Re: The Spectacular Exhibition (S3G2) [Round 2: Space - Abridged]
08-05-2011, 09:33 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Mirdini.
Tria stood numbly in the void as the “Professor” character stuttered onwards, turning over the events of the pyramid in her head. She’d smashed that puppet’s arm, which Gepetto had spent time fixing which the kid could’ve used to run away from that… Sentinel thing, time she’d stolen from him which ended up costing him his life. Did that mean she was responsible for Gepetto’s death? Tria might’ve been a thief for five years, but she’d never actually killed a person before – much less a child.
It was an accident! I didn’t mean for any of that to happen, I’m not a murderer! I…
In spite of her rationalizations, Tria’s conscience disagreed. She was still wrestling with the implications of what she had done when Professor snapped his fingers and she popped out of existence.
-and back, to find herself staring at a skyscraper that could just as easily have stood in the central business district of Metralis. She’d only been there once, a junior sneak running errands for more veteran gang members who had been casing a building for later infiltration, but she still recalled gawking in wonder at the height of those steel and glass monuments, gleaming in the feeble sunlight between storms. And the trees – actual TREES – that had stood in martial file on every avenue! The skyscraper in front of her did not reach into a clouded sky, however, but straight into the pitch black of space. Lost in thought, Tria followed the length of the building into what passed for a sky - she could make out no stars, but several other spheres that could only be some of the planetoids the Professor had winked into existence. If what he had said was true, she only needed to leap with enough force to-
-VRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Tria jerked towards the sudden cacophony, slowly grasping in fragmented instances where she was actually standing. The sound was a horn, the source a very large vehi-
She was on the tracks again. It rushed towards her, growing larger with every passing moment. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t move-
A small part of her mind screamed at her to dodge, to get out of the way, to use her arm, to do something, anything, anything to avoid the bus hurtling towards her still figure. Instead she stared at it, her mind paralyzed by fear. The bus began - almost comically - to swerve out of the way, far too late to affect the outcome of the seemingly inevitable collision.
The bus slid closer, only a few meters now separating the girl and five tonnes of metal. Passers-by gaped at the scene.
<font size="3">Existential Threat Identified. Standard Field Strength Not Sufficient To Preserve Apparatus. Removing Safety Parameters.
Tria’s arm whipped up of its own accord, segmenting to reveal the electromagnet coiled within. Bright white light erupted from the device, electricity crackling down the length of the limb as the Apparatus was pushed further than ever before. A web – no, a wall of magnetic energy burst from the girl’s hand and slammed into the bus, sending it and several vehicles behind it flying into a building in a manner reminiscent of a child sweeping aside toy cars.
Fatal Power Surge Detected. Shutting Down Auxiliary AI Functions. Initiating Transfer Of Full Control To Host. Heat Management Standby Mode Engaged. Goodbye.
Her mind rocked with a sudden surge of sensation from her right arm, snapping her out of her paralysis and into the present. Her first instinct was to dive onto the sidewalk, but it was quickly suppressed as a vicious, wracking pain shot up her right side. Swallowing a sob, Tria’s legs buckled under her, the girl clutching her shoulder as she fell into shock. Consciously she hardly noticed the pandemonium that had erupted throughout the street at her display, much less the ominous rumbling of the nearby tower freshly ventilated by an influx of airborne automobiles. Slowly but surely, the building began to slant towards the road.
Some primal instinct screamed at her to get moving, to get out of the area, and despite her limp right arm and the constant, violent throbbing from her shoulder Tria’s body obeyed. She ran through abandoned cars and screaming crowds, past storefronts and electronic billboards, finally staggering around a corner and into a dilapidated alley. There she collapsed, panting and screwing her eyes shut as her body acclimatized to the advanced integration her Apparatus had initiated. Minute by minute the pain decreased exponentially, until it settled into a manageable ache. She opened her eyes again to a view that felt unnaturally like home – the same worn pipes, the same patina of grime covering every available surface. As the surge of adrenaline that had propelled her dash left her system the pain in her shoulder flared, and Tria (still lightheaded) idly wondered if she would be able to find some form hospital or pharmacy on the planetoid.
