P
Primitive Polygon
In The Middle Of Nowhere, The Morning After The State Address
A dim mist fell across the windswept crags of Tyben. An isolated location with solid ground, but isolated from even the most inquisitive fishermen. Perfect location for a secret meeting between two offworlder spacecraft.
The first craft that approached was little but a black oblong, a Nomad Solarfoil just short of 50 meters along. Large chevron prism shield sails above and below, but no apparent guns.
Typical of spacer ships, it just darted onto the location, halted on the spot, and then mysteriously hung in the air without a sound. They weren’t landing unless they could be sure of how their contact was armed, first…
An unarmed fighter craft glided through the air on its inverted wings. As it approached the ground, legs folded out from underneath it, serving as brakes for the craft as it came to a halt slightly above the ground. The machine landed, with its legs bent slightly and the tip of the fighter's nose resting slightly above the ground. The canopy opened, and a young man with a head of frumpy blonde hair peered out into the mists.
A crack formed along the bottom of the rusted spacer shell, and soon enough, the hangar doors swung open. An extending crane arm lowered towards the ground, holding a small humanoid figure… Less than paranoia, it seemed that the vessel simply didn’t have landing gear.
What it did have, through, was a secondary cylindrical vessel nestled inside. Hopefully a traveller shuttle?...
Touchdown. The humanoid form was still now, and a lot more clearly robotic. About six foot tall, spindly, with a sideways oblong head. A cape made out of all sorts of spare parts, even a few extra arms thrown in… Well, most of those were probably part of the cape.
Alex rose out from the cockpit, the mist congealing on his skin in the form of condensation. He walked halfway to the spacer ship, and called out a "Hello?" To the figure.
The tall thing just tilted it's head for a moment, and then raised one arm to reveal the inside of it's cloak. Of all things, it was lined with a strange black and white banner, with a bisected human head in the middle. The automata completed the motion with quite a deep, polite bow of salutation.
"Apologies for meeting at such an isolated place, but one can never be too sure, with the company we keep these days..." A low, buzzing voice. "My name is Linelayer 88, of the Wire Guided."
"It's nice to meet you Linelayer. My name's Alex. I was sent out here to meet you and discuss uhh... negotiations for selling uhh... stuff." He winced at his unprofessionalism.
"Ah, yes... That explains the mindware." The tall thing just stared back curiously. Both camera eyes were at the very edges of his face, making it look kind of like a hammerhead shark. "Interesting choice on miss Uso's part considering we could have done this on the poly, but... Oh well. At least this way we can be certain no one is listening."
Alex ruffled his hair, as he was wont to do when nervous, and spoke again. "Well, the thing is, I don't really know what "The poly" is, let alone how to use it."
"Most curious. I do believe Lycosidae attempted to explain something like that about you, however..." The tone didn't really change. It really was just thinking out loud. "Either way, we should get down to business, yes."
"Food is the first thing capitalists always try and sell us, and it makes a certain amount of logic, but... Well, eighty percent of the spacer race is automata, such as I." A cough, pacing the sentence out. Even though it was a robot and had no lungs. "The point is, my organisation is one of the only cadres of the old Deoradh now trying to fix that... But without motherships or large-scale genebanks to get the party started, well... It does seem as if some of my brethren may have rather jumped the gun on this detail..."
Alex frowned. "Well, what do you need? I'm sure we can help you somehow."
"I can't speak for every member, but your friend, this large automata Truffleclub... Well, he has certain ideas that inspire me, in truth. It seems it would be quite advantageous for us to set up a genetic research facility here, upon the foundations that they started."
Alex became wary suddenly. "What do you mean genetics research? You don't want to experiment on /people/ do you?" To him, the topic of genetics hit a little too close to home.
"Erm... Well... We won't be using pre-existing people, but the goal in the long run would be to create new people. Something like a Type Two, but more self-sufficient. Hardy and independent, like our vessels..."
"How would you create new people from nothing? Wouldn't you need genetic material for that?"
Linelayer just laughed, audibly thumping on his chest. "What do you think I'm made of?"
Alex was puzzled. "I thought you said you were automata?"
"Well, yes, exactly. I process consciousness without genetics." Tilting their head back the other way. "But... I guess the real question is, how do Nekovalkyrja do it? Quite troubling that they are still the only ones that are not playing the 'ultimate evolution' game. Yes. It would be in our desires to create something like that, except with pure survivalisim in mind. Not pure organic or pure automata. Just something else."
"I still don't really understand how it all works. However, I'd like to help you however I can, but I don't know what you might need. And you might need to help us back. I was supposed to sell you stuff, so what can I offer? Do you need water? Ships?"
"Simply a habitable environment where we can perform our experiments with a level of discretion, taking advantage of your sizable infrastructure. A random outpost in the middle of nowhere would attract too much attention. Besides, it's against our ideals of integration."
"I think I can offer you this place, or wherever else on the planet you find suitable. However, I don't know if Uso will be too happy if I come back without anything to show on our end."
"What is it that you think she would desire? We do not have many military assets, but we do have access to such secrets, that I can certainly attest to... One way or another, every member of the old free state became a part of the independent worlds league... Yes, one way or another..."
