Z
Zack
ON> 188604
The desert surrounding Osman City,
The young girl had been walking for what seemed like days. No animal to carry her, only a thin wrapping of blankets and a backpack to keep her safe from the hash elements.
She could only barely see what looked like gleeming city in the distance... maybe a single tower... her vision fading a bit...
then...
*BOOF*
She fell over face first into the muddy sands around the city, her legs hurt too much to keep going. Her water had run out long ago, and it wouldn't be long before the sands claimed another life.
Spacecase would get an alert that one of his sensors was going off.
Grabbing his gear he hopped on his bike and sped off at full speed to the source of the signal.
As he got closer he saw what looked like a large rock, but upon closer inspection he realized it was actually a person.
He pulled up next to the figure and got off his bike.
"Hey are you alive?" He poked her.
The wind was starting to pick up, and the girl would cough something, before reaching out and tugging on his pant leg slightly.
"Well that confirms that you haven't jumped the grinder yet. Don't worry I'll get you back to the city."
He picked her up and secured her to the back of his bike before hopping on himself. "We're going to go really fast so try not to fall off."
With that he sped off towards the city. His destination, the palace.
When he got there the girl was still barely conscious, She couldn't have been more than a few years old... maybe 5 or 6...
The Palace itself seemed fairly empty for the time being. It had mostly been renovated, with fresh air conditioning, modern kitchens, and other appliances... though it seemed more of the action these days was taking place at Nath tower, meaning Uso and the others weren't around.
Spacecase would open the knapsack on the side of his bike and pulled out a bottle of water. "Here you must be thirsty. Drink this then I'll bring you inside."
The child was barely able to drink the water at first... though once she got a taste she hungrily drank down the entire bottle, a soft gasp escaping her lips in the few seconds it took her to finish the bottle. Her small voice then asked, "Where?"
A little confused about what the girl was asking Spacecase told her where he would bring her. "Right now the palace. Then your home if you have one."
"Ahh.... more water?" She asked, hopefully.
Spacecase reached back into the sack and pulled out another bottle of water. He handed it to the girl. "Now follow me inside."
With that he started on his way into the palace.
She would drink down the water bottle quickly, following space case into the palace, "you are... a space man? Nepleslian?" She asked.
Spacecase chuckled. "I am from space yes but I am definitely not one of those barbaric Neplepslian. I'm a Freespacer and my name is Spacecase."
"What's yours?"
"Ju.....uhh... I should... be going..." The small girl responded, looking away for a moment, "I need.. to find a thing... like this." She held up her hands in a roughtly square shape about the size of a datapad.
Spacecase was worried about the girl. "Um I don't know what that is do you know what it's called or what it does. I'll help you look, I don't want you collapsing again."
"Sorry, I... it is hard to think sometimes..." She said, motioning with her hand as if she was drawing on the square. "Do you have food from... far away?"
"Sorry I don't thi.. Wait actually I do have something." Spacecase would then run back to his bike and pulled some jerky out of it. "While it's not space food it should hold you over till we get to Akemi's."
"Can we go there now?" She asked.
"In a minute I just need to reset the sensor you tripped." He would pull out his datapad and reset the sensor. "OK let's go."
Spacecase walked out to his bike. "Hop on."
"The... fruit things. The space fruits." She said, following the spacer out, covering her own head as much as she could with the cloth, "I... I can not pay for them, but I would like some."
"OK I can get you that if you see it. I'll pay for the food."
Spacecase helped the girl onto the bike before getting on himself and heading to Akemi's.
Akemi's was still quite the place to be. There seemed to be more locals here than ever before. Some in hoods and robes, others in jackets... Akemi's waitresses wearing everything from approns, to maid outfits... and occationally nothing at all!
The little girl, however, just kept her head down.
"What can I get for you two?" One of the waitresses asked, a rather tall neko with a beaming smile and an appron around her chest.
"I would like a Yuriko and A bowl of chowder and the lil lady will have some fruit." Spacecase decided to keep his full attire on so that the girl didn't stand out from him.
"Sure thing! I'll bring that right out!" The waitress said, the practically bubbly woman heading towards the kitchen area and leaving the two alone... and in a few short moments she'd be back with a chowder made from something... and a bowl of fruit that the girl started pulling apart. Taking a bite of one of the fruits, then waiting a while, then taking another bite.
"If there is anything else I can get for you just let me know!" She said, heading off to the next table as the little girl now started watching her surroundings a bit more carefully.
This would go on, with the little girl eating quietly for about half an hour... before looking back at the spacer with her, "We should go. This place has electronic survalence, and there will be others looking for me. I still need that datapad too."
Her voice was still the same soft girlish sound... but now she seemed suddenly far more confident and knowledgable.
Taken aback yet again by the little girl. "Look I may be new here so I don't know what is going on all that well but before I take you anywhere else I need to know at the very least know at the very least who you are and what you need to do."
She would be gathering the fruits on the plate up, sticking them into her backpack as she spoke, "You seem like you want to help. But this really is not a conversation for right here right now. Perhaps we could go back to your ship before someone spots me?"
Spacecase removed his mask and began to eat. "Yea after I finish my food we will go but you have to follow exacrly what I say unless you wnat to get a very high dose of radiation ok."
Finishing he put his mask back on. "Ready to go?" He left cash for the meal on the table and stood up.
"Right... spacers..." She replied rubbing her head a bit as she climbed down from her seat and followed him out the door.
"Do you need help onto the seat or can you get on yourself now?" He would say before climbing onto the bike himself.
"I can do it..." She responded, jumping up and grabing ahold of the seat, doing her best to pull herself up and on... her legs kicking a bit in the process.
"Here we go." Spacecase gunned it back to his ship.
Upon arriving he would jump off. "Ok now follow me inside."
"Alright, but I need you to keep quiet about all of this until I figure out what I am going to do.I have already caused enough disruption here and now I need to understand how I am going to fix it." She explained, following Spacecase into his ship.
"How familiar with ST tech are you?" the young girl asked.
"Let's just say this wasn't my first body." Spacecase shuddered rembering the many years he was alone on the ship.
"Well, I escaped from someone who has been abusing that technology. They have a copy of my mind on a Chimera-Style supercomputer on Nepleslia. I managed to escape, but ... well you can imagine just how difficult something like that would be if they have complete control of your mind.
I had to set in motion an attack against this planet in order to escape. Now I have to find a way to stop said attack AND destroy their systems before I end up killing this little girl."
"Ok lil miss I'm still very confused. Who are you and how big is this attack your talking about. Also what do you mean by 'this girl'."
"... that datapad, if I can have an outside connection I can start making plays." She explained. "... You will need to forgive me here. This is not all clear to me either. The attack vector is through contaminated food, anyone without a decent level of biological security will be contaminated. As the contamination builds, one of several ST copies will be added to the target's mind. Eventually the contamination is irreversable and the host mind is completely overwritten by the new ST copy.
Clearly I am Julie right now, but I am also very much not Julie. The more I let this contaminaton progress the less chance Julie will survive, but the more knowledge I will have regarding... whatever I thought was important enough to include in the ST package."
Spacecase was in a bit of a panic now. "Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Man this is bad. Here you go." Spacecase handed his datapad to her. "Wait isn't Julie that princess whose in hiding? That will make it more diffucult for me to ask for help. Out of the people who won't shoot you on sight the only ones who would be of use would probably be those with advanced AI and those who are tech savy or in power. I'll call Arcoss, Ace, Tiberius, and Vier as a maybe." Spacecase would walk off to his storage unit and bring some crates back. "So when is this contaminated food supposed to arrive? I have food in my stores that can last me and a few other people for a few months."
Spacecase would then call Arcoss, Ace, and Tiberius saying that it was urgent buisness and to come to his ship ASAP.
Julie looked at him for a moment, and then shook her head, "It has been here for weeks already. I have only just recently been able to pull enough of my gessault together to take action though. Others are certainly infected, however they will not go active until they have been able to store the appropriate gessault packages for the new ST data... possibly also weapon packages... or at least I would include physical upgrades. I think I would have. There is a lot that I have to infer."
She seemed quite happy to get her hands on the pad, and immidiately tried interfacing the the internep... then the spacer's polysentience network... then any network she could find.
"I can not get a signal. They must already be jamming me. If they know what I am up to then they certainly will be taking steps to stop me." She would set herback down on the floor, and start rummaging around, pushing aside the fruits she had taken so that she could pull out a revolver. "I am not going back..."
"Woah there slow your roll. I might be able to crack through and if not I'll fly us out of jamming range."
"In theory I could just stop jamming you." A voice crackled over the comms, jacking in from a Polysentience link. The voice was Arccos', but sounded oddly restrained.
"I'm wondering exactly why it is that an Osmani princess is trying to contact the outside world. But we can discuss that when I make planetfall."
Spacecase would let out a sigh. "Sure will ma'am."
Ace would arrive not much later. "Hey you called? What is this urgent buisness?"
Upon seeing Julie Ace would yell. "Julie where have you been! I'm sorry but I wan't able to protect your brother!"
"Back off," Julie said, pointing the gun at Ace's head as she backed herself towards a corner, trying to keep an eye both on the people in the room and on the path she was taking.
".... is that jamming normal?" she asked quietly, "I mean... does it block everyone? Was I not the target? Are they going to destroy this ship from orbit?... You are spacer, that means you work for yourself... unless you do not...." The young girl continuing to think quite quickly and very out loud.
Spacecase would throw his hands up. "Woah there missy!! We're all friends here. Just put the gun down your fine. It's just the body your using is the problem."
"I need some kind of data connection..." she said, "Can this ship fly?"
"Of course it can fly."
"I'm the one doing the signal jamming." Arccos said over the comms again, "And while it can fly, you'll be running right into a fleet willing and able to tear you out of there for hijacking."
"I'd be willing to drop it if you tell me who you're trying to contact, and for what reason."
"How big is that fleet? Could you get away from it?" Julie asked, pointing the gun at Spacecase, then ace, then spacecase again... "Come on. You are spacers. You are supposed to help me out."
She turned toward the voice for a moment, looking at the speakers before continuing, "I... I am already making too much of a scene. There are people after me and I need to escape. They will be monitoring transmissions!"
Spacecase would facepalm. "Arcoss just come down here and we'll explain one on one. Though all I can say is that it isn't good."
"I take it Arccos is another spacer? Your Captain?" Julie asked.
"While she is another Spacer she is simply a coworker. To be more specific she's the sheriff of this planet."
"So a law-spacer?" Julie said, still waving her gun around as she crept away from Spacecase, ending up against the wall. She then began inching around to the left, fumbling her way around the ship as if looking for something, "... How does that work?"
"I don't know and I don't really care. My job doesn't require me to know that. If your looking for the door its over there." Spacecase pointed to a hatch to his right. "But once you step out of here I can't assure your saftey some people around here want to see the little girl you're in dead, or so I've heard."
The girl stopped... then slowly started nudging her way over to the right instead.
"You are not supposed to lie to me." She said sternly.
