilted her head, while Chrono went through a bevy of emotions.
The room grew silent. I glanced at Penny, then turned around to stare out the window. The absolute blackness of the intergalactic void greeted me, and I looked into it.
"Nope!" Penny snapped. "You are not allowed to wallow like that. You said that yourself."
"I agree." Lindy said. "Negative emotions can get very powerful. It is best not to grant them that power."
"There will be no running." Penny said mock-gravely, and threw her legs over my lap.
I turned to my daughters. "Please learn from my mistakes, okay? I'm still going to send you out so you can stand on your own, there's just going to be a bit more training to do before I do."
--------------------
"... and now let's move on now." I said. "Next topic: giving you three souls and training you in their usage."
"Yeah, you will definitely want both of those gifts." Penny said. "The journey will be dangerous, but the rewards will be great."
"You three are going to decide who gets their Aura first." I said.
"Lindy." Chrono and Drei said at the same time.
"Chrono." Lindy said.
Both of her sisters looked at her.
"Chrono's hyperfocus and mania will mean she will benefit the most from the training. In addition, her strong limbic connections mean she might develop the strongest powers."
"Lindy, Aura doesn't work like that." Penny said. "Hyperfocus can help with training, but having strong emotions doesn't mean your powers are stronger. It just means you're more likely to sprain a part of your soul."
"Oh." Lindy said. "I will keep that in mind."
---------------------
14 May 2001, one week later
"I see you have constructed your new weapons." Penny said to my daughters. I watched from the side of the arena. I would have fabricated a bag of popcorn except I couldn't taste, and I didn't want to experience Blue's memories of food.
"Now, unleash your full power, and come at me." Penny said, the handles of Castor and Pollux sticking up from behind her shoulders.
To call what happened next a "fight" would have did the word disservice. It occured to me that maybe I should have signed my daughters up for martial arts. Nah.
Penny scored the required two dozen hits on all three in less than a minute, without taking a single hit in return. Chrono managed to get three hits, but on herself. The path she set for herself was a long and hard one, where only geniuses could still stand.
Lindy had only a single block to her name during that match.
"Alright, that was as expected. Except maybe a bit faster than I thought." I said. "This is why I'm going to have you mainly train against the Reaper system."
"Isn't that the thing that will shred anyone short of CQC-god status?" Drei asked, lying on the ground in her white-and-orange curving armor.
"Relax, it has difficulty settings." I said. "And you can make sure it won't kick you while you're down."
--------------------------------
12 June 2001
"Welcome friends, to the fifth Avalon Galactic Stabilization meeting." Penny said, the hologram lighting up at her command, displaying the galaxy above the table.
"Now, the first issue for today's agenda will be the Trascius-Delvion trade situation. Currently, the embargo has expanded to include grain, oil, and ore. This event occurred six days ago."
There was silence. Everyone was looking at their companions. I raised an eyebrow.
"None of you have any comments?" Penny said.
"Well I would comment but my economics degree is currently in the mail. Twelve-ninety-five plus shipping and handling." Colonel O'Neill said, breaking the awkward silence with all the tact of a sledgehammer. "Friedman, you got something to say about this?"
"Ah, yes." The man said, standing up and straightening his tie. "Previously, we assumed that the Delvion government would not put an embargo on grain, due to surpluses. While the Trascius will be able to feed their population there will be an increase in riots and general instability. Considering the Trascian government is about to go through a power transition this could begin to spiral out of control rather quickly.
"I think we should move them up into the C category for the moment." The man said. "And begin active intervention on the embargo if two or more of the goods from the list we presented last time show up."
"Any other comments?" Penny prompted.
"We're likely going to see an increase in burning through the ecological reserves on Trascius." Poro Teli, one of the Furling delegation, spoke up. "I believe we should intervene if one more good is added to the embargo, or one month passes. Otherwise, long-term ecological problems will result."
Penny waited for a moment before talking. "So, we have our proposal. If one more item from the prior list is added to the embargo, or if one month passes without any reduction in the embargo, we intervene. Can I please get a quorum?"
