Jump to content

Recommended Posts

:ninja: :ninja: :ninja: 1.11[11] :ninja: :ninja: :ninja:

 

It turned out the fleas were not fully fleas but were at least thrice hybrids and yet the term 'glowfleas' became of common use. The glowfleas had been spreading a smart-virus that caused the Isolation Illness. Intensive analysis soon came up with a vaccine but not as yet a cure.

 

PrimeOverseer Almodovar was not pleased that the newcomers had gotten into the demivault so easily, through a secondary airlock powerdoor that officially did not exist. This, in itself, was no surprise for there were many such areas, and features, in the structure. Extensive remapping of the demivault was a necessary but under resourced task given over to a SemiOverseer and her three staff members.

 

Yet Almodovar was quick to accept an agreement for practical reasons.

 

Firstly, he quickly realised the newcomers were very dangerous and that all the demivault security guards together could not really match them.

 

Secondly, they had already come up with the vaccine and were helping to administer it to the first 100 official volunteers, all being Class C vault citizens ordered to volunteer or face cuts in assistance; but they did get small vaultcredit bonuses for doing so.

 

Thirdly, the newcomers would be helpful in other ways that DemiVault101D needed desperately.

 

Fourthly, they could provide valuable service so many other ways any careful compromise was worth it.

 

Fifthly, it would strengthen his political position against enemy factions with an eye on his official position.

 

Sixthly, he was curious about what would happen.

 

Seventhly, it would perhaps stop Amata, his beloved daughter, from pestering him so much.

Edited by Maharg67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 80
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: 1.12[12] :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

 

The work on the Isolation Illness showed that the virus was more than a natural one, was a so called super-virus such as the variants of the FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) and the TVirus. Breaking it down was difficult for such were designed to resist scientific analysis. They were leftovers of the Doomswar of 2077AD to 2099AD. The Isolation Virus, or IVirus, was analysed in the Arisercube that was becoming its more used name.

 

It helped that it had been doubled in size with the addition of another 10mx10mx10m Cubechamber along with extra features to go with it plus linking corridors. As time passed there twice as fast as outside, along with there being much more advanced scientific resources there, and the genius of the Arisers, very much work was done there.

 

An antidote to the Isolation Illness, with its particular form of agoraphobic based paranoia plus negative physical effects, was found but it was iffy.

 

James stood in the Arisercube laboratory-workshop studying the arrays of hardware, racks of test tubes, shelving full of equipment-supplies with amazement. "You could spare some of this."

 

Alisa nodded. "Do you mean for Project Purity? Don't look at me that way, there were others who were working with the project and the DCBoS (DC Brotherhood of Steel) guarding it, who of course knew the details. You came to TechVault101 to get a safe, new, life but only to see if they had a GECK here, being a Garden of Eden Creation Kit. You became quickly isolated here in DemiVault101D after finding out there was no GECK here. They let you in, because you needed you, but the Overseers would not let you out. In truth somebody, we do not know, sent us some extra information about you and your activities here in DV101D."

 

James frowned. "Anything else I should know about what I have been up to?"

 

Alisa shrugged. "There is more than one type of GECK being Alpha, Omega, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon. The first three officially existed though in a secretive fashion. The last two were officially non existent though semiofficially they were so. Perhaps there are other types. The GECKs only make up one part of the GECP, the Garden of Eden Creation Program. There are also three more components that we do not even know the name of. We have a GECK/Alpha that you can have but it is large and heavily as a 3mx3mx3m cubecanister. Thankfully it can be broken down into nine 1mx1mx1m cubecanisters each of which is a solidstate portable databank full of vital GECP related data."

 

James looked wary. "Why are you being so generous?"

 

Alisa smiled. "Because we have a Multiquest and one primary quest is to assist in the successful completion of Project Purity to fully cleanse, and revitalise, a large part of DC."

 

James smiled. "Inside the WashingtonDC citydome was my idea but we need to fix up the dome itself to make it fully viable. Okay, I will start analysing this IVirus and see if I can offer any insight. I suppose you know where I was born and how I know about such matters."

