The Commander pulled herself up quickly, sliding against the bed as if rising from dark, silken waters. "Then treason we will have." She propelled herself forward, so far that she was over his lap and their pointed noses pressed together. She bit his lip fiercely. He returned the gesture by bleeding his alien blood, a taste of foreign matter.
A moment later, she withdrew, and he watched her with eyes rebellious. "We have the means and the motive," she said simply. "We need only the opportunity."
Deep in the heart of Deity Command, alarms were blaring. Klaxons rang in the ears of the scientists and technicians, disturbing the infant subjects of their experiments. Guards in thick acrysteel armor shaped to robotic silhouettes rushed in from all corners in perfect unison, guided with mechanical precision by the puppeteers who controlled the bioforms within. They were soulless automatons, conscripted from the ranks of Command's victims, both willing and unwilling volunteers. All life forms were equal in the calculations of Deity Command, but only in the sense of their usefulness as tools to be wielded.
The voice of the puppeteer-masters broke over the din of crying children and confused scientists. Their tongues rolled over one another in undulating song, weaving a mixture of command and suggestion that bound the minds of their followers to them. In fierce growling and sinister whispers they demanded, "Tell us. Tell us.The scientists cowered and jabbered, but through the many-minded filter came the requested information
( ... )
When the Commander looked up again, it was not the lazy appraisal of a predatory cat but the decisive head-whip of a snake. "You think paths can change?"
Kagawa had to be careful lest he draw the personal ire of his patron. His hands were tight against his bent knees and he forced himself to relax them. Anger was potent only when properly channeled. "No, but I think Antipov is human, and humans can lose sight of what's important."
There were no discernible controls as yet; the entire device was hooked up to a salvaged computer terminal displaying a mixture of Greek, Roman, and Cyrillic characters, the indecipherable multilingual code which Dr. M used to disguise his work in plain sight. M and Antipov had languages in common. Antipov studied languages because it interested him, M studied languages because he hated not knowing what people were saying around him. M's was an obsessive, paranoid thirst for knowledge, borne more from fear than love. Sometimes Antipov pitied him for that, since he himself loved learning for the sheer sake of it.
Releasing Antipov's hand, M scurried to the console and began picking letters out on the broken keyboard. His fingers moved like a marionette on strings, spasming and jerking, and he mumbled instructions and encouragements to himself in his native Magyar.
CyberlordK [042210.0314]: Im working on a very important project and it is imperative no one from communications finds out about it. CherryPoppin [042210.0315]: because we cant keep our mouths shut. CyberlordK [042210.0315]: That and other reasons. CherryPoppin [042210.0315]: Like what? CyberlordK [042210.0315]: Like I wont tell you. CherryPoppin [042210.0316]: u clearly want me 2 know because ur talking about it
Kagawa considered that carefully. Parsons was, despite his total inability to use the instant messaging system in a responsible fashion, a very astute observer of human nature, even Kagawa's.
CherryPoppin [042210.0317]: use a parentheticle CyberlordK [042210.0317]: HYPOthetical CherryPoppin [042210.0317]: weva
It never ceased to amaze Kagawa how Parsons could appear so smart and well-spoken in person, yet when relegated to instant message the man sounded like an idiot teenager.
~~~ When you run into writer's block, you can always solve it by having your characters conduct a poorly-typed instant message conversation. Zing
Comments 13
A moment later, she withdrew, and he watched her with eyes rebellious. "We have the means and the motive," she said simply. "We need only the opportunity."
For that, she had infinite patience.
Reply
The voice of the puppeteer-masters broke over the din of crying children and confused scientists. Their tongues rolled over one another in undulating song, weaving a mixture of command and suggestion that bound the minds of their followers to them. In fierce growling and sinister whispers they demanded, "Tell us. Tell us.The scientists cowered and jabbered, but through the many-minded filter came the requested information ( ... )
Reply
Kagawa had to be careful lest he draw the personal ire of his patron. His hands were tight against his bent knees and he forced himself to relax them. Anger was potent only when properly channeled. "No, but I think Antipov is human, and humans can lose sight of what's important."
Reply
Releasing Antipov's hand, M scurried to the console and began picking letters out on the broken keyboard. His fingers moved like a marionette on strings, spasming and jerking, and he mumbled instructions and encouragements to himself in his native Magyar.
Reply
CherryPoppin [042210.0315]: because we cant keep our mouths shut.
CyberlordK [042210.0315]: That and other reasons.
CherryPoppin [042210.0315]: Like what?
CyberlordK [042210.0315]: Like I wont tell you.
CherryPoppin [042210.0316]: u clearly want me 2 know because ur talking about it
Kagawa considered that carefully. Parsons was, despite his total inability to use the instant messaging system in a responsible fashion, a very astute observer of human nature, even Kagawa's.
CherryPoppin [042210.0317]: use a parentheticle
CyberlordK [042210.0317]: HYPOthetical
CherryPoppin [042210.0317]: weva
It never ceased to amaze Kagawa how Parsons could appear so smart and well-spoken in person, yet when relegated to instant message the man sounded like an idiot teenager.
~~~
When you run into writer's block, you can always solve it by having your characters conduct a poorly-typed instant message conversation. Zing
Reply
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