"I suppose that you could help us with designing ships and building them. We could, I'm fairly sure, share the ships you build for us with you."
"Depends on the type of vessel. We do, however, have several links to the Viridian Array, who in turn have links to Nepleslian shipbuilding practices... Yes, those capitalists got a little greedy after our misfortune, it seems..." A grating voice, almost descending into a cackle. "...Oh, but don't get me wrong, through. They did pilfer all of our hacking and shipbuilding expertise in exchange for a safe haven, at the time. It only amuses me to return the favour."
Another fake cough. "Erm, yes. We can help you build a warship or two. Good ones, even."
Alex nodded. "Thank you. We've designed a few of our own ships, using a little bit of the technology we've seen from other spacers in the system." He held up a datapad holding the design for a Broadsword class cruiser.
"This is what we've come up with, but any other designs you can offer us or help us make are sure to be appreciated."
The tall spacer hesitated for a moment, as if to say 'You're really trusting me this quickly?', before gently grasping the pad and examining it closely.
"Well... For starters, we could certainly make it cheaper. Without any reduction in it's solidity, of course." A pause. "For future vessels, our knowledge of electronic warfare would probably work more to your direct benefit. Imagine something as big as this with spacer stealth systems installed..."
Alex was surprised. "I didn't know stealth worked very well in space."
"Have you ever heard of the Entropy's Shroud Electronic Warfare Suite? It's more about dubbing the enemy craft's sensors with false readings than silent running, but the effect is the same."
"It sounds like a great thing to add to this. Thank you for your help, is there anything else you might need?"
"Not particularly. Through I suppose it serves us both to see the Liquid Ally used on board whatever designs you have... Unless you insist on a repeat of what happened to the White Lament, I suppose."
A long, spindly hand was shown forwards, as if to offer shaking it. Even if the thing had a dire sense of humor, it seemed to appreciate Alex's straight forward candour.
"What is the Liquid Ally? And what happened on board the Lament?"
"You really don't know? Largegear Cloudy Truffleclub invented them right here. It's a kind of organic junker. A self-replicating repair drone, now with added atmospheric cleansing qualities!" Linelayer didn't have a mouth, yet still managed to smile through body language alone, somehow. "It's a natural progression of the genetically engineered lichens that already live in the blood of all organic freespacers. The logical next step really was just to build an entire being out of them... Perhaps you can see how that concept attracted us to working with him?..."
"As for the Lament, well... Standard Automata Junkers need complex parts to replicate themselves. When someone mishandles their programming on an isolated ship, it... It doesn't end well."
A dim mist fell across the windswept crags of Tyben. An isolated location with solid ground, but isolated from even the most inquisitive fishermen. Perfect location for a secret meeting between two offworlder spacecraft.
The first craft that approached was little but a black oblong, a Nomad Solarfoil just short of 50 meters along. Large chevron prism shield sails above and below, but no apparent guns.
Typical of spacer ships, it just darted onto the location, halted on the spot, and then mysteriously hung in the air without a sound. They weren’t landing unless they could be sure of how their contact was armed, first…
An unarmed fighter craft glided through the air on its inverted wings. As it approached the ground, legs folded out from underneath it, serving as brakes for the craft as it came to a halt slightly above the ground. The machine landed, with its legs bent slightly and the tip of the fighter's nose resting slightly above the ground. The canopy opened, and a young man with a head of frumpy blonde hair peered out into the mists.
A crack formed along the bottom of the rusted spacer shell, and soon enough, the hangar doors swung open. An extending crane arm lowered towards the ground, holding a small humanoid figure… Less than paranoia, it seemed that the vessel simply didn’t have landing gear.
What it did have, through, was a secondary cylindrical vessel nestled inside. Hopefully a traveller shuttle?...
Touchdown. The humanoid form was still now, and a lot more clearly robotic. About six foot tall, spindly, with a sideways oblong head. A cape made out of all sorts of spare parts, even a few extra arms thrown in… Well, most of those were probably part of the cape.
Alex rose out from the cockpit, the mist congealing on his skin in the form of condensation. He walked halfway to the spacer ship, and called out a "Hello?" To the figure.
The tall thing just tilted it's head for a moment, and then raised one arm to reveal the inside of it's cloak. Of all things, it was lined with a strange black and white banner, with a bisected human head in the middle. The automata completed the motion with quite a deep, polite bow of salutation.
"Apologies for meeting at such an isolated place, but one can never be too sure, with the company we keep these days..." A low, buzzing voice. "My name is Linelayer 88, of the Wire Guided."
"It's nice to meet you Linelayer. My name's Alex. I was sent out here to meet you and discuss uhh... negotiations for selling uhh... stuff." He winced at his unprofessionalism.
"Ah, yes... That explains the mindware." The tall thing just stared back curiously. Both camera eyes were at the very edges of his face, making it look kind of like a hammerhead shark. "Interesting choice on miss Uso's part considering we could have done this on the poly, but... Oh well. At least this way we can be certain no one is listening."
