13.1
Reclaimer 03 - Nemo
Jenny slapped me again. Ow. What the hell, Jen?
"I think he's coming out of it, Captain…!" she said. Turning back to me, with her hand still raised high, she asked "Nemo? Can you hear me? You're fine. Everything's fine. You're not in danger!"
"Anyone else feeling anything strange?" Captain Nobel asked around. "Burning sensation? Clammy skin, maybe? Anyone?"
"No, sir." Not even Jacqueline Thompson, the most sensitive amongst the two Gaian crews. "We should be well out range…?" she murmured with doubt. But I was still trashing on the floor.
"I am always in range!" I gurgled out, as if my voice was made out of sandpaper. Gah. My brain was on fire.
"Yes! Nemo, can you understand me now?"
"Blurghaben."
"Hit him again, Jen."
No, Jen, don't do tha- WHAP!
"Hello?" Nobel leaned close, watching my dilated pupils start to contract, and his face brightened. "There we go. Welcome back, Commander. Don't do that again, Jen. From this point on, looks like he's going to start enjoying it."
It took all my strength to sluggishly raise my right arm, and then even more painfully slowly extend the middle finger of that hand.
"Sir!" Jen exclaimed. "Oh, thank goodness. You were in seizure or something. I was… I was so worried." The first two fingers of her right hand were bloody. It looked like she had to jam her fist into my mouth to keep me from biting off my own tongue. And that was why she had to slap me back to my senses with her left hand, perhaps using more force than necessary.
I blinked. "Thank you, Jen." I smiled at her. My outstretched hand I moved towards her cheek. "Sorry. I've always been such a burden to you."
"It's okay…" she whispered back. She raised her bandaged hand to mine.
"How swee-"
I nodded at Jennefer, silently begging for her patience to go on a bit longer, and then turned to Nobel, instantly switching my smile into a livid scowl. "That was not a medically sound wake-up measure, you asshole."
"Mind Worm attacks aren't epilepsy, Nemo. We don't know how it works, there's no one way to knock someone out of psionically-induced paralysis."
I huffed and let my head fall back to the cold metal floor.
These people…
Are they really the least nutbar society on Planet? It's not too late to reconsider...
"Nemo, please take it easy for a while. We can handle this. This isn't the first time we had to try and fight off some Isles of the Deep, you know." Jennefer said. She raised her right arm and pumped her fist in sporty enthusiasm, only to wince from the bite wounds opening up. Her bandage blossomed with fresh red spots. "We have more than enough flame guns to go around."
Captain Nobel sniffed and turned his back on me. "No need to feel ashamed if you're this vulnerable to psychic attack, Nemo. It happens."
"Sir, next wave incoming!"one of the crew shouted.
"What's happening?" I hissed as I slowly got back to my feet.
The main screen showed two Isles of the Deep flanking the Matilda. Tentacles with tips blooming like flowers made out of teeth waved at us. The Isles screamed.
"Aagh, what the fu-!" I screamed as I clutched at my head. It was like something trying to tattoo the gray matter inside my skull. I staggered against the central holographic table.
The tentacles bulged and squirted out a glob of Mind Worms at us.
Flak guns! Why don't I have flak gu… oh. Right. Molecular armor. Shrapnel does nothing. It's too primitive to still be in my database.
A writhing screeching pink mass splattered against the bridge window. I blanched.
"How… how long has it been?"
"Not more than fifteen minutes. The ship went into automatic evasive maneuvers while you were knocked out," Nobel responded. "We've repelled several waves of these exploratory Worm attacks so far."
"Bulkheads… NBC sealed…" I gasped.
"They're melting through with some sort of super acid. They're getting through the air vents. I've never seen them this aggressive before. Usually they'd just paralyze and swarm ships not this sort of standoff bombardment."
Spore Launchers inside the Isles of the Deep alternated between explosive pods and carrier pods.
ARM Molecular Armor is rated against close kiloton nuclear detonations. What the hell, Planet? Why are you so unexpectedly hax? No, I doubt it's just some caustic substance. Resonance Fields? "Something's keeping them away. What-"
Ookay. That's, um, handled?
Lurker submarines usually have barely sapient clone control brains. They are patient, yet enthusiastic. Many T1 biocomputers aren't based on human brains, but spliced animal brains. Lurkers are psychopathic dolphins of fusion and chrome.
Construction Sub, where are you? Please be less weird.
Jenny slapped me again. Ow. What the hell, Jen?
"I think he's coming out of it, Captain…!" she said. Turning back to me, with her hand still raised high, she asked "Nemo? Can you hear me? You're fine. Everything's fine. You're not in danger!"
"Anyone else feeling anything strange?" Captain Nobel asked around. "Burning sensation? Clammy skin, maybe? Anyone?"
"No, sir." Not even Jacqueline Thompson, the most sensitive amongst the two Gaian crews. "We should be well out range…?" she murmured with doubt. But I was still trashing on the floor.
"I am always in range!" I gurgled out, as if my voice was made out of sandpaper. Gah. My brain was on fire.
ORDER.ANTARCTIC_BASE.PRODUCTION || MISSILE_SILO
"Yes! Nemo, can you understand me now?"