Some meds would really hit the spot right now…
As lucidity returned to her, however, her thirst for relief was subsumed by a curiosity over what had just occurred. When Liren had told her he had given her arm some “basic AI package” following a checkup a year after her “acquisition” she had assumed it was simply a way to make sure she didn’t burn out or try to off herself with the arm, like some of the other Apparati she’d heard rumors about. Either he’d lied about its capabilities (and Tria could see no reason why he would have), or the AI had evolved at some point since its installation. She was certain that Liren had limited her maximum field strength to something far below the explosion of magnetism she’d produced earlier, and knew he would never have trusted a computer program with something as sensitive as removing those limits – that paranoid bastard.
Even more curiously, she couldn’t feel it dampening her awareness of the Apparatus anymore either. She couldn’t find the AI at all. Though the prosthetic was currently hanging lifelessly from her body, she could feel the machinery within entirely busy capturing and storing the remaining heat from her prior display – without which she would likely have had first degree burns down the length of her body. As things stood she merely felt slightly warmed, as if she had just taken a hot shower. A figure popped into her head – it would take at least three hours for her arm to return to an operational state.
What? How do I know that?
Tria paused, guardedly considering the wild current of information that sprang from her Apparatus straight into her brain. Though still muddled, her mind seemed to be organizing it with remarkable speed.
Still hurts like a bitch, though.
She winced, holding her shoulder as she gradually propped herself up against the wall. As interesting as her newfound capabilities were (whatever they are), she remembered that regardless of her current situation she was still stuck in a battle to the death with sev- no, six- six other beings of indeterminate power. She certainly didn’t want to get caught sitting down if one less sympathetic than -What was her name again? Brook? Brookie? - showed up.
Tria had almost managed to stand up when she was knocked back to the ground by the sudden impact of a particularly crystalline meteor on the avenue immediately parallel to her temporary refuge.</font>
Tria stood numbly in the void as the “Professor” character stuttered onwards, turning over the events of the pyramid in her head. She’d smashed that puppet’s arm, which Gepetto had spent time fixing which the kid could’ve used to run away from that… Sentinel thing, time she’d stolen from him which ended up costing him his life. Did that mean she was responsible for Gepetto’s death? Tria might’ve been a thief for five years, but she’d never actually killed a person before – much less a child.
It was an accident! I didn’t mean for any of that to happen, I’m not a murderer! I…
In spite of her rationalizations, Tria’s conscience disagreed. She was still wrestling with the implications of what she had done when Professor snapped his fingers and she popped out of existence.
-and back, to find herself staring at a skyscraper that could just as easily have stood in the central business district of Metralis. She’d only been there once, a junior sneak running errands for more veteran gang members who had been casing a building for later infiltration, but she still recalled gawking in wonder at the height of those steel and glass monuments, gleaming in the feeble sunlight between storms. And the trees – actual TREES – that had stood in martial file on every avenue! The skyscraper in front of her did not reach into a clouded sky, however, but straight into the pitch black of space. Lost in thought, Tria followed the length of the building into what passed for a sky - she could make out no stars, but several other spheres that could only be some of the planetoids the Professor had winked into existence. If what he had said was true, she only needed to leap with enough force to-
-VRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Tria jerked towards the sudden cacophony, slowly grasping in fragmented instances where she was actually standing. The sound was a horn, the source a very large vehi-
She was on the tracks again. It rushed towards her, growing larger with every passing moment. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t move-
A small part of her mind screamed at her to dodge, to get out of the way, to use her arm, to do something, anything, anything to avoid the bus hurtling towards her still figure. Instead she stared at it, her mind paralyzed by fear. The bus began - almost comically - to swerve out of the way, far too late to affect the outcome of the seemingly inevitable collision.
