RP: 188604 Program 2 (Epilogue); Resurfacing

Landing Ramp

"You're not interested in why they are trying to build some kind of new lighthouse out there, then?" This was starting to get a little over the Type Two's head, but a small smile said they evidently didn't get to talk like this often. "They went all that way to establish their own colonies, yet somebody... a lot of somebodies... decided to organize into one state again. That's uber weird."

"The Steel Liberty is a partially a Viridian Array thing, so they are probably just looking for allies wherever they can get 'em... And, well, I heard about what went down at that station. You guys could probably tag along just for the work if nuffin' else."

Landing Ramp

"Hmm. I'm more 'detective' than 'anthropologist'... though the amount of time I spent 'living among the natives' might suggest otherwise. I'm not going to turn down an important investigation, though, so long as I have a good lead." Ziggy folded her arms, and looked to see if the rest of the crew were interested in making the trip.

Port Hope, Landing Ramp

Legix said:

"they made me with a purpose that even a Type Two could comprehend...I am also quite persuasive...or do you think it logical to avoid bringing someone with a smile like mine and a dress as colorful as this with you...just humor me and provide genetic samples..."

Click to expand...

The scientist had been mulling over Vista's choice of words while listening to the latest Freespacer broadcast. He was quite taken back by the Druid. "Apologies if you took offense to my questions, but I wanted to make sure you were aware of the dangers that we've come across, as well as I wanted to make a judge of character and compare it to your file. While I won't argue the value of a person that can apply first aid and help others, I can't say I was persuaded at all by the passive aggressive nature of that response."

He took a pause while he gathered his thoughts, "I'll continue to consider your application while Maeota guides us to this particular bar. There is someone there who's guidance I hold highly and I would like to talk with them before I make any big decisions. You're, of course, more than welcome to come along." Six Three regarded the spider Type Two "Would you be so kind as to show us this location?"

Landing Ramp

"Erm... Okay, if that's what you want..." The short creature responded sheepishly, before grasping Genesculptor's hand, and guiding him deeper into the complex manually. She glanced backwards to made sure the others could keep pace, every once and a while, but there was always a distinct feeling that Maeota didn't want to stay in any one place for too long...

///

Port Hope Substructure
♫Landing Station - Land of Living Skies♫

The trip was a disorientating one. Despite looking like a singular, solid object on the outside, Port Hope was a total mess inside. Decades of constant revisions had completely mutated it into a mashed myriad of distinct sectors, ranging from clean durandium corridors likely installed by the viridian array, to worryingly slender wire-and-scrap pannel bridges carrying them across small microcosms of shanty houses and broken piping.

It felt like they were climbing upwards, but as any half-decent spacer would know, they were actually going inwards, towards the center of gravity created by the rotating space colony. The docking ring had towerb-sized bridges connecting to the central cylinder, which was mostly hollow on the inside, and truly behemoth in scale.

City streets almost like that of a surface colony sprawled about them, except with the distinctly warped perspective of these features being placed along the inside surface of a giant pipe. Above, a bright orange tube shone at the center, casting a dim, musky, permanent early-morning glow onto the countless buildings both above and below.

There were many other spacers around of all shapes and sizes, but there was a certain reserved quality to many of the citizens, bearing little but grey drab voidsuits or coveralls. Many were automata or cyborgs with militarized attachments. Despite a spacer's normally welcoming nature, it's not like mercenaries, smugglers and pirates were the kind to advertise their allegiances so freely.

Maeota carried on through these areas briskly, avoiding wide open areas, even the lingering fried algae smell of the food market. Instead, she chose to take them straight as a rocket, through back alleys and infrastructure tunnels. There were junkers in there with just as much restraint, but the Type Two didn't seem quite so afraid of them.

Eventually they got to a bar, or at least something aesthetically made to imitate one, whilst the exterior was really just a weird disjointed ball of random wires and man-sized lumpy plastic modules, a bit like the backsides of old CRT televisions.

No line outside, but there was a door man... Well, door tank. Nine foot tall, with a torso like a car chassis and cumbersome, powerful arms and legs. Chipped red paint, and a pair of miniguns making up the unfittingly cute 'bunny ears' to it's tiny mono-camera head.

It needed neither words nor a face to explain what it was thinking; 'You meatbags must be lost.'

Port Hope Substructure

Vista was content to stay quiet, despite all the assumptions of him. Being called passive-aggressive confused him... wasn't it wise to be assertive? Such Freespacers that were so bound up in how things were said often lacked the ability to perceive what was said. And when Maeota took the lead, Vista simply skipped along the rear of the formation with his suitcase swinging along. It didn't matter how "rough" the crowd became, the Love Decant druid not wavering in the face of a single damn thing. Not out of bravery or sheer stupidity, but out of his profound knowledge of just what made his spacer-kin tick. As much as they might hate it, Vista could destabilize anyone's genetic stability if he truly desired. It was a psychopathic angle that had him not one bit intimidated when his no-doubt-future-crew mates all seemed to carry their skepticism.

But when the faceless bunny death-tank doorbot decided to get in their way, Vista skidded around the right flank with a fanciful twirl that resulted in him bending over much like a ballerina might. His suitcase offset the weight to ensure a more easily-established balance, turning his head to peer upward at the machine as his smile grew into a big toothy grin. The only thing that might have been terrifying to normal folk was the big red eye glaring back up at the machine.

