Re: Inexorable Altercation [Round III - Vorlon Complex]
09-25-2011, 03:34 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.
As Annaliese stepped out of the room, it started to lose even more definition, and Will 18 decided he should probably be somewhere else. He didn't know what would happen if the room shut down with him still in it, but it probably wouldn't be good. With a regretful glance out the door at the him from one timeline over, he transferred himself back into the computer system he'd come from.
When the file transfer finished, he found a little flashing warning greeting him. "Inconsistency detected," it said, followed by a link to a log file with more information.
> # inconalert.log
> # Format: timestamp location : class : description
> 1316925051 hall424 : Mass disparity : uninvestigated
> 1316923249 multiple : Mass disparities : appearance of unknown beings
> 1316541908 stor44 : Recording disruption : faulty wiring disabled stor44 camera, resolved
> 1316320221 external : Mass disparity : appearance of silver sphere; taken to stor113 for storage and testing
> 1316194442 stor44 : Recording disruption : faulty wiring disabled stor44 camera, resolved
> 1316102082 stor44 : Recording disruption : faulty wiring disabled stor44 camera, resolved
> 1316007693 stor44 : Recording disruption : faulty wiring disabled stor44 camera, resolved
The file continued on in a similar vein as far as Will cared to read, and he turned his attention back to the entries near the top. A "mass disparity," he guessed, meant that there'd been a change in the mass present at whatever location; given the timing of things, he could only assume the second entry referred to the arrival of the contestants.
The logical thing to do was to check the security logs for hall424 at around that timestamp, Will decided. He did a bit of navigating around, found where the camera footage was stored... and saw nothing but blackness. It had been wiped, he assumed, and closed out.
With nothing better to do, he turned his attention to the fourth entry, the one that mentioned a "silver sphere." It didn't take him long to call up the camera feed from stor113.
The silver sphere was there, surrounded by wires and electronic prodding implements. (Idly, Will 18 wondered what had put it there. Automated maintenance units, perhaps?)
With a bit of effort, Will found that he could move the instruments surrounding the sphere, and with a bit of poking at it, he found something interesting; there was a handprint on the thing. A human handprint, or at least something similar. That intrigued him; this planet was occupied by insectoid beings, after all. How could they make something that looked so much like a human hand?
Even more interesting, it seemed that the handprint had some sensors embedded in it. Maybe, Will reasoned, they could be used to access whatever was inside.
Interface attempted. Analyzing brain patterns... Human. Enabling...
Suddenly, there was a figure standing in the room. A projection, Will somehow knew, but a human one.
"Greetings," the figure said. "If you have recovered this orb, then you are in grave danger..."
The message went on about organizing against the Grandmasters and whatnot, but the moment the part about communicating with any other orb came up, Will's attention vanished. He didn't particularly care about stopping the Grandmasters at that particular moment, truth be told. He just wanted to survive, and he'd just been handed the opportunity.
He could escape this computer system, using the orb to transfer himself anywhere but here. Even if the transfer failed, all that would happen is he would simply cease to exist. Not the most comforting thought, certainly, but still a far better fate than slowly degrading into insanity where he was.
He didn't hesitate. The moment he was satisfied the computer he was in could handle transferring him, he started the process.
A progress bar came up on the screen in storage room 113, and when it reached the end, there was just one Will present in the complex.
-
As Will 19 attempted to figure out what had happened to Annaliese (he figured it was safe to assume she wasn't also jumping timelines, so the explanation was likely something a bit less familiar to him), she looked around at the little group gathered outside the door.
"More archaeologists, I assume?" There was a fair note of irony in her voice, but it vanished as her face lit up in genuine happiness, spying the Sollipor. "Quostus! Oh, it's so good t-"
"Gias is here," the small figure interrupted, cutting to the chase despite his relief that his queen had found someone suitable to use. "We need to deal with him before anything else."
-
In a universe far removed, a young man stared at the face that showed up on the screen of the device powered by the overflow from the generator in his heart.