"Why would I. You are possesing the body of a former princess. The one whose running this place might not like that and from what I've heard the former prince is already dead."
From the right, over by the exit a series of loud noises from engines and the clanging of something metal was heard from the ship's bulkhead.
"I'm here. Let me in." Arccos' voice sounded out. "Let's get this sorted out bloodlessly."
"Door should be open now." Spacecase said. "The girl has a weapon by the way."
"Yes. Well. That's a risk I'm going to have to take." Arccos said through the door as it slid open. She walked in herself soon after, towering over the little girl dressed in her usual sheriff's outfit. Jeans and coat under the poncho painted with a five-pointed star slung over her shoulder like a cloak.
"So what's the deal here, exactly?"
"Apparently there is some sort of ST attack under way from Neplepsia and this lil girl is apparently the first full victim I guess."
"ST standing for what in this circumstance?" Arccos asked, removing her hat and holding it rather loosely at her side.
"Soul Transfer I believe." Spacecase looked at Julie. "Or thats what I assumed anyways."
"I...." The girl said, pointing the gun at Arccos, and then at Ace... and then back at Arccos. "I should know this... It is the thing where you put your gessault inside of a new body. I do not remember what it stands for.... Look that is not important. You are spacers. You are supposed to help me." Julie said, a bit of despiration creeping into her voice, "You have ships, weapons, you can stop all of this from happening. I can even give back this body..."
Spacecase started to walk to one of the side rooms. "The body you are using makes it hard for them to trust you. I already said that I'd help."
"I'm a Freespacer. Yes. We do not have obligations to help... Whoever you are. You seem to be a small girl trying to pull off a hijacking." Arccos held up her hat, running her fingers around the brim of the thing. Also making sure it was seen that her hands weren't going anywhere near her various pistols at her belt.
"Regardless of your station... While I can help you. I'm not doing it at gunpoint. There's a... neurologist on the Lament. I can take you to see her if it's a problem with your head, so we can sort this out."
"I'll find a suit her size since you don't have radiation proofed rooms for passengers." With that Spacecase walked off.
Ace would bang oon the wall. "This doesn't interest me at all I'll be protected since I have Aries you can fend for yourselves." And Ace walked out slamming the door behind him.
Julie would slowly lower her gun, but she would still keep it in her hand. then point it at ace again as he banged on the wall... then once again lower it. "Sorry. It... I mean. I know what is wrong with me. Or rather. Her. It is just, foggy for me at times. It is just that I have to hand this task off to someone who I know will finish it, before this girl gets completely overwritten. The other space was helpful. I would have died walking here if not for him." The little girl still rambling on as if trying to catch a thought.
"Yes. Well. You're lucky he found you and not some of the others. Half the nobles would kill you to impress us, the other half would use you as a figurehead to rebel. Bounty hunters would be out for a reward... I think Akemi wants to forcibly marry Julie."
Arccos returned the hat to her head.
"Question is. If you're not Julie, who are you?"
"But... Julie is not old enough for that?"
The Julie infront of them decided not to linger too long on that question.
"I am Heram Wazu, or at least some amount of his gessault transfered over to this body. I could not exactly make a full escape, and the amount of useful space in the ST transmission vector is very limited. I had to put together an ST copy with minimal memory and functionality, and even then only part of it gets loaded at a time, with data segments being copied over from the ST transmission vector as they enter the body with exceptions made for parts that are damaged or otherwise rendered inoperable by the bodies' own defenses."
Julie... now Wazu... would tense up a bit, gripping the gun a bit tighter... worried that he may have just overshared.
"... I have memories of spacers. And I think you are supposed to be helpful."
Coming back into the room Spacecase would toss a voidwalker suit of suiitable size to Wazu. "Wazu huh? I may of heard that name before but then again I've heard a lot of names while I was on Neplepsia."
"Heram Wazu was a Nepleslian admiral who forewarned the Free State of Yamatai's impending attempts at genocide upon us." Arccos said, turning as if to give Wazulie privacy to change into the suit. "About half of Freespacers think he had good intentions, but most just think he wanted to subject the Deoradh to nepleslian imperial rule..."
As if only slightly off cue Akemi abruptly appeared outside Spacecase's ship, standing right in front of it, cupping his hands to his mouth. "Heeeey! Is there an adorable little native girl in there?"
After seeing some camera footage and catching the initial direction the Freespacer's bike had taken off in the Neko simply decided to go that way and approach the ship since it was the only shelter made of star stuff he'd encountered.
"Right. Well, now that the pedophilia brigade is about, you can take off and bring her up to the Mothership." Arccos said to Spacecase with a groan.
Spacecase would let out a long sigh. "I was hoping he wouldn't show up. I'll get rid of him before I lift off otherwise he'll pester me about it for a long time."
Akemi would hear Spacecase come on over the loud speakers on his ship. "Sorry I sent her on her way already since I'm cycling radiation through my ship so I sent her back the way she came."
With that his ship would turn on, lift off, and head towards the White Lament.
Wazu was halfway into the suit, still fiddling with the clasps of the thing with Julie's tiny hands... trying to keep ahold of the gun at the same time, eventually scooting away from the two of them so he could carefully set the pistol down and work on the suit.
"... and which half are you?" He asked. "... Most spacers would run from this kind of problem. If you let me contact Nepleslia I could have my fleet take care of this."
"I'm the half that's sceptical of a little girl claiming to have a soul transfer of someone we dubiously owe a debt to." Arccos said flatly, without any tone whatsoever. "I'll make up my mind when and if this story is verified."
"Of course it's less likely that you've just gotten a hold of some sort of datalink to come up with a story. He's not got a fleet anymore... I think Yamatai's gotten their hooks in him."
"And I'm of the half who don't really care either way the people of this ship hadn't been apart of the Freestate for ages and no one felt lkie passing anything down about the genocide except the bare minimum and we were of those who say to forgive and forget."
"I... What?" Julie stopped messing with the suit for a moment, "Unlikely... I. Maybe I could verify some information if I had a datapad? You can check the fruits I got at Akemi's. They have the ST transmission vector inside of them."
Arccos reached under her poncho to a large internal pocket, taking out a datapad and handing it to Wazulie. The whole screen of it flashed with dozens of little windows with the words 'we will be watching you' before going back to a friendly looking desktop with a background picture of an I'ee dozing lazily in what seemed to be Arccos' lap.
"Go for your life. I'll cancel the jamming for now."
Wazulie started looking up news articles and historical data, then checked what year it was... taking quite some time to catch up on events.
By the time all this was starting to soak in, the ship was coming up on the Lament's current berthings. A huge mass of mangled metal. Dozens of ships, even another model T1 Mothership docked in haphazard formation around a primitive and ramshackle space station, dangling in geostationary orbit around another planet in the same system.
It was easy enough to dock with the Lament itself, however. The ship's docking ramp leading into a maze of decks poorly lit, and so sterile as to make the place seem funereal by Freespacer standards. The little group escorting Julie being met by a strange Freespacer with a bone-white plate of metal in place of a face. Arccos just standing before them a second in silence as they likely communicated the entire situation by direct memory download.
"Alright." Arccos said, at last. Looking down to Wazulie, "This is Mindtwister Sham. She will take you to the nursery to have a scan performed on the medical equipment there. I'll be returning to the planet, but my real body will meet you soon."
"If you want me to stay here with you I will or I can continue to keep Akemi's away." Spacecase directed to Wazulie.
"...." Wazulie just sorta sat there for a while longer.
"I am not getting ST'd again." She finally said, after a heavy pause, "... I... " She would set down the datapad and slump against the wall, "I mean, that is it. The Nepleslian plan failed. Yamatai is unopposed. There is no win to be had... I should just wipe this ST copy of me before I get recaptured."
"I don't know too much about blocking an ST but if we can determine its wavelength we can cancel it just like any otherr kind of electronic communication or we could just EMP the entire planet if all else fails though that has a very low chance of working."
"EMP will probably work, whatever changes are already in place will not be hurt but any active nanomachines will get shut down so the body can start repairing itself." Wazuile said. "... you are a spacer though. Why would you not just run away? It is what your people are good at."
"Because I'm tired of wandering the stars all alone and besides the people down there are paying me."
"You are a," Wazulie had to pause for a moment, not having a library of appropriate words to pull from, "... Poopyhead."
Spacecase would blink and look at Wazulie dumbfounded. "Sorry a what now? I've been called a lot of things but a poopyhead really?"
"You people do not get it. Spacers can not work with one another. Nepleslians are too dumb to play the game. Every gain made over the last decade at containing their imperialism has been lost. You may die of old age, but your decendants will dwindle to nothingness." Wazulie said, eyes closed.
"Unless I missed something really important I'm not getting what you're saying at all. I don't care so much about Spacer kind or whatever but those are innocent people down there who just recently discovered that there are other living beings other than themselves in this universe."
"I am so... tired of this." Wazuile said, "...why even bother? If you save them today they will just wipe themselves out tomorrow."
"Then they do it by themselves we shouldn't mess with their lives more than we already have and if you tell me otherwise then you can go ahead and run back to Neplepsia."
"Nepleslia is done. A giant pile collapsing on itself... ungrateful... " Wazuile took a deep breath... held it for a moment... then exhaled. "Well... I suppose I am not going to blow my brains out. I guess that means the only way out is through?"
"That would be correct." Spacecase had taken the tone of a dissapointed father with Wazulie. "These people shouldn't be pulledd into Neplepsia's stupid self righteous agendas."
"I tried to save you people. You did not listen then." Wazulie replied, slowly returning to messing with the buckles on the space suit, trying to get inside of it. "I do this, then you blast me with EMP. Get this girl back where she came from."
"Sure so long as we can fix this problem we can reset you and everyone else then we'll send you back." He started to walk out but stopped after taking a few steps. "But if you're lying to us I'm sure Arcoss won't mind having some 'fun' with you."
"You really do not get it," Wazulie said, "There is no going back. I finish this and then I would like to stop exsisting. They did not capture me, they have my ST copy. They can generate new copies of me at will, simulate whatever they like, and apply that result to their next attempt. I try and kill myself and they can just fold that experiance into the next ST copy with a laugh."
Wazulie finally got the buckles done right, snapping the space suit into place, and then grabbing ahold of the pistol.
"... Lets go prove I am who I say I am. I have people to kill."
---
Not believing Spacecase Akemi decided he'd follow the ship as best he could. When he saw that it was heading into space he went to hop in his Red Hill which he named the Red Menace despite being Nepleslian green. Since the Neko figured Arccos was already likely keeping Rennie hidden from him somewhere to hassle him and since she was basically the queen Spacer he could easily see Spacecase handing Julie over to her so she could spite him again.
"I totally do not believe you buddy," he broadcasted from his ship after it had tracked down the Spacer's and was on its way to it. "I wanna see that little kid. You guys can hate me all you want but I want Smithee to get to see her in person as he's sworn to protect her and he doesn't even know if she's alive and he's easily the equivalent of her legal guardian or at least certainly in line for that status."
