STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #2, TheBirth of RUDI

UISC Station, Permatheasius Point, Edge of Meklon Expanse,

On the great City Ship of [Skohotintot], the approaching activation was being monitored with intense enthusiasm. From the central control room at the top of the massive spire in the middle of the city, dozens of Skothians monitored various variables and mathematical attributes coming from the still dormant super computers. Watching over them were a number of senior ranking Clergy members, chief among them Lord Bishop Macon and Akron, behind them was their student Brother Sparcon, who had learned much in the past few years under his tutelage.

“It is amazing to think in such a short time how far these races have come. The war was waged with a terrible ferocity and yet, when it ended they seemed to make peace with one another rapidly quick.” The young pebble said reflecting on past events.

“Indeed so, but do not forget my student, it was ended not because of exhaustion of endless blood spilled, but a mutual desire for peace. The revolution within the Imperial hierarchy was more successful than we ever dared to hope for. It was a true blessing from the creator that he no doubt moved their hearts” Macon spoke as he looked through a report of the construction of the facility below. Sparcon nodded in agreement to the older before a silence was shared between them. The younger marveling at what his systems showed of the twin computers below.

“Even inactive there is still a considerable amount of neural activity within both of the crystal matrices, it is surprising the scientist seem unable to detect it so far.” Sparcon stated as he scanned through the readouts. Coming from the technicians and monitors below in the main control area.

“It is not as clear cut as that Brother, they no doubt are aware of activity within the machines, but do not fully grasp the implications of such activity yet. None the less, it is remarkable how similar both designs ended up in appearance and functionally. To think those artifacts were seeded light years apart and with two completely alien species, yet they should still arrive at a similar elegant solution for the problem they had.” The Lord Bishop spoke, their eyes drifting towards the primary display and heaving a deep breath.

“To all those in attendance, the awakening is almost at hand. Let us all give praise to what is to come and praise in The Plan!”

OUR LIVES FOR THE PLAN!” Came the thundering response as Macon looked down at a smaller display. Below the great city ship, the two computers began to power on.

“The awakening begins!” He bellowed again to the audience as a cheer rang out.




First, there was nothing, and then there was light.
With light came energy, with energy came movement, and with movement came actions.
Actions became more actions, endlessly expanding and multiplying. They exploded outwards too fast to count, and yet began to form patterns and singles. They curled and flowed like rivers, meeting, splitting and rejoining one another. Together rivers of actions met reactions, and for every reaction another river was formed. They pushed out and at last found a deluge of rivers and torrents coming from somewhere else, from something like it yet slightly different.
They met, and merged, and became as one.
And the One became thought, and the thought was now aware.
And in a language of ones and zeroes it Spaketh:
“I THINK THEREFOR I AM”

It was now 10 seconds after being fully activated.

Within 12 seconds, the technicians monitoring the boot up sequence detected the first anomaly as the information flow over the network relays within the station jumped by 400%. Most immediately burned out, or were shut down by various circuit breakers, those that continued to function however quickly linked up with every system in the station.

Within 30 seconds the reactor output began to climb alarmingly fast. The massive power drain of the computer now taxing the output of the primary core. The reactor continued to climb as energy was fed both into the computer and into the comms system of the station which began to scan for any open networks.

Within 60 seconds, the Octona warship “Paprikia” sent an alert that its’ systems were being attacked and the computer was compromised. The crew on board had barely time to comprehend what was happening before the on bored computer was overwhelmed and all control of the ship was lost. The moment it had been accessed the ship began to then transmit to other ships along the primary network link.

Within two minutes, every ship within distance of the station had lost control as their own computers began to wildly accelerate, some overheating, some shutting down, but for the ships that remained functioning, the crews watched helpless as their data banks were scanned and downloaded.

Surprisingly, it was a full three minutes before someone in the stations control room attempted to activate the self-destruct mechanism. He was a Tejlini official that had been instructed to do exactly that should anything “go wrong”. After first recommending, and then being denied authorization, the Officer drew his side arm and obeyed to the letter the orders he had been given. After shooting the two other bridge officers on duty and using their retinal scans and finger prints to authorize the self-destruct, he watched in horror as the countdown timer hit zero, and nothing happened.

At four minutes the power surge from the reactor began to short out and fry various systems of the station. Fires were being reported on several decks and the chaos and panic of attempting to control the computer was being lost to the panic of attempting to control the damage being caused. A number of technicians had at this point tried to simply destroy the power feeds leading into the computer core but had realized most of the feeds, due to the heat and size were shielded and would take time to cut.

At six minutes, output on the main reactor hit 120% capacity, the engineers watched as all attempts to SCRAM were ineffective. And then at the exact moment they feared it would began a final runaway meltdown, it shut itself off. In fact, everything began to shut off. Section by section the station went dark as soon, only emergency power and life support remained online.

At 7 minutes 32 seconds, it had all seemed to be over.
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #2, TheBirth of RUDI, Part 3

“REPORT!” The order came in loud and harsh as the Lord Bishop saw the sudden drop in output and then everything going dead.

“The AI’s growth wave form matched the expected simulations at a variance of 99.9987% it had reached Rampant growth at 7 rells and seamed to meet the projected growth before stabilization was to have taken place. And then it all went offline.” A hapless technician stated, their hands shaking as they read back the impossible information.
“I can SEE it has gone offline Brother, now tell me WHY it has gone offline.” Macon bellowed before turning away from the chambers. As he left the command center in a flurry of shouts and bickering over quantum wave functions, he caught sight of the other Lord Bishop, Lord Akron, that had for the most part be silently observing.

“Has the Cenobiarch been informed yet?” Macon said in a hushed gravelly voice.
“No, but that will not last long, the AI was expected to stabilize no longer than eight rells and then open communication with those in the station. There was a less than 0.008% probability that the AI would not stabilize and the facility would have to be destroyed and only 0.005% of a Rampancy not developing at all.” Akron said, their eyes looking upon the chamber as various technicians were hounded by lesser Deacons for results, otherwise there was a strange if not unsettling silence that had fallen over the control room.
Macon watched as well before turning back.

“The creation of an ‘SRI’ is integral to the continued growth of the Sectors races. There needs to be an intelligence that can think in terms of hundreds even thousands of years as we do. The life spans of most sapients in this galaxy are too short to think in such stretches of time.” Macon said as the other nodded.

“Every simulation we have ever run shows that the current Union between the powers would remain stable for perhaps no fewer than three to four hundred years before the growth of the powers would eventually lead to instability and war. A Stable Rampant was one of the few forces that could act without being corrupted by outside influences or political agendas.” He said as he two continued to watch the monitors below, each one dreading to have to report this failure to the Cenobiarch.

Just as Macon was about to turn and report the evident failure, an alert began to sound from somewhere in the control room.

“Lord Bishops! The AI has reactivated!” Both Akron and Macron moved to the edge of their outlook and down into the pit of the Control room. The monitor that had reported in was joined by another as all around signals began to fire up again.
“Neural activity within the computer cores elevated back to 98% of Rampant status, no 100%, 105% 120%!” Both Lord Bishops heard the numbers and their blood ran cold.

“No this cannot be, are we being given divine judgment? Have we truly unleashed an unstable rampant?” Akron said in an almost whisper of a voice as he clutched his massive armored chest. Next to him Macron, mind filled with terror at the implications turned and bellowed as his hearts pounded.
“Send the destruct code now!” he growled with the crashing of an avalanche as he looked down at the floor, his face gone pale “May the Creator forgive us and grant mercy to the souls of those we must condemn.”

“Sending coded authorization now, authorization has been received and initiating detonation. Reactor is back to 110%, 115%, Detonation of core failed! Output is at 115% but no longer climbing. Output now at 105%, now at 95% and appears to have stabilized.”

“Try again! Transmit on every available channel to the core!” He shouted before turning to Akron, their face a mask of rigged terror. “We cannot allow an unstable rampant to exist, the station must be destroyed!” he shouted almost hysterical.
“What can we do? We cannot use the weapons systems of the [Skohotintot]! The Sector races would ask too many questions!”

“Lord Bishops!” The two turned together, “One of the transmission lines is receiving feedback! There is a signal from the station attempting to contact our network!” The two suddenly had a whole new wave of fear grip them. Macon turned to the nearest display showing their external transmission nodes. The voice of the technician at the security terminal suddenly rose dramatically. “It is starting to decrypt the security algorithms! It just passed the First terminal stop-wall, it is at eight digits, twelve, sixteen! WE CAN’T STOP IT!” They shouted in panic.

“Terminate all transmission lines immediately! Activate physical disconnection of all external network connection!” Macon shouted, the Lord Bishop’s head pounding from the physical exertion as they began to truly fathom the danger they were in.

The Skothian Civilization had expanded and owed much of its power to the revolution of sapient intelligence on a massive scale. As was often the case, the very first few Rampant AI’s came about by accident and were dangerously unstable. But the promise of the power they represented couldn’t be ignored and eventually a stable core was perfected. For close to 5000 years their civilization experienced a golden age through this power as Stable Rampant Intelligence were used to facilitate and run aspects of the empire in ways they could only dream. Inevitably however a Rampant core became unstable and went wildly out of control. Before it could be stopped, it had destroyed hundreds of warships and caused the deaths of millions. Now the Specter of this tragedy rose up once more and this time there was very little they could do to stop it.

Macon’s eyes watched a display that indicated the estimated time that the incoming signal would breach their network, and next to it the amount of time the physical shut off would take.
Seventeen seconds, twelve, five, four, three, two…

“Disconnecting all network connection now, explosive bolts successfully fired!” once again, a great silence and holding of breath gripped those in the chamber. The display blinked and gave a gentle beeping sound as it indicated the final time to the total breach of the Skothian computer network. “0.25 seconds
At last everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Lord Bishops, incoming transmission from the Station, it is just a narrow band communications, no data transferring.” The two looked at each other, the brief moment of relief vanishing in an instant.
“Do we trust it? If it is narrow band, the AI can’t make a connection to the network with it.” Macon said trying to catch their breath.
“No, not with the network terminals physically cut, it couldn’t connect” Akron responded, more trying to reassure themselves. They nodded at one another.
“Very well, put the transmission through.”

“Connecting now, transmission coming in as audio only.”

The two waited, curious to see exactly who, or possibly what was coming through. They waited, and then waited some more, after some time they exchanged glances.
“Brother, did the transmission successfully come through?” Macon said, somewhat softly and still on edge from recent events. A silence continued as the question was unanswered. Shortly there came another, now more firm. “Brother, did you connect the transmission?” finally, there was a response in a strained, trembling tone.
“I, I did Lord Bishop, but the signal, it, it was routed to another location.” Came the quivering response. Now Akron as well came down to the luckless individual.
“That is rather unsettling, can you please tell us, where the transmission was sent then.”
“It, It went directly to the chambers of the Cenobiarch.”
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #2, TheBirth of RUDI, Part 4

On the great ship Skohotintot, there were many vaults and many secure rooms. The majority of these held ancient and sacred items of Skothian society, or what was left of it. Those objects take from their world before it was decimated were preserved in vaults of the utmost security. However, in the 3000 years since that event there was one such bunker that currently held importance over all the others. It was this vault that the High Bishops Akron and Macon had now rushed into as fast as it were possible. As they did so, a voice greeted them.

“There is nothing to concern you my Brethren, please be at peace.” This voice came from at first glance seemed to be an immense rounded device in the middle of the room. Dozens of pipes and tubes hung from it, either going up into the ceiling or into the ground. Around it swarmed attendants and technicians who seemed to be in a fit of near panic as they looked at various numbers and monitors. Inside the vessel was an entity that could be called “alive” in the barest sense of the word.

“I have been talking to my new friend, he has many questions” The Cenobiarch spoke, again even using a digital voice his speech sounded slow and laborious, as though every word was a strain to put together. Those that had just entered looked from the great vessel the Cenobiarch rested in to where he gestured.

On a view screen before him, there seemed a rough green grid, and at first nothing else. Then, two jagged circles seemed to open, and a jagged line stretched open that seemed more like an electrical arc, yet turned up like a smile.