 

Alisa shook her head. "No! Our information only starts, with you, in the months prior to the birthing incident. We do not know anything of your birth, of your life earlier than that or many other details."

 

James nodded. "We can speak of such matters later; lets see if we can improve the IVirus antidote."

Edited by Maharg67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:happy: :mad: :ermm: 1.13[13] :ermm: :mad: :happy:

 

Gatewaytown was a DCUS (District of Columbia Union of Settlements) settlement based in and around a very large defence-security-safety airlock area where monorails, roads and vactubes (vacuum tubes) passed through the ground level of the WDC Citydome. DCMilitia guarded the ways in and out, with standard green flexible light armoured fatigues and extensive body-armour including visorhelmets, gloves and boots. They carried AKM16A2 autocarbines or, less commonly, AKM16A3 autocarbines, lasers or other weapons. The lasers were basic, bulky, laser-carbines or fewer, bigger, laser-rifles.

 

Despite all of this, the DCMilitiaguards were clearly aware of the greater power of the Mysterious Stranger and his fairly large group of humans, horses and dogs. After a trade caravan of fixed up PreDD buses, vans and trucks had gone in through, passing through the three big powergates, the newcomers followed calmly and quietly.

 

The MS was well aware that at least a couple of the guardsmen were paid, by various factions, to provide information on who-what passed through. The DCUS Government itself had a fairly well skilled observer there disguised as a DCMilitia NCO. He could 'smell' the petty corruption of the woman but she was hardly the only one there. The DCUS was well known for its wide spread petty corruption and pockets of heavier corruption, being one of the reasons that it was starting to fall apart.

 

The Gatewaytown Markets lay just beyond the inner powerdoor. The MS was soon speaking to locals eager to sell goods and services, largely at over inflated rates, but he gently-firmly dismissed them all. Until that is he bought muttfruit juice off a female teenadult.

 

He passed her three prizecaps (prize bottlecaps) though the price was one prizecap. The frizzy blonde smiled very warmly. "You are very generous, mister, so how about your friends? Any of them want a drink of fresh as a daisy muttfruit juice?"

 

The MS smiled. "MissFortune will have one as will MrWalker and anyone else who is thirsty."

 

So four other MSFollowers had fresh muttfruit juice. As calculations were, that was four times three amounting normally to 12 prizecaps but somehow, this time, it ended up as 20 prizecaps. The femme made the small trove vanish into hiding with amazing speed.

 

The almost woman smiled. "Why you so generous, tall and handsome? You want information on where the prostitute house is or the GirlsNGames Saloon here in Gatewaytown? Or maybe you want to buy some goods at Best As Get. If you go to any of them mention my name cause they give me a small reward for referring customers to them or the stables-kennels, one of the diners, or one of the artisans."

 

The MS sighed softly. "We want unusual monster stories and I mean real ones, not made up ones. You do that and you get real well paid. Where do you and the other street urchins hang out? Aaahhh, yes, in that half ruined building at the very outskirts of the town. Life is getting rougher here with the growing troubles of the DCUS which are no accident."

 

The girl frowned and then nodded. "Yep, something tells me you would know things like that just by looking at people. We do okay, I suppose, but we could be doing better. The bullyboys are getting worse since Sheriff Masterson vanished. He was a good man and fought the Carlington Family who are taking over the town bit by bit by bit. The man that would be sheriff is the pits. Come to my abode."

Edited by Maharg67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:mad: :laugh: :laugh: 1.14[14] :laugh: :laugh: :mad:

 

They went to the surprisingly large, but grubby and mostly barren, 'abode'. The femme's name was Chloe and her friends were Tabatha, Zapper, Teetree, Clumps and Trembler. The first three were radhumans while the second two were raddogs. Some food rations were given out to the six of them and to three radcats who came soon after, having devoured some local rodents.

