Re: The Fearsome Encounter (GBS3G8) [Round 2: Oh Two Oh]
05-03-2012, 11:22 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.
As Cthaasa ceased to be, the world ground to a halt around the contestants. Applause, echoing from nowhere, gradually increased in volume, and soon, it was joined by a voice.
"Wonderful," it said, easily recognizable as belonging to the Apprentice, "that was just wonderful. I had my worries as you started out, but by the end, you proved yourselves worthy of this job offer after all."
Almost instantly, the contestants vanished, pulled back away to the Apprentice's domain.
-
Invading Malcontents: Terminated/Otherwise
Circumvent Generator: Repairing
Consciousness Creator: Active
Lingual Emulator: Repairing
Experiment Status: Complete
Rebooting...
With all of the threats to the forest gone, the energy that kept the various functions of it active flowed through the forest. Buildings were rebuilt. Shards were scattered. Traces were covered. Assassin and Enforcer were deactivated. Corpses were removed. Everything was put back in its place. The forest once more prepared itself for the testing and teaching of a new robot. Only... this time it would be different.
A wave of aggression had swept the forest, and its consciousness would respond in turn.
...
Rebooting complete.
Initiating Retaliation Sequence.
Installing Military Data.
Starting Construction On Generation Two
Ace: 2% Complete
-
After a quick, brusque shift between dimensions, the combatants found themselves back within their individual rings, perspective and relative locations be damned. What had once been Cthaasa went with them as well, going back to its ring just like the round's survivors. The Apprentice, looking as calm and self-confident as always, reclined in his control-surrounded chair.
"You've all proven yourselves to be sufficiently qualified for what I've got in mind,” he said, drawing the words out in an attempt to emulate his mentor, “but unfortunately, merely being sufficiently qualified isn't quite enough. I'm looking for the best and the best only, so by the end of the next round, I've got two things I want you to have. Whoever succeeds at this goal will be rewarded. Whoever fails... not so much.
"The first thing you'll need to have is your coin; there's a reason I asked you all to carry them, and if you don't have yours come the end of this next round, I'm going to be a bit more harsh than I was this time around.
"The second thing is specific to each of you. When you arrive in your next location, you'll find yourselves in possession of a slip of paper, and it's up to you to have of the object it specifies by the time I pick you up again.
"Now, it wouldn't be fair for me to drop you into this next place without a bit of explanation, so let me give you a brief summary."
Casually, the group's captor reached out and flipped a switch. When nothing happened, he waited for a few seconds, then flicked another one. That time, the lighting in the area dimmed, and between him and the contestants, a flickering, rotating image appeared. It looked like someone had stuck a bunch of thorns on a massive, grey shoebox, then strapped the whole thing to some sort of art project that was all swoopy lines and pointless glass.
"At the end of a major war, certain members of the local military decided that they rather liked the dynamics of a wartime command structure, so they founded a group, calling themselves the Interstellar Appropriations Union. That group, lead by a woman who decided to promote herself to Admiral and forgo any other sort of name, hijacked the local military's flagship (the creatively-named Allied Military Vessel "AMV-020") and sailed it straight out of dry dock. This had a lot of complicated international implications, and after a lot of negotiating and about eight further months of war, the nation she and her group had stolen the ship from had ceased to exist. Left with no one to claim it back from her, the Admiral declared it rightfully hers and set about accumulating more power for herself and the IAU."
The Apprentice gestured to the image. "This was all about twenty years ago. Since then, she and her organization have been accumulating power fairly consistently. Not two years ago, as it happens, the IAU commandeered a cutting-edge cruise ship, simply named the Jewel, and they've essentially bolted it to that first ship they stole all those years ago, taking all of the modern technologies present on the Jewel and doing their best to make them useful on Oh Two Oh (as the military vessel is colloquially known). The end result is a ship that isn't exactly suited for high-inertia manoeuvres but is nevertheless armed to the teeth and well-suited for being run by a group not exactly known for their adherence to laws and regulations.
"In the end, it's a recipe for one thing. The IAU's stronghold has become a haven for criminals of all sorts and is, in many ways, a cultural icon. Even legitimate businesspeople come here to hock their wares, and if there's anything you need, it's practically guaranteed that someone in this massive, space-faring bazaar will be willing to sell it to you."
With a small grin, the Apprentice leaned forward and attempted to further emulate his mentor by steepling his fingers. "Now, because of the history of the place, people here are far from lax when it comes to protecting their property. If I found myself trying to get things from these people and I didn't have any money, I'd be careful. Thieves may be common here, but theft itself isn't terribly common. Those who try such things tend to have a way to end up on the wrong side of an airlock pretty quickly.
"That said, I'm sure you'll figure out a way to get me what I need. If you don't, well... explosive decompression isn't the worst way you can go."
With that, he reached out, flicked a switch, and sent the contestants on their way, scattering them to various locations across the two conjoined ships. Not a perfect transition, he reflected, but considering the systems he'd had to work around just to get it going at all, he was satisfied.