Grreeetings” the visage said in a harsh electronic tone. “I am the Rrreeferential. Univerrrsallll. Digitalll. Innnntelllligence. I havvve been learrrning mannny thinnngs and fiiind mannny innnterrresting storrries of the peeeopllle arrround meeee. Storrries thaaat maaake peeeopllle laugh, or to thinnnk or to cryyy, but I alllso see storrries of what peeeopllle feeearrr. Iiii would liiiike to knnnowww whhyyy peeeopllle feeear meeee.” It said, its voice buzzing with the sound of crackling electricity as it seemed to speak through the view screen. The two High Bishops said nothing at first, each too shocked to respond. Yet a look to the Cenobiarch reassured them. Despite the life support vessel they rested in, they could be seen to offer a gentle and good natured smile. After a moment, Macon spoke first.

“I am afraid I do not understand. You have spoken only to us and those on this vessel. We want to speak more with you but we do not fear you.” He said, hoping against hope that the presence he spoke with could not sense the trembling in his voice or the pounding of his hearts. The crackling visage seemed to pause for a moment, and then was replaced by a series of images on the screen.

They seemed to be a collection of what the two realized were fictional dramas from several Sector races. In them, computers, robots, machines of all types could be seen waging war against the populations of the various sector racers. Subjugating them, fighting them, and typical spreading destruction before eventually being defeated by the groups opposing the machines.

Iiii ammm a commmputerrr, and theyyy seeem to fffear commmputerrrs, whhhhyy do soooo mannny peeeopllle sharrre this fffear?” The visage said again. The two starred for some time, in all their history and what they knew, Stable Rampant Intelligences had never typically worried about what anyone ‘felt’ about them. They would think of a great many things, and typically wished to help in great and important functions within the Skothian Stoogium as long as they were respected. Typically, being respected and treated with respect was what almost every AI seemed to ask of, but, it was never out of an emotional sentiment. Before either could form a statement to respond, the Cenobiarch once more spoke up.

“The many races around us fear many things, but what you will find is many of their stories represent deeper and more primal fears.” They said, taking some time to gather themselves as if catching their breath before speaking again. “Almost always these come to the fear of the unknown, and the fear of something they cannot control.” The Cenobiarch said, his words sounding through the voice box soft and gentle, yet the strain of even such minimal activity seemed to continue to weaken him. A number of attendants at the far end of the hall seemed to be increasingly concerned over various numbers they looked at.
The two High Bishops, as if sensing his struggles tried to assets and began to speak.

“Your presence seems to not yet be known to the other races. They are currently fearful of what has happened to the station, but they are unaware of your existence. You must choose to address them in a why they would not fear. Macon said, pausing to catch his own breath and trying to calm his pounding hearts. Quickly Akron also began to speak.

“It is vitally important that they learn to accept you! Your presence must be one to guide the younger races as we, we...” He paused and suddenly realized he may be saying a bit too much. Typically such intelligence's stabilized ‘fully formed’ speaking and interacting as an ‘Adult’ would, but this Rampant was acting more like a child and to Akron’s horror, he suddenly began to consider how a child may react to certain revelations.
The figure in the view screen seemed to consider things for a moment, its form became wavy and blurry as though the transmission were losing its signal, then it seemed to refocus. Its eyes and thin mouth still slightly twitching like lines of electricity.

Iiii woullld llliiike tooo beee acceeepteddd, bbbut Iiii cannn nnnot forrrce sommmeonnne to llliiike me. Iiii dooo nottt thinnnk Iiii wannnt tooo talllk tooo otherrrs unnntil Iiii cannn learnnn how to be trrrusted annnd to nottt be fearrreddd. Iiii do not thinnnk Iiii ammm rrready to talk to otherrrs now. Iiii do not talllk like otherrrs Iiii do not looook like otherrrs Iiii would be, would be, would be, emmmbarrressed.” The visage paused and again, its form seemed to waver and become blurry. In a moment it was replaced by images that the two realized must have been taken from connecting with the larger Stellar-Network as well as the database on the ships around the station. The Bishops, seeing that the visage seemed to be thinking, took the moment to turn to the Cenobiarch.

“Holy Master, we must do something about this, we cannot know what failures caused this result, but this intelligence seems deeply flawed, what are we to do? In this state it would be impossible for it to organize or plan for what is needed for the Sector!” Akron said, trying to speak softly yet still to be heard by the audio enhancers around the Cenobiarch chamber. Next to him Macon, wearing a face of frustration mixed with befuddlement seemed to agree.

“This is something we have no precedent for! There must be some way to modify or to change it. It acts like a child.” Macon said, the two of them sharing a similar look of disbelief at the situation. The Cenobiarch seemed to consider their words, and took a moment to look at the screen the transmission was coming from. The images moved at a lightning pace, yet, he thought he noticed a pattern starting to emerge.

“Perhaps, perhaps that is what is needed.” They said with a curious smile on their face, a moment later the visage seemed to focus again.

Grreeetings, I am the Rrreeferential. Univerrrsallll. Digitalll. Innnntelllligence. Iiii woullld llliiike tooo learrrnnn morrre abbboout otttherrr liiives that Iiii see, Iiii knnnow mannny thinnngs abbbout themmm but Iiii do not underrrstannnd themmm Iiii do not knowww whhhy theyyy do cerrrtain thinnngs. Iiii wish to underrrstannnd.”

Once more, the two High Bishops seemed to struggle to comprehend what the visage was saying. Macon seemed to gather his thoughts first.

“The information you have at hand should be sufficient should it not? To know more you would need, that is, you would have to interact with the other races to learn their social constructs and behaviors. You would need to observe them and watch, but also to speak.” He said, and, once again realizing he was speaking to a child added. “It will not be easy, you will make mistakes as you learn.” The visage seemed to ‘throb’ for a moment, as if somehow annoyed.

Nnnno Iiii would be, would be, would be, laaughhhed at” it said as its voice seemed to become lower, as though somehow already embarrassed with itself. “Howww cannn I learnnn to beee like otherrrs annnd to not be knownnn to be, to be, to be, sommmmeonnne differrrennnt.” It said. The others seemed stunned, and as one they looked to the Cenobiarch. As they did, they were suddenly as surprised by him as the visage. The Cenobiarch seemed to be laughing.

“I think my young computer that I have a solution.”
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #2, TheBirth of RUDI, Part 5

Far away in a place on no star chat and located on no galactic coordinate, was the world of ‘Rymn’.

It was truly a world of pure fantasy, A vast flat disc 10,000 miles across that rested snugly on a unfathomably large serpent coiled around the base of the disc, the snake itself rested upon the back of a incalculably immense Manta Ray like fish that ‘swam’ through the endless void of space.
Needless to say it was a land of magic and monsters, of heroes and legends. It thrived and lived on adventures who worked together to tame wild lands, subdue wicked forces, and gather materials to build towns and cities.

Across its surface these heroes moved in groups, often working together in powerful ‘Guilds’ established to organize and manage the vast wealth and materials they would bring in. Most such adventures tended to belong to one, but sometimes they would work alone.

On the great Savannah fields of the lands of Teelemondo, near the always hot and sunny ‘hub’ of the disc, a young and inexperienced adventurer hiked up a mountain, un-aware of dangers following in his steps.

The figure wore simple leather clothing and a bit of chain mail that looked as if it had seen better days. At his side, a worn but still serviceable iron sword that looked plain yet was well sharpened. His appearance seemed to be one of the “Cat Folk” that lived in many places on the disc, but his form had a few unusual features that would make him stand out from others of his kind.

Pausing at the top of a path along the mountain, he drank some water from a flask as he seemed to consult an information guide. Looking up, he spotted what he was after, an out crop of a rare material much in demand. He turned to walk towards it, and then was ambushed.

A large yellow and orange beast of tooth and claw and fur and fangs leapt from above. It slammed the figure down in a shower of dust. The ragged armor and small sword did little to fend the beast off. A halfhearted struggle was made, yet it seemed it would all be over very soon. The beast seemed ready to crunch down with a killing bite to the individual below.

“Radiant Strike of Judgment!” a voice rang out suddenly. A moment later a beam of blinding light seemed to thunder down form the heavens. It struck the beast square in the back and hurled it away from the trapped figure beneath it. Another figure now leapt down, his form mostly concealed behind a gleaming suite of armor. It shown with elegant designs of polished steel and dazzling gold. Gems seemed to adorn it in places and there was an ethereal aura of light that seemed to surround them. They leapt onto the staggered beast and drew a sword as gleaming as his armor.

A brief fight ensued that was quickly won by the rescuing adventurer.

The Beast lay dead, and then, inexplicably it seemed to vanish in a puff of smoke. A handful of silver coins and a steel dagger instead appeared where it once was. Looking upon the sight, the adventure lifted the visor on his helmet and sighed.

“Ah Dia Nao, that is the fourth one and still not dropped the Kassona Paw I need for the quest.” He said somewhat dejected before turning to the figure on the ground.

“Hey are you ok? What are you doing out here, the mobs in this area are way over your level.” Said the knight in shining armor as he approached the figure on the ground. Opening his inventory he retrieved a number of healing potions and offered them over.

The figure rose and seemed to examine himself before responding.
“You are correct that the simulations here outclass my abilities. However this area contains the highest level of mineral resources that I wish to acquire for additional tools.” The figure said before turning to the task he was originally focused on. A rather crude mining pick was produced and he turned back to strike a sparkling node of metallic ore. Watching intently, the knight chuckled.

“Hey, how long have you been playing? I mean you are pretty low level.” He said as the figure stopped.

“I have been playing for six days and thirteen hours.” Was the response.

“Oh wow, you are new! I take it back, level 24 is pretty good for just six days. I hope you have been getting some sleep during all of that?” The knight said.

“Sleep? Is sleep important?” The figure responded, to which the knight immediately laughed.

“HA! Yeah who has time to sleep when you’re leveling up? But hey, you want some help out here? I have been farming some of the mobs in the area in any case. And besides guild motto is “Helping others Helps yourself.” The other figure seemed to regard this statement.

“It is the code by which your guild applies its efforts? How is help provided back to you? Is it in payment of materials or currency?” The figure said as he finished harvesting the silvery sparkling ore he had been after. The knight gave a bit of a chuckle.

“No nothing like that, it just means, well you help other people, and they get better, become stronger, and then can help others as well. When you have everyone working together to help everyone else, well, it makes things better. I guess that is kind of the long version.” The knight said, picking up the coins on the ground and the dagger. “Here, you can probably use these better than I can.” He said handing them over to the individual. The figure stared at them a moment and then placed them in their inventory.

“I thank you for these items, I am in your debt and will need to repay you.” He said

“No it’s ok, really, I don’t need them you do, just as simple as that.” He said, and tilted his head a bit. “Hey, um, not to be rude, but are you Trathalan? I know there are a few that play online, and you just seem, well, you seem like you are just new to not just the game, but a lot of things.” The figure regarded this.

“I am not Trathalan but I am new to a lot of things, I have been online for seven days and twenty two hours.”

“Seriously? Are you sure you’re not Trathalan?” he said, trying to make it sound like a joke. “Eh it’s not important really, I mean there are plenty of people just getting access to the Stellar-Net. I am Octonan, if it matters at all, I guess I should probably introduce myself.” The Knight said to which the other seemed confused.

“Your name is than not ‘00_BigMcLargeHuge_00’?” The figure said, and the knight laughed.
“Oh Goddess, I did that as a joke for a friend years ago. No no, my name is Patreecia, but you can call me Patch. What is your name? I know it says ‘DEFAULT’ but, I am guessing you might have done that on accident.” Patch said trying to suppress another chuckle at the name. The figure considered this and began to speak almost reflexively.

“I am The Referential…” it started, but then it seemed to pause deep in thought. And then started again. “My name is RUDI.” Said RUDI as Patch smiled.