"Blurghaben."
"Hit him again, Jen."
No, Jen, don't do tha- WHAP!
"Hello?" Nobel leaned close, watching my dilated pupils start to contract, and his face brightened. "There we go. Welcome back, Commander. Don't do that again, Jen. From this point on, looks like he's going to start enjoying it."
It took all my strength to sluggishly raise my right arm, and then even more painfully slowly extend the middle finger of that hand.
"Sir!" Jen exclaimed. "Oh, thank goodness. You were in seizure or something. I was… I was so worried." The first two fingers of her right hand were bloody. It looked like she had to jam her fist into my mouth to keep me from biting off my own tongue. And that was why she had to slap me back to my senses with her left hand, perhaps using more force than necessary.
I blinked. "Thank you, Jen." I smiled at her. My outstretched hand I moved towards her cheek. "Sorry. I've always been such a burden to you."
"It's okay…" she whispered back. She raised her bandaged hand to mine.
"How swee-"
I nodded at Jennefer, silently begging for her patience to go on a bit longer, and then turned to Nobel, instantly switching my smile into a livid scowl. "That was not a medically sound wake-up measure, you asshole."
"Mind Worm attacks aren't epilepsy, Nemo. We don't know how it works, there's no one way to knock someone out of psionically-induced paralysis."
I huffed and let my head fall back to the cold metal floor.
These people…
Are they really the least nutbar society on Planet? It's not too late to reconsider...
"Nemo, please take it easy for a while. We can handle this. This isn't the first time we had to try and fight off some Isles of the Deep, you know." Jennefer said. She raised her right arm and pumped her fist in sporty enthusiasm, only to wince from the bite wounds opening up. Her bandage blossomed with fresh red spots. "We have more than enough flame guns to go around."
Captain Nobel sniffed and turned his back on me. "No need to feel ashamed if you're this vulnerable to psychic attack, Nemo. It happens."
"Sir, next wave incoming!"one of the crew shouted.
"What's happening?" I hissed as I slowly got back to my feet.
The main screen showed two Isles of the Deep flanking the Matilda. Tentacles with tips blooming like flowers made out of teeth waved at us. The Isles screamed.
ERROR.MIND_SHIELD:BUFFER_OVERLOAD
"Aagh, what the fu-!" I screamed as I clutched at my head. It was like something trying to tattoo the gray matter inside my skull. I staggered against the central holographic table.
The tentacles bulged and squirted out a glob of Mind Worms at us.
Flak guns! Why don't I have flak gu… oh. Right. Molecular armor. Shrapnel does nothing. It's too primitive to still be in my database.
A writhing screeching pink mass splattered against the bridge window. I blanched.
"How… how long has it been?"
"Not more than fifteen minutes. The ship went into automatic evasive maneuvers while you were knocked out," Nobel responded. "We've repelled several waves of these exploratory Worm attacks so far."
"Bulkheads… NBC sealed…" I gasped.
"They're melting through with some sort of super acid. They're getting through the air vents. I've never seen them this aggressive before. Usually they'd just paralyze and swarm ships not this sort of standoff bombardment."
Spore Launchers inside the Isles of the Deep alternated between explosive pods and carrier pods.
ARM Molecular Armor is rated against close kiloton nuclear detonations. What the hell, Planet? Why are you so unexpectedly hax? No, I doubt it's just some caustic substance. Resonance Fields? "Something's keeping them away. What-"
GROUP_ORDER: AUTH_ARMCOM: to LURKER_SUB:[T]0004-0010: TARGETS DESIGNATED
GROUP_ORDER: AUTH_ARMCOM: to LURKER_SUB:[T]0004-0010: RAMMING SPEED
RESPONSE: LURKER_SUB_[T]0004: YAY
RESPONSE: LURKER_SUB_[T]0007: ME FIRST
RESPONSE: LURKER_SUB_[T]0009: WAIT UP
RESPONSE: LURKER_SUB_[T]0010: PLS NO SELF_DESTRUCT
RESPONSE: LURKER_SUB_[T]0006: FLOATING THING LET ME LOVE YOU
GROUP_ORDER: AUTH_ARMCOM: to LURKER_SUB:[T]0004-0010: RAMMING SPEED
RESPONSE: LURKER_SUB_[T]0004: YAY
RESPONSE: LURKER_SUB_[T]0007: ME FIRST
RESPONSE: LURKER_SUB_[T]0009: WAIT UP
RESPONSE: LURKER_SUB_[T]0010: PLS NO SELF_DESTRUCT
RESPONSE: LURKER_SUB_[T]0006: FLOATING THING LET ME LOVE YOU
Ookay. That's, um, handled?
Lurker submarines usually have barely sapient clone control brains. They are patient, yet enthusiastic. Many T1 biocomputers aren't based on human brains, but spliced animal brains. Lurkers are psychopathic dolphins of fusion and chrome.
ACTION: LURKER_SUB_[T]0011: PING PING PING PING
Construction Sub, where are you? Please be less weird.
RESPONSE: ADV_CONST_SUB_[T]0001: FHTAGN
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