"Wait, you can't be serious. Will freaking Haven?"
As Annaliese stepped out of the room, it started to lose even more definition, and Will 18 decided he should probably be somewhere else. He didn't know what would happen if the room shut down with him still in it, but it probably wouldn't be good. With a regretful glance out the door at the him from one timeline over, he transferred himself back into the computer system he'd come from.
When the file transfer finished, he found a little flashing warning greeting him. "Inconsistency detected," it said, followed by a link to a log file with more information.
> # inconalert.log
> # Format: timestamp location : class : description
> 1316925051 hall424 : Mass disparity : uninvestigated
> 1316923249 multiple : Mass disparities : appearance of unknown beings
> 1316541908 stor44 : Recording disruption : faulty wiring disabled stor44 camera, resolved
> 1316320221 external : Mass disparity : appearance of silver sphere; taken to stor113 for storage and testing
> 1316194442 stor44 : Recording disruption : faulty wiring disabled stor44 camera, resolved
> 1316102082 stor44 : Recording disruption : faulty wiring disabled stor44 camera, resolved
> 1316007693 stor44 : Recording disruption : faulty wiring disabled stor44 camera, resolved
The file continued on in a similar vein as far as Will cared to read, and he turned his attention back to the entries near the top. A "mass disparity," he guessed, meant that there'd been a change in the mass present at whatever location; given the timing of things, he could only assume the second entry referred to the arrival of the contestants.
The logical thing to do was to check the security logs for hall424 at around that timestamp, Will decided. He did a bit of navigating around, found where the camera footage was stored... and saw nothing but blackness. It had been wiped, he assumed, and closed out.
With nothing better to do, he turned his attention to the fourth entry, the one that mentioned a "silver sphere." It didn't take him long to call up the camera feed from stor113.
The silver sphere was there, surrounded by wires and electronic prodding implements. (Idly, Will 18 wondered what had put it there. Automated maintenance units, perhaps?)
With a bit of effort, Will found that he could move the instruments surrounding the sphere, and with a bit of poking at it, he found something interesting; there was a handprint on the thing. A human handprint, or at least something similar. That intrigued him; this planet was occupied by insectoid beings, after all. How could they make something that looked so much like a human hand?
Even more interesting, it seemed that the handprint had some sensors embedded in it. Maybe, Will reasoned, they could be used to access whatever was inside.
Interface attempted. Analyzing brain patterns... Human. Enabling...
Suddenly, there was a figure standing in the room. A projection, Will somehow knew, but a human one.
"Greetings," the figure said. "If you have recovered this orb, then you are in grave danger..."
The message went on about organizing against the Grandmasters and whatnot, but the moment the part about communicating with any other orb came up, Will's attention vanished. He didn't particularly care about stopping the Grandmasters at that particular moment, truth be told. He just wanted to survive, and he'd just been handed the opportunity.
He could escape this computer system, using the orb to transfer himself anywhere but here. Even if the transfer failed, all that would happen is he would simply cease to exist. Not the most comforting thought, certainly, but still a far better fate than slowly degrading into insanity where he was.
He didn't hesitate. The moment he was satisfied the computer he was in could handle transferring him, he started the process.
A progress bar came up on the screen in storage room 113, and when it reached the end, there was just one Will present in the complex.
-
As Will 19 attempted to figure out what had happened to Annaliese (he figured it was safe to assume she wasn't also jumping timelines, so the explanation was likely something a bit less familiar to him), she looked around at the little group gathered outside the door.
"More archaeologists, I assume?" There was a fair note of irony in her voice, but it vanished as her face lit up in genuine happiness, spying the Sollipor. "Quostus! Oh, it's so good t-"
"Gias is here," the small figure interrupted, cutting to the chase despite his relief that his queen had found someone suitable to use. "We need to deal with him before anything else."
-
In a universe far removed, a young man stared at the face that showed up on the screen of the device powered by the overflow from the generator in his heart.
"Wait, you can't be serious. Will freaking Haven?"