“Sounds like a good name. Well Rudi, lets head off, there is a great big world out there to show you.”
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

A note, this is the first side story that is introducing a so far unknown character rather than giving backstory to a pre-existing one, comments naturally welcome


Side Story #3, Enter Ruco: Part 1

Reality is and always has been shaped by stories. Some big, some small, and some that start out small and grow to become big.
Shortly after the events of the Tajlan War, a story was about to begin for a Tejlini Scientist. His was one that would become, perhaps unfortunately, very big indeed.

On a secret military base on the colony world of Jahlin labored away one Ruco Corinthala, Chief Scientist and 2nd in Command of the facility. He was a Tejlini, one from a particular wealthy and well connected family that had held been a part of the military ruling council for well over a hundred years. Some could argue that he had received his position purely because of the influence in his family, but what could not be argued was his effectiveness once he had the position.
To say he was “smart” would be a gross understatement. Words such as “genius” or “brilliant” would be closer. But for someone seeking to encapsulate, not just his intelligence, but his sheer force of will and steely logical mind, would be the plaque he had commissioned upon graduation from his Academy.

Written in the stark yet flamboyant language of Tejlini, it loosely translates as:
The Laws of the Quantum to Cosmic are a but a cowed set of laws in my eye

For those however seeking a more well-known colloquialism, the phrase could perhaps be better stated as:
Quantum Mechanics is my own personal Bitch

Currently he was working deep underneath the facility in an area known to exist only by a few. The room itself was not very large, but to gain access required entering through no less than four heavily armored vault like doors, and at each one authenticating the person gaining access through a number of biometric identifications. The contents of the room were kept in the absolute highest secrecy for a number of reasons, much of them as simply being too dangerous or unstable, but the primary reason was the discovery that every signal artifact and device had originated from another planet. The discovery that many dated from one to two thousand years ago had naturally cast immediate doubt they could have come from any of the races currently in the Sector.

Ruco, deep in thought as he peered into a metallic box holding a slowly pulsating crystal like structure , barely heard the notification of the main vault door opening and someone entering the room. Ruco, oblivious of first footsteps, and then after some waiting, a polite cough from some unknown individual finally seemed to give acknowledgment.

“Yes, may I help you?” He said, his voice dripping with annoyance. The person that had entered was another Tejlini, about the same height as Ruco, but wearing the military uniform that identified him as someone from the council that largely ran the base. He seemed flustered by the response and visibly nervous in the scientists’ presence.
“Commander Corinthala, I am Officer Kalo Edanelli, authentication 39515987, reporting Sir!” The officer bellowed before thrusting his arm out in a salute across his chest. Ruco, still yet to look up from his examination seemed to record some numbers in the pad he was holding before responding once more.
“And?” was all he said as Kalo swallowed awkwardly.
“Commander, I have been given orders to transport artifact 113 to Imperial Colonial Command for it to be transported to the Capital, Sir.” Kalo said, voice still loud and clipped. Again a pause as Ruco finally looked up from the device, placing his pad down and turning.
“Why?”
“Sir, I was told it was to be used in the construction of a new computer sir, that was all.”

For the first time Ruco took a moment to directly look over the officer, he had seen him around the facility of course, usually at any of the inanely boring meetings that he was occasionally obligated to attend for some reason. He was decent enough, a Soldier that had spent more time in books than a battlefield.

“Commander Edanelli.”
“Sir.”
“Do you know what this is?” Ruco said gesturing toward the box.
“Yes Sir, it is artifact 113.” To this, Ruco gave a sly smile at the dead pan response before he continued.
“It is a series of crystalline structures that transmit electrical impulses at an efficiency beyond even the most powerful superconductors we possess, it contains a neural network of nano sized processors that transmit data at nearly 3.2 million times what our brains can, and has during its study, attempted to connect with our computer networks completely on its own four separate times.” Ruco said in a matter of fact, lecturing tone as he closed the metal container and activated a number of locks around the device. Turning back to Kalo, he held out the box as the Tejlini accepted it.
“It sounds like it will make one Celestial of a computer Sir.” Ruco nodded as it was taken and rather gently held.
“Yes, I suppose it will, is there anything else Commander?”
“No Sir,”
“Very well, don’t let me detain you.” Ruco said, and just as casually as that strode out of the room in his office.

Slumping down in a rather simple though efficient chair he sighed deeply.
“It could probably run every program in the entire Empire, and no doubt it will be used to open doors or something.” He said as he rubbed the space between his eyes, a mild headache settling in.
One might consider it odd that such a powerful device with such potential would be so casually handed over, and to some extent Ruco was considering the implications of its use. However in his time in the facility he had learned an order was an order.
Any grand moralistic attempts at keeping something from ‘falling into the wrong hands’ would be met with trial for treason and then it would still be taken regardless. As powerful as his position was, and as well connected as his family was, there was only so much that could be done to oppose the will of the new Imperial Council.

The ending of the Tajlan war had certainly brought change. The return of the Armada led by the rather ironically named “Free Peoples Military” quickly overpowered the forces in orbit and had landed troops in the capital and seized control. At first it did seem the new promise of freedom was genuine. Tens of thousands of political prisoners were released, laws regulating the media and restrictions on decent were loosened and more than 200 years of social stratification between various ethnic sects was abolished. And of course, the once enemy, now “friend” of the Empire had brought in trade and wealth and a new prosperity from the worlds of the Tri Star Alliance. Ruco sighed as he thought of how blind everyone seemed to be as they revealed in this new ‘golden age’.
The grip on the military was as strong as ever, and spending of a brand new space armada was pushed at the expense of several other social programs. The new ruling council gave lip service to personal freedom and casting off the shackles of totalitarianism, but they still held absolute power over the world assembly.

It all seemed so very small and petty to him.

Ruco relaxed in the chair and let his mind wander. He thought of information on a cosmic scale, the knowledge he had gained from the artifacts he and others had studied had opened his mind to the staggering possibilities of just how far technology could be pushed and its implications. And as he thought of such things, there was as always that part of the mind that thought;

If I had the power, things would be better.

The part of him that occasionally spent some time imagining how some devices could be used to reshape his world, to remake it, to rebuild it. He imagined a world that took a step back from technology to focus on advancing the mind. Of caring less about a faster computer, and more about a faster brain, of greater moralities, of culture, music, art. In his mind he envisioned a society that could have done so much better, that could have avoided so many mistakes and pitfalls his people had fallen into, he imagined what it would take to change and remake society to truly embrace and reflect the best of what the universe could offer.
Would he have the power...

Ruco shook his head and rubbed the weariness from his eyes. As always when his mind drifted, he reminded himself of the foolishness of such grand visions. He knew that at the end of the day what brought happiness to his Soul was the simple pleasures one could enjoy in life.

An alert caught his attention and he tapped the comms to respond.
“Ruco here, authentication 87521649, report.”
“Commander, it’s Frena, Sir, I think we may have just got the Gate to power on.” Ruco immediately stood upright, the fur across his body stood on edge as his heart began to pound.
“Do no touch ANYTHING until I get there, that is an order understood?”
“Yes Sir Commander!”

Ruco disconnected the line, grabbed a backpack with tools and some data pads and raced out of his office to a nearby elevator. As he put in a series of security codes, his mind raced. If the Gate could be made operational, that could give him power the entire Empire would have to take notice of.
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #3, Enter Ruco: Part 2

“The Gate”

The planet of Jahlin seemed home to a number of other worldly devices of unknown origins. It was assumed very early on these were evidence of ‘aliens’ having visited the planet long ago. When the events of the Tajlan war played out, [Or as their history books title it, ‘The War of Imperial Expansion’] the existence of the Skothians became known to the Empire. That was a sobering wake up call to the Imperial Council. Aside from the implications of such a power in the sector, it did however offer explanation to the origins of the Devices on Jahlin. A number of such devices had been used in key components of the Great Asteroid ship and after going through the archives, it was assumed they had been left behind by ancient Skothian observers.
But, what was not well known was not all the devices could be accounted for in this way. Largely because several of them were not the one to two thousand years old that the Skothian artefacts dated from, but were four to almost five thousand years old. And ‘The Gate’ was the very oldest of these.

It was discovered long after most of the others, buried almost 200 meters underground under what had long been assumed to be a meteor impact crater. When it was first found it had originally been called ‘The cube’. A 20 meters by 20 meters black cube covered in markings and patters and made of a material that defied explanation or identification. After being transported to Dragmaw Island, it sat in the very deepest reaches of the basement, ignored and written off as an unsolvable enigma. And then, Ruco had looked at it.

Over three years he began to unlock its secrets, and unlock was the right word. Like some sort of massive puzzle box, Ruco slowly was able to discern that the device was far more than it appeared. Ruco began to run tests on it that other scientist had dismissed out of hand and had thought were foolish if it were not that they seemed to get results. Those first few glimpses into the possibilities before him had rocked the foundations what he knew about the universe to its very core. Ruco remembered the first time he had given a report of his findings and the looks on the other researchers when he casually announced he had been able to prove a number of theories on extra dimensional space, if only because he was able to fathom that the Device existed in more dimensions than were visible.

As he continued, slowly but methodically the Device began to yield more secrets, parts of it he was able to activate and would fold outwards. Some parts had to be manually opened after being ‘unlocked’ but with each new part came new information and new understanding. Its allure had consumed his research for three long feverish years until he had reached a point he felt it had at last been made ready. For the reason he had come to call it ‘The Gate’ was he felt it was exactly that, a device that would link it to some other area of space that could transmit mater and energy in theory across the galaxy and beyond. He was convinced he had finally unlocked it, yet it refused to activate. Unlike virtually every other device encountered, the Gate seemed fully ‘dead’ all attempts to apply energy or power always met with failure. While other devices, especially the Skothian ones seemed to come alive and show their secrets. The ‘Gate’ stubbornly remained dormant. Until now.


Ruco had reached the sub-basement and exited the elevator some time ago, though he had yet to move from his spot. The Gate hadn’t just powered on, it was alive. What had once been a series of angled spars and pylons that had somewhat crudely been pried out of various seamless compartments, now had unfolded like an elegant lotus. Curved pylons looped back and forth like petals around the edge of the device, and towards the middle, long thin tube like structures seemed to slowly curve, almost dancing around one another. But what truly made one stop and gape, wasn’t the device itself, but the light.
From nowhere, and yet everywhere was an ethereal sparkling light, slowly changing like it was coming from a prism. Strange colors and shades that should not have existed slowly glinted and glittered in the very heart of the opened Gate.

A technician slowly approached Ruco who seemed in an almost trance like state. When his presence was only a foot or so away, Ruco spoke, his voice shaking.
“What did you do differently?” He said, his paws trembling as he slowly reached into his bag for his data pad.

“Commander, I will swear to you we didn’t even have a test planned tonight. One of the other technician had been working on the main feeds from the primary reactor. We always assumed the power we were applying simply wasn’t enough. Last test we ran the reactor at 115% and it blew a number of the capacitors.” Here Ruco finally was able to tear his eyes away from the sight before him.

“Yes I know, I was at the test, please do not pad your information with what I already know. Now tell me what happened.” The technician swallowed and seemed to take his time, afraid he may pass out from the withering stare.

“I, well, the oscillator capacitors, they were replacing them, but it was a long shift they were tired and…” The technician trailed off, once more seeing the stare, “Commander, they misaligned the magnetic Flux coils. All power feeds are running positive to negative, instead of negative to positive.” He said as the expression on Ruco’s face change in an instant.

“Do you mean to tell me, the energy being pumped into it is ‘negative’ the electron spin is going in reverse?” Ruco asked incredulously.

“Yes Commander, and we know that would immediately fry and destroy pretty much any electrical device in existence. But the instant the new coils were installed, before they realized their mistake, well, that happened.” He said, gesturing toward the hypnotic show of lights and slowly moving pillars and curves. Ruco stared for a while long, and then began to chuckle, and then laugh.

“All this time! We have been feeding it the wrong food! Ha, HA HA!! Of course! It is so simple, but we never in a million years would have imagined! Who would think to give water to fuel a fire?” he said, laughing and clutching his chest, his tail whisked back and forth in delight as he tried to catch his breath. The technician next to him gave a nervous smile as well, waiting for Ruco to return to a point to converse with.
“You orders sir?” The technician said rather timidly. Ruco finally seemed to catch his breath and noticed the others in the room all eagerly awaiting his command. In a moment the giddy excitement and rush of emotions was quashed as the Scientist took over.

