Re: Grand Battle S3G1! (Round Two: The Great Battlefield)
11-19-2011, 04:59 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Anomaly.
Tengeri wasn't sure why she hadn't expected an inclination toward violence from her fellow scientist. Sure, his large companion had seemed more than gleeful to reduce anything in the way to cinders, but for a reason she couldn't fully explain, she had expected TinTen to be more... refined, somehow. Maybe it was just a preconceived notion about scientists, from her limited, mostly-conflict-free experience. She hadn't experienced the things he had, so of course their worldviews would differ greatly. Where Tengeri held an intense aversion to violence, the Meipi held none.
But, she decided, this was neither the time nor the place to question herself. The countdown timer, helpfully displayed in the corner of her vision, read one hour and two minutes, and was dropping quickly. She immediately whipped through the door and down the hallway, cutting through the air as she effortlessly caught up with the stumbling scientist.
"We have a little over an hour left before the nukes are launched. I suggest we find a path to the surface as quickly as possible."
"Guards surely notified. Likely approaching. Will dispatch, must not waste time."
Appropriate as it may have been, guards did not immediately begin pouring through every door simultaneously. In fact, the facility seemed unexpectedly barren, considering its importance to the war.
"Something's wrong. I'm not picking up any biosigns, approaching or otherwise. "
"Unusual. Expected hostility. Abandonment of facility unlikely."
The Meipi slipped his camera under another door, and, as was to be expected, the corridor beyond was abandoned. Noting his difficulty traveling on land, Tengeri pulled the door open with a mechanical appendage and allowed the Meipi to pass before she entered.
"Something's wrong..." Tengeri paused for a moment, mouth contoring into a frown. "There don't appear to be any paths which might lead to the surface. Nor are there any viable underwater exits. It looks like we're stuck down here. It would explain the lack of guards down here. However... I'm picking up four lifeforms in a large central chamber. It could be a control room. Perhaps there's a way of aborting the launch from there."
"Is possible. Must remain on guard. Lead way, will provide backup in case of hostility."
Tengeri quickly traced the quickest route to the possible control room, a twisting path of corridors and stairways leading deeper beneath the lake than the doctor had previously expected. The journey through the facility proved to be wholly - almost disturbingly - uneventful, as if the computer had failed to properly load in the scenario. As riveting as the tale of the scientists wandering down stairs and through hallways might have been, it will unfortunately not be further recanted in this text. Needless to say, the two soon arrived at a large, reinforced steel door, lacking both in labeling and controls of any sort.
"Stand back. No time to waste, must destroy door."
Tengeri quickly distanced herself from the door as the Meipi took up his grenade launcher, and, as soon as she was out of the way, fired. A large portion of the door instantly ceased to exist, reduced to bits and pieces among the scorch marks on the floor. Beyond the door lay an enormous chamber full of computer consoles, displaying scenes from around the battle, as well as a central screen displaying the battlefield as a whole, detailing troop movements and a myriad other statistics. In the center of the room, four indistinct figures stood, shrouded in shadows, their faces hidden even in the bright light of the room. None so much as flinched at the explosion of the entryway - it was almost as if they had not noticed at all, until one of them spoke.
"It would appear we have visitors."
Death was approaching for Her. In a desperate bid to save herself, Her had sent for the anomalies within its system to put an end to the reset, to protect itself from certain destruction. All had gone according to plan - the "control room" which Her could not access had been breached by two of the anomalies, two inclined toward science. If any of them could stop the launch altogether, it would most likely be them. So close they had come already.
But what Her had not expected was that the control room would hold a final line of defense. A hardcoded protective measure put in place by the Four, in case all else failed. Were Her to bypass their final line of security, it would have total control over itself, and they would be powerless to stop the rapidly-spreading errors from consuming the system entirely. They could not let the system become so corrupted that physically destroying the system would be the only remaining option.
It just so happened that this final line of defense, within the simulation, was represented by the Benefactors themselves. Or rather, a symbolic version of them, shrouded in darkness, faceless. A representation of Her's fear of the uncaring Four who would bring its death without hesitation or remorse. No other defenses were necessary against the corruption. Nothing would get past them.