Muttering to himself about how much of a pain in the ass Akemi could be Spacecase got back on the comms. "Sorry bub no can do. What's going on up here is for Spacer ears only so I'll have to ask you to leave before I make you."
"Oh so Spacers just get to abduct little children willy-nilly now eh? Are you behind other child abductions? Sounds like I should report you to Arccos but I guess she's in on it too. It'd explain why she didn't want me doing more than running my business. Heaven forbid someone other than the perpetrators investigate crimes." Akemi was really getting a kick out of painting himself the good guy so he naturally had to lay it on thick.
"If we did kidnap little children it would be to protect them for your pediophilic tendencies."
"Which I've never actually demonstrated," Akemi shot back with a substantial amount of attitude. "The fact is you're keeping her from her rightful guardian. I'm sure she'd love to see Smithee and Smithee would love to see her. Unlike other space people like your pal Arccos I haven't killed any of the natives. You guys are the ones to be protected from."
"Its a complicated matter an old friend of sorts to us Spacers is inhabiting Julie's body so I will still have to decline you."
"I don't see why you'd need to or why I should believe you," Akemi calmly. "I just want to see her and let Smithee see and meet her too. Even if what you're saying is true it's still her body. Your friend is the one violating a little girl by hopping into her body, not the other way around. Just because you put another person inside of her doesn't mean her rights disappear."
"It wasn't like he had much of a choice and soon almost all of the locals are gonna turn out like Julie if we don't do something about it so we kind of need her at the moment. We'll give her back as soon as we can though if Arcoss will allow it. Not getting myself shot over some ex-princess."
"Well can't you do whatever you want to do with Smithee around for at least a little bit?" Akemi asked. "I bet he'd be content to just give her a hug or talk to her while you guys are working whatever magic you need to do to get your friend and her separated. He's my best bud and a knight sworn to protect her. He's also not just any knight, he's a member of an order specifically dedicated to her. I don't think he's going to care much if he can't meet her down on the ground as long as he does meet her."
"Sure if he can withstand tons of radiation for a few days then totally but until he can or yoou find him a suit to wear he can't come on and neither can you." Spacecase was tired of arguing with Akemi and it sowed in his voice. "Whatever it takes to get you to stop pestering me."
"I can get us suits easy peasy. I'm best buds with Lycosidae after all. I have a hard time believing neither you nor Arccos have two you can temporarily spare though. What's stopping Julie from dying of radiation right now?" While he waited for a response Akemi imagined everyone taking off as soon as he went to get his pal. It sure seemed like an Arccos thing to do.
"Because I have her in a suit. I only carry one of each size on my ship since I have areas that are clear of radiation."
"Whatever. I'm gonna go get Smithee. If you guys zip off while I'm gone I swear I'm gonna will my body to shit just so I can throw some feces at Uso while I scream at her for your awfulness." Akemi knew his threat didn't really amount to anything but he liked the imagery. Finished talking he went off to go grab his dashing native pal and two rad resistant suits.
Sighing Spacecase would give thanks for Akemi's abscence however short it was going to be. "Reminds me of the kind of guy people are friends with out of pity."
---
All through this, the other representatives of the Freespacers just looked on curiously. Arccos took a second or two to observe, before heading away to launch another ship to return to Osman city. Sham merely looked on through it all, with one unblinking bloodshot eye before growing tired of it and looking down to the patient at hand.
"Follow." Was all she said, leading the old man in the little girl down sterile and dank hallways echoing with the mechanical clicks and whines of junker drones clambering down service tunnels.
Eventually it all led to the Nursery. Biological fabrication units, large tubes suspended with various varieties of bioslime, and the half-finished forms of a new generation of clones to man the Lament. Medical equipment here was to do the job. What followed was nothing short of invasive...
Suspension in vats, scans, samples of cerebral fluids painfully extracted with more primitive Freespacer tech. Wazulie eventually left drained, laying on a cold metal slab in the medical corner of the biofab unit. Sham busying herself, peering down a microscope. Some time in the process another Arccos had joined. This one wearing the coat gifted to her by Truffleclub over the holiday season, probably indicating her actual real body for a change.
"So. You just want to die after all this?" Arccos asked, clearly having reviewed the footage of what had been said earlier.
"I am tired of trying to save the universe." Wazulie replied, grabbing one of the blankets near the bed and wrapping it around herself, "... just... done. I have to destroy the rest of the ST copies that make up their Chimera, then I can just give up."
"And how will you destroy this chimera, then?" the tall spacer asked, no real tone to her voice. Nor any real compassion. "It's an odd pill to swallow that this is actually happening, but frankly it's not up to just you to do this."
"I am certain I can figure something out. Convert one of those hover-cars into a bomb and destroy that whole city bloc... accelerate a shuttle to full speed and slam it into the ground. Blow up Nepleslia's star. Figure out if strange singlets are a thing..." Wazulie said, her voice sounding spiteful.
"Strange singlets?" was all Arccos could ask at that. No real care for the rest of those notions.
"The... matter thing. It turns the other matter-things it touches into more of itself and then there are a lot more of the first thing." Wazulie said, obviously flustered as she tried to come up with the words, "... I used to be an expert in materials sciences. Or one of me was."
She would look up at Arccos,
"It would be bad."
"So I see. Right now you seem to not have your whole faculties, so I'd be able to leave an ineffectual child to wage war upon nepleslia for launching this attack." Arccos said with a small grin. "Frankly it solves many problems."
"Elysians." Wazulie said, "Their facility is just on Nepleslia..."
"Even better. Of course, I sincerely doubt you'll actually succeed." Arccos just folded her arms. "I'd honestly have revealed that Yamatai's minions are hiding out in nepleslia releasing nano-weapons. But death will do."
"This was before that. They were not Yamatain puppets when my ST copy was taken, and I do not think they have folded themselves in with Yamatai. I think we all already lost that war, it is just taking some longer to realize it than others. Besides, exposing them could mean that ST copy is provided to someone else... I need it destroyed."
"How do you know it hasn't already been provided to someone else, or installed in dozens of other little girls across the planet we scooped you from?" Arccos asked, seeking clarity.
"Distribution rates and nessisary resources. My gessault should manifest in maybe 1 out of every ten thousand or so affected individuals. The others are mostly manufactured ST copies of soldier types, engineers, or whatever they thought would be useful. An early activation and a low distribution rate were the only way I could sneak this gessault out of the Chimera.
On the other side of things, ST copies are very hard to work with on this level. There are only a few places that even produce the parts for this kind of machine, and those were either destroyed in the NMX attack on Elysian territory, or they belong to the Kessakus.
I only know of the one facility. I am hoping that is all I need to destroy." Wazulie replied.
"And who are these elysians doing it?" This question came from the faceless Sham. Arccos merely pointing towards her.
"... Elysians..." Wazulie replied, "... I... do not have names. I do what the Chimera asks. Did. The work was to assist the old Elysians. The ones who ran things."
"Would you turn down help in this endeavor?" Arccos asked plainly.
"..." Wazulie looked down for a moment, then back up at Arccos, "No, I would not turn down help." She said firmly.
"Now. This question I suppose is for what in there is of Julie." Arccos said. "You were found starving in the desert. My guess is that you have no safe place to return to... Should you return to that planet, you will be subject to the interests of petty nobility trying to use you in every way. Lewis wishes to use your position to make himself king-regent. Akemi and the knights your mother knew will try and use you to create their own royal reign on the planet. Rebels will want to hurt you, and the maker only knows what else..."
"I can return the girl to the planet with no safe haven. Or I can send her somewhere safe, and far away from sand. I can send anyone close to you along as well... Does this sound interesting to you?"
"This does not come with an off switch. I am as much Julie with Wazu's memories as I am Julie with Wazu's memories. I, She, We maybe... hate you people. You killed my mother... um... the details on that are fuzzy... I feel like it was you space men. But maybe the other space men?... I need to see this through as what I am now, then you can wipe me and send Julie on her way."
"Julie's father shot her mother, and then himself." Arccos said coldly. "And your brother was hung from the palace walls by the spies of the next in line for the throne. I already was blamed for one of these directly, and all of us for the first. Be aware, that if you are Julie with Wazu's understanding of the world... We do not need a princess down there."
"... It was the blue hair'd one..." Wazulie replied, again looking flustered, "... I... when this is over, Julie can decide what is best for Julie."
"Then you will have my help. And then you will have the opportunity to live out the rest of your life in peace, with the people you wish to have with you." Arccos said without expression. Like a total statement of facts. She then placed a metal hand on Sham's shoulder.
"Fix her up. Dose her so she doesn't get sick from radiation absorbed during the procedure. Then send her back to the planet... Somewhere secure. She'll get the resources to plan this attack, and then be returned to her old life."
Returning to pick up Wazulie, Spacecase walked in. "Hey I'm here to pick you up lets go when you finish. I'm at the same place you came in from."
"... Thank you." Wazulie said, climbing down off of the examination table. "It... would be better if people did not know who I am. They could be monitoring the planet already. Part of the operation included a damage assessment team that would be onsite to see how the infection pans out."
She would then re-fasten the space suit,
"Hey... I am kind of going through some stuff right now... but thank you for saving me back in the desert."
Almost as if to cut off any potential for this to be a touching moment, the Mindtwister leaned over to dose the seeming young girl with a single-use hypo-spray. Anti-radiation medicine delivered with just a little cold feeling at the neck.
"She is to be assigned housing, and working space at Skimmer's Gulch. Unless you would rather shelter and feed her yourself." Sham said quietly. Half to Spacecase, half to Wazu inside Julie. "The Shipkeeper will provide any materials requested should you accept this offer."
"Akemi has already forcefully scheduled an appointment with 'Julie'. So I'll be taking care of that first then its up to Wazulie if he...she...they want to stay with me or go to Skimmer's Gulch."
"POOP that's cold!" Wazulie said, shivering... "... The way you say Akemi makes me think I will not enjoy this?"
"Probably. It might be a bit less unenjoyable if you can swap out with Julie for the most part they want to see her. Don't worry though if they try anything funny I'll shoot them in the kneecaps." Spacecase cocked his FATBOY for emphasis.
"Thank you," Wazulie said, smiling, "Lets get going..." The pair would make their way back to Spacecase's ship. The small Wazulie climbing up into a chair and sitting cross legged, closing her eyes as she rested her hands in her lap.
"Well I guess we should get this over with." Spacecase would disconnect from the White Lament and open a channel to Akemi. "Ok I got your STafied princess with me come on board when you can. Try anything funny and I'll make it so you can't walk for a while."
"I ain't gonna try anything funny. I don't wanna get fucked bowlegged," Akemi replied as he came back up with Smithee in tow. Both were suited in as of yet undecorated Voidwalkers.
Wazulie remained seated as they approached... stuffed inside of a void-walker suit that was meant more for an adult. The arms and legs scrunched up so that her hands and feet would fit... the visor of the suit riding up just a tad so that the neck covered the bottom half of her face, her closed eyes poking up just barely into the visible parts.
Uneasily due to the bulk of the older model voidwalker, Smithee stooped down to a solemn kneeling posture appropriate for a knight before royalty.