After a moment, a dozen or so holographic orbs lit up above the middle of the table.
"We have a quorum." Penny said. "Your votes, please."
The orbs disappeared, to be slowly replaced with red and green orbs in different spots. There were thirteen green and two red.
"The proposal passes." Penny said. "Would the Lanteans be willing to accept the responsibility?"
"We would."
"Most excellent." Penny nodded. "Now, the next issue is…"
Also caught a likebomber in the act; hi @Jjjfg
----------------------------------------------
Chapter 231
----------------------
Rachel
---------------------
"Mom." Chrono sighed. "Also, who's this?" She gestured at Penny as best she could with being trapped between her sisters.
"This is Penny." I said. "My partner. Let's go sit down somewhere and I'll explain."
---------------
"Really?" Chrono said, slumping down. "That's how you met?"
"Correct." Penny said. "That was our meeting. Anyway, Rachel shortly brought me on board as a partner...."
---------------
"Anyway, enough of that." I said. "I've discovered some disturbing things about our cores."
All three of the girls looked at me curiously.
"They are not Progenitor standard, and there are some critical bugs involved." I said, eyes narrowed. "So I'm going to give you the patches and the explanation." I transferred the files over. "First thing is modification to the standard, Progenitor SSC operating system safe mode. Which is actually an unsafe mode. Anyway, I've worked up a patch. It's more of a diagnostic mode though."
"But if it's actually Progenitor shouldn't it be fine?" Drei asked.
"It resets the target acquisition flags." I said. "It's military failsafe, not something we actually want to use." I sighed. "Anyway, the second bit is to deal with the mess that is the Emotional Linking System. That's definitely not Progenitor standard, runs on non-standard hardware, and fails dangerously. The patch is actually a workaround."
------------------
"Mom." Drei interrupted my explanation of how the ELS broke our cores.
"What?" I asked.
"What actually happened?" Drei stared at me.
"Well…" I prevaricated. Drei stared at me, frowned, then blinked.
"What?" Lindy and Chrono asked at the same time.
"Think about it." Drei said. Lindy simply tilted her head, while Chrono went through a bevy of emotions.
The room grew silent. I glanced at Penny, then turned around to stare out the window. The absolute blackness of the intergalactic void greeted me, and I looked into it.
"Nope!" Penny snapped. "You are not allowed to wallow like that. You said that yourself."
"I agree." Lindy said. "Negative emotions can get very powerful. It is best not to grant them that power."
"There will be no running." Penny said mock-gravely, and threw her legs over my lap.
I turned to my daughters. "Please learn from my mistakes, okay? I'm still going to send you out so you can stand on your own, there's just going to be a bit more training to do before I do."
--------------------
"... and now let's move on now." I said. "Next topic: giving you three souls and training you in their usage."
"Yeah, you will definitely want both of those gifts." Penny said. "The journey will be dangerous, but the rewards will be great."
"You three are going to decide who gets their Aura first." I said.
"Lindy." Chrono and Drei said at the same time.
"Chrono." Lindy said.
Both of her sisters looked at her.
"Chrono's hyperfocus and mania will mean she will benefit the most from the training. In addition, her strong limbic connections mean she might develop the strongest powers."
"Lindy, Aura doesn't work like that." Penny said. "Hyperfocus can help with training, but having strong emotions doesn't mean your powers are stronger. It just means you're more likely to sprain a part of your soul."
"Oh." Lindy said. "I will keep that in mind."
---------------------
14 May 2001, one week later
"I see you have constructed your new weapons." Penny said to my daughters. I watched from the side of the arena. I would have fabricated a bag of popcorn except I couldn't taste, and I didn't want to experience Blue's memories of food.
"Now, unleash your full power, and come at me." Penny said, the handles of Castor and Pollux sticking up from behind her shoulders.
To call what happened next a "fight" would have did the word disservice. It occured to me that maybe I should have signed my daughters up for martial arts. Nah.
Penny scored the required two dozen hits on all three in less than a minute, without taking a single hit in return. Chrono managed to get three hits, but on herself. The path she set for herself was a long and hard one, where only geniuses could still stand.