They had made sure of it.
"It seems aggression is only a natural reaction for them," continued the first voice. "If you would."
"Of course," said another voice indistinct from the first.
One of the figures held a hand toward the pair, instantly trapping them within a shimmering, spherical force field. Tengeri, enraged, struck at the barrier with a manipulator, only for the plasma cutter at the end to instantly vaporize.
"Dammit!" the serpent shouted, instantly retracting the damaged appendage into the implant on her back.
"Aggression useless," TinTen confirmed as his laser pistol's discharges were absorbed harmlessly into the field. "Negotiation may be necessary."
Tengeri sighed. She couldn't let her pent-up anger seep through if she was going to get anywhere.
"My apologies, Benefactors," Tengeri eventually began, trying her best to recover from her outburst moments before. "We simply wish to discuss vital matters with you."
"Now she wishes to speak."
"Naturally, now that we have them restrained."
"Let them speak, it matters not what they say."
Tengeri flashed a nervous glance at TinTen, one which was not returned. The Meipi seemed deep in thought, and had likely failed to notice the gesture. Under the collectively ambiguous gaze of the "Benefactors", she continued.
"You have to stop the nuclear launch. Her isn't just a computer, she's sentient. You've seen the simulation she's running. I don't even know if the actual Benefactors are hearing this, but if you are, you have to listen. You're going to kill an innocent being, even if it is a mechanical one!"
One of the four finally stepped forth.
"I do not believe you understand. The computer known as 'Her' is malfunctioning, and must be reset immediately. There are no other options."
"There are always other options!" the serpent announced, though she didn't believe her own words. "And even so, there are eight of us here who aren't just simulations. You know of us, the 'anomalies'. We were brought here against our will and instructed to fight to the death. If you launch the nukes, all of us are going to die!"
The one who had addressed Tengeri turned back to the other three.
"Brought into the system against their will?"
"They say they're not programs. Unlikely."
"But possible. It would explain the sudden appearance in the system."
After a few more moments of murmured discussion, one of them again stepped out.
"You say you were brought here to fight to the death. Under what conditions will you leave?"
"Only when one of us dies do the rest move on," Tengeri said nervously. She came to the sudden realization that the figures could simply collapse the forcefield on them, killing them and sending the rest away. She could do naught but hope this wouldn't be the case.
More conferring.
"Very well. We will assume you do not wish for your own death, and will therefore give you the chance. Kill one of the eight. If what you are saying is true, the rest of you will be taken to safety. The nuclear launch cannot and will not be aborted, General. You have forty-eight minutes. Go."
In an instant, Tengeri and TinTen found themselves standing by the lakeside, not far from the others. Tengeri had not gone through the brief ordeal well - her face wore an exceedingly distraught expression. She attempted to steel herself, but found it difficult. She had escaped, but she had failed in her task - there seemed to be no way for the non-water-faring members of the group to enter the facility, and she had failed to stop the launch from inside. What was she thinking, trying to be a leader? She was just a cyberneticist; she wasn't cut out to be a military officer of even the lowest rank.
"Come, must stop nukes."
Tengeri shook herself out of her momentary crisis at the Meipi's words. "How? It doesn't seem like there's much we can do."
"Must use nullifier. During negotiations, discerned nuke locations from map. No launch. Nukes directly under main four bases. Blast enough to encompass full battlefield."
Tengeri very slightly perked up at the Meipi's words. "So, what you're saying is that we need Scofflaw to get three more nullifiers, then we have to deliver them to the nuke locations before we've run out of time."
"Is a stretch, but may work. Few options left. Must try."
Tengeri loathed the idea of interacting more with the ex-Saint, but, naturally, everything depended upon his cooperation. Resolutely, Tengeri leaped into the water, and, followed by TinTen, raced toward the opposite side, where the others remained in wait. The fate of the battlefield now rested in the cooperation of the capricious. Naturally, the Leviath expected the worst.