"Your highness... We... Were not aware of your having left the estates of your Aunt." Smithee said quietly, without a great deal of his normal smarm and charm. "I hope these guests from the stars have been treating you well..."
Smiling wide Akemi bowed equally low beside his best bud while placing a hand diagonally across his chest. "It's an honor to meet you your majesty. I hope there's a nice radiation free room we can all use so you and your knight can get better reacquainted."
Wazulie sat there for a moment longer, thinking about how to respond. Things might have been a bit easier... had Julie not earned a reputation for being able to fix anything right before Wazulie manifested.
"I am fine. I do need some time with these space people."
Spacecase would look over at Wazulie letting their eyes meet for a second before looking back at Akemi. "While I do have radiation free rooms but I'd rather have you be less mobile just in case you try shooting me and running off with Wazulie. I did mention that Julie has a Neplepsian in her head right?"
"I dunno man, I might be able to survive brief exposure and shoot you here," Akemi pointed out. "If there's a rad free room much further in taking me there would make it take longer for me to escape. I just want these two dudes to have a place where they can hug each other and have a tearful reunion."
"I would never think to lay hand upon the Princess' royal person." Smithee said with the tone of a schoolboy who'd had that attitude beaten in to him by a vicious schoolmarm.
"What I'm saying is that they..." Spacecase would gesture to Wazulie. "...is not who you think they are. Also all the doors are locked so good luck. Its up to Wazulie with what they want to do. So until they say that they want a non radiation filled room you don't get one."
"PLEASE, Appriciate that this is a complex situation, and that I am doing my best to return Julie in as unharmed a condition as I can." Wazulie replied, still sitting in the chair, her fists clenching up. "I would prefer not to move at this time. Now. What can I help you with?" She asked, her words very crisp and deliberate for someone who should only be a single digit in age.
"I get it," Akemi said, "I just wanted my buddy to know his princess was alive, safe and taken care of. That and I wanted to let him meet her. Can we speak to Julie? Is she alright?"
"The situation will likely cause an uproar, but I... Admit that most of us have been prepared that the royal family has seen its last days..." Smithee said, standing up and giving a sigh.
"Oh come on now, she's alive and she's here. I'm not letting it die buddy," Akemi quickly said.
"I do not enjoy killing people, and I promise I will do my best to return Julie to you, however I can not restore Julie without removing this ST copy. I can not remove myself until I finish what I came here to do. The faster I take care of this, the better chance Julie has at recovery. She will likely retain some of my memories. But, again, this is an extrodinary circumstance.
Wazulie would open her eyes, and was barely able to see out of her suit's visor. She had to reach for the top of the helmit, and pull the entire thing down so that her head would pop up above the neck line.
"You, Akemi, run the resturant here right? The fruits and other cold items that go uncooked are being used to harbor the infection vector. Of course, if we just zap them with EMP or radiation it would kill the infection, but then they would know we have caught on. I was hoping I could talk you into switching suppliers. It would take them time to compromise a new facility... maybe a month. It would not look like we are on to them yet."
Smithee just looked on uneasily. Not entirely sure what to say. And so he just kept silent.
Akemi thought about standing but figured he'd continue to kneel so Wazulie didn't have to look up at him. "Sure, I'd do that. Whatever you want. I just wanna know who the heck you are and what's going on."
"My ST copy was stolen, and I have been living in a computer-generated hell for years building weapons for the Elysians. One of those weapons uses infected food to pass on ST data forcibly to an unaware host. I hid my gessault inside of this weapon, and convinced them to test the weapon here so that I could escape.
Now I have increasingly less time to figure out how to stop a much smarter, more complete, version of myself from helping the Elysians do who the poop knows to an increasingly ungreatful and anger inducing...."
Wazulie would stop, and close her eyes again.
"... and I have to do this without self-medicating and while inside of a child's body. Without a complete set of memories... And... I can not remember that word. POOP."
"Language young lady." Smithee said sternly.
"If I had it, I would certainly be using it darn it."
"I think that one's vocabulary is the least of our problems. In case things get too dicey I'll see if I can't make a copy of Julie in the event that this goes on longer than we hope it will." Spacecase would unlock the doors silently. "Now Arcoss doesn't Wazulie being unprotected and I'm pretty sure she said something about no locals since they'll probably just be vaporized on point if we get found out. So Wazulie here has two options, either going to stay in Skimmer's Gulch or find one of us 'capable' space people to protect them. That means that you're out Akemi, veteran combatants only. Also you'd probably show them off as Julie in front of crowds of people or in front of what ever underground operation you have set up to put the locals back in power."
"My understanding of Akemi is that he is a veteran combatant of the Ya-matai Star Army." Smithee said coldly, "But regardless of his military honors: We 'locals' have known of the Lady Julie's location for several months and not flaunted her. If anything we've kept her from you space people who so capably strung up her brother from the palace walls as an example in the middle of a riot."
Smithee spoke quite coldly, the acid in his voice directed more or less to everyone not natively Osman at this point.
"But. I know I will never see her safe at this point if I take her back to her family and people. Do as you will, and pray the Kingsmen haven't re-rallied at this point..."
"As an outsider whose only arrived recently and have only really acted as a contracted builder no one yet knows my combat skills or my alignment to either side. Therefore they might approach me first while I'm alone believing that they can buy my help or that I don't care who gets Wazulie so long as I get to live. But I will leave the descion to Wazulie."
"I certainly am a veteran combatant," Akemi confirmed. "I was in the Yamataian military as infantry for years. I also don't even have an underground operation. I just have my buddy Smithee here. He just wants her safe and happy. He's not looking to put her on a throne."
"For both our sakes I hope you're right." Spacecase would look over at Smithee before contnuing. "Anyways I believe that it is time to hear what Wazulie wants to do now."
"I will be staying with this ship for now." Wazulie said, "Until this situation is resolved. Then you people along with Julie can figure out where to go from there."
His attention would then turn to Akemi, "I thought nekos were all female?"
Spacecase laughed. "I thought so too but I guess that they couldn't keep Akemi's lust under control so they just gave him a male body."
"Oh, well I really like chicks so I figured I'd be a guy," Akemi answered smoothly. "People are less likely to incorrectly guess my preference and as a guy I've got the optimal plumbing for it."
Smithee got an odd look to him, as if he wanted to say something but had decided not to for the sake of either decency of quietude. Just... Standing quietly at attention.
"... I may be able to use you later... but for now, can I get you to change your supplier for fruit and other cold items? Again, it will take time for them to purchase your new supplier and start delivery of contaminated items."
"Sure, no big deal to me," Akemi said quickly. "I don't want anyone getting messed up either. Mind telling me who the heck you are since you're not Julie?"
"Are you going to be able to keep this quiet?" Wazulie asked, "The ears have walls...."
"Yeah, I'm not a blabbermouth," Akemi answered. He thought being asked such a thing by what looked like a little girl was pretty amusing. "Plus all I wanna do is help make things normal."
"Ok then from what I hear you tend to run your mouth on the spur of the moment a lot so if I hear that this slips..." Spacecase thhought for a second before smiling. "Let's just say it'll be one of the last things you tell."
"You don't scare me buddy," Akemi casually replied. "If you try anything I'll be one of the last things you smell."
Wazulie looked a bit skeptical. "I am Heram Wazu, from what I can piece together I think I am a Heram Wazu from about 5 years ago. That seems to be about when this version of me diverged from the original at least."
"So whatcha gonna do since you're a copy of the original?" Akemi asked. He wished they weren't wearing suits so there'd have been a chance that Wazu would try giving him a sniff. "Will you fuse with him? One mission I took part in while serving on the Eucharis was rescuing a stranded Hanako clone from Mishhu that ended up joining her consciousness with the original."
"After all this is said and done he wants to be destroyed."
"I am not going to kill a little girl so I can stay alive, and I can not risk trusting someone else with my ST data. A wipe seems straight forward enough." Wazulie replied. "I think the other me has enough problems. They do not need 5 years worth of virtual prison memories layered ontop. What is important now is destroying the Elysians and their prison. When that is done maybe I will not need to exsist."
"Why the heck did they imprison you?" Akemi asked. "They're just giant chicken dinners. What the heck do they want with this place?"
"They do not want this place, but it is at the edge of their territory. It also presents a great test run for the ST-infection virus.
Beyond that... well.
Self-improving computers have hit a wall. Perhaps there is something to be said for the human touch still... Anyways, the Elysians have ST technology, and once those who argued for the purity of the technology were killed or run off... well. The more extreme elements were in charge. Imagine the weapons you could come up with if you had several dozen copies of the smartest minds avalible to you working around the clock?"
"I can imagine and it doesn't look like much fun."
"... I only remember bits and pieces... it felt like a long lasting state of ego-death... like a state of constant, unending, terror and nothing at all, all at the same time..." Wazulie spaced out for a bit, "...but, focusing on that is not productive. Between a pair of spacers, a human from a low tech world, and maybe a resturant owner I have to figure out how to destroy something that has a copy of me making all of the things I could think of already."
"Why not just send a virus back through the vector their using for this virus. I mean thats how you got here. It should work if I have enough time to study it."
"It took me years to figure out how to pull this off... and the infection only works on primative people who do not have access to modern medicine... If I get access to their network I could send a Gessault back into any receptive bodies or machines, but any attack I launch has to be perfect. If they get tipped off, they could move... or add defenses... or who knows what to the ST copies they already have."
"Sounds awful but I'm no master hacker. At least we've got Arccos." Akemi turned to Smithee. "I gotta say this makes an even better star person. I didn't kill or attempt to mind control anyone." A thought suddenly occurred to the Neko. "Are these spooky Elysians possibly related to any abductions of children that have happened here?" he asked after fixing his gaze back on Wazulie.
*If they started a few months ago then yes. But otherwise wise no. I don't believe that they want to set foot on the planet."
"Well that's good to know. Thanks for telling us stuff. I hope things work out for you bud." Akemi sifted his eyes to Smithee. "So how many good boy points do I get for getting us in contact with Julie?"
"...good boy points? Spook Elysians?" Wazulie asked, "... these are people who aim to take for themselves without consideration of others. They have more ships, more money, more people... maybe you should take this a bit more seriously."
"Frankly we could have gotten in contact with her at any time. We just did not wish to establish lines of contact lest half the bally sheriff's office which eats at your bar catch on and she be made an example of like her brother." Smithee said sternly, "And as far as we know, this was being transmitted by your imports if this story is true."
"This whole scenario is a fiasco."
Spacecase would pipe in. "I may have not been here long but I heard that there is not much towards a rebellion anymore after the last one. If there was they wouldn't get within a hundred miles of the city without setting off my alarms. They'll be safe with me you have my word."
"What if they are already inside of the city?" Wazulie asked.
"I have hidden surveillance cameras set up around the city so nothing is getting past me. Other than the tunnels but those are caved in for the most part."
"I think that either way... this means we need to work fast."
"I agree. But for now let's get you a meal at my place." Spacecase would make his way back down to the planet.