 

Chloe spoke to the MS. "True, unusual, monster stories? Deathclaws and that kind of thing are out then. There was the way that the huge muttbear vanished beneath the ground like something much bigger dragged it under. Hunters were watching the muttbear out of interest. It was a very big rogue male and they had just normal hunting rifles and bows. They weren't going to go after it. Then, just like that, the muttbear make a strange howling noise and vanished."

 

The MS made a particular, strange, howling sound.

 

Chloe nodded. "Yes, that was it."

 

The tall, broad shouldered, man spoke. "The howling did not come from the muttbear but from the terrible creature that grabbed him, that should not be up here but deep down below in the Underworld."

 

The femme shuddered. "I have heard stories of that horrible place, everybody has. Things down there, the DeepThings, should not come up here because they don't live well up here."

 

The MS nodded. "Except something made them come up here, enslaved their minds though they probably fought the slavery. Where did the muttbear get sucked underground?"

 

Chloe shrugged. "Very close to Junctionville just close to the WDC Dome. A large bunch of radcattle vanished over that way, also, and cattleguards saw them sucked under. Cattlelord Trevoka was very angry. The Cattlelords rule Junctionville and that area."

 

The MS nodded. "I know that just as I know those Cattlelords need a lesson in humility. Any more stories?"

 

She shook her head. "Just some strange ones about dragons coming up out of the ground but who would believe in that? That's crazy talk even for the Wastelands!"

 

The MS frowned. "Not crazy at all, sweetie, far from it! Dragons can fly, can dig fast through ground, can run, can climb and can swim. They can also do other things, depending on what sort of dragons they are. Something, up here, is disturbing energy patterns of powerful and subtle kinds. Now, any other kinds of strange stories you would like to talk about?"

 

Chloe: "Mrs Adams wears these horrible pink bloomers!"

 

The MS nodded solemnly. "Okay, very interesting, go on!"

 

Chloe: "There were some people here who were not really people but not every townie seemed to realise it. The Gaiasisters did with those strange third-eyes of theirs. There are five of them, and two Gaiabrothers, here in Gatewaytown but they don't have the third-eyes but I bet you know that already. The strangers ran away when the Gaiafollowers confronted them. Funny thing, all of them wore TechVault101 vaultsuits."

 

The MS nodded. "Its time you got a better place to live in and we are going to help you do just that. I want to talk to the Gaiafollowers."

 

Chloe smiled. "Just wait here cause Gaiasister Gaiaselena is coming tonight with some food and other goodies. The bullyboys are frightened of the Gaiafollowers though they do not admit it."

 

The MS smiled. "Now for some small gifts to give you all."

Edited by Maharg67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:sick: :sick: :sick: 1.15[15] :sick: :sick: :sick:

 

Amongst the great, majestic, semiruins of Utopiacity Gamma, stirred a crazy mass of different kinds of deepthings and yet most were relatively small-weak, always hiding-running-digging to get away from the bigger things in that area of constant semidarkness. The Underworld stretched in all directions, the great underground realm that had promised to be a great utopia but which became a living hell instead; or at least much of it did.

 

Pale, glistening, humanoids clutched crude weapons as they huddled around small fires in basic clothing and armour, using just as basic tools. Too think they had once been elite workers, servitors and guards serving the elite-elite of the immortals.

 

The PaleOneMan observed all through 3Dwallscreens while palepawns scurried around doing tasks or rested in altered bays that had once held robots as they recharged. There were active robots, and even more remoterobots, in the PaleOneComplex that had once been a Utopiacity traffic control complex that had also been part of the Utopiastate Security Network.

 

The voice spoke from a speakerbox attached to a big metal box with a shadobrain organism floating inside mostly clear, green tinted, water. "TechVault101! The distortions, in the phase and transdism energy patterns, are centered in that techvault. Yet it would seem to be implausible and explanation as none of the TechVaults were classed as having anything like the supertech needed to cause such disturbances."

