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Eclipse Phase: This Mortal Coil
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 5832710" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p><strong>Void of Meaning</strong></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i41.servimg.com/u/f41/17/01/16/56/misc_f10.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Alexander found the recon drone's signal as he braved the e-war storm raging across the mesh. The drone wasn't especially sophisticated and he bypassed its counter-intrusion measures easily. A moment later, he covertly placed a false movement reading in the house where the Neotenic that Lady Lillian wanted taken out was hiding.</p><p></p><p>The drone paused in its flight, examining the movement reading briefly and heading closer to the hab to investigate.</p><p></p><p>It was just drifting towards the door when suddenly everything was static and Alexander's connection was lost.</p><p></p><p>A moment later he was looking out of Newport's eyes, watching the debris of the recon drone rain down into the street even as the Neotenic and her two toughs made a run for it.</p><p></p><p>They didn't make it far, half-a-dozen pen-sized missiles blasting the hab behind them into slag and rubble. One of her toughs didn't get back up and the other was crawling away groaning as the child-like Neotinic got up, a look of confusion and pain on her face as they made eye-contact.</p><p></p><p>Alexander's programming made him hesitate for a moment at the sight of a child in distress - an ancient genetically programmed desire to protect the young that was a large part of the reason that criminals would use Neotenic bodies. His arm still raised a moment before the Neotenic's microflechette shotgun did.</p><p></p><p>The force of the impact blasted the Neotinic half-way across the street, a glance out of the corner of his eye before the morph had even come to rest taking in Ishmael and Lillian's "smoking" gun barrels aligned with his.</p><p></p><p>"I want her cortical stack!" Lillian hissed, glancing at Ishmael and Alexander, her expression (and targeted pheromones, most likely) arousing anger at the Neotenic body lying in the middle of the street.</p><p></p><p>Before he could react though, Ishmael was already half-way across the street, a knife appearing in his hand. Its molecule-thin blade sliced the pea-sized persona backup out of the base of the Neotenic's skull with a practiced speed and precision that spoke of disturbing familiarity with the process.</p><p></p><p>Lillian took it from him like a distraught mother grasping her child, held it for a moment with a look that even <em>her</em> morph couldn't make look attractive, then slipped it away into a micro-pocket in her skin-tight bodysuit. She looked up at Alexander and nodded.</p><p></p><p>"Lets go."</p><p></p><p>They left quickly, just in case the Reaper decided that the half-destroyed apartment in which they stood needed a more thorough job.</p><p></p><p>Alexander scouted ahead with his negIndex active camo suite rendering him practically invisible, finding the safest (emptiest) routes through the city. By the time they reached Ring Four - a circular warehouse area built around a central elevator "down" to the outside shell of New Sicily's asteroid - the fighting seemed to be dying off, though whether the criminal insurrection had been destroyed or was mopping up the remnants of the old guard he didn't want to stick around to find out.</p><p></p><p>The elevator was locked down, but as they approached it and he began to send out digital feelers to examine it, an encrypted signal triggered it and it activated, "helios113" flashing momentarily on the physical keypad before the doors opened.</p><p></p><p>The centripetal pull of "gravity" was stronger at the base of the elevator - though .3gs wasn't much, it did take some slight adjustment suddenly weighing half again as much as one had a minute before. A faint blue line sprung to life on their AR leading along a tunnel from the central lift hub to the surface docking ring, a virtual breadcrumb trail left by Helios to lead them to... an empty airlock.</p><p></p><p>At least, that's what it said on the airlock's panel.</p><p></p><p>"A trap?" Ishmael said, glancing at Lillian.</p><p></p><p>"Seems a bit too elaborate, pardners," Alexander said, shaking his head. "Why lead us all the way out here?"</p><p></p><p>"There is all the fighting in the city right now, and the elevator is the only way in or out except any shuttles docked here - which are also probably locked down," Lillian said.</p><p></p><p>"Is there anyone who would go through all this trouble just to get rid of you?" Ishmael said, reaching for his pistol and glancing at the elevator warily.</p><p></p><p>Lillian shook her head, but Alexander noticed the slight hesitation and the instinctive brush of her hand against he pocket where the Neotenic's cortical stack was hidden. He was proud of himself for noticing those things - human behavior was not a natural or especially rational thing even with his socialization and conditioning, so when he got it was like suddenly seeing where a piece of an immense, nearly unfathomable puzzle fit.</p><p></p><p>"Well, it says that there's nothing on the other side of this airlock but the void," Ishmael said, rapping on the circular door with a knuckle. "And your friend Helios's little guideline leads right to it."