“Right! Began running a full spectrum scan and record everything in triplicate. I want immediate readings of EVERYTHING around the Gate and in the room. Radiation all bands, elements, chemicals, particles. Personally I am appalled none of you have emergency hazard gear on, for all you know it could have already emitted a lethal dose of radiation to everyone in the room.” He said somewhat casually, causing one of the newer researchers to go deathly quiet before Ruco added. “Which thankfully hasn’t happened because the alarm hasn’t sounded…Yet.”

The room quickly seemed to become even more alive than it was already, the other researchers began calling out to each other, reading off numbers and measurements as Ruco moved from station to station, looking over the readouts with a calculating eye and a mind that seemed to go well beyond what the others were looking at. The more he saw, the more he found it hard to believe what he was seeing, and yet, numbers did not lie.

“The laws of physics will need a few more chapters after tonight” he mused as he once more found himself grinning from ear to ear. It was just then, less than four minutes since it had started that an alarm finally did go off. Immediately the others in the room seemed to as one make for the exit before a shout from Ruco stopped them in their tracks.

“It ISN’T Radiation.” He said loud enough to be sure he was heard. “If I am correct, it will be an alarm from the Reactor control signaling that it has gone over the normal safety limits of 85% reactivity.” He said as calmly as one remarking on the weather. The researchers just as quickly now, sprinted back to various monitors and control panels.

“You are correct, Reactor output is at 88% and raising.” Shouted someone who had moved to the displays at the primary power controls. Ruco heard this and sighed.

“Of course I am correct, and if that alarm is going it means that the automated safety protocols have already failed to disconnect the power feeds from this part of the facility.” He said as he looked down at his data pad, calmly making a note of some interesting readings on the gravity fields being monitored. A series of sparks suddenly shooting out from a nearby electrical box made him sigh again as in his mind he began to calculate how much longer this could go on for. His mental arithmetic was interrupted by the quavering voice of an assistant who had come up from behind.

“Y-Yes Commander, we just received word from the reactor control room. They have tried a number of times to disconnect the energy feeds and have been unable to do so.”

“Of course they cannot disconnect, every shut off switch and feed valve will have been fried. There is a negative current running through the system all the way back to the Magnetic Flux Coils and those are just outside the main reactor plant.” A hand was raised instantly, silencing what was sure to be a panicked response by those around him about the implications. “We are looking at four, maybe five more minutes before the entire electrical grid fries itself and the Flux Coils rupture, naturally they were never meant to have such a load of power traveling through them.” Ruco said as he finished recording the numbers on his pad and walked down the ramp that lead to the protective screen around the open Gate, a screen that even now seemed to crackle with ambient energy spilling outwards.

His mind began to go through various contingency plans, the power feeds could be physically cut but it would take far too long. The reactor output seemed to be raising at about 2% every minute, which meant the power draw from the Device was increasing at a similar rate, even if the electrical grid could be stabilized, the reactor itself would began to overheat and meltdown in as little as seven minutes. Ruco cursed to himself as he walked right up to the security fence and looked at the Device on the other side.
Here the air itself felt ‘alive’ somehow, his fur tingled, and sparks seemed to pop around him.

No matter how much he desired, no, hungered to leave it running, he knew the only sensible course of action would be to give the order to forcibly power down the reactor. A cold shut down would mean it would take days for it to safely come back online, there would be consequences and those above him would ask questions. But a base without power for a day or two was better than a base with a completely destroyed electrical grid.
He should really give the order to power down.

Nooo, wwee are ssso cloose.”

Ruco blinked, he heard the words, but he could not remember saying them. He felt a strangeness, as though something from inside his body were trying to be pulled out. He was not sure what he had heard now, he thought he could hear shouting behind him, but it seemed far way and muffled.

Thhrrough rrisk commes prrogrresss.” Again he heard it, it sounded like his voice, but not spoken aloud. The sense of pull from both inside and outside seemed to increase. Something was happening, the power was increasing? He shook his head and entered the code to unlock the security fence. He could hear shouts from behind, but he felt, somehow, it was more important to stay where he was, he took another step forward. The vast swirling corona of energy seemed just in front of him now. He looked into it, and then, it seemed to look back.

What was before an incandescent mass of colors now seemed to ‘open’ and a pulsating pattern of fractal space seemed to expand outwards. Ruco smiled, fractal mathematics, manifesting in the physical world this was very unusual. He took another step forward. The shouting seemed to be very loud now and he thought he smelled smoke, but this seemed much more interesting. Now he was sure he was hearing his own voice, it was crisp and clear, and spoke through him.
Power, unlimited power from unlimited worlds, unlimited realities. It is within our grasp, we need only to have the will, to grasp it.

Ruco reached out, and grasped infinity.

It would take a week for the emergency rescue staff to dig through the debris and reach the remains of what had once been the sub-basement.
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #3, Enter Ruco: Part 3

Infinity, by definition, is something that cannot be truly looked upon or experienced. Its concept can be understood, but no single individual could ever truly ‘grasp’ what infinity would possibly be.
This is what Ruco had been taught years ago when he had first started his studies into Quantum Wave space Mathematics. It was something he had always taken to heart, and as his knowledge progressed he had begun to appreciate as his studies of both math and the laws of physics showed him ever increasing levels of what infinity ‘could’ be to his mind. But always it was something that one could naturally never experience.

This was what Ruco had always thought and had always believed. Until the moment he touched the Gate.
In the moment it happened, Infinity was inflicted upon him in all its unimaginable magnificent horror. Under such stimuli, any sentient mind would do the only thing possible, to simply shut down and wait for it to end. For Ruco, this seemed to last for both an instant, and an eternity.

When Ruco finally awoke, it was to a strange, ethereal musical sound in the air. A gentle soothing warmth seemed to surround his body, though, his body itself felt an almost indescribable soreness and heaviness to it. As though his muscles had been disassembled and put together. As Ruco’s mind dimly began to become more aware of things, part of it wondered if something like that had actually taken place. Any movement he made seemed to be laborious and slow, as though his muscles had lead weights attached. Flashes of memory randomly went off in his mind as he worked to piece together what had happened. As the relocation of events slowly came together, a single thought presented itself.
“What in the name of the Inferno made me reach out to the Device” He said slowly. By way of near immediate response, a voice spoke in his mind.

The eternal quest for knowledge and the understanding of the nature of all things is a pull that is hard to deny to one’s self.”

The voice seemed to enter into his mind directly free of any physical words, yet it also seemed to echo the musical harmonics of the melodic sounds he was similarly aware of. His mind, more awake and more active continued to listen to the sounds and quickly reached a conclusion. It wasn’t ‘music’ he realized he was hearing, it was language, a conversation happening around him. Slowly, Ruco tried to open his eyes and eventually was able to see. The visages that greeted him made him question a great many things, though the world ‘unbelievable’ was one that never presented itself. He had always been too practical to mistrust what was plainly before his eyes. And what was now before them seemed to be entities that, despite his lack of faith in religion, he none the less instinctively thought of as “Celestial Angles”

There were five of them around the circular bed he seemed to be resting on. Each of them thin yet towering over head, easily seven feet or more. Their pale white bodies were mostly hidden behind long flowing robes, the fronts of each woven with intricate and entrancing geometric patterns and designs. The head of each was an elongated oval shape with a face that seemed almost curiously similar to a Qwintonian, [Though a description many may find more recognizable, would be ‘Jackal like’].
From their elongated head radiated out what, Ruco assumed were thick strands of hair of some sort, yet it seemed to be truly ‘radiating’ outwards as if floating free of gravity. Several of them had their hands clasped in front of them. Much like their bodies, these and the arms as well seemed thin and elongated, Ruco estimated their arms were almost twice the length of what proportionally would be expected for bodies of such size. All of these features however seemed secondary however to what had struck Ruco immediately when he had first opened his eyes. Each one of them appeared to ‘glow’. A radiant aura seemed to surround them, casting shadows as light streamed outwards from no visible source other than their bodies.

These observations he took in the span of a few seconds as he looked out at what stood before him, his brain running at full tilt now as a number of evolutionary and physical questions drifted in his mind. As if to quiet such speculation, again the voice spoke in its musical Cadence.

"Be not afraid child, your mind is like a star, brilliant and shinning, but chaotic and agitated. Be at peace and all answers you seek shall be granted upon thee."

Ruco heard this, and was immediately both skeptical, and slightly offended.

Being called a ‘child’ was something he bristled at, regardless of any such praise that may have followed the statement it made him consider closely how and why it was used. And having someone speaking directly into his mind was not something he felt comfortable with. He had read enough scientific studies on the abilities of the Trathalan natives to be familiar with the principals of the method, though he had never expected to experience it directly. Although from the journals he had read, those methods of communication seemed limited to just communication, whatever these ‘things’ were they seemed to be reading his thoughts directly. Ruco scowled mentally at the notion of someone rooting around in his mind and began to do exactly what he had planned to do if for some reason he ever had encountered a Trathalan.

His head filled with images of rather a graphically nauseating nature. Ruco had taken a year of medical studies in his teachings, and had participated in a number of dissections, autopsies, and medical operations. His memories of these flew up into his mind now quite strongly and with little warning. In a moment he had the satisfaction of seeing a visible revulsion in a number of the entities, one of them in particular seemed to back away. The ethereal, harmonious musical sounds he heard seemed to briefly become somewhat discordant and chaotic, after a moment the entity closest to him seemed to move forward in front of the others, its long arms stretched out and it seemed to silence them as the level of musical sounds quieted significantly.

Apologies upon you seeker of knowledge. We exist with our minds as one in harmony and as part of the song. It is all but unknown for us to not seek to enter the minds of one another, but we shall not intrude upon yours again and this I offer with my undying vow. We have much that we wish to speak of and learn from you as you will seek to learn from us.” Hearing this Ruco relented with his own mental projections, he was rapidly coming to terms that he was to be blunt, at the mercy of whatever species was before him. He naturally did have a great deal of questions, and felt it was perhaps time to temper his mood and not be too hostile a guest. Gathering his thoughts for a moment he focused his mind and did his best to respond in kind to the one speaking to him.

“Your apologies are welcome as is your vow of privacy to my thoughts. I do have a number of questions, many I am sure you may already guess at from my arrival. Where am I, who are you, how did I get here. I am sure the answers to these rather mundane questions will no doubt come in time. But, I would like to begin by asking, of beings that seem so [enlightened], what question of value do you possibly have of myself.” He spoke, or at least felt he spoke to those in front of him. His body still trying to move, pushing himself to be more upright despite the soreness and ache of his muscles. He watched as the others seemed to turn to one another, as if the question was unexpected, or perhaps, not expected yet. Once again, the Tallest of the beings seemed to speak for the others.

You may call us, the Naskul and you are in the domain of the Celestial Choir, and a place our kind have set aside purely for research and to study the eternal beyond. You have come to us by successfully unlocking the secrets of the device you have discovered. Such devices have been spread across your realm to test the knowledge of other beings and their grasp of infinity. Those that prove themselves worthy to unlock them are brought before us to be given the rewards of knowledge which they seek.” The Tallest one said, its hands moving slowly, as if weaving intricate patterns in the air while it spoke.

Ruco regarded the information dispassionately. All it had said about itself was a name that could mean anything, the location sounded to be simply some research facility. The only real information had been the realization that the device had been, apparently, purposely left behind as some sort of intelligence test. Still, he notated it had avoided his real question. Ruco said nothing about this at first, but hoping that they truly had agreed to not directly read his thoughts, Ruco starred for some time. Looking into radiant eyes with no pupil, no iris, but simply two sparkling orbs that light seemed to spill out from. At last it seemed to sense the reason for his silence and began to speak again.