The desert surrounding Osman City,
The young girl had been walking for what seemed like days. No animal to carry her, only a thin wrapping of blankets and a backpack to keep her safe from the hash elements.
She could only barely see what looked like gleeming city in the distance... maybe a single tower... her vision fading a bit...
then...
*BOOF*
She fell over face first into the muddy sands around the city, her legs hurt too much to keep going. Her water had run out long ago, and it wouldn't be long before the sands claimed another life.
Spacecase would get an alert that one of his sensors was going off.
Grabbing his gear he hopped on his bike and sped off at full speed to the source of the signal.
As he got closer he saw what looked like a large rock, but upon closer inspection he realized it was actually a person.
He pulled up next to the figure and got off his bike.
"Hey are you alive?" He poked her.
The wind was starting to pick up, and the girl would cough something, before reaching out and tugging on his pant leg slightly.
"Well that confirms that you haven't jumped the grinder yet. Don't worry I'll get you back to the city."
He picked her up and secured her to the back of his bike before hopping on himself. "We're going to go really fast so try not to fall off."
With that he sped off towards the city. His destination, the palace.
When he got there the girl was still barely conscious, She couldn't have been more than a few years old... maybe 5 or 6...
The Palace itself seemed fairly empty for the time being. It had mostly been renovated, with fresh air conditioning, modern kitchens, and other appliances... though it seemed more of the action these days was taking place at Nath tower, meaning Uso and the others weren't around.
Spacecase would open the knapsack on the side of his bike and pulled out a bottle of water. "Here you must be thirsty. Drink this then I'll bring you inside."
The child was barely able to drink the water at first... though once she got a taste she hungrily drank down the entire bottle, a soft gasp escaping her lips in the few seconds it took her to finish the bottle. Her small voice then asked, "Where?"
A little confused about what the girl was asking Spacecase told her where he would bring her. "Right now the palace. Then your home if you have one."
"Ahh.... more water?" She asked, hopefully.
Spacecase reached back into the sack and pulled out another bottle of water. He handed it to the girl. "Now follow me inside."
With that he started on his way into the palace.
She would drink down the water bottle quickly, following space case into the palace, "you are... a space man? Nepleslian?" She asked.
Spacecase chuckled. "I am from space yes but I am definitely not one of those barbaric Neplepslian. I'm a Freespacer and my name is Spacecase."
"What's yours?"
"Ju.....uhh... I should... be going..." The small girl responded, looking away for a moment, "I need.. to find a thing... like this." She held up her hands in a roughtly square shape about the size of a datapad.
Spacecase was worried about the girl. "Um I don't know what that is do you know what it's called or what it does. I'll help you look, I don't want you collapsing again."
"Sorry, I... it is hard to think sometimes..." She said, motioning with her hand as if she was drawing on the square. "Do you have food from... far away?"
"Sorry I don't thi.. Wait actually I do have something." Spacecase would then run back to his bike and pulled some jerky out of it. "While it's not space food it should hold you over till we get to Akemi's."
"Can we go there now?" She asked.
"In a minute I just need to reset the sensor you tripped." He would pull out his datapad and reset the sensor. "OK let's go."
Spacecase walked out to his bike. "Hop on."
"The... fruit things. The space fruits." She said, following the spacer out, covering her own head as much as she could with the cloth, "I... I can not pay for them, but I would like some."
"OK I can get you that if you see it. I'll pay for the food."
Spacecase helped the girl onto the bike before getting on himself and heading to Akemi's.
Akemi's was still quite the place to be. There seemed to be more locals here than ever before. Some in hoods and robes, others in jackets... Akemi's waitresses wearing everything from approns, to maid outfits... and occationally nothing at all!
The little girl, however, just kept her head down.
"What can I get for you two?" One of the waitresses asked, a rather tall neko with a beaming smile and an appron around her chest.
"I would like a Yuriko and A bowl of chowder and the lil lady will have some fruit." Spacecase decided to keep his full attire on so that the girl didn't stand out from him.
"Sure thing! I'll bring that right out!" The waitress said, the practically bubbly woman heading towards the kitchen area and leaving the two alone... and in a few short moments she'd be back with a chowder made from something... and a bowl of fruit that the girl started pulling apart. Taking a bite of one of the fruits, then waiting a while, then taking another bite.
"If there is anything else I can get for you just let me know!" She said, heading off to the next table as the little girl now started watching her surroundings a bit more carefully.
This would go on, with the little girl eating quietly for about half an hour... before looking back at the spacer with her, "We should go. This place has electronic survalence, and there will be others looking for me. I still need that datapad too."
Her voice was still the same soft girlish sound... but now she seemed suddenly far more confident and knowledgable.
Taken aback yet again by the little girl. "Look I may be new here so I don't know what is going on all that well but before I take you anywhere else I need to know at the very least know at the very least who you are and what you need to do."
She would be gathering the fruits on the plate up, sticking them into her backpack as she spoke, "You seem like you want to help. But this really is not a conversation for right here right now. Perhaps we could go back to your ship before someone spots me?"
Spacecase removed his mask and began to eat. "Yea after I finish my food we will go but you have to follow exacrly what I say unless you wnat to get a very high dose of radiation ok."
Finishing he put his mask back on. "Ready to go?" He left cash for the meal on the table and stood up.
"Right... spacers..." She replied rubbing her head a bit as she climbed down from her seat and followed him out the door.
"Do you need help onto the seat or can you get on yourself now?" He would say before climbing onto the bike himself.
"I can do it..." She responded, jumping up and grabing ahold of the seat, doing her best to pull herself up and on... her legs kicking a bit in the process.
"Here we go." Spacecase gunned it back to his ship.
Upon arriving he would jump off. "Ok now follow me inside."
"Alright, but I need you to keep quiet about all of this until I figure out what I am going to do.I have already caused enough disruption here and now I need to understand how I am going to fix it." She explained, following Spacecase into his ship.
"How familiar with ST tech are you?" the young girl asked.
"Let's just say this wasn't my first body." Spacecase shuddered rembering the many years he was alone on the ship.
"Well, I escaped from someone who has been abusing that technology. They have a copy of my mind on a Chimera-Style supercomputer on Nepleslia. I managed to escape, but ... well you can imagine just how difficult something like that would be if they have complete control of your mind.
I had to set in motion an attack against this planet in order to escape. Now I have to find a way to stop said attack AND destroy their systems before I end up killing this little girl."
"Ok lil miss I'm still very confused. Who are you and how big is this attack your talking about. Also what do you mean by 'this girl'."
"... that datapad, if I can have an outside connection I can start making plays." She explained. "... You will need to forgive me here. This is not all clear to me either. The attack vector is through contaminated food, anyone without a decent level of biological security will be contaminated. As the contamination builds, one of several ST copies will be added to the target's mind. Eventually the contamination is irreversable and the host mind is completely overwritten by the new ST copy.
Clearly I am Julie right now, but I am also very much not Julie. The more I let this contaminaton progress the less chance Julie will survive, but the more knowledge I will have regarding... whatever I thought was important enough to include in the ST package."
Spacecase was in a bit of a panic now. "Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Man this is bad. Here you go." Spacecase handed his datapad to her. "Wait isn't Julie that princess whose in hiding? That will make it more diffucult for me to ask for help. Out of the people who won't shoot you on sight the only ones who would be of use would probably be those with advanced AI and those who are tech savy or in power. I'll call Arcoss, Ace, Tiberius, and Vier as a maybe." Spacecase would walk off to his storage unit and bring some crates back. "So when is this contaminated food supposed to arrive? I have food in my stores that can last me and a few other people for a few months."
Spacecase would then call Arcoss, Ace, and Tiberius saying that it was urgent buisness and to come to his ship ASAP.
Julie looked at him for a moment, and then shook her head, "It has been here for weeks already. I have only just recently been able to pull enough of my gessault together to take action though. Others are certainly infected, however they will not go active until they have been able to store the appropriate gessault packages for the new ST data... possibly also weapon packages... or at least I would include physical upgrades. I think I would have. There is a lot that I have to infer."
She seemed quite happy to get her hands on the pad, and immidiately tried interfacing the the internep... then the spacer's polysentience network... then any network she could find.
"I can not get a signal. They must already be jamming me. If they know what I am up to then they certainly will be taking steps to stop me." She would set herback down on the floor, and start rummaging around, pushing aside the fruits she had taken so that she could pull out a revolver. "I am not going back..."
"Woah there slow your roll. I might be able to crack through and if not I'll fly us out of jamming range."
"In theory I could just stop jamming you." A voice crackled over the comms, jacking in from a Polysentience link. The voice was Arccos', but sounded oddly restrained.
"I'm wondering exactly why it is that an Osmani princess is trying to contact the outside world. But we can discuss that when I make planetfall."
Spacecase would let out a sigh. "Sure will ma'am."
Ace would arrive not much later. "Hey you called? What is this urgent buisness?"
Upon seeing Julie Ace would yell. "Julie where have you been! I'm sorry but I wan't able to protect your brother!"
"Back off," Julie said, pointing the gun at Ace's head as she backed herself towards a corner, trying to keep an eye both on the people in the room and on the path she was taking.
".... is that jamming normal?" she asked quietly, "I mean... does it block everyone? Was I not the target? Are they going to destroy this ship from orbit?... You are spacer, that means you work for yourself... unless you do not...." The young girl continuing to think quite quickly and very out loud.
Spacecase would throw his hands up. "Woah there missy!! We're all friends here. Just put the gun down your fine. It's just the body your using is the problem."
"I need some kind of data connection..." she said, "Can this ship fly?"
"Of course it can fly."
"I'm the one doing the signal jamming." Arccos said over the comms again, "And while it can fly, you'll be running right into a fleet willing and able to tear you out of there for hijacking."
"I'd be willing to drop it if you tell me who you're trying to contact, and for what reason."
"How big is that fleet? Could you get away from it?" Julie asked, pointing the gun at Spacecase, then ace, then spacecase again... "Come on. You are spacers. You are supposed to help me out."
She turned toward the voice for a moment, looking at the speakers before continuing, "I... I am already making too much of a scene. There are people after me and I need to escape. They will be monitoring transmissions!"
Spacecase would facepalm. "Arcoss just come down here and we'll explain one on one. Though all I can say is that it isn't good."
"I take it Arccos is another spacer? Your Captain?" Julie asked.
"While she is another Spacer she is simply a coworker. To be more specific she's the sheriff of this planet."
"So a law-spacer?" Julie said, still waving her gun around as she crept away from Spacecase, ending up against the wall. She then began inching around to the left, fumbling her way around the ship as if looking for something, "... How does that work?"
"I don't know and I don't really care. My job doesn't require me to know that. If your looking for the door its over there." Spacecase pointed to a hatch to his right. "But once you step out of here I can't assure your saftey some people around here want to see the little girl you're in dead, or so I've heard."
The girl stopped... then slowly started nudging her way over to the right instead.
"You are not supposed to lie to me." She said sternly.
