Maharg67's Den (shorter works, short stories, poetry, etc.)

[Maharg67]

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Ultimate Virtual Reality Struggles: Three

Zero 1.1[1]{5}

Core Supervisor Nine: "Report: distortions in Sector 555465.454 have been successfully dampened, by stabilisation network-systems, to moderate safe levels. Concerns continue over instabilities in all of the Fifth Sectors. Suggest slowing preparations for gaming instigation."

Core Director Prime: "Report accepted! Will pass on suggestion. Suggest that you continue on as if your suggestion will be rejected for sake of safety-security. You are doing well. I will suggest a commendation for your efforts."

Core Supervisor Nine: "Which will be duly ignored by the Gamelords."

Core Director Prime: "Most likely but one can always hope. Continue your work!"

Core Supervisor Nine: "As always!"

Edited May 3, 2016 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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Ultimate Virtual Reality Struggles: Two

One 3.1[5]{6}

Troopers slashed with sparkling bladed swords, shot energy pulses from shieldguns, while others stood back and shot energy arrows that formed even as they pulled back the metallic 'bow strings'. These were individually less powerful than solid arrows, especially those with special warheads, but they could be fired off with amazing speed and accuracy.

The great big chamber, of glistening tiles and distorted statues, echoed with the noises of battle but only in a muffled fashion as if much of the sounds were being absorbed somehow.

The sublieutenant slashed into a zombified scard, being an undead daedric victim of a vampire that had neither 'turned it' or killed it outright. The zombie died, crumbling away as it fell. Daedra became only poor versions of the undead, often dying rather quickly, and despite attempts to 'turn' them only a rare few became such as vampires.

A second trooper, a subtrooper this time, had suffered tempdeath, had vanished away upon 'death'. The troopers were immune from becoming the undead.

The single vampire, there, was sending his last lesser undead against the troopers and braver of the former slaves. Most were shambling zombies but some where weapon using skeltors with flesh shrunken tight against skeletal frames. The skeltors were faster, more agile, than zombies but weaker and easier to damage.

The sergeant notched the last of the trooper's arrows and took a chance. The arrow zipped through the air to bury its arrowhead into the chest of the vampire. She screamed out in agony, collapsing to the floor, and crumbled away.

No longer under the vampire's control, the lesser undead became clumsier, less coordinated, and less effective as killers. In some cases skeltors and zombies started fighting each other. More energy arrows and pulses flew while swords slashed, stabbed and blocked.

Then the last of the lesser undead was dead, was crumbling away to leave ancient, exotic, swords and other weapons.

Only a very few items were looted before the group moved on having realised that the vampire, zombies and skeltors had been based on humanoid victims but not upon humans. They might have once been of the people of that place but there was no evidence to say if this was true or not.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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Ultimate Virtual Reality Struggles: Four

Zero 2.1[2]{7}

Core Coordinator Two: "Inexplicable sub logics have materialised in the Sixth Sectors. Influences have spread as far as current training testing UVR Sectors, including one in which a team of IPCs are active in a series of training tests quests. Request that the IPCs be taken from their current sector utilising emergency procedures and recall network-systems."

Core Director Prime: "Request received and accepted. Request has been relayed to the Gamelords."

Core Observer 14: "Core Observers are now all fully activated. First observation sweeps, scans, and probes have been instigated."

Core Coordinator Two: "Am activating procedures to more fully integrate the new 27 Core Observers into the Core Network of Network-Systems."

Core Supervisor Five: "Am picking up odd side effect patterns from the Sixth Sectors. Request that three Core Observers focus their operations there."

Core Director Prime: "Request accepted but the request will take time to instigate as Core Coordinator Two must complete its work with the 27 Core Observers before that can happen."

And so it went!

Edited May 3, 2016 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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Cats are cool!

Edited May 5, 2016 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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Ultimate Virtual Reality Struggles: Five

One 4.1[7]{8}

It rose into existence, a thing that should not have existed at least in theory. Part dremora, part ghoul, parts other things, its shapeform was mostly stable, the same in appearance, but occasionally something would abruptly change; sometimes the change was noticeable but mostly it was hidden inside its distorted power armour.

The thing shuddered, gulped down some air as it stood in the distorted subway station. The subway station was one if it had been designed by the Cyrodil based Great Empire of Tamriel. The train, and railway carriages, were richly adorned mechanisms made mostly of the finest woods but also with good quality metals and expensive glass panes. A mighty magical steam locomotive was ready to start it moving along a subway tunnel.

The thing considered its own possible name and came up with some but chose, after a burst of imagination, to call itself the 'Thing'.

Urges, many urges, some of them contradictory, and it sort a magical mechanical vending machine that gave up a whole lot of odd little snacks after the Thing glared at it. The snacks tumbled down a chute and into a tray. The Thing grunted with eager hunger as it scooped them up.

The dried fruit blocks were good! The small cans of sardines were good! The dark chocolate fingers were good! The zombie flesh foodbars were not good and discarded into a bin! The same happened to the rusty nail surprises!

From another magical mechanical vending machine he got fine black tea which he found moderately good, especially after he added some milk gained freely from the same mechanism.