Tengeri wasn't sure why she hadn't expected an inclination toward violence from her fellow scientist. Sure, his large companion had seemed more than gleeful to reduce anything in the way to cinders, but for a reason she couldn't fully explain, she had expected TinTen to be more... refined, somehow. Maybe it was just a preconceived notion about scientists, from her limited, mostly-conflict-free experience. She hadn't experienced the things he had, so of course their worldviews would differ greatly. Where Tengeri held an intense aversion to violence, the Meipi held none.
But, she decided, this was neither the time nor the place to question herself. The countdown timer, helpfully displayed in the corner of her vision, read one hour and two minutes, and was dropping quickly. She immediately whipped through the door and down the hallway, cutting through the air as she effortlessly caught up with the stumbling scientist.
"We have a little over an hour left before the nukes are launched. I suggest we find a path to the surface as quickly as possible."
"Guards surely notified. Likely approaching. Will dispatch, must not waste time."
Appropriate as it may have been, guards did not immediately begin pouring through every door simultaneously. In fact, the facility seemed unexpectedly barren, considering its importance to the war.
"Something's wrong. I'm not picking up any biosigns, approaching or otherwise. "
"Unusual. Expected hostility. Abandonment of facility unlikely."
The Meipi slipped his camera under another door, and, as was to be expected, the corridor beyond was abandoned. Noting his difficulty traveling on land, Tengeri pulled the door open with a mechanical appendage and allowed the Meipi to pass before she entered.
"Something's wrong..." Tengeri paused for a moment, mouth contoring into a frown. "There don't appear to be any paths which might lead to the surface. Nor are there any viable underwater exits. It looks like we're stuck down here. It would explain the lack of guards down here. However... I'm picking up four lifeforms in a large central chamber. It could be a control room. Perhaps there's a way of aborting the launch from there."
"Is possible. Must remain on guard. Lead way, will provide backup in case of hostility."
Tengeri quickly traced the quickest route to the possible control room, a twisting path of corridors and stairways leading deeper beneath the lake than the doctor had previously expected. The journey through the facility proved to be wholly - almost disturbingly - uneventful, as if the computer had failed to properly load in the scenario. As riveting as the tale of the scientists wandering down stairs and through hallways might have been, it will unfortunately not be further recanted in this text. Needless to say, the two soon arrived at a large, reinforced steel door, lacking both in labeling and controls of any sort.
"Stand back. No time to waste, must destroy door."
Tengeri quickly distanced herself from the door as the Meipi took up his grenade launcher, and, as soon as she was out of the way, fired. A large portion of the door instantly ceased to exist, reduced to bits and pieces among the scorch marks on the floor. Beyond the door lay an enormous chamber full of computer consoles, displaying scenes from around the battle, as well as a central screen displaying the battlefield as a whole, detailing troop movements and a myriad other statistics. In the center of the room, four indistinct figures stood, shrouded in shadows, their faces hidden even in the bright light of the room. None so much as flinched at the explosion of the entryway - it was almost as if they had not noticed at all, until one of them spoke.
"It would appear we have visitors."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Knowledge. Leadership. Tactics. Business.Death was approaching for Her. In a desperate bid to save herself, Her had sent for the anomalies within its system to put an end to the reset, to protect itself from certain destruction. All had gone according to plan - the "control room" which Her could not access had been breached by two of the anomalies, two inclined toward science. If any of them could stop the launch altogether, it would most likely be them. So close they had come already.
But what Her had not expected was that the control room would hold a final line of defense. A hardcoded protective measure put in place by the Four, in case all else failed. Were Her to bypass their final line of security, it would have total control over itself, and they would be powerless to stop the rapidly-spreading errors from consuming the system entirely. They could not let the system become so corrupted that physically destroying the system would be the only remaining option.
It just so happened that this final line of defense, within the simulation, was represented by the Benefactors themselves. Or rather, a symbolic version of them, shrouded in darkness, faceless. A representation of Her's fear of the uncaring Four who would bring its death without hesitation or remorse. No other defenses were necessary against the corruption. Nothing would get past them.