"Why would I. You are possesing the body of a former princess. The one whose running this place might not like that and from what I've heard the former prince is already dead."
From the right, over by the exit a series of loud noises from engines and the clanging of something metal was heard from the ship's bulkhead.
"I'm here. Let me in." Arccos' voice sounded out. "Let's get this sorted out bloodlessly."
"Door should be open now." Spacecase said. "The girl has a weapon by the way."
"Yes. Well. That's a risk I'm going to have to take." Arccos said through the door as it slid open. She walked in herself soon after, towering over the little girl dressed in her usual sheriff's outfit. Jeans and coat under the poncho painted with a five-pointed star slung over her shoulder like a cloak.
"So what's the deal here, exactly?"
"Apparently there is some sort of ST attack under way from Neplepsia and this lil girl is apparently the first full victim I guess."
"ST standing for what in this circumstance?" Arccos asked, removing her hat and holding it rather loosely at her side.
"Soul Transfer I believe." Spacecase looked at Julie. "Or thats what I assumed anyways."
"I...." The girl said, pointing the gun at Arccos, and then at Ace... and then back at Arccos. "I should know this... It is the thing where you put your gessault inside of a new body. I do not remember what it stands for.... Look that is not important. You are spacers. You are supposed to help me." Julie said, a bit of despiration creeping into her voice, "You have ships, weapons, you can stop all of this from happening. I can even give back this body..."
Spacecase started to walk to one of the side rooms. "The body you are using makes it hard for them to trust you. I already said that I'd help."
"I'm a Freespacer. Yes. We do not have obligations to help... Whoever you are. You seem to be a small girl trying to pull off a hijacking." Arccos held up her hat, running her fingers around the brim of the thing. Also making sure it was seen that her hands weren't going anywhere near her various pistols at her belt.
"Regardless of your station... While I can help you. I'm not doing it at gunpoint. There's a... neurologist on the Lament. I can take you to see her if it's a problem with your head, so we can sort this out."
"I'll find a suit her size since you don't have radiation proofed rooms for passengers." With that Spacecase walked off.
Ace would bang oon the wall. "This doesn't interest me at all I'll be protected since I have Aries you can fend for yourselves." And Ace walked out slamming the door behind him.
Julie would slowly lower her gun, but she would still keep it in her hand. then point it at ace again as he banged on the wall... then once again lower it. "Sorry. It... I mean. I know what is wrong with me. Or rather. Her. It is just, foggy for me at times. It is just that I have to hand this task off to someone who I know will finish it, before this girl gets completely overwritten. The other space was helpful. I would have died walking here if not for him." The little girl still rambling on as if trying to catch a thought.
"Yes. Well. You're lucky he found you and not some of the others. Half the nobles would kill you to impress us, the other half would use you as a figurehead to rebel. Bounty hunters would be out for a reward... I think Akemi wants to forcibly marry Julie."
Arccos returned the hat to her head.
"Question is. If you're not Julie, who are you?"
"But... Julie is not old enough for that?"
The Julie infront of them decided not to linger too long on that question.
"I am Heram Wazu, or at least some amount of his gessault transfered over to this body. I could not exactly make a full escape, and the amount of useful space in the ST transmission vector is very limited. I had to put together an ST copy with minimal memory and functionality, and even then only part of it gets loaded at a time, with data segments being copied over from the ST transmission vector as they enter the body with exceptions made for parts that are damaged or otherwise rendered inoperable by the bodies' own defenses."
Julie... now Wazu... would tense up a bit, gripping the gun a bit tighter... worried that he may have just overshared.
"... I have memories of spacers. And I think you are supposed to be helpful."
Coming back into the room Spacecase would toss a voidwalker suit of suiitable size to Wazu. "Wazu huh? I may of heard that name before but then again I've heard a lot of names while I was on Neplepsia."
"Heram Wazu was a Nepleslian admiral who forewarned the Free State of Yamatai's impending attempts at genocide upon us." Arccos said, turning as if to give Wazulie privacy to change into the suit. "About half of Freespacers think he had good intentions, but most just think he wanted to subject the Deoradh to nepleslian imperial rule..."
As if only slightly off cue Akemi abruptly appeared outside Spacecase's ship, standing right in front of it, cupping his hands to his mouth. "Heeeey! Is there an adorable little native girl in there?"
After seeing some camera footage and catching the initial direction the Freespacer's bike had taken off in the Neko simply decided to go that way and approach the ship since it was the only shelter made of star stuff he'd encountered.
"Right. Well, now that the pedophilia brigade is about, you can take off and bring her up to the Mothership." Arccos said to Spacecase with a groan.
Spacecase would let out a long sigh. "I was hoping he wouldn't show up. I'll get rid of him before I lift off otherwise he'll pester me about it for a long time."
Akemi would hear Spacecase come on over the loud speakers on his ship. "Sorry I sent her on her way already since I'm cycling radiation through my ship so I sent her back the way she came."
With that his ship would turn on, lift off, and head towards the White Lament.
Wazu was halfway into the suit, still fiddling with the clasps of the thing with Julie's tiny hands... trying to keep ahold of the gun at the same time, eventually scooting away from the two of them so he could carefully set the pistol down and work on the suit.
"... and which half are you?" He asked. "... Most spacers would run from this kind of problem. If you let me contact Nepleslia I could have my fleet take care of this."
"I'm the half that's sceptical of a little girl claiming to have a soul transfer of someone we dubiously owe a debt to." Arccos said flatly, without any tone whatsoever. "I'll make up my mind when and if this story is verified."
"Of course it's less likely that you've just gotten a hold of some sort of datalink to come up with a story. He's not got a fleet anymore... I think Yamatai's gotten their hooks in him."
"And I'm of the half who don't really care either way the people of this ship hadn't been apart of the Freestate for ages and no one felt lkie passing anything down about the genocide except the bare minimum and we were of those who say to forgive and forget."
"I... What?" Julie stopped messing with the suit for a moment, "Unlikely... I. Maybe I could verify some information if I had a datapad? You can check the fruits I got at Akemi's. They have the ST transmission vector inside of them."
Arccos reached under her poncho to a large internal pocket, taking out a datapad and handing it to Wazulie. The whole screen of it flashed with dozens of little windows with the words 'we will be watching you' before going back to a friendly looking desktop with a background picture of an I'ee dozing lazily in what seemed to be Arccos' lap.
"Go for your life. I'll cancel the jamming for now."
Wazulie started looking up news articles and historical data, then checked what year it was... taking quite some time to catch up on events.
By the time all this was starting to soak in, the ship was coming up on the Lament's current berthings. A huge mass of mangled metal. Dozens of ships, even another model T1 Mothership docked in haphazard formation around a primitive and ramshackle space station, dangling in geostationary orbit around another planet in the same system.
It was easy enough to dock with the Lament itself, however. The ship's docking ramp leading into a maze of decks poorly lit, and so sterile as to make the place seem funereal by Freespacer standards. The little group escorting Julie being met by a strange Freespacer with a bone-white plate of metal in place of a face. Arccos just standing before them a second in silence as they likely communicated the entire situation by direct memory download.
"Alright." Arccos said, at last. Looking down to Wazulie, "This is Mindtwister Sham. She will take you to the nursery to have a scan performed on the medical equipment there. I'll be returning to the planet, but my real body will meet you soon."
"If you want me to stay here with you I will or I can continue to keep Akemi's away." Spacecase directed to Wazulie.
"...." Wazulie just sorta sat there for a while longer.
"I am not getting ST'd again." She finally said, after a heavy pause, "... I... " She would set down the datapad and slump against the wall, "I mean, that is it. The Nepleslian plan failed. Yamatai is unopposed. There is no win to be had... I should just wipe this ST copy of me before I get recaptured."
"I don't know too much about blocking an ST but if we can determine its wavelength we can cancel it just like any otherr kind of electronic communication or we could just EMP the entire planet if all else fails though that has a very low chance of working."
"EMP will probably work, whatever changes are already in place will not be hurt but any active nanomachines will get shut down so the body can start repairing itself." Wazuile said. "... you are a spacer though. Why would you not just run away? It is what your people are good at."
"Because I'm tired of wandering the stars all alone and besides the people down there are paying me."
"You are a," Wazulie had to pause for a moment, not having a library of appropriate words to pull from, "... Poopyhead."
Spacecase would blink and look at Wazulie dumbfounded. "Sorry a what now? I've been called a lot of things but a poopyhead really?"
"You people do not get it. Spacers can not work with one another. Nepleslians are too dumb to play the game. Every gain made over the last decade at containing their imperialism has been lost. You may die of old age, but your decendants will dwindle to nothingness." Wazulie said, eyes closed.
"Unless I missed something really important I'm not getting what you're saying at all. I don't care so much about Spacer kind or whatever but those are innocent people down there who just recently discovered that there are other living beings other than themselves in this universe."
"I am so... tired of this." Wazuile said, "...why even bother? If you save them today they will just wipe themselves out tomorrow."
"Then they do it by themselves we shouldn't mess with their lives more than we already have and if you tell me otherwise then you can go ahead and run back to Neplepsia."
"Nepleslia is done. A giant pile collapsing on itself... ungrateful... " Wazuile took a deep breath... held it for a moment... then exhaled. "Well... I suppose I am not going to blow my brains out. I guess that means the only way out is through?"
"That would be correct." Spacecase had taken the tone of a dissapointed father with Wazulie. "These people shouldn't be pulledd into Neplepsia's stupid self righteous agendas."
"I tried to save you people. You did not listen then." Wazulie replied, slowly returning to messing with the buckles on the space suit, trying to get inside of it. "I do this, then you blast me with EMP. Get this girl back where she came from."
"Sure so long as we can fix this problem we can reset you and everyone else then we'll send you back." He started to walk out but stopped after taking a few steps. "But if you're lying to us I'm sure Arcoss won't mind having some 'fun' with you."
"You really do not get it," Wazulie said, "There is no going back. I finish this and then I would like to stop exsisting. They did not capture me, they have my ST copy. They can generate new copies of me at will, simulate whatever they like, and apply that result to their next attempt. I try and kill myself and they can just fold that experiance into the next ST copy with a laugh."
Wazulie finally got the buckles done right, snapping the space suit into place, and then grabbing ahold of the pistol.
"... Lets go prove I am who I say I am. I have people to kill."
---
Not believing Spacecase Akemi decided he'd follow the ship as best he could. When he saw that it was heading into space he went to hop in his Red Hill which he named the Red Menace despite being Nepleslian green. Since the Neko figured Arccos was already likely keeping Rennie hidden from him somewhere to hassle him and since she was basically the queen Spacer he could easily see Spacecase handing Julie over to her so she could spite him again.
"I totally do not believe you buddy," he broadcasted from his ship after it had tracked down the Spacer's and was on its way to it. "I wanna see that little kid. You guys can hate me all you want but I want Smithee to get to see her in person as he's sworn to protect her and he doesn't even know if she's alive and he's easily the equivalent of her legal guardian or at least certainly in line for that status."