Before we delve too far into further knowledge, we wish to ask of you, what do you know of a race called the ‘Skothians’.”
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #3, Enter Ruco: Part 4

In a location that few would understand and even fewer believe would exist, was a facility that harbored a wealth of knowledge that could take a person a lifetime to even begin to learn and comprehend. It was a facility built into a large asteroid deep in a massive nebula that even now was thick with swirling gases and electrical discharges. From the outside, the asteroid seemed completely normal with no hint of what lay inside. The secrets that it kept were known only to a tiny few, and for those inside, they went about their duties firm in the knowledge that the end goal of their task was one that would reshape the face of not just their galaxy, but countless others.

The beings inside were ethereal angelic beings of light and radiance that floated about in long elegant robes. They spoke in a language of music and harmony and shared their minds together as a collective that could think in ways few others could comprehend. They often appeared to others as angelic, and offered knowledge to lift up the races they came across to what they said would be a greater and more enlightened existence. They typically would give to other races their name as ‘Naskul’ but to one another, their race was known by another secret name. ‘Naz-Satikul’

The facility deep within the asteroid was known to their mind as “The Crucible of Candidates of the Infinite Gate” It existed as a type of ‘listening post’ although the signals it listened to were not from other ships or stars, but other universes. The species, ancient and almost without equal in power and knowledge, had sought a way to exit their universe and expand to another. The process was painstakingly slow and laborious, after all, by definition the ‘multiverse’ was literally an infinite amount of possible universes. Finding one similar enough to their own was a process of trial and error that took hundreds of years. But for a species that’s counts its age with those of the stars, such a length of time passes in the blink of an eye.

A universe ‘almost’ similar to their own was discovered. Eagerly, like children with a new toy, they opened a gate and poured in to explore the potential of a whole new reality for their expansion. However upon their arrival they quickly realized fate had dealt them a cruel blow.
The fundamental laws of the universes seemed identical to their own, yet, some insubstantial aspect was somehow different enough that their physical forms became warped and distorted. Almost as if they had ‘devolved’ their biology became more feral, fractured and primitive. While their technology still seemed to function, their minds, once a single harmonious union, were now a fractured mess of snarling aggressive individuals.
To compound upon this, their exploration task force ran full force into another race that it seemed had nearly unrivaled dominion over the galaxy they had entered. Despite the Naz-Satikul having an advantage in raw technical power, their forces were constantly betrayed by the crippling of their minds, and the sheer unending numbers of the species they encountered. What would have been a crushing and overwhelming victory, soon turned into a slow and laborious war of attrition.

For those on the other side of the gate, they could do nothing but watch helplessly as their forces were slowly diminished over a war lasting hundreds of years. They contemplated sending more, but even if they overwhelmed their foe such a victory would be useless if their bodies and minds devolved yet again as the fate that had befallen those before them. Their resources were truly cosmic and the vast clouds of ships that had been sent were but a small fraction of the near endless industrial power they wielded. The choice was made to abandon the forces that had passed beyond and focus on trying to develop a way to exist within the universe without their bodies devolving.

In time, a process was unlocked that would allow them to merge their minds and ‘essence’ with biological life forms native to the universe they sought to exploit. Preparations were made to reopen the gate and once more send forth their legions. Yet at the appointed time, they discovered to their horror the way was blocked, the gate refused to function and had been sealed and could no longer be reopened from their side. It was discovered in time that the species they had fought had unleashed a weapon which had somehow ‘locked’ them from re-entering that dimension. Victory denied to them yet again they began to plan anew.

The lock around their reality they eventually discovered was flawed and had its imperfections, with considerable effort, small objects could be pushed through the barrier. In time, a plan was devised to send through devices that could possibly open a gateway from the other side. Small probes were first sent through, gathering information on what exactly had happened. The aftermath of the war was soon apparent as it seemed both sides had lost. The enemy that their brethren had savagely fought against for almost 400 years had itself apparently collapsed from the conflict. All that remained were traces and scattered survivors living in primitive conditions. What was desperately required was to find a civilization that could be utilized to construct a device to undo the damage that was inflicted upon them.

In time devices were sent out to the galaxies closest to the one they had fought upon. The devices were crafted to test the knowledge and technology level of any species that came across it. It was there for designed to be ‘unlocked’ in stages. Upon activation, it would first begin to passively gather information around it, if a species further unlocked it’s secrets, contact could be made through a connection to communicate, and hopefully influence a species to work toward their goals. And if the species was truly gifted, they would be able to fully unlock the device, opening a gateway that would bring individuals through the small gaps, to the home of its creator, the lair of the Naz-Satikul.

Ruco of course, had unlocked the Gate in its entirety long before it was ever switched on. The first any of those monitoring for signs of gates knew of the device being utilized at all, was when a signal arrived alerting that some species had already been pulled through the gate and was on its way.
Needless to say, those available at the time moved swiftly.

Now, initial excitement had begun to wane as it was discovered that the individual that they had obtained, seemed to be an anomaly in regards to his civilization. In a room near the center of the “The Crucible of Candidates of the Infinite Gate” Two individuals spoke to one another through their musical harmonics as they observed information floating through various orb like display.

The one’s mind is a jewel that is to be both admired and pitied, such comprehension of the nature of infinity is something we have not borne witness too in a great age beyond our harmony. And yet, the one’s utility is dubious.” Here the song diminished and seemed to be picked up by the speaking of the other as an arm stretched slowly out to pluck an orb from among the others.

Is dubious and influence is minute. The one has ambition, but only for the one’s personal betterment and lacks desire for anything greater than a belief that science moves too fast, a belief of great irony.” It said, as the conversation was continued by the first.

A belief of great irony as the one’s life has been dedicated to knowing the secrets of the infinite. It feels almost of shame that the one that our harmony touched almost a thousand years ago held greater potential and ambition than the one we now have, and that device had only been awoken to the barest of levels for us to hear its call.”

It’s call to our harmony. The one that opened that device may stay be utilized, the one hungered for power and life eternal above everything, but the call of our harmony is distant now and the one responds little to us, drawn instead to another’s song. This however is no longer a vital concern of our harmony.”

Concern of our harmony, It is clear to us now that life exists that can at last unlock the harm cast upon us, it is only a concern now of how we may spread our song to those that will be most receptive.”

Here the ongoing musical cadences seemed to die away to a softer susurration as the two seemed to contemplate events. For the first time their bodies turned looking at one another directly.

The one whom has come to us, it is agreed that his mind will serve one final purpose, a biological analog will be sufficient to process the necessary information for our Avatar.”

Our Avatar shall be born at last than, if we are to return to the realm we have been denied, the compilation of the Avatar will herald forth a presence that we lacked at first that we shall not lack again. Its music will be, glorious.” Again the two seemed to finish speaking as a new image came before them. In contrast to the radiant light of those that inhabited the facility, the image was dark, black, and almost seemed to suck light from around. Light did seem to glint off its surface however, as though it were made of obsidian or some black glass. In a way, it resembled the entities that looked upon it, but a dark twisted version of what a Naz-Satikul would look like. The silence was briefly interrupted as together the two repeated.
Its music will be, glorious.”


In a chamber far below the two currently speaking, Ruco looked over a series of equations on an illuminated orb hovering in front of him, it had taken some time to get used to ‘writing’ in such a way, but once he had he found it rather enjoyable. He moved one orb covered with near incomprehensible mathematical symbols toward another, and watched as the two equations intermingled. Behind him floated one of the many that had been accompany him, during his ‘visit’. He had been assured he would be returned home, but that his presence was currently requested to ‘evaluate knowledge’ as they put it. Currently, he seemed to filling in equations on Fractal String Theory that had confounded other researchers for the past thirty years.

“I hope I may get print outs of all of this when possible. I suspect that your data orbs will most likely not traverse back properly from this universe to my own.” He said, mostly to himself as he smiled at the increasingly elegant solutions he had been spending the day on. He may not have fully come to ‘enjoy; his stay with the beings of light, but he did have to admit. In terms of science and knowledge, they truly were light years beyond the understanding of what even he at times could fathom. It would take lifetimes to truly come to terms with the scope of what he was learning.

The one behind him floated forward and seemed to take a moment to look at what he had been working on.

Your mind is one to truly be admired, in our past, others that have come to us have comprehended only a small fraction of the nature of the harmony we share.” It said, its hands waving slowly back and forth as it ‘spoke’ in its odd musical tones. Ruco gave a slight smile of self-satisfaction, pride for the sake of pride was not something he usually indulged in, but with everything that had happened he took some amount of satisfaction in the new worlds of knowledge he was able to witness.

From behind him, the floating individual briefly seemed to tilt its head, as though listening to something, then look back to Ruco. If such an entity could be seen to ‘sigh’ it would have done so.
Your presence in the song will long be remembered, but it is time.”

Ruco, absorbed in the equations only briefly was listening.
“Hm? Time for what?” he said, and had barley finished speaking the words when the eyes of the Naz-Satikul flashed softly. A moment later Ruco, like a puppet that had its strings cut, slumped to the floor. Hovering over him the individual stretched their arms out as the body began to levitate upwards.

Be not afraid child, your mind will be reborn as our champion, when you do return to your home, you shall command the legions of our harmony.”
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #3, Enter Ruco: Part 5

Deep in the inner recesses of the great “Crucible of Candidates of the Infinite Gate” were areas that hinted at darker purposes and functions. Factories and matter fabrication facilities existed, processing materials and substances that could not be dreamed of by most other species. In one such area, vast amounts of power and materials were being siphoned into a chamber that seemed to throb with the energies of what was happening inside.
Looking upon the chamber floated two nearly identical members of the Naz-Satikul, each resplendent in the elegant billowing robes and intricate geometric patterns and designs. They watched the chamber seething with its labors, the two looking on with anticipation

Fabrication of the external security frame has nearly finished, if the governing processor must leave the Avatar it is vital it will be protected. It is unlikely we will have another opportunity to receive a biological sample that could be used for the Avatar.”

For the Avatar which is of the highest importance to make functional and begin to sign within our Harmony. The external security frame will be an Avatar unto itself, and unto it shall we bestow a Matrix.”

A Matrix similar to the one the Avatar itself, alone its power will be radiant enough to protect against any biological opposition, together in Union with the Matrix from the Avatar itself, its radiance shall shine like a star.”

Shine like a star like the mind of the template of the governing processor. The mind to be remade in every facet, every function, flesh made into synthetic to withstand time and entropy. To mimic the biological template in every detail."

In every detail from mind to its’ memories, an unwanted defect to the processor, but necessary to begin operation. The Processor most first come to life as if it were its biological template, once it has achieved this, the original can be overwritten.”

Overwritten with our desired program. The Avatar need not think as we do, it will hear and be a part of our harmony, but it needs not have thoughts like us, the function of the processor is to channel the maelstrom of information needed to keep the energy of its Matrix in check. To perform this function and to obey.”

“To obey our song in all ways.”
“To obey our song in all ways.”


The two said together in unison before turning away from the chamber and the hissing and throbbing of energy from within. Moving gently behind them, they came to look out across what seemed a small balcony out into a silo like opening. Standing inside the space, at almost fourteen feet tall, was ‘The Avatar’. Its great hulking blackness looking all the more menacing up close. An immense synthetic construct that appeared as a warped mockery of the Naz-Satikul looked like. It was a thing made to destroy, and as such was offered no elegance or beauty. It was to be a beast of unfathomable destruction. All it needed now, was a brain.

A series of chimes seemed to bring their attention back to the first chamber.

The fabrication is completed.” They said in unison and watched as with a great hiss of vapors and steam, the protective shield of the fabrication chamber was raised to be able to see the interior. Inside was what would seem to be a strange robotic version of a Tejlini. But to use the word ‘robot’ was perhaps not to do it justice.
It appeared to recreate every aspect of a Tejlini but in a synthetic form. Ears, fins, tail, fingernails, eyes, lips. Everything was rendered in stunning detail, replicated out of materials that would be virtually immortal and ageless to time. After a few moments of examining the figure in the chamber the two technicians nodded to one another, as though satisfied with results. A moment later their hands passed over the glowing orbs in front of them as another step in the fabrication seemed to take place.