"Mmmnope~! We're where we need to be. Surely one of such mechanical prowess, computational might, and proficient armament would see that we are but humble meatoids. My Maeota and I simply wish to bring these two in to see a friend, to assist one of similar efficiency to your engineered form of occupational professionalism~!"

Port Hope Substructure

"What does that translate to?" Ziggy asked no one in particular. "'Hi, we're looking for someone'?" She goes down on one knee need to Maota and says quietly, "I don't know what you do, but talking to strangers isn't as complicated as he makes it out to be." She looked at Six-Three, and added, "You could tell them who we're looking for."

Port Hope Substructure

"But he's so good at it..." Maeota looked up at Ziggy, perhaps not understanding the concept of overdoing things. The fact that he was the diametric opposite of her personality probably explained a lot. "We are looki-"

"You three two-legs can come in, but the Type Two stays." The towering machine interrupted, pointing one of it's massively heavy gauntlets at them, with a copper tone finger as big as a gun stock. It's voice was monotone and laced with a punchy crackle, like a cheap intercom speaker. "That black rectangle on her chest? It's a cover up. She's had her security codes revoked."

The green haired girl just crossed her arms and looked away with heavy eyes, into the floor. She wasn't denying it.

Port Hope Substructure

Ziggy stayed put, more intrigued by this 'security clearance' thing than the current quest to catch a bar fly. "Alright, I'll just keep an eye on her, then." She looked back at Maeota and asked, conversationally, "So, what's this about? I've got to say, it's the first time I've ever heard of a bouncer being bounced."

Port Hope Substructure

-"I went places I shouldn't have."- Maeota's arms tightened. She was speaking to the three of them through mindware, probably to stop the guard from overhearing. -"They didn't want the Junkers recognising me and helping me out, either, so they took away my codes..."-

A sigh, accompanied by a guilty glance upwards, and then back down at the floor again. It was clear they still weren't all that comfortable revealing a secret like this to near-strangers.

-"It's okay. I'm used to it. You should go find your computer friend. I don't mind waiting here."-

Port Hope Substructure

While the Type Two lead them deeper into Port Hope, Six Three was downloaded and mapping the area that Debug Funk's broadcast had talked about. It was definitely far enough away, and more than he could probably manage to get them there on his own, Jack's advice would be invaluable in this endeavor.

As he finished figuring out where they were at in relation to the signal, his mind came back to meat space to hear the bouncer letting them in and Maeota's explanation. "I don't feel entirely comfortable leaving you out here since you guided us here, but if there's a chance our friend is in there, I have to see."

Turning to the bun-eared death walker, "Thank you, I truly appreciate your understanding. If you'll excuse me, I'll be making my way in." He began to slowly walk around the bouncer to make his way inside, wary of getting gunned down at the slightest of twitches.

Port Hope Substructure

"Me, too!"

Vista danced around without any regard for the worrying bouncer, nor apparently minding Ziggy's comment. With her staying to keep their friend in good company, the scientist hefted his briefcase up and against his chest before closing both arms around it. The dress raised and fluttered as he danced along beside Six-Three's sides and beyond to practically dance out and ahead as they moved into the establishment. Where there was no machine, there was heart in the member from Love Decant. Everything was about living life when you were squishy. However, the very brief lead through the passage was ended as he danced up and pushed against the wall to look just beyond the bouncer and Six Three, having to rise on his tip-toes to smile at Maeota.

"Don't be too crazy, friend! I'll be back soon. With spit! And their friend! And then we'll do adventures!"

Sliding down onto his feet once more, his dress partially clinging to the wall for a moment, Vista broke his normally flamboyant facade for a moment to grumble in a rather soft whisper to himself.

"I don't know if there will be any genetic samples inside or if they'll take me yet, though... I guess I should just try to keep peppy anyway... decisions aren't fun when I'd rather just enjoy myself~."

The End Of The Road Bar, Port Hope
~♫Yuki Sattilites - Rymdlego♫~

Turning the corner into a dim crackling mass of cables, the double meaning of the establishment's name sudden made itself obvious to Six Three and Vista. The server stacks didn't just make the locale unique, they were the locale, leaving little for organics other than what looked like a rusted bank vault with a few stray cushions on the floor.

Being Freespacers, an inner door in their mind's eye was still evident to them, however. A glowing yellow rectangle hanging in space at the exact center of the far wall. An old fashioned WLAN access point, but no doubt a lot faster than simply connecting long-distance over the poly.

Beyond, a moonlit virtual sky, calm ocean waves lapping mercury-like shades of glossy blue and gold. It was warm to the touch, and counter-intuitively quite solid despite the rippling effect. Several islands in the distance were silhouetted against the seemingly permanent ethereal dusk, clustered with the shadowed cones of trees, yet also bearing significant user alterations that made their respective user's personalities more obvious. One was a mess of constantly orbiting kites, all shapes and sizes, forever spinning in tandem. Another was a roller coaster which looked quite precarious and physically impossible, intentionally engineered to bend and shake as the tiny car shot around like a bullet.

By far the most sedate, but considerably more ominous, was an island with nary but an ancient wooden mansion, dimly lit from within by primitive fires. A tall peaked longhouse roof and gargoyles adorning every corner seemed to be a total mish-mash of Nepleslian movie tropes, and not free spacer notions, of course. But the homely sort of vibe did perhaps suggest it was the older island of the visible trio, something designed from the start when the server had first been fabricated up from the off-color ocean waves.

Perhaps a spooky old mansion was a good habitat for a spooky pumpkin AI?