The bus slid closer, only a few meters now separating the girl and five tonnes of metal. Passers-by gaped at the scene.
<font size="3">Existential Threat Identified. Standard Field Strength Not Sufficient To Preserve Apparatus. Removing Safety Parameters.
Tria’s arm whipped up of its own accord, segmenting to reveal the electromagnet coiled within. Bright white light erupted from the device, electricity crackling down the length of the limb as the Apparatus was pushed further than ever before. A web – no, a wall of magnetic energy burst from the girl’s hand and slammed into the bus, sending it and several vehicles behind it flying into a building in a manner reminiscent of a child sweeping aside toy cars.
Fatal Power Surge Detected. Shutting Down Auxiliary AI Functions. Initiating Transfer Of Full Control To Host. Heat Management Standby Mode Engaged. Goodbye.
Her mind rocked with a sudden surge of sensation from her right arm, snapping her out of her paralysis and into the present. Her first instinct was to dive onto the sidewalk, but it was quickly suppressed as a vicious, wracking pain shot up her right side. Swallowing a sob, Tria’s legs buckled under her, the girl clutching her shoulder as she fell into shock. Consciously she hardly noticed the pandemonium that had erupted throughout the street at her display, much less the ominous rumbling of the nearby tower freshly ventilated by an influx of airborne automobiles. Slowly but surely, the building began to slant towards the road.
Some primal instinct screamed at her to get moving, to get out of the area, and despite her limp right arm and the constant, violent throbbing from her shoulder Tria’s body obeyed. She ran through abandoned cars and screaming crowds, past storefronts and electronic billboards, finally staggering around a corner and into a dilapidated alley. There she collapsed, panting and screwing her eyes shut as her body acclimatized to the advanced integration her Apparatus had initiated. Minute by minute the pain decreased exponentially, until it settled into a manageable ache. She opened her eyes again to a view that felt unnaturally like home – the same worn pipes, the same patina of grime covering every available surface. As the surge of adrenaline that had propelled her dash left her system the pain in her shoulder flared, and Tria (still lightheaded) idly wondered if she would be able to find some form hospital or pharmacy on the planetoid.
Some meds would really hit the spot right now…
As lucidity returned to her, however, her thirst for relief was subsumed by a curiosity over what had just occurred. When Liren had told her he had given her arm some “basic AI package” following a checkup a year after her “acquisition” she had assumed it was simply a way to make sure she didn’t burn out or try to off herself with the arm, like some of the other Apparati she’d heard rumors about. Either he’d lied about its capabilities (and Tria could see no reason why he would have), or the AI had evolved at some point since its installation. She was certain that Liren had limited her maximum field strength to something far below the explosion of magnetism she’d produced earlier, and knew he would never have trusted a computer program with something as sensitive as removing those limits – that paranoid bastard.
Even more curiously, she couldn’t feel it dampening her awareness of the Apparatus anymore either. She couldn’t find the AI at all. Though the prosthetic was currently hanging lifelessly from her body, she could feel the machinery within entirely busy capturing and storing the remaining heat from her prior display – without which she would likely have had first degree burns down the length of her body. As things stood she merely felt slightly warmed, as if she had just taken a hot shower. A figure popped into her head – it would take at least three hours for her arm to return to an operational state.
What? How do I know that?
Tria paused, guardedly considering the wild current of information that sprang from her Apparatus straight into her brain. Though still muddled, her mind seemed to be organizing it with remarkable speed.
Still hurts like a bitch, though.
She winced, holding her shoulder as she gradually propped herself up against the wall. As interesting as her newfound capabilities were (whatever they are), she remembered that regardless of her current situation she was still stuck in a battle to the death with sev- no, six- six other beings of indeterminate power. She certainly didn’t want to get caught sitting down if one less sympathetic than -What was her name again? Brook? Brookie? - showed up.
Tria had almost managed to stand up when she was knocked back to the ground by the sudden impact of a particularly crystalline meteor on the avenue immediately parallel to her temporary refuge.</font>