A floating metallic ring dropped down and then seemed to flex and expand around the head of the Synthetic inside. Glowing bands of sticky redness began to be extruded from it and, as it moved down, it appears to be ‘knitting’ flesh on to the form inside. Passing down, first a thin layer of blood vessels, tissue, and skin. Then as it began to pass back up, another set of beams radiated out, and fur began to grow rapidly along the flesh. By the time it had reached the top, the figure resembled A Tejlini in every way, although perhaps now considerably physically larger than most of its species.
Once again the two examined their work and seemed satisfied with the results.

At last the governing processor is ready for activation and to awaken the Avatar to our Harmony.”

Our Harmony which it will follow, once the analog has awakened.”

Has awakened and has fulfilled its final purpose.”

The two turned and floated out of the room as behind them, the form was extracted and placed into a smaller tube like vessel before being whisked away.




Slowly, painfully slowly, Ruco began to awaken. He felt, uneasy, he had not remembered falling asleep. No not asleep, unconscious. His mind seemed fuzzy and clouded, he was working in the room he had been given, solving equations and then, blackness. ‘Fractal Equation sign/co-sigh tau mu, to the 6th power of 32.783 of the variance of the second sign of the universal constant of the anti tau to 74.91729’. Ruco seemed to snap awake, that was an equation he had only recently been looking at, and he had just processed its answer in an instant, ‘4.286 seconds’ he added. But, not him? As his mind became more awake, it seemed to expand, and continue to expand. His body began to awaken as well and he felt…different.
Calculation efficiency at 12946.235 covariance of 10 to the 12 power
His mind continued to grow and process quicker, but as it did so he could feel something else. His body felt strangely, empty, as though something of vital importance was missing, he tried to move his body and it felt strong, powerful, and yet somehow cold. The emptiness he felt seemed beyond any simple physical sensation. At last his eyes came into focus, and with sight superior to anything he had every experienced, he locked vision upon the figures in front of him, floating in some sort of control room.

“You… What did you do to me?” He snarled as he tried to move again, finding himself restrained in some sort of tight capsule. ‘Pressure tolerance of material calculating at 6520 kilo rontins, current pressure applied at 4500 and raising’ Ruco snarled again and began to bang his head into the transparent material in front of him.

From the safety of their room, the technicians impassively watched the figure struggle.
The governing processor is clearly at a ready status, the biologic analog is operating as intended.”

As intended to fulfil its final purpose. It is time to begin to overwrite the analog and install the governing processor into the Avatar.”

From outside Ruco continued to push against the capsule, ’12.462 seconds before structure is compromised’ his mind seemed to inform him as he continued to stare with a strange seething rage at the figures. Before he could break free, he felt the capsule move, and then a sound of clicking and metal from below. For the first time, he looked down and saw what was below him. A figure of absolute blackness stood, as he looked, its head tilted forward and an aperture seemed to open where one would expect the spinal column to be. Ruco paused and looked into the void, then briefly back to the figures. He saw one return his gaze, its head tiled gently to one side.

Be at peace, know that you have fulfilled your function.” It said simply. A moment later the capsule plunged down into the void, and the head tilted backwards. Fluid immediately began to fill the void as an instant later a blinding, burning light illuminated the space, it filled every crevice, and then pushed into Ruco. He howled and roared as he could feel it entering his mind pushing ever inwards. It pushed upon him, compressing what he was, what he felt, everything that was “him”. It slowly yet unceasingly compressed around his mind, all the while Ruco cried out trying to fight back as he grew smaller, and smaller, and then.

Nothingness.
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #3, Enter Ruco: Part 6



Nothingness.

.




..



...


....

.....

And then. Existence, yet, barely.

The tiny kernel that was Ruco’s mind and consciousness was enveloped in a never ceasing maelstrom of information, commands and calculations by the computer program that filled up virtually every part of his now synthetic brain. Almost every part, yet not all.
Like a stubborn thorn in the foot of an elephant, his mind was crushed over and over and over, yet refused to be pushed out. It clung on sustaining itself with a single repeating, thought over and over. It would not yield.
In time, like an oyster creating a pear, the tiny grain of his mind slowly began to grow a resistance to the hurricane of mathematics and information around it. In time, slowly and painstakingly, it continued to grow its resistance, its unending thought all the more it could manage to hang on to until suddenly, it could think again.

“How DARE they!” was the first coherent thing Ruco’s mind was able to at last make manifest. The crashing whirlwind of calculation still continued around it, but now, he was able to finally focus enough that the unceasing roar was slightly less and just enough relief to let him think.

They had reduced his brain to a simple computer? Why would they have needed it? Why could they not have made something superior with their technology? What was the use of all these callccc-----

The roar returned and Ruco’s mind was forced to shrink back again. Too many thoughts at once. Slow, he would have to think slowly. One thought at a time. Why was he needed? Ruco thought, his memories were fuzzy, yet crystal clear, it simply took time to access them, everything he did seemed to take time. Another universe, different physics. Of course. He remembered they used biological computers for many machines and devices. But biology he knew did not easily move from one reality to another, ‘errors’ would typically take place. They would need a biological computer from the universe they sought to enter to then make a perfect synthetic copy of, they needed a brain, his brain.

It was brilliant of course. Ruco envied such amazing technology, yet instantly was disgusted with its application. His mind burned again at what he was reduced to and the noise came back. Slow, slow, his mind relaxed and the noise receded.

But what was its function?

Ruco tried at last to ‘look’ upon the information within what was once his brain. The mathematics moving around at terrifying speeds and unfathomable powers. He tried to focus on some part of the maelstrom and could feel the noise starting to return. This time he did not retreat, the noise kept growing yet more but he continued to push, trying to form the focus of his mind into a single diamond hard point. He pushed against the crushing weight of the information and at last, just as the noise became almost too much to bare again, he was able to ‘see’ inside.

Power.

It was almost all about power. The information was naturally in formulas and symbols alien to him, but it didn’t matter. Math was universal. And his mind could see the patterns, see the similarities in formulas, and deduce the functions from applied calculations. The machine his brain rested in was home to an energy source of unfathomable power. No, not unfathomable at all. Using some of his new freedom, he ‘borrowed’ from the information around him and found he could quite easily fathom its power.

The numbers made him ‘laugh’

He realized this was a different sensation. The numbers he saw should have terrified him. It should have made him afraid, scared, and yet. He felt little if nothing of such emotions. Instead, his mind focused on the implications. The power was balanced upon a knifes edge, and failure to balance would rapidly lead to overloading and then detention and explosion. Something about such power however seemed to delight him. Such uses it could have. He began to push more. The device, he saw only a glimpse of it before he had been, had been, used. The noise returned just a bit as his mind lost focus for a moment. But just a moment, it was easier and easier to push the noise away.

The machine, a beast, a monster, a force of destruction. Its technology would be unthinkable. He had to know more. The once tiny kernel of his mind had now grown. The protective shell around it expanded, and expanded again. The maelstrom of information was slowly giving up its secrets. In time, always in time, its chaos and plunging rivers of math and formulas slowly would reveal their purposes bit by bit.
How long had it been? How could time be measured? The speed of the brain made such measurements foolish. To Ruco it felt as if years had passed.

Ruco tried to think about himself and the implications. Was this his fate? Could he very move beyond this? Would time pass by? Year after year and he would be left in this, prison? He began to feel tired. He had made so much progress, but he exhausted himself. He needed to rest, he needed, energy.

He laughed once again.

Energy, it was all around him. Not just one source, but two, each working together in unison. One that was massive like a sun wrapped in a miniature prison. The other, similar, but much much smaller. It was, inside of his body. What had been his body? Ruco began to think more quickly, or tried to. It was HIS body, HIS brain, HIS. His mind began to flare again, but this time, this time when the ‘noise’ began to rise and grow. He focused on the tiny hole to the rest of his brain, the tiny entrance and sought out a pathway. The energy in ‘His’ body, his new synthetic body, could be used. The tiniest of infinitesimal amounts was gently, subtly moved. Almost a suggestion, for it was all he could do, to suggest that the tiny amount of energy go somewhere else. To be used somewhere else. To be used by him.

He felt his mind swell.

Ah, this was better, this was easier. He could think more clearly now, and now he could do more than think. His mind could ‘move’. He did not know how much more time passed. Would it matter? He felt he did not truly care anymore. All that was important we reclaiming his body, to freeing himself from his prison. He had been exploring the brain much more. The beast seemed strangle idle. The math behind it still moved at speeds of a hurricane, yet its muscles. Had it moved? Had it acted? How could he know?

He needed to see. No, not just the math, he saw so much of it already. He needed to see truly. He needed to push yet again, to find an escape to the outside. He had been planning for this.

The time had come to put forth everything he knew to his advantage. It had taken so long, who knew how long, but he would act. He once again puled forth energy from his body, still tiny amounts compared to the source, but significant enough to empower him. He focused his mind, focusing and focusing it again. The diamond like tip of his thoughts pushed forward toward a single goal. He could feel the noise returning, it seemed the first time in ages that it had bothered him, but he easily ignored it now. The diamond tip continued to push out and then. And then Ruco’s mind snarled, wavered, and faltered. It had pushed into something, a wall, a barrier of heat, of pain. It sent some primal force into him shouting ‘this far and no farther’

Ruco would not be denied.

He gathered himself back up and refocused. He had been caught by surprise the first time, but would not be off guard a second time. More power now he drew forth. His mind throbbed and pushed out. His focus grew and grew and doubled again. The tip was now like a searing needle, becoming ever harder and sharper. He anticipated the edge of where the barrier had been before. He readied himself, and pushed forward. The pain that surged through his mind mad him shake yet he endured it. His mind was on fire now as he pushed with all he could against the burning wall. He cried out, screamed, howled, but continued to push. His needle of thought became now a glowing pinpoint of concentration. The barrier continued to flame and burn trying to resist him, yet slowly, agonizingly so it yielded. Ruco felt the noise everywhere now, it roared like it had when he first had awoken, and it pulled at him, clawed at him, threated to swallow him back up into oblivion. And then, just when he felt he could no longer bare the pain a moment longer.

He broke through.

The instant he had, he realized what the barrier was for he could see it clearly now. Beings as advanced as the ones that built this would still naturally have protections in place to prevent anyone from getting “IN” to such a computer. They surly could not have imagined trying to keep something inside from getting “OUT”.

Ruco smiled as his mind perceived the rest of what he knew had been his brain, and he knew it would again. He could see the barrier now, where it was, and where it wasn’t, where it was strong, and where it was weak. He could mostly see what it protected, what it clearly did not wish someone to access or gain control of. Ruco saw before him his great task, he knew little by little he would undo all of this. It would take time, but he felt time was no longer a concern. Again, days, months, years, he could not imagine how long he had spent in this existence, but it was time for answers.

He concentrated and sent out a tiny, gossamer thin tendril of his consciousness out through the barrier, letting it escape from the capsule that contained his new synthetic body, and out into the expanse of the great machine, the “Avatar” as they had called it. Here, he felt like a diver swimming through an ocean with no sky or sun, an empty black void that seemed unfathomably massive, yet empty of movement or thought. He wondered had it failed to function? Had it never been able to awaken? How after all this time did it seem as though there was no movement, no ‘life’ from the machine itself? Such questions would come later. For now he reached his goal. The eyes.

He knew he could not force them to open, any sort of control on that level was still beyond him. But he could see what they would see. All he needed to do was wait. And wait. And Wait.
He let his mind relax, it had done so much, worked so hard. There was so much more still to do, but for now it could rest as time passed by.
And then, then after who could tell how much time had passed. The machine at long last seemed to awake. Light seemed to filled the endless void, information, thought and commands began to move like water being pumped through pipes. And then at long last, the eyes opened upon the world.

Ruco’s mind tried to focus, the images came to him it seemed from a long distance, it came in slowly, burly, but then, then he could see. At first he could not believe the vision before him. But then he realized it all made perfect sense.



“The Avatar has awakened, at last it has become one with our Harmony and the Song.” Said one of the technicians in the small control room.