Alex ruffled his hair, as he was wont to do when nervous, and spoke again. "Well, the thing is, I don't really know what "The poly" is, let alone how to use it."
"Most curious. I do believe Lycosidae attempted to explain something like that about you, however..." The tone didn't really change. It really was just thinking out loud. "Either way, we should get down to business, yes."
"Food is the first thing capitalists always try and sell us, and it makes a certain amount of logic, but... Well, eighty percent of the spacer race is automata, such as I." A cough, pacing the sentence out. Even though it was a robot and had no lungs. "The point is, my organisation is one of the only cadres of the old Deoradh now trying to fix that... But without motherships or large-scale genebanks to get the party started, well... It does seem as if some of my brethren may have rather jumped the gun on this detail..."
Alex frowned. "Well, what do you need? I'm sure we can help you somehow."
"I can't speak for every member, but your friend, this large automata Truffleclub... Well, he has certain ideas that inspire me, in truth. It seems it would be quite advantageous for us to set up a genetic research facility here, upon the foundations that they started."
Alex became wary suddenly. "What do you mean genetics research? You don't want to experiment on /people/ do you?" To him, the topic of genetics hit a little too close to home.
"Erm... Well... We won't be using pre-existing people, but the goal in the long run would be to create new people. Something like a Type Two, but more self-sufficient. Hardy and independent, like our vessels..."
"How would you create new people from nothing? Wouldn't you need genetic material for that?"
Linelayer just laughed, audibly thumping on his chest. "What do you think I'm made of?"
Alex was puzzled. "I thought you said you were automata?"
"Well, yes, exactly. I process consciousness without genetics." Tilting their head back the other way. "But... I guess the real question is, how do Nekovalkyrja do it? Quite troubling that they are still the only ones that are not playing the 'ultimate evolution' game. Yes. It would be in our desires to create something like that, except with pure survivalisim in mind. Not pure organic or pure automata. Just something else."
"I still don't really understand how it all works. However, I'd like to help you however I can, but I don't know what you might need. And you might need to help us back. I was supposed to sell you stuff, so what can I offer? Do you need water? Ships?"
"Simply a habitable environment where we can perform our experiments with a level of discretion, taking advantage of your sizable infrastructure. A random outpost in the middle of nowhere would attract too much attention. Besides, it's against our ideals of integration."
"I think I can offer you this place, or wherever else on the planet you find suitable. However, I don't know if Uso will be too happy if I come back without anything to show on our end."
"What is it that you think she would desire? We do not have many military assets, but we do have access to such secrets, that I can certainly attest to... One way or another, every member of the old free state became a part of the independent worlds league... Yes, one way or another..."
"I suppose that you could help us with designing ships and building them. We could, I'm fairly sure, share the ships you build for us with you."
"Depends on the type of vessel. We do, however, have several links to the Viridian Array, who in turn have links to Nepleslian shipbuilding practices... Yes, those capitalists got a little greedy after our misfortune, it seems..." A grating voice, almost descending into a cackle. "...Oh, but don't get me wrong, through. They did pilfer all of our hacking and shipbuilding expertise in exchange for a safe haven, at the time. It only amuses me to return the favour."
Another fake cough. "Erm, yes. We can help you build a warship or two. Good ones, even."
Alex nodded. "Thank you. We've designed a few of our own ships, using a little bit of the technology we've seen from other spacers in the system." He held up a datapad holding the design for a Broadsword class cruiser.
"This is what we've come up with, but any other designs you can offer us or help us make are sure to be appreciated."
The tall spacer hesitated for a moment, as if to say 'You're really trusting me this quickly?', before gently grasping the pad and examining it closely.
"Well... For starters, we could certainly make it cheaper. Without any reduction in it's solidity, of course." A pause. "For future vessels, our knowledge of electronic warfare would probably work more to your direct benefit. Imagine something as big as this with spacer stealth systems installed..."
Alex was surprised. "I didn't know stealth worked very well in space."
"Have you ever heard of the Entropy's Shroud Electronic Warfare Suite? It's more about dubbing the enemy craft's sensors with false readings than silent running, but the effect is the same."
"It sounds like a great thing to add to this. Thank you for your help, is there anything else you might need?"
"Not particularly. Through I suppose it serves us both to see the Liquid Ally used on board whatever designs you have... Unless you insist on a repeat of what happened to the White Lament, I suppose."
A long, spindly hand was shown forwards, as if to offer shaking it. Even if the thing had a dire sense of humor, it seemed to appreciate Alex's straight forward candour.
"What is the Liquid Ally? And what happened on board the Lament?"
"You really don't know? Largegear Cloudy Truffleclub invented them right here. It's a kind of organic junker. A self-replicating repair drone, now with added atmospheric cleansing qualities!" Linelayer didn't have a mouth, yet still managed to smile through body language alone, somehow. "It's a natural progression of the genetically engineered lichens that already live in the blood of all organic freespacers. The logical next step really was just to build an entire being out of them... Perhaps you can see how that concept attracted us to working with him?..."
"As for the Lament, well... Standard Automata Junkers need complex parts to replicate themselves. When someone mishandles their programming on an isolated ship, it... It doesn't end well."