 

The PaleOneMan stirred on-in his tankchair with clear, green tinted, water coming up to his chest. "There may be something in that techvault that is not human supertech in nature. Perhaps it is experimental hybridtech or stolen ultratech or there are other than humans operating in that techvault. Important thing is that we need to send an expedition to go find out what is going on there before the Shadoking panics again, enslaves another big shadobeast, and sends it up to find out what is going on."

 

The Mysterious Stranger was standing there almost as if he had always been there. "My friend, I can only make this a short visit but I have brought an audiotape of chamber music for you to listen to. I suggest that you go to DemiVault101D to begin with. I will meet you there as soon as I can do so."

 

The PaleOneMan nodded. "Aaahhh, glorious chamber music to soothe the troubled soul. I have three glitter-rise crystals for you, in return. I have gained more important data on how Utopiastate became the twisted Underworld that it is now. I sense you have important data to give in turn."

 

They did a filtered mind-to-mind data swap as multiple forms of information. It gave each of them a mild headache but no more than that.

 

The PaleOneMan frowned. "If the dragons are stirred up enough to send some of their most powerful kind to the Midworld than something most dangerous is happening."

 

The MS nodded. "Agreed! I hope that we get to meet, soon, to enjoy some music together."

The PaleOneMan nodded and then the MS was gone, almost as if he had never been there.

Edited by Maharg67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:yes: :rolleyes: :sweat: 0.2[16] :sweat: :rolleyes: :yes:

 

The MS could be up to 13 places at once, as 13 avatars, but the primary one was always in the special timespace, phase point, place known as the Mysterious Sanctum, amongst others. Multiple others dwelt there, many of them being rescued lifeforms as from multiple worlds. From there the MS noted the activities of not only the transformed Earth, that was also known as Terra or Sol-3, but of the whole solar system of 300+ plus worlds that it was part of.

Edited by Maharg67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:armscrossed: :armscrossed: :huh: 1.15[17] :huh: :armscrossed: :armscrossed:

 

The first 10 statuscapsule victims, of the Isolation Illness, were brought out of status and given antidotes. They were soon improving but would generally need at least a three months to get back to half duties. The HighOverseer was happy enough with this situation for the vault could have them doing light duties in a month and three months was not very much as a long term even for half duties. Some would never be able to return to full duty but over two thirds would. A small minority would always be doing light duties.

 

So the operation continued slowly-steadily for the vault did not have enough specialised staff to both carry the recovery program, as a larger one, and to take care of the every day needs of the vault at the same time.

 

Alphonse, the HighOverseer, studied the ten patients through armoured glass. It was between him and the new quickly put together the Isolation Illness Recovery Program main medical chamber. "This is a good day for the demivault and its people. So the IVirus was bioengineered. That comes as no surprise considering our terrible past. You strangers may apply for vault citizenship."

 

Alphonse had been mellowing over the years as Jasmine grew older and Amata, who was under Jasmine's strong-subtle influence, further influenced her father. Jasmine seemed to have such an effect on many vaultfolk but in various degrees of effect and not with all. A very few reacted negatively to her or clearly had mixed feeling.

 

Alisa smiled. She was there with two other Ariser humans, three animals of different types and three robots. The animals were a lizard, a hawk and a dog. "Thank you but we serve a cause, and a faction, already. We are the Ariser Faction serving the Multiquest. To assist TechVault101 is one of our primary quests. To help deal with the Isolation Illness was a secondary quest now completed for us though we will continue to assist as much as we can."

 

Alphonse did not seem to be at all surprised by the response. "We vaultfolk have our pride so we have put aside a set of chambers for your use. Security goes overboard at time so will most likely have bugged it. I suspect you could easily deal with our level of tech."

 

Alisa nodded. "In a few seconds! You have factional fights that were increasing thanks to the troubles of the demivault but there should be an easing of intensity now."

 

Alphonse snorted softly. "Politics is not so straight forward but let us hope that you are correct. I am just about ready for retirement and would consider Amata to be a very fine candidate to replace me. Do not tell her this, it will give her too big a head, but she would make a much better HighOverseer than I ever will."