Freely? The Thing sensed the danger approaching and then hid by going invisible as two magical mechanical robots showed up, the frightened vending machines having secretly called for them.

The Thing was neither angry or vengeful in its feelings. It slipped into a coach and hid in a small corner niche by compressing itself while remaining invisible. It somehow knew that soon crew, and passengers, would be arriving and then the train would be on its way.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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Ultimate Virtual Reality Struggles: Six

Zero 3.1[3]{9}

Security Director Prime: "I am now fully active and have begun full security diagnostic sweep. Indications are that some kind of infiltration has taken place of the Matrixnet."

Core Director Prime: "Such a conclusion accords with the findings of other True AIs. The infiltrator, or infiltrators, appear to have extensive knowledge of the Matrixnet and also strong skills and tools to carry out their crimes. Continue your task. Soon other Security True AIs will be fully active and will be assisting you. Communications has become blocked with the Gamelords for reasons unknown to myself."

It was not good news but somehow it was no surprise thanks to the data so far gathered by the many active True AIs.

[Maharg67]

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Ultimate Virtual Reality Struggles: Seven

One 5.1[8]{10}

The team managed to find a semiactive Gamegate disguised as a stone block archway going straight into a stone wall. They also managed to send the former slaves, through a localised active Gamegateway, to a sanctuary of sorts. That is to a NPC safe zone that was, in this case, the kingdom of Camelot.

They came upon a magical technological subway station, obtaining food and drink from magical mechanical vending machines with the use of coins. The 11 of them looked around in amazement at the strange hybridisation of the Tamriel based game realm and one based on late 19^th Century Britain. There were station staff such as two goblin porters, a portly human station master, and a dremora caretaker in overalls.

Passengers were mostly gnomes, in coveralls and boots with metal lunch cases in hand, on their way to work of some kind, most likely magical mechanical factories.

One passenger was the kind of vampire that could manage to live on the edge of society in a positive fashion. She was beautiful, in a strange pale fashion, and dressed in a silken kneedress. Two fleshies, zombies that looked generally like intact albino humans, were waiting with her luggage. Clearly the vampire did not trust the station porters with her stuff.

It just seemed 'logical' that when the magical steam train came down the tunnel, and then stopped at the station, that the team get on board one of the passenger carriages. So when the train departed from the eccentric subway station, so did they.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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[Maharg67]

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Ultimate Virtual Reality Struggles: Eight

One 6.1[9]{11}

Sublieutenant Jazni010 sat in one of the reasonably comfortable passenger chairs, of the eccentric magical steam train passenger carriage, with its small statue of a demidivine on one end wall close to where she sat. A demidivine was a 'demigod' to a divine being a god. The other troopers were resting but were quietly alert for danger. They had paid a dwemer conductor for tickets to reach the city of Imperiarna that was once known more simply as the Imperial City; the name changed when more than one city gained the status of being Imperial Cities and Imperiarna became also known as the Imperial Capital City.

The subway trip was soon over as the strange train came out into sunshine of what seemed to be a fine summer. The blue sky was blue and clear except for a few white clouds. Forest stretched in all directions dotted with settlements or indications of them, rivers and lakes. The train went past a paved double lane road where mostly animal drawn vehicles went but where there were some horse riders, and fewer magical steam vehicles. Despite the few magical machines, that version of Tamriel appeared mostly to be like the one of the original game world that had no such devices.

Jazni010 spoke quietly to the Thing. "So you hiding just to avoid paying for a ticket or is there another reason?"

After being startled by the sublieutenant's knowing it was there, hidden very close to where she was sitting, the Thing spoke in an odd croaky voice. "I scared some vending things into giving me nice things to eat and drink so then I had to run and hide when robot things came to investigate. So how come you know I am here when I have been very sneaky?"

She smiled just a little. "You took a peep around and sniffed the air. You were very quick but we warriors are able to pick up such things. I sense no threat in you. You could come with us, be our companion, and help find somewhere to stay in Imperiarna, the Imperial Capital City."

Something had Jazni010 liking the creature but also feeling a little protective of the strange humanoid but there was also the fact that somehow, though she did not know how, she sensed a link between it and the crazy things that were happening.

The Thing made an odd snuffling noise. "You got food to eat like delicious snacks from magical vending machines."

Very soon the Thing was happily munching away on such food that it took from a cloth bag held in one hand. An alliance had been formed.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

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Ultimate Virtual Reality Struggles: Nine

Zero 4.1[4]{12}

Core Director Prime: "Core Observers are now full active with three focused on observing the Sixth Sectors. Security Director Prime is directing a major security diagnostics sweep. Security TrueAIs are now active as one Director, three Coordinators, and nine Supervisors."

Core Liaison Prime: "I have managed to get a short message through to the Gamelords, past what is diagnosed to be an artificial barrier. I have picked up indications of a response that failed to get past the barrier."

Core Director Prime: "Acknowledged, Core Liaison Prime! The production of hunterseekers, and hunterkillers, will begin as soon as possible to add their effectiveness to that of patrollers and sentries already being produced, activated and distributed."

All standard resources, and techniques, were being used while new ideas were being developed and tried out against the mysterious threat. So far more extreme measures had not been attempted but neither had they been ruled out.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Maharg67