Muttering to himself about how much of a pain in the ass Akemi could be Spacecase got back on the comms. "Sorry bub no can do. What's going on up here is for Spacer ears only so I'll have to ask you to leave before I make you."
"Oh so Spacers just get to abduct little children willy-nilly now eh? Are you behind other child abductions? Sounds like I should report you to Arccos but I guess she's in on it too. It'd explain why she didn't want me doing more than running my business. Heaven forbid someone other than the perpetrators investigate crimes." Akemi was really getting a kick out of painting himself the good guy so he naturally had to lay it on thick.
"If we did kidnap little children it would be to protect them for your pediophilic tendencies."
"Which I've never actually demonstrated," Akemi shot back with a substantial amount of attitude. "The fact is you're keeping her from her rightful guardian. I'm sure she'd love to see Smithee and Smithee would love to see her. Unlike other space people like your pal Arccos I haven't killed any of the natives. You guys are the ones to be protected from."
"Its a complicated matter an old friend of sorts to us Spacers is inhabiting Julie's body so I will still have to decline you."
"I don't see why you'd need to or why I should believe you," Akemi calmly. "I just want to see her and let Smithee see and meet her too. Even if what you're saying is true it's still her body. Your friend is the one violating a little girl by hopping into her body, not the other way around. Just because you put another person inside of her doesn't mean her rights disappear."
"It wasn't like he had much of a choice and soon almost all of the locals are gonna turn out like Julie if we don't do something about it so we kind of need her at the moment. We'll give her back as soon as we can though if Arcoss will allow it. Not getting myself shot over some ex-princess."
"Well can't you do whatever you want to do with Smithee around for at least a little bit?" Akemi asked. "I bet he'd be content to just give her a hug or talk to her while you guys are working whatever magic you need to do to get your friend and her separated. He's my best bud and a knight sworn to protect her. He's also not just any knight, he's a member of an order specifically dedicated to her. I don't think he's going to care much if he can't meet her down on the ground as long as he does meet her."
"Sure if he can withstand tons of radiation for a few days then totally but until he can or yoou find him a suit to wear he can't come on and neither can you." Spacecase was tired of arguing with Akemi and it sowed in his voice. "Whatever it takes to get you to stop pestering me."
"I can get us suits easy peasy. I'm best buds with Lycosidae after all. I have a hard time believing neither you nor Arccos have two you can temporarily spare though. What's stopping Julie from dying of radiation right now?" While he waited for a response Akemi imagined everyone taking off as soon as he went to get his pal. It sure seemed like an Arccos thing to do.
"Because I have her in a suit. I only carry one of each size on my ship since I have areas that are clear of radiation."
"Whatever. I'm gonna go get Smithee. If you guys zip off while I'm gone I swear I'm gonna will my body to shit just so I can throw some feces at Uso while I scream at her for your awfulness." Akemi knew his threat didn't really amount to anything but he liked the imagery. Finished talking he went off to go grab his dashing native pal and two rad resistant suits.
Sighing Spacecase would give thanks for Akemi's abscence however short it was going to be. "Reminds me of the kind of guy people are friends with out of pity."
---
All through this, the other representatives of the Freespacers just looked on curiously. Arccos took a second or two to observe, before heading away to launch another ship to return to Osman city. Sham merely looked on through it all, with one unblinking bloodshot eye before growing tired of it and looking down to the patient at hand.
"Follow." Was all she said, leading the old man in the little girl down sterile and dank hallways echoing with the mechanical clicks and whines of junker drones clambering down service tunnels.
Eventually it all led to the Nursery. Biological fabrication units, large tubes suspended with various varieties of bioslime, and the half-finished forms of a new generation of clones to man the Lament. Medical equipment here was to do the job. What followed was nothing short of invasive...
Suspension in vats, scans, samples of cerebral fluids painfully extracted with more primitive Freespacer tech. Wazulie eventually left drained, laying on a cold metal slab in the medical corner of the biofab unit. Sham busying herself, peering down a microscope. Some time in the process another Arccos had joined. This one wearing the coat gifted to her by Truffleclub over the holiday season, probably indicating her actual real body for a change.
"So. You just want to die after all this?" Arccos asked, clearly having reviewed the footage of what had been said earlier.
"I am tired of trying to save the universe." Wazulie replied, grabbing one of the blankets near the bed and wrapping it around herself, "... just... done. I have to destroy the rest of the ST copies that make up their Chimera, then I can just give up."
"And how will you destroy this chimera, then?" the tall spacer asked, no real tone to her voice. Nor any real compassion. "It's an odd pill to swallow that this is actually happening, but frankly it's not up to just you to do this."
"I am certain I can figure something out. Convert one of those hover-cars into a bomb and destroy that whole city bloc... accelerate a shuttle to full speed and slam it into the ground. Blow up Nepleslia's star. Figure out if strange singlets are a thing..." Wazulie said, her voice sounding spiteful.
"Strange singlets?" was all Arccos could ask at that. No real care for the rest of those notions.
"The... matter thing. It turns the other matter-things it touches into more of itself and then there are a lot more of the first thing." Wazulie said, obviously flustered as she tried to come up with the words, "... I used to be an expert in materials sciences. Or one of me was."
She would look up at Arccos,
"It would be bad."
"So I see. Right now you seem to not have your whole faculties, so I'd be able to leave an ineffectual child to wage war upon nepleslia for launching this attack." Arccos said with a small grin. "Frankly it solves many problems."
"Elysians." Wazulie said, "Their facility is just on Nepleslia..."
"Even better. Of course, I sincerely doubt you'll actually succeed." Arccos just folded her arms. "I'd honestly have revealed that Yamatai's minions are hiding out in nepleslia releasing nano-weapons. But death will do."
"This was before that. They were not Yamatain puppets when my ST copy was taken, and I do not think they have folded themselves in with Yamatai. I think we all already lost that war, it is just taking some longer to realize it than others. Besides, exposing them could mean that ST copy is provided to someone else... I need it destroyed."
"How do you know it hasn't already been provided to someone else, or installed in dozens of other little girls across the planet we scooped you from?" Arccos asked, seeking clarity.
"Distribution rates and nessisary resources. My gessault should manifest in maybe 1 out of every ten thousand or so affected individuals. The others are mostly manufactured ST copies of soldier types, engineers, or whatever they thought would be useful. An early activation and a low distribution rate were the only way I could sneak this gessault out of the Chimera.
On the other side of things, ST copies are very hard to work with on this level. There are only a few places that even produce the parts for this kind of machine, and those were either destroyed in the NMX attack on Elysian territory, or they belong to the Kessakus.
I only know of the one facility. I am hoping that is all I need to destroy." Wazulie replied.
"And who are these elysians doing it?" This question came from the faceless Sham. Arccos merely pointing towards her.
"... Elysians..." Wazulie replied, "... I... do not have names. I do what the Chimera asks. Did. The work was to assist the old Elysians. The ones who ran things."
"Would you turn down help in this endeavor?" Arccos asked plainly.
"..." Wazulie looked down for a moment, then back up at Arccos, "No, I would not turn down help." She said firmly.
"Now. This question I suppose is for what in there is of Julie." Arccos said. "You were found starving in the desert. My guess is that you have no safe place to return to... Should you return to that planet, you will be subject to the interests of petty nobility trying to use you in every way. Lewis wishes to use your position to make himself king-regent. Akemi and the knights your mother knew will try and use you to create their own royal reign on the planet. Rebels will want to hurt you, and the maker only knows what else..."
"I can return the girl to the planet with no safe haven. Or I can send her somewhere safe, and far away from sand. I can send anyone close to you along as well... Does this sound interesting to you?"
"This does not come with an off switch. I am as much Julie with Wazu's memories as I am Julie with Wazu's memories. I, She, We maybe... hate you people. You killed my mother... um... the details on that are fuzzy... I feel like it was you space men. But maybe the other space men?... I need to see this through as what I am now, then you can wipe me and send Julie on her way."
"Julie's father shot her mother, and then himself." Arccos said coldly. "And your brother was hung from the palace walls by the spies of the next in line for the throne. I already was blamed for one of these directly, and all of us for the first. Be aware, that if you are Julie with Wazu's understanding of the world... We do not need a princess down there."
"... It was the blue hair'd one..." Wazulie replied, again looking flustered, "... I... when this is over, Julie can decide what is best for Julie."
"Then you will have my help. And then you will have the opportunity to live out the rest of your life in peace, with the people you wish to have with you." Arccos said without expression. Like a total statement of facts. She then placed a metal hand on Sham's shoulder.
"Fix her up. Dose her so she doesn't get sick from radiation absorbed during the procedure. Then send her back to the planet... Somewhere secure. She'll get the resources to plan this attack, and then be returned to her old life."
Returning to pick up Wazulie, Spacecase walked in. "Hey I'm here to pick you up lets go when you finish. I'm at the same place you came in from."
"... Thank you." Wazulie said, climbing down off of the examination table. "It... would be better if people did not know who I am. They could be monitoring the planet already. Part of the operation included a damage assessment team that would be onsite to see how the infection pans out."
She would then re-fasten the space suit,
"Hey... I am kind of going through some stuff right now... but thank you for saving me back in the desert."
Almost as if to cut off any potential for this to be a touching moment, the Mindtwister leaned over to dose the seeming young girl with a single-use hypo-spray. Anti-radiation medicine delivered with just a little cold feeling at the neck.
"She is to be assigned housing, and working space at Skimmer's Gulch. Unless you would rather shelter and feed her yourself." Sham said quietly. Half to Spacecase, half to Wazu inside Julie. "The Shipkeeper will provide any materials requested should you accept this offer."
"Akemi has already forcefully scheduled an appointment with 'Julie'. So I'll be taking care of that first then its up to Wazulie if he...she...they want to stay with me or go to Skimmer's Gulch."
"POOP that's cold!" Wazulie said, shivering... "... The way you say Akemi makes me think I will not enjoy this?"
"Probably. It might be a bit less unenjoyable if you can swap out with Julie for the most part they want to see her. Don't worry though if they try anything funny I'll shoot them in the kneecaps." Spacecase cocked his FATBOY for emphasis.
"Thank you," Wazulie said, smiling, "Lets get going..." The pair would make their way back to Spacecase's ship. The small Wazulie climbing up into a chair and sitting cross legged, closing her eyes as she rested her hands in her lap.
"Well I guess we should get this over with." Spacecase would disconnect from the White Lament and open a channel to Akemi. "Ok I got your STafied princess with me come on board when you can. Try anything funny and I'll make it so you can't walk for a while."
"I ain't gonna try anything funny. I don't wanna get fucked bowlegged," Akemi replied as he came back up with Smithee in tow. Both were suited in as of yet undecorated Voidwalkers.
Wazulie remained seated as they approached... stuffed inside of a void-walker suit that was meant more for an adult. The arms and legs scrunched up so that her hands and feet would fit... the visor of the suit riding up just a tad so that the neck covered the bottom half of her face, her closed eyes poking up just barely into the visible parts.
Uneasily due to the bulk of the older model voidwalker, Smithee stooped down to a solemn kneeling posture appropriate for a knight before royalty.