As Cthaasa ceased to be, the world ground to a halt around the contestants. Applause, echoing from nowhere, gradually increased in volume, and soon, it was joined by a voice.
"Wonderful," it said, easily recognizable as belonging to the Apprentice, "that was just wonderful. I had my worries as you started out, but by the end, you proved yourselves worthy of this job offer after all."
Almost instantly, the contestants vanished, pulled back away to the Apprentice's domain.
-
Invading Malcontents: Terminated/Otherwise
Circumvent Generator: Repairing
Consciousness Creator: Active
Lingual Emulator: Repairing
Experiment Status: Complete
Rebooting...
With all of the threats to the forest gone, the energy that kept the various functions of it active flowed through the forest. Buildings were rebuilt. Shards were scattered. Traces were covered. Assassin and Enforcer were deactivated. Corpses were removed. Everything was put back in its place. The forest once more prepared itself for the testing and teaching of a new robot. Only... this time it would be different.
A wave of aggression had swept the forest, and its consciousness would respond in turn.
...
Rebooting complete.
Initiating Retaliation Sequence.
Installing Military Data.
Starting Construction On Generation Two
Ace: 2% Complete
-
After a quick, brusque shift between dimensions, the combatants found themselves back within their individual rings, perspective and relative locations be damned. What had once been Cthaasa went with them as well, going back to its ring just like the round's survivors. The Apprentice, looking as calm and self-confident as always, reclined in his control-surrounded chair.
"You've all proven yourselves to be sufficiently qualified for what I've got in mind,” he said, drawing the words out in an attempt to emulate his mentor, “but unfortunately, merely being sufficiently qualified isn't quite enough. I'm looking for the best and the best only, so by the end of the next round, I've got two things I want you to have. Whoever succeeds at this goal will be rewarded. Whoever fails... not so much.
"The first thing you'll need to have is your coin; there's a reason I asked you all to carry them, and if you don't have yours come the end of this next round, I'm going to be a bit more harsh than I was this time around.
"The second thing is specific to each of you. When you arrive in your next location, you'll find yourselves in possession of a slip of paper, and it's up to you to have of the object it specifies by the time I pick you up again.
"Now, it wouldn't be fair for me to drop you into this next place without a bit of explanation, so let me give you a brief summary."
Casually, the group's captor reached out and flipped a switch. When nothing happened, he waited for a few seconds, then flicked another one. That time, the lighting in the area dimmed, and between him and the contestants, a flickering, rotating image appeared. It looked like someone had stuck a bunch of thorns on a massive, grey shoebox, then strapped the whole thing to some sort of art project that was all swoopy lines and pointless glass.
"At the end of a major war, certain members of the local military decided that they rather liked the dynamics of a wartime command structure, so they founded a group, calling themselves the Interstellar Appropriations Union. That group, lead by a woman who decided to promote herself to Admiral and forgo any other sort of name, hijacked the local military's flagship (the creatively-named Allied Military Vessel "AMV-020") and sailed it straight out of dry dock. This had a lot of complicated international implications, and after a lot of negotiating and about eight further months of war, the nation she and her group had stolen the ship from had ceased to exist. Left with no one to claim it back from her, the Admiral declared it rightfully hers and set about accumulating more power for herself and the IAU."
The Apprentice gestured to the image. "This was all about twenty years ago. Since then, she and her organization have been accumulating power fairly consistently. Not two years ago, as it happens, the IAU commandeered a cutting-edge cruise ship, simply named the Jewel, and they've essentially bolted it to that first ship they stole all those years ago, taking all of the modern technologies present on the Jewel and doing their best to make them useful on Oh Two Oh (as the military vessel is colloquially known). The end result is a ship that isn't exactly suited for high-inertia manoeuvres but is nevertheless armed to the teeth and well-suited for being run by a group not exactly known for their adherence to laws and regulations.
"In the end, it's a recipe for one thing. The IAU's stronghold has become a haven for criminals of all sorts and is, in many ways, a cultural icon. Even legitimate businesspeople come here to hock their wares, and if there's anything you need, it's practically guaranteed that someone in this massive, space-faring bazaar will be willing to sell it to you."
With a small grin, the Apprentice leaned forward and attempted to further emulate his mentor by steepling his fingers. "Now, because of the history of the place, people here are far from lax when it comes to protecting their property. If I found myself trying to get things from these people and I didn't have any money, I'd be careful. Thieves may be common here, but theft itself isn't terribly common. Those who try such things tend to have a way to end up on the wrong side of an airlock pretty quickly.
"That said, I'm sure you'll figure out a way to get me what I need. If you don't, well... explosive decompression isn't the worst way you can go."
With that, he reached out, flicked a switch, and sent the contestants on their way, scattering them to various locations across the two conjoined ships. Not a perfect transition, he reflected, but considering the systems he'd had to work around just to get it going at all, he was satisfied.
Spoiler