Lindy had only a single block to her name during that match.
"Alright, that was as expected. Except maybe a bit faster than I thought." I said. "This is why I'm going to have you mainly train against the Reaper system."
"Isn't that the thing that will shred anyone short of CQC-god status?" Drei asked, lying on the ground in her white-and-orange curving armor.
"Relax, it has difficulty settings." I said. "And you can make sure it won't kick you while you're down."
--------------------------------
12 June 2001
"Welcome friends, to the fifth Avalon Galactic Stabilization meeting." Penny said, the hologram lighting up at her command, displaying the galaxy above the table.
"Now, the first issue for today's agenda will be the Trascius-Delvion trade situation. Currently, the embargo has expanded to include grain, oil, and ore. This event occurred six days ago."
There was silence. Everyone was looking at their companions. I raised an eyebrow.
"None of you have any comments?" Penny said.
"Well I would comment but my economics degree is currently in the mail. Twelve-ninety-five plus shipping and handling." Colonel O'Neill said, breaking the awkward silence with all the tact of a sledgehammer. "Friedman, you got something to say about this?"
"Ah, yes." The man said, standing up and straightening his tie. "Previously, we assumed that the Delvion government would not put an embargo on grain, due to surpluses. While the Trascius will be able to feed their population there will be an increase in riots and general instability. Considering the Trascian government is about to go through a power transition this could begin to spiral out of control rather quickly.
"I think we should move them up into the C category for the moment." The man said. "And begin active intervention on the embargo if two or more of the goods from the list we presented last time show up."
"Any other comments?" Penny prompted.
"We're likely going to see an increase in burning through the ecological reserves on Trascius." Poro Teli, one of the Furling delegation, spoke up. "I believe we should intervene if one more good is added to the embargo, or one month passes. Otherwise, long-term ecological problems will result."
Penny waited for a moment before talking. "So, we have our proposal. If one more item from the prior list is added to the embargo, or if one month passes without any reduction in the embargo, we intervene. Can I please get a quorum?"
After a moment, a dozen or so holographic orbs lit up above the middle of the table.
"We have a quorum." Penny said. "Your votes, please."
The orbs disappeared, to be slowly replaced with red and green orbs in different spots. There were thirteen green and two red.
"The proposal passes." Penny said. "Would the Lanteans be willing to accept the responsibility?"
"We would."
"Most excellent." Penny nodded. "Now, the next issue is…"
Last edited:
Salvare7097
be the salvation of the hopeless!
- Location
- [REDACTED] [O5 APPROVAL REQUIRED]
Here are some grammar issues I found.
- Location
- UK
Ooh, interesting to be back here. Expected to see more of the welcoming back tbh though. Will we be moving on to a new world?
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
There was my desire to not just write recaps of stuff for why there's not a lot of welcoming back.
There is a new world. We're stopping just after the introduction to it, but before the revelation of what it is.
Will fix, thanks.
- Location
- UK
Fair enough. Is the new world locked in? Or do you take suggestions? (If not that's also fine).
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It is locked in and started. Two abd three are also locked in, though two could be changed if someone makes a good enough suggestion. It's after that when I can really use suggestions.
- Location
- UK
Well I suggest Star Wars and WH40K if it hasn't been suggested already. I always love the first tbh and the latter should be an interesting challenge because of chaos I think. Anyways just let us know and I'm sure the suggestions will come pouring in haha.
Czlyydwr Llrngwl
"Sell ya a door Learn gull," Czly/Celly for short
- Location
- Where the Beef is
- Pronouns
- Any
How about the fast food/high fantasy setting of the Wendy's Feast of Legends RPG? Not as a full arc, but a mini-stop to show just how strange this whole "exploring alternate realities" thing can get sometimes. That's not to say that picking up some levels in, say, the Order of the Asiago Ranch Chicken Club or perhaps coordinating with Penny to get that Order of the Frosty/Order of the Fries combo synergy couldn't be handy, but the story and opponents are on a different scale of threat that frankly isn't one unless you only take their RWBY-style humanoid avatars into consideration, and then it's not much.