"Your highness... We... Were not aware of your having left the estates of your Aunt." Smithee said quietly, without a great deal of his normal smarm and charm. "I hope these guests from the stars have been treating you well..."
Smiling wide Akemi bowed equally low beside his best bud while placing a hand diagonally across his chest. "It's an honor to meet you your majesty. I hope there's a nice radiation free room we can all use so you and your knight can get better reacquainted."
Wazulie sat there for a moment longer, thinking about how to respond. Things might have been a bit easier... had Julie not earned a reputation for being able to fix anything right before Wazulie manifested.
"I am fine. I do need some time with these space people."
Spacecase would look over at Wazulie letting their eyes meet for a second before looking back at Akemi. "While I do have radiation free rooms but I'd rather have you be less mobile just in case you try shooting me and running off with Wazulie. I did mention that Julie has a Neplepsian in her head right?"
"I dunno man, I might be able to survive brief exposure and shoot you here," Akemi pointed out. "If there's a rad free room much further in taking me there would make it take longer for me to escape. I just want these two dudes to have a place where they can hug each other and have a tearful reunion."
"I would never think to lay hand upon the Princess' royal person." Smithee said with the tone of a schoolboy who'd had that attitude beaten in to him by a vicious schoolmarm.
"What I'm saying is that they..." Spacecase would gesture to Wazulie. "...is not who you think they are. Also all the doors are locked so good luck. Its up to Wazulie with what they want to do. So until they say that they want a non radiation filled room you don't get one."
"PLEASE, Appriciate that this is a complex situation, and that I am doing my best to return Julie in as unharmed a condition as I can." Wazulie replied, still sitting in the chair, her fists clenching up. "I would prefer not to move at this time. Now. What can I help you with?" She asked, her words very crisp and deliberate for someone who should only be a single digit in age.
"I get it," Akemi said, "I just wanted my buddy to know his princess was alive, safe and taken care of. That and I wanted to let him meet her. Can we speak to Julie? Is she alright?"
"The situation will likely cause an uproar, but I... Admit that most of us have been prepared that the royal family has seen its last days..." Smithee said, standing up and giving a sigh.
"Oh come on now, she's alive and she's here. I'm not letting it die buddy," Akemi quickly said.
"I do not enjoy killing people, and I promise I will do my best to return Julie to you, however I can not restore Julie without removing this ST copy. I can not remove myself until I finish what I came here to do. The faster I take care of this, the better chance Julie has at recovery. She will likely retain some of my memories. But, again, this is an extrodinary circumstance.
Wazulie would open her eyes, and was barely able to see out of her suit's visor. She had to reach for the top of the helmit, and pull the entire thing down so that her head would pop up above the neck line.
"You, Akemi, run the resturant here right? The fruits and other cold items that go uncooked are being used to harbor the infection vector. Of course, if we just zap them with EMP or radiation it would kill the infection, but then they would know we have caught on. I was hoping I could talk you into switching suppliers. It would take them time to compromise a new facility... maybe a month. It would not look like we are on to them yet."
Smithee just looked on uneasily. Not entirely sure what to say. And so he just kept silent.
Akemi thought about standing but figured he'd continue to kneel so Wazulie didn't have to look up at him. "Sure, I'd do that. Whatever you want. I just wanna know who the heck you are and what's going on."
"My ST copy was stolen, and I have been living in a computer-generated hell for years building weapons for the Elysians. One of those weapons uses infected food to pass on ST data forcibly to an unaware host. I hid my gessault inside of this weapon, and convinced them to test the weapon here so that I could escape.
Now I have increasingly less time to figure out how to stop a much smarter, more complete, version of myself from helping the Elysians do who the poop knows to an increasingly ungreatful and anger inducing...."
Wazulie would stop, and close her eyes again.
"... and I have to do this without self-medicating and while inside of a child's body. Without a complete set of memories... And... I can not remember that word. POOP."
"Language young lady." Smithee said sternly.
"If I had it, I would certainly be using it darn it."
"I think that one's vocabulary is the least of our problems. In case things get too dicey I'll see if I can't make a copy of Julie in the event that this goes on longer than we hope it will." Spacecase would unlock the doors silently. "Now Arcoss doesn't Wazulie being unprotected and I'm pretty sure she said something about no locals since they'll probably just be vaporized on point if we get found out. So Wazulie here has two options, either going to stay in Skimmer's Gulch or find one of us 'capable' space people to protect them. That means that you're out Akemi, veteran combatants only. Also you'd probably show them off as Julie in front of crowds of people or in front of what ever underground operation you have set up to put the locals back in power."
"My understanding of Akemi is that he is a veteran combatant of the Ya-matai Star Army." Smithee said coldly, "But regardless of his military honors: We 'locals' have known of the Lady Julie's location for several months and not flaunted her. If anything we've kept her from you space people who so capably strung up her brother from the palace walls as an example in the middle of a riot."
Smithee spoke quite coldly, the acid in his voice directed more or less to everyone not natively Osman at this point.
"But. I know I will never see her safe at this point if I take her back to her family and people. Do as you will, and pray the Kingsmen haven't re-rallied at this point..."
"As an outsider whose only arrived recently and have only really acted as a contracted builder no one yet knows my combat skills or my alignment to either side. Therefore they might approach me first while I'm alone believing that they can buy my help or that I don't care who gets Wazulie so long as I get to live. But I will leave the descion to Wazulie."
"I certainly am a veteran combatant," Akemi confirmed. "I was in the Yamataian military as infantry for years. I also don't even have an underground operation. I just have my buddy Smithee here. He just wants her safe and happy. He's not looking to put her on a throne."
"For both our sakes I hope you're right." Spacecase would look over at Smithee before contnuing. "Anyways I believe that it is time to hear what Wazulie wants to do now."
"I will be staying with this ship for now." Wazulie said, "Until this situation is resolved. Then you people along with Julie can figure out where to go from there."
His attention would then turn to Akemi, "I thought nekos were all female?"
Spacecase laughed. "I thought so too but I guess that they couldn't keep Akemi's lust under control so they just gave him a male body."
"Oh, well I really like chicks so I figured I'd be a guy," Akemi answered smoothly. "People are less likely to incorrectly guess my preference and as a guy I've got the optimal plumbing for it."
Smithee got an odd look to him, as if he wanted to say something but had decided not to for the sake of either decency of quietude. Just... Standing quietly at attention.
"... I may be able to use you later... but for now, can I get you to change your supplier for fruit and other cold items? Again, it will take time for them to purchase your new supplier and start delivery of contaminated items."
"Sure, no big deal to me," Akemi said quickly. "I don't want anyone getting messed up either. Mind telling me who the heck you are since you're not Julie?"
"Are you going to be able to keep this quiet?" Wazulie asked, "The ears have walls...."
"Yeah, I'm not a blabbermouth," Akemi answered. He thought being asked such a thing by what looked like a little girl was pretty amusing. "Plus all I wanna do is help make things normal."
"Ok then from what I hear you tend to run your mouth on the spur of the moment a lot so if I hear that this slips..." Spacecase thhought for a second before smiling. "Let's just say it'll be one of the last things you tell."
"You don't scare me buddy," Akemi casually replied. "If you try anything I'll be one of the last things you smell."
Wazulie looked a bit skeptical. "I am Heram Wazu, from what I can piece together I think I am a Heram Wazu from about 5 years ago. That seems to be about when this version of me diverged from the original at least."
"So whatcha gonna do since you're a copy of the original?" Akemi asked. He wished they weren't wearing suits so there'd have been a chance that Wazu would try giving him a sniff. "Will you fuse with him? One mission I took part in while serving on the Eucharis was rescuing a stranded Hanako clone from Mishhu that ended up joining her consciousness with the original."
"After all this is said and done he wants to be destroyed."
"I am not going to kill a little girl so I can stay alive, and I can not risk trusting someone else with my ST data. A wipe seems straight forward enough." Wazulie replied. "I think the other me has enough problems. They do not need 5 years worth of virtual prison memories layered ontop. What is important now is destroying the Elysians and their prison. When that is done maybe I will not need to exsist."
"Why the heck did they imprison you?" Akemi asked. "They're just giant chicken dinners. What the heck do they want with this place?"
"They do not want this place, but it is at the edge of their territory. It also presents a great test run for the ST-infection virus.
Beyond that... well.
Self-improving computers have hit a wall. Perhaps there is something to be said for the human touch still... Anyways, the Elysians have ST technology, and once those who argued for the purity of the technology were killed or run off... well. The more extreme elements were in charge. Imagine the weapons you could come up with if you had several dozen copies of the smartest minds avalible to you working around the clock?"
"I can imagine and it doesn't look like much fun."
"... I only remember bits and pieces... it felt like a long lasting state of ego-death... like a state of constant, unending, terror and nothing at all, all at the same time..." Wazulie spaced out for a bit, "...but, focusing on that is not productive. Between a pair of spacers, a human from a low tech world, and maybe a resturant owner I have to figure out how to destroy something that has a copy of me making all of the things I could think of already."
"Why not just send a virus back through the vector their using for this virus. I mean thats how you got here. It should work if I have enough time to study it."
"It took me years to figure out how to pull this off... and the infection only works on primative people who do not have access to modern medicine... If I get access to their network I could send a Gessault back into any receptive bodies or machines, but any attack I launch has to be perfect. If they get tipped off, they could move... or add defenses... or who knows what to the ST copies they already have."
"Sounds awful but I'm no master hacker. At least we've got Arccos." Akemi turned to Smithee. "I gotta say this makes an even better star person. I didn't kill or attempt to mind control anyone." A thought suddenly occurred to the Neko. "Are these spooky Elysians possibly related to any abductions of children that have happened here?" he asked after fixing his gaze back on Wazulie.
*If they started a few months ago then yes. But otherwise wise no. I don't believe that they want to set foot on the planet."
"Well that's good to know. Thanks for telling us stuff. I hope things work out for you bud." Akemi sifted his eyes to Smithee. "So how many good boy points do I get for getting us in contact with Julie?"
"...good boy points? Spook Elysians?" Wazulie asked, "... these are people who aim to take for themselves without consideration of others. They have more ships, more money, more people... maybe you should take this a bit more seriously."
"Frankly we could have gotten in contact with her at any time. We just did not wish to establish lines of contact lest half the bally sheriff's office which eats at your bar catch on and she be made an example of like her brother." Smithee said sternly, "And as far as we know, this was being transmitted by your imports if this story is true."
"This whole scenario is a fiasco."
Spacecase would pipe in. "I may have not been here long but I heard that there is not much towards a rebellion anymore after the last one. If there was they wouldn't get within a hundred miles of the city without setting off my alarms. They'll be safe with me you have my word."
"What if they are already inside of the city?" Wazulie asked.
"I have hidden surveillance cameras set up around the city so nothing is getting past me. Other than the tunnels but those are caved in for the most part."
"I think that either way... this means we need to work fast."
"I agree. But for now let's get you a meal at my place." Spacecase would make his way back down to the planet.