</p><p></p><p>"Well," Alexander said, reaching for the panel and hitting the EMERGENCY OVERRIDE button, "what's the worst that could happen?"</p><p></p><p>He slammed his hand into the OPEN button and the door complied.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 5832710, member: 60965"] [b]Void of Meaning[/b] [IMG]http://i41.servimg.com/u/f41/17/01/16/56/misc_f10.jpg[/IMG] Alexander found the recon drone's signal as he braved the e-war storm raging across the mesh. The drone wasn't especially sophisticated and he bypassed its counter-intrusion measures easily. A moment later, he covertly placed a false movement reading in the house where the Neotenic that Lady Lillian wanted taken out was hiding. The drone paused in its flight, examining the movement reading briefly and heading closer to the hab to investigate. It was just drifting towards the door when suddenly everything was static and Alexander's connection was lost. A moment later he was looking out of Newport's eyes, watching the debris of the recon drone rain down into the street even as the Neotenic and her two toughs made a run for it. They didn't make it far, half-a-dozen pen-sized missiles blasting the hab behind them into slag and rubble. One of her toughs didn't get back up and the other was crawling away groaning as the child-like Neotinic got up, a look of confusion and pain on her face as they made eye-contact. Alexander's programming made him hesitate for a moment at the sight of a child in distress - an ancient genetically programmed desire to protect the young that was a large part of the reason that criminals would use Neotenic bodies. His arm still raised a moment before the Neotenic's microflechette shotgun did. The force of the impact blasted the Neotinic half-way across the street, a glance out of the corner of his eye before the morph had even come to rest taking in Ishmael and Lillian's "smoking" gun barrels aligned with his. "I want her cortical stack!" Lillian hissed, glancing at Ishmael and Alexander, her expression (and targeted pheromones, most likely) arousing anger at the Neotenic body lying in the middle of the street. Before he could react though, Ishmael was already half-way across the street, a knife appearing in his hand. Its molecule-thin blade sliced the pea-sized persona backup out of the base of the Neotenic's skull with a practiced speed and precision that spoke of disturbing familiarity with the process. Lillian took it from him like a distraught mother grasping her child, held it for a moment with a look that even [I]her[/I] morph couldn't make look attractive, then slipped it away into a micro-pocket in her skin-tight bodysuit. She looked up at Alexander and nodded. "Lets go." They left quickly, just in case the Reaper decided that the half-destroyed apartment in which they stood needed a more thorough job. Alexander scouted ahead with his negIndex active camo suite rendering him practically invisible, finding the safest (emptiest) routes through the city. By the time they reached Ring Four - a circular warehouse area built around a central elevator "down" to the outside shell of New Sicily's asteroid - the fighting seemed to be dying off, though whether the criminal insurrection had been destroyed or was mopping up the remnants of the old guard he didn't want to stick around to find out. The elevator was locked down, but as they approached it and he began to send out digital feelers to examine it, an encrypted signal triggered it and it activated, "helios113" flashing momentarily on the physical keypad before the doors opened. The centripetal pull of "gravity" was stronger at the base of the elevator - though .3gs wasn't much, it did take some slight adjustment suddenly weighing half again as much as one had a minute before. A faint blue line sprung to life on their AR leading along a tunnel from the central lift hub to the surface docking ring, a virtual breadcrumb trail left by Helios to lead them to... an empty airlock. At least, that's what it said on the airlock's panel. "A trap?" Ishmael said, glancing at Lillian. "Seems a bit too elaborate, pardners," Alexander said, shaking his head. "Why lead us all the way out here?" "There is all the fighting in the city right now, and the elevator is the only way in or out except any shuttles docked here - which are also probably locked down," Lillian said. "Is there anyone who would go through all this trouble just to get rid of you?" Ishmael said, reaching for his pistol and glancing at the elevator warily. Lillian shook her head, but Alexander noticed the slight hesitation and the instinctive brush of her hand against he pocket where the Neotenic's cortical stack was hidden. He was proud of himself for noticing those things - human behavior was not a natural or especially rational thing even with his socialization and conditioning, so when he got it was like suddenly seeing where a piece of an immense, nearly unfathomable puzzle fit. "Well, it says that there's nothing on the other side of this airlock but the void," Ishmael said, rapping on the circular door with a knuckle. "And your friend Helios's little guideline leads right to it." "Well," Alexander said, reaching for the panel and hitting the EMERGENCY OVERRIDE button, "what's the worst that could happen?" He slammed his hand into the OPEN button and the door complied. [/QUOTE]
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