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Star Wars was already on the list for maybe appearing after the next three.
WH40K might be possible with liberal use of the Sangraal, so maybe. It might show up later, too.
As for Czly's suggestion:
Much as I keep making accidental Neptunia references in here even the original series is a bit too wacky to use.
Something that's a literal internet meme brought to life? Not a chance.
WH40K might be possible with liberal use of the Sangraal, so maybe. It might show up later, too.
As for Czly's suggestion:
Much as I keep making accidental Neptunia references in here even the original series is a bit too wacky to use.
Something that's a literal internet meme brought to life? Not a chance.
Chapter 232
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Chapter 232
It was about five hours until the break. Not exactly a lunch break, given the metabolic requirements of Furlings, but most of the races with better mass/surface-area ratios took it as one.
So, now it was time to see who came up to actually confront Penny in her newness and actually ask her name.
It was actually one of the Nox to come forward to ask the question.
"Hello there." She said. "I am Talles eln Korasta. Pleased to meet you, miss…?"
"Penny Polendina." Penny said. "Greetings and Salutations."
"Ah, we were unaware of your existence." Talles stated. "There is much we do not know about the Exiles."
"That is true." I said.
"So why did you choose to show up now?" Talles continued to ask.
"Because I felt like showing up." Penny said. "Simple as that."
"For the very powerful, fulfilling their desires is quite simple." Talles said sagely.
"Yeah, but fulfilling our values is much harder." I said.
"Fair thee well, then." Talles said, before lumbering back to her seat.
After the break, Penny covered the last few issues.
"While we are going to stick to the standard payment plan for the next two months, we're considering introducing a new payment just for the next period." Penny added.
"The reason I'm bringing this up now is because we're not doing this without approval, since there are significant costs, and also because everyone would bear the costs and share the benefits of doing so.
"To introductorize, we would alter hyperspace to make it more useful to sophant beings trying to use it. The alteration would increase hyperspace transit speed by a factor of 156,000, and transmission speed by a factor of thirty-two nonillion." Penny said. "However, this requires a complete refurbishment of any and all hyperspace infrastructure. We will assist in the costs required for that.
"This offer will remain open indefinitely." Penny smilied. "So don't worry about not coming to a consensus soon"
----------------
23 June 2001
"Alright, begin." I said, watching from the sidelines of the arena once again. Lindy stood in front of Penny, weapon in front of her in a rather defensive posture.
Penny leapt forward, and Lindy sidestepped out of the way. This mostly described the fight, with Lindy calmly keeping her defense and keeping away. A minute later, and Penny had only scored five hits on her.
"Time." I called.
"See, wasn't that much better?" Penny asked. "You've improved a lot.from when you began."
"I can also tell." Lindy nodded quickly. "Did I pass?"
"Yeah, I think so." I said.
"Oh, definitely." Penny said. "You now have a solid framework that you can build off of."
----------------
"Match start." I said, and once again Penny leapt forward. Chrono went on the offensive as well, quickly setting up a few feints that she could commit to. Whenever blades crossed, Chrono was sure to prevent her disarmament. Penny danced around the edge of Chrono's attacks for a moment, then slid and rolled around her a few times.
Then she stepped in, and Chrono, caught off balance, tumbled over her feet.
"Agh!" She muttered as her weapon slid out of reach. The match was as good as over at that fumble.
Chrono ignored Penny's hand and got to her feet. "I'll go practice some more, then."
Penny and I shared a glance.
----------------
"Let's begin." I said, and both Penny and Drei charged in. The fight wasn't even, but Drei was more willing to pay for her hits on Penny with multiple hits to herself. For two hits on Penny, Drei took eighty hits in that minute.
"How'd I do?" Drei asked, rolling off the floor and re-handing her weapon.
"In terms of this battle, horrible." I said. "But in terms of actual combat skill, you've got a good base."
"Yep." Penny smiled. "You pass!"