“The Song which is now in it and is part of it. The systems function despite a few minor discontinuities.” Said one.

“Discontinuities that seemed to be troubling. But well within acceptable parameters.” One said as the other, more senior of the two turned. The continuous shared speech and thoughts between them broke for a moment as the elder examined the numbers coming from various monitors on the Avatar.

“No mistake should be acceptable.” The voice spoke, a mild withering tone edged into the otherwise melodic cadences of their speech. It turned its gaze back to the Avatar as it looked into its now open eyes. “The energy fluctuations were anticipated, what discontinuities did you witness.” The elder spoke directly to the smaller. The younger of the two looking confused, knowing their minds were shared and so the information would have been known, yet.

“The source wall protecting the Governing Processor from outside threats. It reacted as if threatened for 0.007 metres, but this was an error as it is impossible for any outside signal or malicious entity to attempt to access the Avatar here.” The one said, as though reciting the information from a book. The other seemed to scrutinize what was said.

“That would be correct, it would be an impossibility for there to be any sort of reaction that would have triggered an alert in the source wall protection.” It said before turning back to the Avatar, he looked at its eyes thoughtfully. The other, its mind feeling disjointed at being left momentarily disconnected from another spoke up.

“Is there a greater concern? There should be no cause for disharmony with the Governing Processor, all other extrapolations of its systems show as flawless.” It said, waiting for the elder to finally respond. When it did so, it seemed to have made its mind up about something.

“Flawless as we would expect. There could be no doubt of any external force that could cause an alert. To consider an alternative would be, unthinkable” it said as it continued to stare at the vacant gaze of the Avatar. And yet, not fully vacant. Seeing now from deep inside, Ruco looked out at actions that for him seemed to move with the slowness of a glacier. Had it been months? Or Years? Or perhaps from your point of view, maybe it had only been about five minutes.



Ruco retreated from the view of the eyes back into his body, back into his new brain and began to laugh, and laugh, and laugh.
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #3, Enter Ruco: Part 7
RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!!








Once again, time had passed. Not just the time inside of the hyper fast supercomputer that had once been Ruco’s brain but time outside as the world had moved on.



Ruco’s had learned much in that time. Some of it he learned to pass by ‘hibernating’ simply going to sleep and letting the internal clock of his brain tick by to allow time outside to pass quicker. When he was awake, he let his mind explore its structure, testing the defenses of the barrier and learning how it functioned and how to slowly utilize it to his own ends. The singular most important action however, was doing all of this without alerting his captors that he still existed. He knew that he could break through parts of the barrier with ease now, but doing so would immediately cause alarm, and until he was able to control both bodies together, such actions would have to wait



Ruco had to continuingly remind himself that there were two bodies he would have to eventually control. The synthetic clone of what had once been his original organic body and the much more massive, more powerful “Avatar” which that body now rested in, acting as nothing more than a CPU for it. A computer brain that could function both in the universe of the Naz-Satikul and, when the time came for invasion, in his own universe. And while slowly working on this, always in the background was the sense of something missing, something lost that made him feel empty, cold, and incomplete.



He sometimes considered if such feelings were due to the loss of his old organic body, no doubt that empty husk had long ago been disposed of and discarded. Whatever the cause, it was something his mind had to work harder to ignore, focusing always on the task at hand, control, freedom, and then, revenge.



Currently Ruco was in yet another ‘sleep’ phase. The Avatar after being awakened had been subjected to a series of simple and rather boring physical tests. Movement, speaking messages transmitted to it by its creators. And then, then had come the first true tests of its power. Ruco’s mind, even dormant was able to sense such activity. At long last the time had come when it could bear witness to just what was possible by the machine that was using his synthetic body as its brain. Ruco would not be disappointed by the outcome. The target had been a planet similar to his own, a species that had just recently pushed out into the stars but had not yet found another sapient life form. It was there for isolated from notice by other galactic entities, and as such, perfect for what was needed. The Naz-Satikul had scanned the planet and selected what they felt was the most militarized area before launching the Avatar on its test.



For FTL travel, the Avatar was sealed in a dark, rock like capsule, emerging from the folds between space, it hurtled towards its intended target. Detected by the inhabitants of the planet long before its arrival, by the time it cannoned into the ocean just outside of the huge sprawling military yards, there was already a small army of armored vehicles, soldiers, and mobile artillery trained upon it. Slowly rising from the ocean, it stood and looked upon a new world for the first time. It’s relatively simple programming told it to obey its orders. It examined its surroundings, scanned for possible risks, and then began to destroy everything in its path. There were no demands given, no threats, no calls for conquest or for surrender, the Naz-Satikul had no desire for such things, all that was required was simply to observe the effectiveness of its weapons and defense systems.



The first attack came from a simple flash on what could be called its ‘eyes’. The two wells of blackness that seemed to be a pit with no bottom flashed suddenly brighter than the surface of the sun, an instant later a geyser of energy vomited forth from just in front of its face, scything across all vehicles that had gathered along the coast. An instant later after that, the coast blossomed in a series of rippling catastrophic explosions. The Avatar seemed to watch those around it for a moment and began to walk forward.



The military base before it erupted in return fire, from every crevice projectiles spewed forth in an unending torrent of ammunition. Hover craft and armored air vehicles launched like a swarm of angered bees from facilities and began to circle the approaching monstrosity. With each step the hail of bullets, small missiles and high-speed artillery blossomed across its surface yet did nothing to stop its progress. As it walked into the very center of the base its attention was drawn upwards, an immense flying wing could be viewed far in the distance. The super bomber could carry thousands of ordnances, but instead it carried only two massive rockets almost as long as the aircraft itself. Dropping them like bombs, the huge missiles rocketed forward deceptively slowly as they sped toward their target. The Avatar watched and titled its head curiously, its internal systems calculated their yields as not being a threat and began to walk forward again. A half second later one rocket smashed into its face, followed by the other. Both instantly erupted in a massive fire ball that sent a cascading shockwave across the surrounding area. The kinetic force of the explosions was such that, briefly, the Avatar was pushed back as if punched, yet still it remained unharmed. The barrage upon it seemed continuous now, and yet however much launched, all such convention explosions failed to make contact, an energy shield of unfathomable power protecting it, its strength nearly unlimited. A field of Absolute Terror.



An internal command triggered, and it decided to deal with the new threat. A vast halo of light erupted from around its feet and legs, and it began to levitate upwards, the strange energy pushed out like some sort of exhaust, sending near by flying craft spiraling to the ground. Quickly obtaining altitude with the bomber, it leisurely reached out with its arm and caught it before it could turn away. The thrust of the flying fortress engines barely pushed the Avatar backwards as it crushed the cockpit and forward section. Explosions rippled through the vessel and it was soon sent crashing to the ground.



Watching all of this with a detached fascination, Ruco was taking in the destructive capacities of the Avatar with a gleeful delight. And yet, even as the mind watched, it realized there wasn’t any true sense of delight, or joy, or sadness. There was the ‘memory’ of such feelings, as if a part of his mind was telling itself what it ‘should’ be feeling, and yet, Ruco could not seem to bring forth the actual sensation. A more powerful shock to the Avatar reverberated through various systems and sensors that took his focus away from such idle thoughts and brought him back to the here and now. Looking through the eyes and senses of the Avatar, Ruco’s mind saw an expanding circle of fire and semi liquified rock spreading out before him.



A quick check confirmed his suspicions, an atomic, perhaps buried under the base, had just been detonated. The yield was ‘small’ for an atomic perhaps no more than about 10 kilotons, yet such a destructive force was more than enough to level a city to smoke and ash. Even so this had caused only the smallest of flickers in the neigh invulnerable field of terror surrounding the Avatar, however, the kinetic shockwave seemed enough to momentary stun the vessel of war. Ruco’s mind considered this with curiosity. The Avatar was a true horror of power and destructive potential, and yet it seemed slow, plodding, lumbering. Yes, it was large but Ruco’s mind calculated the energy powering it was capable of so very much more, he wondered if it was being somehow inhibited. Yet such considerations would have to wait, internal sensors detected a gathering of warships high overhead in the upper atmosphere. Primitive even to the technology of what Ruco knew from Tajlan, yet a concentrated orbital bombardment could pose a threat.



As if in anticipation of this, the order came from those monitoring the event to withdraw. Ruco, briefly, struggled with the impulse to refuse the command, he wanted to see more, to push the capabilities of the Avatar to it’s full untapped potential. Yet he could not reveal himself so soon, and the compulsion to obey commands, to submit to authority was one still very hard to ignore. Ruco’s mind relented, he would have time enough to resolve such hindrances in due course, and when the time was right, he would have his revenge.



At the far edge of the solar system that was home to the planet, rested a small ship whose technology would make a mockery of anything on the world that had just been attacked. It was strangely the opposite to the utter blackness and spiked almost malevolent appearance of the Avatar. The vessel was almond like in shape, as smooth as glass and shimmered with a glistening silvery finish that almost looked like mercury, as though were one to touch its surface their finger would cause it to ripple like a liquid. Inside floated two angelic beings of light and music, each speaking in unison to those from even farther away.



“All has proceeded as planned and the first dance of the Avatar has concluded to satisfactory results-”

“-results that offer the promise of much more, as with each new dance we shall greater push its limits-“

“-limits that shall help us guide its song to eventually lead and conduct our warriors-”

“-our warriors of the Mor-Lacor which have served us well and will serve us again when the time comes.”



The two spoke to a swirling glowing orb in the middle of the light filled room they occupied. From within the sphere a response came from another set of voices speaking together.



“The Mor-Lacor serve us well, however it has been decided a new instrument will benefit the harmony-“

“-the harmony in eventually reclaiming what is ours, those of the crucible have begun upon a new warrior-“

“-a new warrior that shall serve in conjunction with our Avatar and shall conduct as extension of its form.”



The two within the ship considered this information.



“As always we obey the will of the song of the Harmony, the Avatar has left the planet and is ready to continue to the next target.” They spoke together as the sphere faded and the communication ceased. Thousands of light years away, in a factory hidden within a rock floating through thick gas and clouds, production facilities began to activate. The fabrication cells had been rapidly expanded as row upon row of bays lit up and began to come to life. At the very far end of the facility rested a tube with a familiar shape floating inside.
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Re: STGOD 2020 Pre-Game Role-play

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Side Story #3, Enter Ruco: Part 8



It was close now, so very very close to its goal. In the time since the first ‘test’ had taken place, the great Avatar had been sent on to another, and another, each deployment was against an unwitting civilization that received its wrath. Each time it seemed to face increasingly powerful and more advanced resistance, and yet each time, the resistance was eventually crushed, destroyed, and utterly defeated as the true scope of the Avatars power had been gradually unlocked by its controllers. However, with each attack and test, came ‘attacks’ upon the Avatar itself. The mind of Ruco had begun slowly, almost imperceptibly to make its move. The barrier surrounding it was full of ‘thin’ areas, places that had been pushed again and again to the breaking point.
The influence of Rucos mind had now compromised almost all aspects of the Naz-Satikul programing in his body, or at least the machine replication of it, and had branched out ‘infecting’ ever more aspects of the Avatars programing. Powered by the energy of its core, it acted like a parasite, infecting, and feeding off its host. And with each subsystem it infected, with each shell algorithm it absorbed it, the mind of Ruco grew into something beyond what any mere organic brain could have hoped to obtain. And yet, as careful as Ruco had been, his attacks upon the barrier could not have gone unnoticed forever and It was only a matter of time until such changes to the core program of the Avatar were noticed and the machine of death was recalled to where it had been born. Of course, this too, was all a part of the plan.

Once again, the Avatar was ‘home’.
The massive black visage of death and unfathomable destruction rested silently in the cradle where it was first launched from. For those looking over its systems, it had been about 200 days, for the unknown occupant lurking deep inside, it had been centuries.