 

Amata stood there with a sweet frown. "Dad, you could have told me. Anyway I already know that I am good HighOverseer material though maybe not better than you."

 

Jasmine stood next to Amata. "We face a new concern. We foolishly assumed that it was the glowfleas that were upsetting the vault critters; even though we have been successfully clearing areas of those small things, the critters are still acting agitated. Perhaps it is time to create the Special Investigations Office, the SIO, to deal with special problems that do not infringe on political, security or law enforcement concerns. Amata could run its home office and I could be in charge of its away missions."

 

The HighOverseer nodded. "Very good, I will do what I can."

 

Alisa nodded. "We will not become part of this SIO but we will support it."

Edited by Maharg67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:pinch: :pirate: :sad: 0.3[18] :sad: :pirate: :pinch:

 

Gaiabrothers mostly had the power of the hidden pulsaeye but not all for some had the thirdeye, as did most Gaiasisters, and some others had more unique abilities. The reverse was true of Gaiasisters with most having the thirdeye while some had the pulsaeye and some others had less common powers. Those more unique powers where gained by both females and males.

 

Gaialoyals were more common type Gaiafollowers (Gaiasisters and Gaiabrothers) with no Gaiapowers while GaiaAdepts (Gaiasisters and Gaiabrothers) had powers. There were some special categories such as Gaiaguardians, Gaiaguards, Gaiakeepers, Gaiasans, Gaiahealers and a few others but these were all, except for Gaiaguardians and very small number of others, a mixture of Gaiadepts and Gaialoyals.

 

Thirdeye was only used when most needed and mostly with the two normal eyes were closed; rarely were both the thirdeye and the two normal eyes opened at the same time.

 

The GaiaOrder had relatively few secrets, when compared to other factions in the DC, and the details of the Gaiapowers was one of them.

 

Gaialoyals outnumbered Gaiadepts in a few places but none in Gatewaytown for reasons unexplained by the Gaiafollowers; the same was true of there being no Gaiamother. That was until the day when a Gaiamother arrived along with two more Gaiadepts and 21 Gaialoyals along with five very tough Gaiaguards.

Edited by Maharg67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:cool: :cool: :cool: 1.16[19] :cool: :cool: :cool:

 

Chloe's group, and other 'street urchins' along with their pet-companions, moved into the Gatewaytown Gaiapost that contained the Gaiatemple, a healing centre, a small school for all ages, a small refuge for all ages, foodgardens and a few other features. The position of the Gaiapost was chosen carefully after Gaiaops had covertly infiltrated the settlement and sought what the GaiaOrder needed. That was a bunker that none had discovered since it had been sealed off back during the Doomswar and in it was something that the GaiaOrder wanted to carefully look at.

 

There were two statusconts (status containers) there and both had in them five humans, and a dog, too damaged to be taken out of status. Statusconts have never been meant to keep anything alive, especially not anything as complicated as modern mammals. Bacteria, viruses, and such like might get away with surviving and often did so.

 

Gaiamother Gaiafairia had been wounded when, upon first entering the bunker, a shadoghoul had attacked her that had once been a fool of a human Shadofollower who had trusted in twisted shadoserums to stay alive until he could leave the bunker safely. Except the bunker was instead buried by a collapsed, crushed, building that had stopped him from leaving.

 

Using her thirdeye she had transformed the shadoghoul, a thing akin to a radghoul but only in some ways as it looked to be a very pale human with no rotting effect in evidence.

 

The former shadoghoul had been caring for the Gaiamother ever since, sitting on a chair next to her bed when she slept or at times reading to her from certain books. He had already passed to the GaiaOrder some valuable information about Shadofollower activities before the Doomsdays.

 

There were three Gaialoyals who lived-worked in the bunker. There they cared for both Gaiafairia and the newly renamed Gaiafreddy. Ironically they were all transformed converted radghouls or gaiaghouls.

Edited by Maharg67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...