"Woot." Drei gave a grin and a thumbs-up, and we returned the gesture.
-----------------------
25 June 2001
"Alright." I said to my daughters. "Today is a very important day."
Drei struggled to keep her eyes from rolling.
"Today, I am going to send all three out into the greater universe. Because you will never truly be ready for responsibility until you have it thrust upon you." I said. "In order to stretch your wings, you need to not be cramped. You're not going to be fully adults until I'm no longer looking over your shoulders."
Lindy gave a tiny fist pump, and Drei said "Nice" and clapped.
Chrono, on the other hand, went creepily wooden, then quietly turned and walked out of the room. Did she just unlink?
"Alright, you gate in one hour." I said, then hurried out after Chrono.
------------------------
It was barely two minutes later when I sat down on top of Chrono's chassis. She had two little fins sticking up on the purple portion of the forehead, and I leaned against the left one.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
There was a long pause. I checked my nails. Flawless Extech representations of keratin as always.
"It sucks!" Chrono shouted. "I'm just going to screw things up again!"
"Yes." I said.
"Yeah I - wait, what?" Chrono said.
"You are going to screw up. Lindy is going to screw up. Drei is going to screw up. I've already screwed up, and I'm going to make mistakes in the future." I said.
"Yeah, but I've screwed up so much more than everyone else." Chrono whined.
"It's not a competition." I said. "Nobody's perfect. And it's not like you don't learn from your mistakes, either."
"Yes, but I keep needing to have someone clean up my messes. First it was Lindy with the Goa'uld rescues, then you with me running my mouth to the Asgard. Then Drei, then Lindy again, then you again." Chrono moped. "I'm useless on my own."
"Hey." I whacked her forehead. "Don't be so harsh on yourself. Who was it that purged the Replicators from an entire galaxy? Who was it that got us actually moving on saving people from the Goa'uld right now? Just because you didn't do things perfectly doesn't mean the things you have done aren't impressive."
"I.. uh… ah." Chrono said.
"Relax." I said. "You don't have to make perfect plans and perfect decisions. It's okay to mess up."
"Are you sure I'm ready?" Chrono asked.
"Chrono, no one is ready for this sort of thing." I shrugged. "The only way to be ready is to go through with it. I wasn't ready for this when I started, either. There will be troubles, and that's okay."
It was about five hours until the break. Not exactly a lunch break, given the metabolic requirements of Furlings, but most of the races with better mass/surface-area ratios took it as one.
So, now it was time to see who came up to actually confront Penny in her newness and actually ask her name.
It was actually one of the Nox to come forward to ask the question.
"Hello there." She said. "I am Talles eln Korasta. Pleased to meet you, miss…?"
"Penny Polendina." Penny said. "Greetings and Salutations."
"Ah, we were unaware of your existence." Talles stated. "There is much we do not know about the Exiles."
"That is true." I said.
"So why did you choose to show up now?" Talles continued to ask.
"Because I felt like showing up." Penny said. "Simple as that."
"For the very powerful, fulfilling their desires is quite simple." Talles said sagely.
"Yeah, but fulfilling our values is much harder." I said.
"Fair thee well, then." Talles said, before lumbering back to her seat.
After the break, Penny covered the last few issues.
"While we are going to stick to the standard payment plan for the next two months, we're considering introducing a new payment just for the next period." Penny added.
"The reason I'm bringing this up now is because we're not doing this without approval, since there are significant costs, and also because everyone would bear the costs and share the benefits of doing so.
"To introductorize, we would alter hyperspace to make it more useful to sophant beings trying to use it. The alteration would increase hyperspace transit speed by a factor of 156,000, and transmission speed by a factor of thirty-two nonillion." Penny said. "However, this requires a complete refurbishment of any and all hyperspace infrastructure. We will assist in the costs required for that.
"This offer will remain open indefinitely." Penny smilied. "So don't worry about not coming to a consensus soon"
----------------
23 June 2001
"Alright, begin." I said, watching from the sidelines of the arena once again. Lindy stood in front of Penny, weapon in front of her in a rather defensive posture.