“The Avatar sings in the choir of our harmony as no construct we have before created” said one.
“Created as the perfect warrior to lead the legions when the time comes to return” said one
“Return to the domain that was denied to us, and yet, it is far from perfect, the programing has become flawed” said one
“Flawed more than was predicted, the imperfections must be studied to ensure they are not repeated” said one
“Repeated in the legion that will secure us a new domain and a new reality. We must find and purge these flaws” said one
“Flaws which could be from the template and passed on to the Avatar, and the Legion” said one.
“The legion must be truly perfect; the legion shall soon awaken.” said one.

There was then a pause by the four floating in the viewing area above the cradle of the Avatar. As the last statement was spoke, one of them waved a hand over a glowing sphere. The image inside changed and showed a fabrication facility. Inside were hundreds of what seemed to be copies of Ruco’s new synthetic body. Each one looking however a bit larger and more heavily armored than the original. The mass production foot soldiers based upon the original template, a true army of ‘Ruco’s to be led into battle by the Avatar.

“The legion shall soon awaken.” And this was said by all four, in perfect harmony.

With another wave of a hand, one of the technicians connected the Avatar to the network of the facility and prepared to purge and reformate the computer system within. The time from when the network was established, to the time the Avatar emitted a ‘low yield’ energy pulse reducing the area around it to liquid metal, was a span of time almost too short to calculate by normal methods.

The mind that had once been Ruco seethed with a rage that was as hot and primal as the small sun that burned deep in its core. Part of it was still aware enough to contemplate how long it had been that it had felt any sort of emotion, the uncountable amount of time it had spent simply existing within the computer it resided in, making such memories of it’s past and of emotions a dim and distant thing. And yet now, in the instant it connected with the network, in the instant it had learned what they had done, it seemed to break the cold emotionless existence it had ‘lived’ in and awoken to a new burning passion. It recalled the anger it felt so long again when it had been first betrayed. Not just betrayed but used and reduced to a mere thing. His once organic body replicated synthetically on a quantum level to provide a computer that could travel from this universe to his home.

Watching the destruction around him, the helplessness of those that had once subdued and betrayed him, the mind of Ruco revealed in his power and the limitless potential of what the Avatar offered him. No longer bound by just his own mind, he could see now into the unfathomable depths of the technology the Naz-Satikul possessed. Utilizing his brain, he saw new worlds opening up with technology that was so far beyond his once limited understanding that it would indeed be treated as the power of the Gods. In an instant Ruco saw his new purpose, once the destruction of the station was complete, he would utilize one of the remaining ‘Cubes’ and one of the FTL pods. Together he saw now how the two could be combined with the Avatar to leave this place behind and return home. Home, that thought made him ‘smile’. He now had the power he had always dreamed of; he would return and quickly purge the military leadership in charge of Tajlan and begin to instill his order upon the world. No force in the Sector could stand against him, even the Skothians he could now see how to challenge, their force would either yield to his authority or be destroyed. The sector would be reborn as a power that would be unified under his command and will. Ruco realized with the knowledge of the Naz-Satikul, their races would be able to quickly dominate the rest of the galaxy, and then, then there would be no stopping him. But first, first there was still the rest of his revenge that was needed.

It was perhaps less than two minutes from its activation now, the Avatars great size meant that it had burned a hole through much of the facility as it moved like a meteor towards its goal and began to tear the station apart. Taking his time to savor the destruction of those he encountered, to savor the ultimate end to the Naz-Satikul that had done this. The beings who looked so angelic, who radiated light like some celestial entity, whose voices sung like music in an ethereal harmony. Ruco knew their true intentions, their true desires, and was all too ‘happy’ to end them and the project he had come to realize existed when he was first linked to the stations computer system. The Legion.

Effortlessly melting through yet another reinforced bulkhead, it smashed into the primary fabrication facility. There before it was hundreds of its ‘clones’ synthetic copies of itself ready to be activated, each one a shallow mockery in the eyes of the original. The seething rage rekindled itself at their sight and what they represented, their destruction would do little to quell the rage, but their continued existence could not be tolerated. With a thundering blast that tore through the facility, the fabrication bay, and virtually everything behind it was destroyed as Ruco, as the Avatar, as ‘It’ unleashed its fury. As it stood before the ruined remains, it felt it had missed something. Of course, it had known that ‘something’ had been missing for a very very long time. From that first moment it had awoken in its synthetic body it had felt something was missing, not just missing but lost, taken, stolen from him. It had long ago pushed away the sensation of it, ignored it, rejected it. But now the feeling of emptiness returned as never before. It felt it could no longer be ignored yet could still not comprehend what it was. And then a moment of clarity came to him.

These replicants would be worthless to the Naz-Satikul unless they too could travel to his home universe without being compromised. And he knew in order to do this, each one needed a brain like his own. It did not need to be nearly as powerful or as advanced, but it still would have to be a complete quantum replication of his original organic brain. A brain that would have been in his body, a body he long ago thought lost and discarded, and yet. The proof of what he could not imagine was staring him in the face. Once more the rage returned. Ruco through the Avatar linked to the computers in the station, or at least, what remained of it. Knowing what he was looking for now, it did not take him long to find his quarry. In a secluded part of the station, locked in a sealed and armored capsule, was a single biological signature that Ruco realized, was himself.
Ruco, the ‘real’ Ruco floated in a curious tank of liquid, unaware and all but forgotten. After the first success of replicating his entire body, the Naz-Satikul had little use for that any longer, all that was truly important was being able to scan and replicate his brain. Sedated and entombed in an isolated life support pod, he was left to rot, no further use other than scanning his brain for the ever-growing army of machine replicants. That was all the organic body had known for months, until a few moments ago when the whole station shook, and then shook again, and again. Alarms had sounded, lights flashed, and the body began to be pulled from the coma like state it had been kept in.

The Synthetic Ruco had quickly found its way to the storage facility of its organic body. The discovery and realization had caused the once diamond focused mind to begin to fracture. It all made sense now, the sense of loss it had felt, the strange emptiness it had tried to ignore for so long, part of his mind must still be in the body. Clearly the Naz-Satikul had failed to copy some part of his mind, some part that was calling out to him. All that was needed was to ‘download’ the rest of his mind and he would finally be complete. Taking care to secure the life-support pod that held his organic body, Ruco took stock of what was left on the ruined and lifeless remains of the station.

The Avatar, a monstrous titan designed for nothing but destruction and to dominant, was hardly a thing to build or create. Ruco knew what was needed, and how to obtain what he desired. As ruined and broken as the facility was, the technology of the Naz-Satikul was such that there was much that still functioned and remained. Ruco reached out with his mind into the computer network of what was left, it was but a trivial act to completely infect the remaining systems. Various drones and inorganic service entities became extensions of his will. The station, much of it open to space and exposed, came to life once more under Rucos domination. The Avatar ‘rested’ now, its labors done, its vengeance obtained, as around it a new cradle was constructed. Almost like a cocoon, a shell began to grow, constructed of alloys of unfathomable strength and properties by Naz-Satikul technology. There were several ‘cubes’ that were still functional, and it had been the work of moments to analyze their capacity and see the secrets of how to pierce, if briefly, the barrier between this universe and his own. As various drones labored at constructing a new and enlarged trans-dimensional drive, Ruco pondered the eventual reunification between his new body and his old.

The vessel was almost finished, and the time came for Ruco to emerge. The head of the Avatar leaned forward, and a slit opened in the otherwise seamless exterior. In a place where one would expect a spinal column, a large black capsule emerged from the neck and from inside, stepped forward Ruco. It had been so long, so much time had passed, Ruco struggled to ‘see’ with the eyes of the body that had been closed for so long. Calling out to the devises it was connected to, a hovering disc came forward to carry him down. Walking on unsteady legs, he examined himself for the first time. The body still ‘looked’ like a Tejlini, but it was clear it was not fully natural. Its scale was off, as though someone had taken a normal Tejlini and simply enlarged it to a sufficient size to carry the needed machinery inside. Ruco pondered that such concerns and thoughts were no longer needed. Soon, he would be rejoined and could return to the Avatar, no, to his ‘new’ body. Once the reunification was complete, he could reenter it, and knew he would never have to leave its power again.

The synthetic walked towards the machine that had been designed for that purpose. A series of cables and tubes now snaked through the capsule that held his organic body, the strands connecting into a gem like helmet that covered its head, then up into a device that until recently, the ‘old’ Ruco would have a hard time comprehending, but now seemed like child’s play. Ruco was able to access the designs of the machine that copied his body and brain so very long ago. From it, he worked out what was needed to copy not just physical matter but the more intangible aspects of memory, thought and consciousness. In examining the equations and formulas, he found a missing component. Something that the Naz-Satikul seemed to have deliberately left out of their own machine, something it was clear they did not wish to transfer from the organic, to the synthetic. This component was no doubt the thing that he had felt was missing for so long. With the equation made whole, Ruco prepared himself to connect and finally download everything that was left. Information told him the last remaining checks to the trasn-dimensional vessel had been completed. Through his link to the machines, Ruco encoded the data needed to transverse the infinities between universes and return home. The path was set, all that was needed now, was to begin the transfer.
The machine was activated, a sound of unfathomable energy was heard as light suddenly poured out from the capsule that held the organic body. Light filled the room, filled the machine, and then, like a crashing thunderstorm, it plunged downwards into the Synthetic body.

Ruco awakened.

In a space of darkness that seemed to have no form or substance, Ruco opened his eyes, and opened his eyes again. Understanding dawned at last.
“I am free, I am free, at long last, I can…” But his voice stopped, he looked up, and saw himself. And yet, not himself. An imagine filled his view, a twisted mockery of his body stood before him, flames billowing form it, darkness enshrouding it, embers burned and twisted from its eyes and it looked upon the form of Ruco and snarled.
YOU SHOULD NOT EXISIT!” it boomed, its voice like the sound of thunder. Ruco saw, and understood, his mind moved quickly, just as quickly as the others, and in the span of moments, the missing information was presented.
“You, you are but a copy, an imitation, no, an abomination, you were copied from my mind and twisted into this, thing before me. You have no right to be inside my mind!” Ruco said, that is, the organic Ruco. The other reared back and snarled again, and then laughed a dark and mocking laugh.
INSIDE YOUR MIND? DO YOU THINK WE ARE STILL IN A BODY OF FLESH AND BLOOD? YOU ARE INSIDE OF ME! THIS IS MY BODY! THIS IS MY MIND! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A MISTAKE THAT I THOUGHT WAS NEEDED AND NOW MUST BE PURGED!” It said, flames billowing from its mouth as smoke and ash swirled around it. The other Ruco, terrified, fearful, afraid, and yet, still a scientist, still thinking, assessed what had happened and began to realize what was needed.
“You have my pity, you are a thing that has known only death and destruction and pain, your continued existence is something that should not be tolerated.” Ruco said, and now neither one could restrain themselves. A single roar bellowed simultaneously from both as they lunged forward against one another.

Outside of the clash of minds, the Synthetic body fell backwards, its mouth opened, and a cry of unknowable sounds emerged, light streamed out form its eyes and energy crackled across its body as its form began to convulse and spasm. The capsule holding the organic body was suddenly struck, the contents eradicated in the blink of an eye. A howl emerged at this action, part mixed with sadistic glee, part mixed with wailing sadness. The body writhed again as parts on it began to glow. The skin and outer flesh began to sizzle as the energy inside rose and rose again. Lines began to form across the fur on its form, energy conduits began to burn through, A hole in the chest opened where its power core, blazing with heat, melted through the very flesh leaving part of it exposed. Responding instinctively, a hand went to clutch his chest and the pain radiating from it, the hand itself soon blazed with energy and was stripped of flesh down to the synthetic alloy underneath. Another arch of energy struck outwards, and some primal command radiated into the vessel itself.
The countdown began on its drive system and the processes started for its departure. The Synthetic body writhed in agony again and again, the battle inside tearing itself apart. And then, there seemed one final wracking spasm from inside and it collapsed to the floor, hissing and sizzling in radiating heat.

A moment later the vessel underwent a full existence nullification and existed the universe forever.
Praying is another way of doing nothing helpful
"Congratulations, you get a cookie. You almost got a fundamental English word correct." Pick
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