They had made sure of it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"It's over, Benefactors. Abort the launch." Tengeri extended each manipulator and converted the claws at the ends into the equally-familiar plasma cutters. TinTen backed this gesture up (or, more likely, surpassed it) by aiming his grenade launcher squarely at the four shaded figures."It seems aggression is only a natural reaction for them," continued the first voice. "If you would."
"Of course," said another voice indistinct from the first.
One of the figures held a hand toward the pair, instantly trapping them within a shimmering, spherical force field. Tengeri, enraged, struck at the barrier with a manipulator, only for the plasma cutter at the end to instantly vaporize.
"Dammit!" the serpent shouted, instantly retracting the damaged appendage into the implant on her back.
"Aggression useless," TinTen confirmed as his laser pistol's discharges were absorbed harmlessly into the field. "Negotiation may be necessary."
Tengeri sighed. She couldn't let her pent-up anger seep through if she was going to get anywhere.
"My apologies, Benefactors," Tengeri eventually began, trying her best to recover from her outburst moments before. "We simply wish to discuss vital matters with you."
"Now she wishes to speak."
"Naturally, now that we have them restrained."
"Let them speak, it matters not what they say."
Tengeri flashed a nervous glance at TinTen, one which was not returned. The Meipi seemed deep in thought, and had likely failed to notice the gesture. Under the collectively ambiguous gaze of the "Benefactors", she continued.
"You have to stop the nuclear launch. Her isn't just a computer, she's sentient. You've seen the simulation she's running. I don't even know if the actual Benefactors are hearing this, but if you are, you have to listen. You're going to kill an innocent being, even if it is a mechanical one!"
One of the four finally stepped forth.
"I do not believe you understand. The computer known as 'Her' is malfunctioning, and must be reset immediately. There are no other options."
"There are always other options!" the serpent announced, though she didn't believe her own words. "And even so, there are eight of us here who aren't just simulations. You know of us, the 'anomalies'. We were brought here against our will and instructed to fight to the death. If you launch the nukes, all of us are going to die!"
The one who had addressed Tengeri turned back to the other three.
"Brought into the system against their will?"
"They say they're not programs. Unlikely."
"But possible. It would explain the sudden appearance in the system."
After a few more moments of murmured discussion, one of them again stepped out.
"You say you were brought here to fight to the death. Under what conditions will you leave?"
"Only when one of us dies do the rest move on," Tengeri said nervously. She came to the sudden realization that the figures could simply collapse the forcefield on them, killing them and sending the rest away. She could do naught but hope this wouldn't be the case.
More conferring.
"Very well. We will assume you do not wish for your own death, and will therefore give you the chance. Kill one of the eight. If what you are saying is true, the rest of you will be taken to safety. The nuclear launch cannot and will not be aborted, General. You have forty-eight minutes. Go."
In an instant, Tengeri and TinTen found themselves standing by the lakeside, not far from the others. Tengeri had not gone through the brief ordeal well - her face wore an exceedingly distraught expression. She attempted to steel herself, but found it difficult. She had escaped, but she had failed in her task - there seemed to be no way for the non-water-faring members of the group to enter the facility, and she had failed to stop the launch from inside. What was she thinking, trying to be a leader? She was just a cyberneticist; she wasn't cut out to be a military officer of even the lowest rank.
"Come, must stop nukes."
Tengeri shook herself out of her momentary crisis at the Meipi's words. "How? It doesn't seem like there's much we can do."
"Must use nullifier. During negotiations, discerned nuke locations from map. No launch. Nukes directly under main four bases. Blast enough to encompass full battlefield."
Tengeri very slightly perked up at the Meipi's words. "So, what you're saying is that we need Scofflaw to get three more nullifiers, then we have to deliver them to the nuke locations before we've run out of time."
"Is a stretch, but may work. Few options left. Must try."
Tengeri loathed the idea of interacting more with the ex-Saint, but, naturally, everything depended upon his cooperation. Resolutely, Tengeri leaped into the water, and, followed by TinTen, raced toward the opposite side, where the others remained in wait. The fate of the battlefield now rested in the cooperation of the capricious. Naturally, the Leviath expected the worst.