Penny leapt forward, and Lindy sidestepped out of the way. This mostly described the fight, with Lindy calmly keeping her defense and keeping away. A minute later, and Penny had only scored five hits on her.
"Time." I called.
"See, wasn't that much better?" Penny asked. "You've improved a lot.from when you began."
"I can also tell." Lindy nodded quickly. "Did I pass?"
"Yeah, I think so." I said.
"Oh, definitely." Penny said. "You now have a solid framework that you can build off of."
----------------
"Match start." I said, and once again Penny leapt forward. Chrono went on the offensive as well, quickly setting up a few feints that she could commit to. Whenever blades crossed, Chrono was sure to prevent her disarmament. Penny danced around the edge of Chrono's attacks for a moment, then slid and rolled around her a few times.
Then she stepped in, and Chrono, caught off balance, tumbled over her feet.
"Agh!" She muttered as her weapon slid out of reach. The match was as good as over at that fumble.
Chrono ignored Penny's hand and got to her feet. "I'll go practice some more, then."
Penny and I shared a glance.
----------------
"Let's begin." I said, and both Penny and Drei charged in. The fight wasn't even, but Drei was more willing to pay for her hits on Penny with multiple hits to herself. For two hits on Penny, Drei took eighty hits in that minute.
"How'd I do?" Drei asked, rolling off the floor and re-handing her weapon.
"In terms of this battle, horrible." I said. "But in terms of actual combat skill, you've got a good base."
"Yep." Penny smiled. "You pass!"
"Woot." Drei gave a grin and a thumbs-up, and we returned the gesture.
-----------------------
25 June 2001
"Alright." I said to my daughters. "Today is a very important day."
Drei struggled to keep her eyes from rolling.
"Today, I am going to send all three out into the greater universe. Because you will never truly be ready for responsibility until you have it thrust upon you." I said. "In order to stretch your wings, you need to not be cramped. You're not going to be fully adults until I'm no longer looking over your shoulders."
Lindy gave a tiny fist pump, and Drei said "Nice" and clapped.
Chrono, on the other hand, went creepily wooden, then quietly turned and walked out of the room. Did she just unlink?
"Alright, you gate in one hour." I said, then hurried out after Chrono.
------------------------
It was barely two minutes later when I sat down on top of Chrono's chassis. She had two little fins sticking up on the purple portion of the forehead, and I leaned against the left one.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
There was a long pause. I checked my nails. Flawless Extech representations of keratin as always.
"It sucks!" Chrono shouted. "I'm just going to screw things up again!"
"Yes." I said.
"Yeah I - wait, what?" Chrono said.
"You are going to screw up. Lindy is going to screw up. Drei is going to screw up. I've already screwed up, and I'm going to make mistakes in the future." I said.
"Yeah, but I've screwed up so much more than everyone else." Chrono whined.
"It's not a competition." I said. "Nobody's perfect. And it's not like you don't learn from your mistakes, either."
"Yes, but I keep needing to have someone clean up my messes. First it was Lindy with the Goa'uld rescues, then you with me running my mouth to the Asgard. Then Drei, then Lindy again, then you again." Chrono moped. "I'm useless on my own."
"Hey." I whacked her forehead. "Don't be so harsh on yourself. Who was it that purged the Replicators from an entire galaxy? Who was it that got us actually moving on saving people from the Goa'uld right now? Just because you didn't do things perfectly doesn't mean the things you have done aren't impressive."
"I.. uh… ah." Chrono said.
"Relax." I said. "You don't have to make perfect plans and perfect decisions. It's okay to mess up."
"Are you sure I'm ready?" Chrono asked.
"Chrono, no one is ready for this sort of thing." I shrugged. "The only way to be ready is to go through with it. I wasn't ready for this when I started, either. There will be troubles, and that's okay."
Salvare7097
be the salvation of the hopeless!
- Location
- [REDACTED] [O5 APPROVAL REQUIRED]
tehcrash
Apprentice Supervillain
- Location
- Seattle-ish
Sounds like Chrono could do with watching some Magic School Bus: