Two Steps Forward - One Step Back

[Maharg67]

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Edited July 5, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0039: Of SamWaSam and Others

 

SamWaSam, and three other HarmonyGuardians, went deeper into the vast, strange museum complex and were amazed by the sheer range of goods being displayed. They were not so pleased to find thousands and thousands of humans, animals and plants in status display cases, all in suspended animation. Most of the humans were fitted out in clothes and other gear but a few were bare naked. SamWaSam was soon to 'sense' in a very deep fashion that the 'museum' was far more than that, had a far more profound purpose to it.

 

"This whole great complex is a 'reality anchor point', a kind of relativity fix when..." He tried to put what he 'sensed' into words and failed to do so. They were walking through a town that was complete with streets, suburban type houses, electric hovercars parked in semitransparent garages, gardening roboremotes and much else of the kind. The town was semiactive and a postal roboremote, a quad wheeled thing with a robotic humanoid on top, hummed past to deliver mail to a random seeming selection of mail boxes. A young woman was sitting inside a special safe tanning dome, naked on a reclining chair, and was reading some kind of electronic pad. Nudity did not seem to be a taboo and indeed it was not a taboo in HarmonyCity either.

 

They were still moving carefully in stealth power armor, trying not to draw too much attention, when suddenly there were two breings walking along with them, pacing smoothly and almost silently. They did not move like humans or like animals either but flowed in an odd, almost jerky fashion, a contradiction that somehow managed to be graceful. The two breings were easily taller than the humans and somehow more dangerous seeming than them even with the power armor and guns. Except that is with SamWaSam himself.

 

SamWaSam was somehow not surprised and he spoke. "Greetings! You have been following us for some time and now you appear to us. What would you like?"

 

One of the breings responds. "One does not always like what one would like to get. Most fortunate your appearance and yet also most fearful. You are truly very old, older than you really are, SamWaSam. You are over three thousand years old and you were found as a toddler, a small child, wandering alone in HarmonyCity. How was that, SamWaSam? The HarmonyLords placed you into normal care and tried to conceal the truth even from your own mind. Why? We breings do not know, but we know this was not your first childhood and that you were born on the same AlternateEarth as the HarmonyLords were, at least three thousand years ago. To humans we are a strange lot of entities but to us humans are more so. You, though, are part breing in a way that is supposed to be impossible."

 

Yes, SamWaSam somehow knew it was true. He wondered what it meant, what the ramifications of such knowledge were.

 

SamWaSam spoke. "This domed town indicates the people of the AlternateEarth were quite well off."

 

The breing responded. "Not all got to dwell in these dometowns, these little zones of suburban comfort and stability. What draws the Great Sphere to emerge on worlds where humanity dominates? To us breings humanity is fundamentally flawed, is a broken thing, is not what it should be, is a dysfunction group entity of false individualism. Unity is a hope for healthy cure but only in conjunction with other healing forces. Unity can not achieve a final cure to an ancient curse by itself. That is only fair an observation and no criticism is meant. Deep inside Unity knows this. Humans, humanity, should not be what they are."

 

They went through a shimmering gateway and suddenly they were walking in a very different environment. It was a monstrous, bleak, slum area of massive low hulking fortified apartment complexes with their own service-support facilities, people 'living' in semi-enclosed public shelters lining sidewalks, wandering gangers in quasileather body-armor, armored roboremotes scuttling along in threes so as to protect each other, armored police hovercars and a thick, toxic smell. All the people were in body-armor, thick clothes and heavy filter-masks. All of them were fearful, many were hungry and many were suffering illness.

 

The other breing spoke this time. "The people were stolen and placed in HarmonyCity but truth is the quality of life greatly improved for the vast majority of the population. This was the normal existence for over eighty percent of the human population and the only flora and fauna remaining, unchanged, were in big dome enclosed reserves where only a very few humans were allowed to go. That AlternateEarth was far from being a utopia and it had the same basic dysfunctionalism to humanity as other such AlternateEarths, invaded by the Great Sphere, have."

 

So it was no coincidence that the Great Sphere had appeared on worlds dominated by humanity! SamWaSam knew that the people around him were not, ultimately, real but he was glad when the group left there and found themselves in a huge chamber of great scientific strangeness. The chamber was a great flattened saucer in shape with a great raised, semi-enclosed, disk platform in the center. Cyborg scientists, elite rejuvenated humans, remote-androids, roboremotes, all and more were in evidence. Great strange machines dotted the chamber along with raised semi-enclosed catwalks, platforms and rampways.

 

The breing spoke again. "They called it the TransReality Project! It had many lesser purposes and goals but its main focus was to turn the elite humans into living gods in their knowledge, power and influence. It was unwise, dangerous and it helped lead to the rise of the Great Sphere on their world and the vanishing of their population into the Great Sphere. The HarmonyLords were also responsible but there is the unknown in the form of one Factor-X or more."

 

So the Great Sphere was far more than just a run away monstrosity as created by the DeathlessLords and stolen by the HarmonyLords. Knowledge came into SamWaSam's mind and was reaffirmed.

 

The first breing spoke again. "We must all leave the Great Focus Complex, its real name, for the HarmonyLords are starting to take too much notice of us even with your amazing psychic cloaking abilities, SamWaSam. You need to become readjusted, returned, to your true powers, skills, knowledge and experiences, SamWaSam."

 

SamWaSam frowned. "Why did the HarmonyLords make me have sex with hundreds of women, to make them pregnant?"

 

The second breing spoke. "We do not know! We must go, now!"

 

So they did, vanishing through a field of shimmering energies.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0040: Of Others

 

Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop managed to get to Washington DC on one of the long range jet-copters sent from the Union American Capital to deliver some Special Agents to the area of the zombie conflict. The sleek jet-copter landed them at the Homeland Security Complex, a fortified but supposedly artistic landmark close to the Pentagon. Washington DC had suffered heavily from the vanishings and later on but its numbers had then been increased by refugees from abandoned zones and from the New Confederacy. The American Union Federal Government was rising to function much as the old US Federal Government had done but was smaller and, many would say, more efficient.

 

Olivia and Peter did not manage to leave Washington DC quickly, as they had hoped to, instead being grabbed up by Special Agents of the new Union American Security Intelligence Agency, the UASIA. This was replacing both the old CIA and doing some of the work of the old FBI. Trouble was that the leadership of the UASIA looked upon the Fringe Agency and its work with deep suspicion. That is the Fringe Agency that was once known as the Fringe Division. UASIA Agents had even attempted to raid the Fringe Office in Washington DC only to be turned back by Fringe Security and some very canny, tough lawyers.

 

Olivia and Peter ended up in a fairly neutral place, an office in Homeland Security that was beyond the authority of UASIA to mess with. The man there was one Rodger Loacker, a big man with some obvious plumpness but lots of steel in his eyes. He was a Native American man who had managed to get high in the ranks of the USFG and even higher in the new federal government thanks to a few vanishings and deaths. It was whispered that he had caused some of those deaths of people who got in the way of his ambitions.

 

The room was a typical interrogation room being metallic, concrete greyness and with only hard looking metal chairs and a table. There was also a one way mirror of advanced design and a compact camera in every ceiling corner.

 

The man smiled very coldly at Olivia and Peter. "I demand to know what is going on. You will answer all my questions!"

 

Olivia shook her head and looked calmly back. "No, we will not! The work of the Fringe Agency lies outside of the area of responsibility and authority of the UASIA. As of this moment you are interfering in the work of the Fringe Agency, are going against Union American Federal Government Policy."

 

Loacker scowled. "I have the full support of President Asher himself. A good strong man is Asher, unlike his predecessor who was a weak fool."

 

Peter frowned. "President James Renfield was a brilliant man who helped to save many millions of lives and who was partly responsible for saving much of the USA that has become, or is becoming, the Union of America. His sudden disappearance was mysterious, was highly suspicious. There are a few people who say that the UASIA was linked with what happened to the old president and that President Asher is linked with the UASIA. There are also supposed links between the new presidency, the UASIA and the Union American Corporations, the Progressive Future Party and the New Humanity Foundation, all of which are highly controversial. UASIA appears to be waging an aggressive campaign against many new federal agencies that lay outside of your control; you seem hell bent on taking over, diminishing or even destroying any factions you see as competing with you for resources and power."

 

Loacker stared coldly at Peter Bishop. "A trouble maker like yourself has no business judging the UASIA and its policies, its goals." He turned to look at Olivia again. "How did you manage to travel all the way from the Australian Outback to Washington DC in such an amazingly short time?"

 

Olivia frowned hard. "MassDynamic! You are linked with MassDynamic! It is in your mind. You are... human but not standard human. Your background is a lie. You are linked to the New Utopians or at least to one of their major factions. So the New Utopians have infiltrated the Union American Federal Government and perhaps even the White House itself. What are you? Yes, a kind of clone! Amazing!"

 

Loacker pulled out a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, black and lethal looking, to aim it at the two Fringe Operatives. "It is too bad that you managed to penetrate my mind the way that you did. Yes, I am a cloned human, a perfect replacement for an inferior original man who was little more than a narrow minded, power hungry murderer. The New Utopians wish to bring progress, harmony and security to all of humanity. You could have made fine followers of the UtopianLords with their great abilities and their grand vision of a better world of worlds. Now you will have to die and then I will kill myself. My body will give no real clues to my real nature. The foolish human authorities will only assume that the real Rodger Loacker went mad and shot the two of you before he realized what he had done and killed himself. Even those with doubts about this story will not have any proof of it being otherwise."

 

At that moment a young, handsome man stepped smartly into the room, in a nice casual business suit, and shot Loacker with a silencer equipped 9mm semiautomatic pistol that was of the same kind that Loacker held; this was hardly surprising as it was a type of gun that was one of the standard issued weapons to federal agencies both in the former USA and the new Union of America. Loacker dropped dead, dropping his gun. The young man spoke. "Fringe Special Agent Paul Scully Mulder at your service. Yes, my parents are the rejuvenated Fox Mulder and Dana Scully of the old X-Files Department of the now defunct FBI. I suggest you grab the dead man's gun, some of his ammo, and come with me now. Homeland Security is not controlled by the New Utopians but there are too many MassDynamic shapeshifters here for us to get out easy. Fringe and Homeland Security people are tracking down and fighting the shapeshifters but not with out some trouble."

 

Bot Peter and Olivia were already armed but they grabbed up the pistol and some spare ammo anyway. The extra gun was soon to come in handy, as was the spare ammo.

Edited June 13, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0041: Of Others

 

The shooting was still taking place as Olivia and Peter made their way through the streets of Washington DC. The street traffic had halted and some cars were parked but there were far less active cars then there had once been; most of the active ones were small electric duelcabs with boxbacks to carry things in. Government had long ago impounded many four wheel drive vehicles for government use, a very unpopular move backed up with military and paramilitary force. Other privately owned vehicles had ended up in big warehouses being stripped of usable parts or waiting to be recycled as metal or other materials.

 

The pair crouched close to a closed up multiple level shopping complex, its metal shutters covered with multiple colored graffiti. An old flashy glossy poster showed a world gone, a world of large scale international tourism for there was no such thing any more. They were next to an armored police vehicle, an urban fighting vehicle or UFV, on six large wheels. Bullets exploded against the hulking machine's armor and its heavy machinegun turret fired back. Somebody, nobody seemed to know who, had given out special goggles that allowed people to spot shapeshifters from 'normal' people. MassDynamic infiltrators had come in large numbers into the Union American Capital and with out the special goggles, it would have been very hard to find them, let alone to fight them.

 

Olivia was gripping her semiautomatic pistol and, like Peter, wore kevlar body-armor but they were no longer in the direct fighting. They each wore one of the exotic pair of goggles. Apart from an odd shimmering effect around them, some shapeshifters in the distance looked like typical Union American Citizens. Like others of their kind they were attempting to escape from the city but had been cut off. MassDynamic did not seem to be greatly eager to save them.

 

The existence of hidden teleport-gate chambers, around the world, had gotten out to the general public along with government, corporate and other non government sectors. Who had spread the information, or why, was unknown. Yet most people could see no immediate advantage or danger in the existence of such for they were too much occupied with just surviving and building up the Union of America, the UA. Talks had begun of at least part of the old Canadian Commonwealth joining the UA. Hawaii had declared itself independent as a nation but there were pushes there also to join the UA.

 

Olivia's mobile-phone buzzed and she answered it. "Olivia here! Yes, talk!" She listened for a while before answering. "Are you sure of your facts. Yes... Nina Sharp vanished along with her followers, a great deal of top secrets, many prototypes and too many other valuable resources. The Fringe Agency in Boston has almost ceased to exist with all of the damage done to it. You have evidence that Nina Sharp was in secret contact with MassDynamic before this. An internal investigation had been started into Nina Sharp but it turned out she not only knew about the investigation that one of her secret followers was in charge of it. Okay Yuri, we will try to get to Boston as soon as we can. The fighting here is coming to an end. Yes, pretty much as I last reported. See you soon."

 

Olivia slipped the mobile-phone away and frowned hard. "Nina Sharp has betrayed us. It was no shapeshifter since testing was both arbitrary and even she could not escape from it."

 

A big military helicopter flew overhead and then another one. Both showed the markings of the AirCav of the Union American Army. Yet as Peter watched the machines fly overhead, he was looking surprised. "Those are not like any of the military machines that I have seen our defense forces using. Damned, I just glimpsed the pilot. He is shimmering. We haven't won this battle yet and it seems that the war has just begun. That was not a shapeshifter either but a shapenoid shapeformed like a human and unable to shapeshift any more than we can. The shimmering effect was different otherwise I do not know how I realized the difference."

 

Which was when an upgraded, armored Hummer vehicle came to a sharp halt next to them and a back door of the duelcab machine was thrown open. A young woman soldier, in advanced body-armor and with an advanced weapon, spoke to them. From the start there was something disturbingly 'familiar' about her. "Get in if you want to live." Then she smiled. "I have always wanted to say that for real. Come on, I mean it. Don't spoil the moment."

 

The two of them 'sensed' no danger, climbing into the back of the duelcab in a hurry. Behind them was an armored gun-turret with a gunner, a heavy machinegun and a multiple purpose missile launcher. The Hummer sped off on its armored tires even as Peter slammed the door closed.

 

The woman soldier spoke. "Nina Sharp sent us! We intercepted the phone conversation you just had, Olivia, and we can assure you that the one speaking to you is an infiltration shapeshifter. Nina Sharp, and her people, did not betray Fringe, they escaped with what they could away from those who would have stolen all of the secrets of the Fringe Agency. Nina Sharp is here in Washington DC and wants to meet you as soon as possible; the real Uri is dead. There is somebody that she wants you to meet; that is one William Bell!"

 

Olivia and Peter looked shocked and for good reason since William Bell, as far as they knew from personal experience, was dead.

 

The Hummer drove quickly towards the Washington DC International Airport. As it did the fighting was increasing as goggle equipped defenders tried to defend the capital city against both infiltrating shapeshifters and invading shapenoids. They passed a platoon of National Guardsmen moving along a sidewalk in battle formation. Somebody had given them some better body-armor, weapons but also other devices including a wheeled roboremote unit that carried special devices for detecting and disrupting the quasiliving enemy.

 

The woman soldier spoke. "Nina Sharp made sure that the special goggles were distributed not just here but in places across Union America and in other parts of the world, along with other equipment and supplies. But it was another faction who has been supporting her, and the Fringe Agency, to do this. They call themselves the UnityLords of Unity."

 

Olivia spoke then, cautiously. "What are you soldiers?"

 

"We are metahumans, are metahuman supersoldiers of Unity and serving the UnityLords but now we are given over to the service of the Fringe Agency to help fight the UtopianLords and their well meaning madness." The woman soldier smiled. "I am your clone-daughter, Peter and Olivia. My name is Kate Bishop Dunham."

Edited June 13, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0042: Of Others

 

Paul Scully Mulder met Olivia and Peter at a large, hastily fortified building at the edge of the Washington DC International Airport. It turned out that Paul was of Unity and that his famous parents, Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, were on the edges of Unity. Scully and Mulder had dealt with many dark mysteries, as had Fringe agents in later times. X-Files had focused on the Greys, the mysterious aliens, and Fringe had focused on the AlternateEarth crisis caused by the way the two AlternateEarths had interacted with each other. They had also been too close with each other for the less like AlternateEarths were to each other, the safer it was to pass between them.

 

There was a large amount of activity as a series of vehicles were parked in the large chamber including three big semi-trailer trucks with trailers that were disguised centres. There were soldiers, scientists, armed workers and others. There was much bustling activity. Unity was there which meant surprisingly little talking between folks. Paul and Kate led the amazed pair of Fringe Operatives through the controlled chaos and into one of the big trailers that was an armored mobile headquarters.

 

Nina Sharp met them at the door, rejuvenated and younger looking, slimmer, fitter and healthier. She drew them to a table in an area away from where the main command decisions were being made. Nina looked tired but confident. She sat across from Olivia and Peter while Kate and Paul sat at another side of the metal table. After some basic talk was exchanged, some information, Nina focused on the background of the problems they faced.

 

"The battle is between two factions of the New Utopians, one which is linked with MassDynamic and the other which has become linked with Unity as the UnityLords. The first faction are the UtopianLords, the old name for both factions. We are looking at three AlternateEarths of which one, this one, is in the 2030s, another which is in the 1950s and yet another that seems to be in the 1980s. The first two have the Great Sphere established after the first stage of growth while the last has the Great Sphere just appearing."

 

Olivia and Peter were still trying to absorb much, including the existence of their clone-daughter Kate. Peter spoke, after giving Kate a quick smile. "We have seen the gateway between two of the AlternateEarths as created by the True Illuminati who are supposedly also the UtopianLords."

 

Nina Sharp nodded. "Yes and no! The True Illuminati were but one faction of the UtopianLords who vanished for reasons unknown. The history, or histories, of the UtopianLords is a complicated one with factions breaking off, reemerging, being destroyed or vanishing. Sometimes they have become other factions, gaining new titles and purposes. The same is true for all of the FactionLords. They all come from the one world, the Home AlternateEarth, that was struck by a great disaster a very long time ago. The most powerful faction is perhaps not describable as a faction. They are the Eternals, sometimes known as the EternalLords though they, themselves, reject such a label. They are very powerful, amazing entities who can not die though often they have become tired of living. The FactionLords live to perhaps a thousand years each but the Eternals just keep on living on. Tommy Tomkins, who has had many names, is one of them, or so the UnityLords have come to believe."

 

The New Utopians had been revealed to the world in the 1960s living in hidden undersea cities in the Pacific, Atlantic, Great Southern and Arctic Oceans. They had also turned out to have a big hidden Lunar Colony. The New Utopians had assisted the world in various ways and in exchange had forced humanity to take greater care of the oceans, to leave the Amazon Rain-Forests alone and to stop hunting whales and other aquatic mammals. The world had gained enhancements in technologies, three big Lunar Colonies, some new technologies and much else. The New Utopians were Terraforming Mars and promised to transmigrate there one day, leaving their undersea cities and their big Moon Colony for humans to use. Yet it seemed that plans had changed and the New Utopians were indicating to humanity that the promises could no longer be kept but that 'compensations' would be made for broken promises.

 

Nina Sharp frowned softly. "The UtopianLords are going through another factional split. Those linked with MassDynamic are being kicked out of the Lunar Colony and Undersea Colonies. They are a large minority who are becoming known as the DystopianLords for they appear to believe that humanity has to be forced, to be oppressed, into becoming part of a great new future. They have come to embrace BigBrother of George Orwell's novel, 1984, except with less poverty and more freedom of such as sexuality and other pleasures. Perhaps one could see some of a Brave New World in what they are doing, as from Aldis Huxley's novel."

 

Yes, the false utopia of the Brave New World novel as versus the obvious dystopia of the novel 1984.

 

Nina shook her head in wonder. "The UtopianLords reject such a notion and cling to an idea of shaping humanity, along with other peoples, with some kind of utopia that they will lead. Nice of them to decide our futures but perhaps we humans will not go along with them. Alas I fear too many humans will choose to do so, will find it comforting to follow supposedly wise and wondrous new leadership that leads them to a wonderful new, safe and comfortable future. The UnityLords are different in that they see themselves giving up any leadership role as time goes on and they will become advisers to Unity. They are trying to make their leadership roles redundant in the longer term, making them quite distinctive as a Lord Faction. So why the difference? Why the rise of Unity on this and the other AlternateEarths? There appear to be other EternalLords involved in what is happening and at least one is behind the rise of the UnityLords and of Unity on the three worlds."

 

Nina Sharp sighed. "None of the FactionLords seem to know as much as do the Eternals, who are above and beyond the Lord Factions, but the Eternals seem very reluctant to share much of what they know. They do seem to know very much about the Great Sphere and its true nature, its origins, but they have a habit of speaking the truth but not the whole truth and not nothing but the truth. They appear to be hiding something. All of this is new to me, is new to us humans of this world who know it, so we are still trying to take it all in. We have much still to learn while dealing with the UtopianLords, the DystopianLords, other such threats and the Great Sphere itself, along with the Great Labyrinth that expands out from it."

 

Nina finished off. "The forces attacking us are the newly renamed DystopianLords and their followers, including the DystopianSublords and DystopianOnes. Seems the idea of FactionSublords is a relatively new one by FactionLord standards, which means only a few centuries old though one is never sure with them. The DystopianLords are behind two false invasions and one real invasion, it seems, to make it more difficult for their enemies to discover where they are really going to base themselves, to create new colonies from which to create their own version of 'brave new worlds'."

 

Olivia scowled. "So all of this death, destruction and disorder could be also just the results of a fake invasion, a decoy from the real event. The FactionLords play with the lives of mortals as if moving chess pieces in a game."

 

Nina sighed. "They do the same with each other, Olivia, they just find it generally more difficult to do so. Yet I have one more big surprise for you. I want you to meet William Bell, the EternalLord."

[Maharg67]

0043: Of Tommy Tomkins and Others

 

Unityfolk were in Robertville, were in the Robertville Compound, being semiautonomous to the whole and they could emapth-telepathically communicate with other unityfolk of that world with some difficulty and much concentration. Unity was still young on that world and thus was the need for concentration and the difficulty. They learned of a large force of British Imperial nature that was moving towards a town called Bethena that already had a fair sized military force there. Marshal Nelson was of Unity but had reluctant loyalty to the British Commonwealth Empire. Unity informed him of how humans had gone into the Great Labyrinth and had begun using an autodispenser, an exotic 'alien' device there which gave out a basic list of equipment and supplies in exchange for freely given and regenerated transcredit.

 

"It would appear to be a wonderful resource, a seemingly endless supply of resources such as tents, blankets, knives, rope and other items." Tommy Tomkins studied a wall of the TransCube that was taken up by a great map of Australia, of that AlternateEarth. "Down below us here, in Robertville, lies the Great Labyrinth spreading across this world and when it has wrapped the world, underneath, parts of it will rise to the surface and beyond, thrusting high into low orbit. Then the Great Labyrinth will cease to expand and will evolve a while before the Great Sphere expands again to engulf and absorb the world. By interacting with aspects of the Great Labyrinth, humanity strengthens its hold on this AlternateEarth and on humanity. The stronger the hold, the link, the more humans will be 'drawn' into the Great Labyrinth."

 

Stella Ketchen looked puzzled. "Is that not a good thing? Wouldn't humans be safer there?"

 

Tommy Tomkins shrugged. "It depends what you mean by safety and how important safety is over other concerns. There are the general areas of the Great Labyrinth, the areas of glowing white mist and the areas of the glimmering mist. Those in the general areas continue as humans for a great time, becoming increasingly interactive with the Great Labyrinth, and slowly changing nature over generations. Those who stay in the glowing white mist too long, giving birth to new generations, become everfolk. The worst are those who remain too long in the areas of glimmering mist, or worse. There are others but all humans would cease to be human after many generations, would cease to exist altogether. The stronger the link with the Great Labyrinth, the more difficulty in escaping until escape becomes impossible. There are smaller exotic areas of other nature but they, in their own way, would also be fateful for humanity. There is hope for humanity, on this world and others, but not in the Great Labyrinth but through it to what I call the HavenEarths and also the Great Sanctuary."

 

Stella paused before responding. "If we keep the interaction as light as possible, to such as the autodispensers?"

 

"That would be fine but once humans start interacting with the Great Labyrinth, they are on the top of a slippery slope that leads too easily to dehumanization and extinction." Tommy Tomkins turned away from the big map to look at both Stella and Professor Quatermass. "The transformed shaperzae and shapenoids, who served the DeathlessLords, will be known as shaperfolk for now they all share new kinds of shapeshifting. The transformed zomans and zombats are becoming, will become, all intelligent unlife called lifenfolk with some link to damphirs. Damphirs are still damphirs but become more stable, more powerful and smarter. These are old names given to others of their kind who have transformed in this way."

 

In special capsules in the TransCube, such transformations had taken place or were taking place. The TransCube was becoming increasingly a sanctuary for wildlife, flora and fauna, both drawn into and brought into the TransCube. Damphirs, lifenfolk and shaperfolk were settling into a new settlement area that was in one great domechamber complete with soil, water and other life supporting resources. The people lived underground most of the time but spent recreation time and work time up in the domechamber. The domechamber was the upper half of a life-sphere and one day the whole life-sphere would be safely transferred, with its life and society, to the Great Sanctuary of many life-spheres.

 

"Why not send humans into the life-sphere?" The professor spoke after Tommy finished speaking of such matters. "Or are the HavenEarths meant for us?"

 

Tommy paused before answering as if to consider his words. "There are humans who enter life-spheres, who end up in the Great Sanctuary, but the Great Sanctuary is meant generally for those taking a different path. Yes, the HavenEarths are meant to give a chance to humanity but only that which is becoming, ore has become, of Unity."

 

"Why would this Unity, these unityfolk, have such an unfair advantage?" Stella Ketchen was obviously annoyed. "Perhaps not all of us humans want to become unityfolk."

 

Tommy nodded. "Your fears, your desire to stay with what you are used to, that is all quite understandable but Unity is what humanity should be, what humanity needs to be, what humanity was before the Great Human Schism took place as part of the Great Reality Schism. Humanity is a dysfunctional, shattered, group mentality entity with semiautonomous individuality now existing in false individualism. When the Great Sphere was created, the direct effects were many and varied in results but the side effects were even more so. It was a side effect that smashed humanity, of many AlternateEarths, that damaged it greatly. The AlternateEarths of the MultipleEarth, that is, a grand tree of alternates expanding out from the original effected AlternateEarth. Sometimes the alternate threads come to an end, sometimes one will merge with one other or more than one other but sooner or later the Great Sphere has appeared, is appearing or will appear on every one. The HavenEarths are the last hope for a recovered, truly healed, humanity and the Great Sanctuary is a merciful, peaceful, positive alternative for many rather than being absorbed by the Great Sphere."

 

Tommy sighed. "The problem is that there are many obstacles to overcome, many challenges to face, before any positive final solution can be found to the Curse of Humanity."

 

At that moment a series of exotic alarms began to sound, echoing softly through out much of the TransCube.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0044: Of Tommy Tomkins and Others

 

Tommy Tomkins went to the Central Control Command Chamber of the TransCube, newly reconfigured space, and was soon enfolded into a special armored chair. Linked to the TransCube quasimentality, Tommy noted that, in transdimensional terms, another TransCube was prowling through dimensions 'relatively close' to the TT-TransCube. Tommy soon identified it as a more basic Type-Beta TransCube of the DeathlessLords making some kind of transportation run, or so he figured, between AlternateEarths. The TT-TransCube was a more sophisticated and powerful Type-Alpha. Yet it was not this that was of most concern.

 

No, some fool hardy AltSliders were taking a primitive way to go between AlternateEarths of the MultipleEarth, causing minor but accumulative damage as they did so. Tommy was deeply annoyed. The AltSliders could only operate as they did become of the damages done in the past and the unnatural existence that was the MultipleEarth. So he activated some controls and 'netted' them, drawing them into the TransCube.

 

They were mostly humans being Quin, Wade, Rembrandt, Arturo, Maggie, Diana, Colin and Beck. Yet there was also an android named Hallie and a shapeshifter named Evrim. They had all backpacks, duffel-bags and other items including guns of various kinds. They were inside a basic metallic orb of an AltSliderGlobe. It appeared with a soft sparkling shimmer in a cube shaped chamber that was large but not overly so. After a moment an elongated, vertical hatch opened and out stepped Quin Mallory, a young man, holding a special device and Maggie, a young woman, holding an M16A4 assault-rifle as designed and made on her long destroyed Home AlternateEarth. It was improved using new materials and a changed form of automatic reloading system along with upgraded cartridges and grenadeshells.

 

Quin Mallory spoke even as others came out of the fairly large, but still fairly crowded, AltSliderGlobe. "Doesn't make sense! The probe-scanner showed us a fairly primitive looking world of fern trees and crumbling buildings."

 

Tommy Tomkin's voice spoke out of mid air, or so it seemed. "Please relax! You have been captured by a special set of technologies. Your primitive, unstable and dangerous form of travel between AlternateEarths of the MultipleEarth is outlawed by the Alternates Coda of the MultipleEarth Proclamation. You will remain as legal prisoners until you, and your crude form of transportation, have become safely stabilized and you have come to face various major, moderate and minor charges. You will be safe and all of your needs, along with some of your wants, will be met. Note the doors now appearing along two walls of the chamber you are in. Symbols identify two toiletrooms, two bathrooms, an android serve-support room, a kitchen, a laundromat, a dining room, a room leading to twenty bedrooms via a hallway, a spare room and four super virtual reality chambers each with five super virtual reality exo-chairs. Autodispensers will provide you with necessary items along with some luxuries. I will talk with you again, soon!"

 

Professor Arturo gave an ironic grin. "We made so many efforts to avoid the Kromaggs, along with other threats, and we run into the 'law'. Who would have thought there was some kind of laws, of kind of law enforcement, between AlternateEarths."

 

Hallie, a woman android like a red-brown skinned North American Indian, was dressed in a basic grey jumpsuit as many of them. She had gone with the AltSliders to escape a world where an advanced human society used enslaved androids to make their lives more 'enjoyable', often to the suffering of the more intelligent, more sentient androids. She spoke. "When I was newly manufactured and was first given over to a human master, I accidentally accessed a fragment of a top secret datafile. It spoke of the MultipleEarth Proclamation but as a threat to the leaders of that AlternateEarth known as the UtopianLords."

 

With a sparkling shimmer, Tommy Tomkins appeared in the chamber with an expression of curiosity on his face. "UtopianLords? Please tell me more of this world that you speak of. Please, Maggie, lower your gun. Do you really think I would appear here alone if I was vulnerable to you and your companions?"

 

Maggie lowered her weapon with a dark frown. "We are trying to find a safe world to live on."

 

"I can help you! Charges can be mitigated against given circumstances beyond your control." Tommy turned to the android. "Interesting that your group has picked up an advanced android from some UtopianLord experiment along with a shapeshifter who is perhaps also created by the UtopianLords." Tommy turned to look at Evrim, a young woman who looked Middle Eastern as her name suggested, it being Turkish of origin.

 

"I knew of Evrim's real nature, we both being crafted as quasiliving entities from the same silicon quasilifeform substance." Hallie responded defensively. "I had not gotten around to informing the others because of certain dark events on our home world, that is the home world of myself and Evrim, involving shapeshifter assassins."

 

Tommy nodded. "I have nothing automatically against shapeshifters, be they of carbon based life or silicon based quasilife or of some other kind. I need you, you need to, remain in this place for at least a month but understanding that time passes faster inside this TransCube than it does outside, in particular relative timespace terms as in relation to the.... timespace paradox of the MultipleEarth."

 

Quin Mallory nodded. "We have gained a good strong understanding of the Alternate Universes."

 

Tommy Tomkins sighed. "No, not really, for there are no such thing as Alternate Universes and, ultimately, no such thing as AlternateEarths. Yet that is not important because knowledge need best remain practical at core. Quin Mallory, you not fear, we will upgrade your knowledge. Now, I want to interview you one by one and then altogether as a group but only after you have all had some needs met such as showering, something eat, some recharging or what ever it is that you need. All weapons are to be placed in the armory lockers along with related items such as body-armor and ammo."

 

The group just stood there for a moment and then they went off to do as Tommy suggested.

 

Tommy vanished with a soft sparkling shimmer.

 

The real Tommy Tomkins stood with Stella and Quatermass facing a row of special super virtual reality status capsules, each with one of the AltSliders inside. The AltSliders did not know they were inside psychic enhanced super virtual reality, were not in reality, and they were actually interacting with each other. 3Dscreens showed what was going on with out violating any sensitive privacy such as nudity.

 

Quatermass spoke. "Why the deep deception?"

 

Tommy Tomkins frowned. "Because one of the AltSliders, at least one of them, is not what they appear to be and I want to keep them secure in general and the real AltSliders as safe as possible. One of those figures there could possibly be extremely dangerous, perhaps almost as dangerous as I am."

 

The two humans looked at Tommy to check if he was joking but it did not seem to be but one could never quite tell with Tommy Tomkins.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0045: Of Tommy Tomkins and Others

 

Tommy left the TT-TransCube and went out into Robertville, moving through the streets to see that unityfolk had begun to arrive. That is not just soldiers but civilians including children. They came in horse drawn carts, in farm-trucks, in cars, in vans and other vehicles. Some small aeroplanes landed at the small Robertville Airport, little more than one building and a quite long dirt airstrip. Tommy met with unityfolk individuals, discussed matters, assured people that he would do what he could to assist Unity.

 

Tommy was sure he knew what was going on in the town and what would happen but he did not make this a concrete certainty. So when some odd things happened, he was not greatly surprised. The Great War Memorial Gardens of Robertville were three old field-cannons on big concrete slabs each with a row of cannon shells, all harmless of course, a memorial statue of a proud ANZAC Soldier complete with bayonet equipped rifle and a medium sized battletank with a fair sized turret with a 2-pounder cannon and two .303 Vickers machineguns. There was also a semi-enclosed structure with the names of dead soldiers who fought in the Great War. World War Two did not take place on that world except for a brief war in Europe that crushed the German Nazis and a brief war in China that threw back the Japanese Invasion there with heavy losses. Some names had been added to the lists of ANZAC Soldiers who had died both in Europe and in China. The gardens there had gone wild, some of the plants dying because of lack of water and one of the bench chairs had been pushed over when zombies had swarmed through the area once.

 

There was a sparkling shimmer through out the Robertville Great War Memorial Gardens and when it was gone it was covered with a transparent dome. Inside the dome the three cannons and shells gleamed brand new on slabs of metallic stone topped with plates of softly glowing crystal. The soldiers also stood on glowing crystal topped metallic stone slabs. There were also neat rows of soldiers, infantry and gunners, standing at attention. One group stood close to each cannon and then there were three infantry platoons along with three machinegun squads. Apart from that there was a small group of officers along with their aides and bodyguards of soldiers. The battletank gleamed brand new and beside it stood its tank crew of soldiers in special outfits. Everybody had gas masks. To one side were three neat stacks of crates, ammo boxes, petrol cans and other supplies along with spare equipment. The cannons were two 3-pounder guns and a 20-pounder howitzer and each machinegun squad of six soldiers had two .303 Vickers Machineguns on special detachable trailers. Yet not all was accurate of the Great War for at least half of the soldiers were women while no women had been part of the ANZAC combat units. Also all the equipment had been 'improved' with better materials and in some other small but important ways.

 

Tommy went into the dome and introduced himself to the small military force of androids. They were simulicant androids, copied from humans but being made of other substances. From the start they accepted Tommy as their supreme commander. They saluted him. Then they were moving off the slabs, moving the battletank off and the cannons. Tommy stood and quietly observed as if this was not new to him, and it wasn't, as a kind of an event. What he wondered was why it had happened there and then, why it happened how it had happened. Was it to do with him? Partly, yes, but there was another important factor.

 

Amongst the crowds looking through the transparent dome was an older man, gripping a LeeEnfield rifle with its butt against the ground, and he was looking both surprised and pleased by what he saw. His name was Harry White and he was a former soldier of the Great War, was the man who had helped design and construct the memorial gardens and who had cared for it until the coming of the Great Sphere and the Z-Plague along with the monsters. Harry White was an unusual man because he had insisted that dead soldiers of later conflicts be added to the memorial lists while other Great War veterans had fought against this being done. Harry White also wanted women to be added to the list and non soldiers serving the war effort, but there he did not get his way. Harry White had also been a racist but had changed since the world had become faced with new and strange challenges.

 

When each exotic slab became empty, its crystal top glowed more strongly and perfect copies of what had been there, began to materialize slowly growing steadily more visible and more solid. A gentle but firm force kept anything and anybody from going onto the slabs during the materializations.

 

So it was that the first of the Robertville New ANZAC Soldiers came into existence. Tommy gave the officers orders who then passed them on.

 

Amazed, amused, bemused unityfolk watched and then Tommy was confronted by their leadership outside of the dome. He faced Harry White, a tall woman called Angela Davis and a hulking man named James Trent. They were of Unity and they had gained the roles of Director, Coordinator and Supervisor of the unityfolk settlement of Robertville. This did not include the Robertville Compound or the Robertville Bunker. Harry White was looking amused, Angela Davis amazed and James Trent rather intense.

 

Tommy spoke first. "No, I do not know why this has happened, how it has happened. I am going to have to investigate the matter and even then I can not promise anything. I 'sense' there is some kind of battle coming." He turned to look directly at Harry White. "Have you had any strange dreams recently?"

 

Harry looked startled. "A most odd and vivid dream, indeed, I had last night and again this morning. I dreamed the ANZAC soldiers came back but not as flesh and blood but as 'robomen' from the 1920 Czech Play called Rossum's Universal Robots. It was about the mass production of synthetic organic copies of humans as cheap labor for humanity and how it all went wrong because of human stupidity and greed."

 

Tommy sighed. "A good thing and a bad thing. The Great Labyrinth, or at least the deep entity that is the essence of it and the Great Sphere, is linking with you and you with it. In the shorter term this means more resources and perhaps other forms of support but in the longer term this represents many dangers to Unity on this world. I also had an influence on what happened, with out being fully aware of it, and stopped the androids being linked directly to Unity for Unity's sake and that of the androids."

 

James Trent frowned. "So I take it that you command the new android forces as you already control the compound and the bunker. It is time you showed more respect for Unity and gave up control of the compound and the bunker over to us along with those androids."

 

Tommy sighed. "James, you know none of that is going to happen. This is the third time you have made such a statement and I think it should be clear to you by now that all you are doing is causing trouble. The androids will be considered as full citizens, as aware self-aware sentient beings, which they are as simulicants. Simulicants, unlike replicants or basic duplicants, can reproduce, can give birth to new generations of their own kind. They have their own form of 'Unity'. I must go but be sure that if this has happened, other odd things will happen in this town and hopefully all will be of a more positive kind of event. The memorial garden dome is closed to all but the androids and myself."

 

He moved off leaving an angry James Trent, a bemused Angela Davis and an amused Harry White. There would be more troubles with Unity but Tommy would have been surprised if such did not happen. He had strong hopes that positive solutions could be found to all rising challenges.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0046: Of Others

 

Marshal Nelson was angry as he was replaced in his command by Field-Marshal Alan Alderson, a fine commander in some ways but not one with any real fighting experience in such areas as Australia. His driving ambition and over inflated ego, were the worst aspects of Field-Marshal Alan Alderson along with his willingness to use others to further those aims. Marshal Nelson was sent westwards to command fighting forces closer to the target town of Robertville. To his frustration he was left out of many of the high command decisions and was given not enough information about the intended campaign on the Australian continent. His original fighting forces were expanded with a unit of small machinegun-battletanks and two units of armored cars along with motorbike couriers and some small biplanes for recon purposes. He had the promise of two airboats when they became available for his use.

 

At the town of Cobber Paddy, a largely underground mining community where people had gone underground to escape the heat of summer and staid there for other reasons, Marshal Nelson set up his new base of operations. Even as his soldiers joined a smaller contingent already there, along with local survivalists, the noises of battle drifted to the encampment. Nelson sent reinforcements at once to assist three BISAS platoons fighting green glowing monsters at the place called Table Junction. It had been little more than a stop-over for truckies and travelers, later became a small scientific station investigating aspects of the Great Sphere and had been abandoned during the Z-Plague and the first of the zombie swarms.

 

In Cobber Paddy, the lowest of underground tunnels had become linked to the Great Labyrinth, had been gated off or sealed off, but two autodispensers had been found. Locals were soon accessing equipment and supplies such as food rations, dome-tents, blankets, special burning-torches that burned slowly while giving little smoke and much illumination, along with other kinds of items. One major item of interest was the amazing multiple purpose healing serum that could be used orally, directly on wounds or burns and even in hypodermic needles to achieve surprisingly good healing results.

 

Marshal Nelson, being part of Unity, was wary of too much human interaction with the Great Labyrinth and he was not the only one. Some people felt nervous about going down there. A small boy named Allan Pale, who had a transcredit balance of 432, was very nervous of the Great Labyrinth and Marshal Nelson had brought him, and his family, to Cobber Paddy to keep Allan Pale out of the hands of the overly ambitious Alan Alderson. The Field-Marshal would see the boy as little more than a good potential resource.

 

Marshal Nelson had his large battletanks arrayed close to the edges of the town, ready to go into action if need be, in any way they needed to be used. He was painfully aware that in many ways available military equipment was not versatile enough for the job, was too limited in various ways. The big UT35 machines were quite slow and cumbersome. The machinegun-battletanks were faster but their armor was relatively light and their firepower was only one Heavy Vickers Machinegun firing .50 (12.7mm) calibre bullets and a .303 (7.7mm) calibre firing Vickers Machinegun with one other machinegun on top if needed and available. Groups of zombies were amazingly strong, if their strength was efficiently directed, and could overturn such machinegun-battletanks with ease; this had happened in former battles against swarms of zombies controlled by undead intelligence.

 

The highest point of Cobber Paddy was a multiple purpose metal gridwork tower that had a kind of wooden and metal hut at the top. The tower had been used to watch out for bush fires, for other natural disasters, for zombie swarms in more recent times and for other reasons. Marshal Nelson stood there and examined the landscape with a powerful pair of binoculars. It was getting darker and the undead were out, along with packs of wild savage damphirs and glowing green monsters. Gunfire sounded from the edge of town as something nasty came too close to the metropolis. Now and then in came zombats, zomans and-or friendly damphirs. They were also having troubles in recent times as if they were being targeted in a way they had not been in the past. The zomans and more intelligent damphirs spoke of 'sensing' a terrible, powerful undead intelligence behind the actions of the undead and even influencing the green glowing monsters but not the savage damphirs. The savage damphirs waged battle against the hostile undead and green fog monsters or fled off into cave systems seeking safety. Local fauna had fled or gone into hiding as much as possible.

 

*********

 

Captain Crale, he had well earned a big field promotion, came into the chamber after climbing up a safety-ladder. He was looking bemused, as he often did in those days. The Marshal only nodded his head and Crale spoke.

 

"Allan Pale has caused a sowing-machine to become as good as new and to become four such brand new condition sowing-machines. His mother alerted me to the fact after a local man started putting pressure on the family to go into some kind of money making deal, a deal where the thug would get most of the profits. The local criminal accidentally died by falling down a mine shaft with after shooting himself in the chest with a powerful crossbow." Crale spoke the story matter of factly. "The Pale Family is now under our protection and word has gotten out for them to be left alone by any of the nastier, cunning minded locals."

 

Marshal Nelson turned to face the captain. "Why the sowing-machine and why now?"

 

"It is his mother's birthday today and her sowing-machine broke down. She uses the sowing-machine to make money for the family, along with mending and making stuff for the family." Captain Crale. "The boy became quite tired after the event and slept deeply for over three hours. When he awoke he was not only very hungry but had some odd cravings pointing out his body had lost certain necessary elements."

 

"We will not overly exploit him or allow others to do so. Try to get him what he needs." The Marshal shook his head in wonder. "Anything else?"

 

"Apart from the typical skirmishes taking place, including at the edge of town, and a prostitute complaining that a soldier stole some money from her, Field-Marshal Alan Alderson sent a message that was full of praise, mostly for himself, and full of demands, all on you." Captain Crale frowned hard. "He wants you to arrest all BISAS Soldiers, strip them of arms and armor, then send them back to Robertville. He wants you to find if Allan Pale, the boy, is in Robertville and to send him, with out his family, to Robertville. He wants you to clear this whole area of the enemy with out gaining any substantial reinforcements. Field-Marshal Alderson wishes to build up his own forces in Robertville before setting out to conquer Robertville; he states that he has reliable information that some kind of dangerous rogue leader, by the name of Tommy Tomkins, is in control of the town along with a some sort of communal oriented fanatical group. He means Unity, of course, which you are part of."

 

Somehow Marshal Nelson was not at all surprised that Crale would know the truth. "Inform Alderson that we can not find the 'Pale boy'. The only reason he would want the boy separated from his family would be to make him easier to manipulate. Also inform Alderson that it is impossible for me to find where the BISAS are operating, let alone to capture them. The BISAS have never really trusted the conventional defense forces. Nor could my regular soldiers even begin to match them in combat or stealth. As for clearing the area of enemies, that is an impossible task given my current resources and the size, the power, of the enemy. Send details and any arguments that sound good. Use the truth where it is available and suits what we wish him to believe. We need to find anybody amongst us who are sending information secretly to the Field-Marshal and to deal with them."

 

Crale nodded. "Yes, of course, it will take some clever wording and manipulation of facts but it will be done. You have not asked how I know about Unity."

 

Marshal Nelson shrugged. "I figure you will tell me sooner or later."

 

Crale smiled. "I am a UnityOne, which is the outer ring, the middle being the UnitySublords and the centre being the UnityLords. We were of the UtopianLords but were influenced to change our goals and our path away from those goals. I will see you soon, as you wish, to discuss special resources that the UnityLords wish to send you. The range is limited but you will of course get to choose."

 

Marshal Nelson frowned softly. "Unity is still wary of these new UnityLords but we do need their knowledge, experience, skills and other resources. Simply send us what you can spare and what you think will assist us the best."

 

Crale nodded. "Very well and I can begin now by warning you that Field-Marshal Alan Alderson is under the dark, cunning influence of a woman named Carisa Sheridan who we suspect serves one of the Lord Factions but we are not fully sure which one. It does not reflect the way the UtopianLords would work with the Field-Marshal, not when they can simply order him to do something through official channels. It could be the DeathlessLords! There are other possibilities. I wish to give you, along with anybody else you trust enough, a briefing on a fair deal of knowledge. I ask that you be open minded and be very careful who you share this information with. Oh, Tommy Tomkins is not a rogue, is not evil, but he is incredibly dangerous. Even the various Lord Factions fear him, including we UtopianLords. Yet most of us also respect him. Inform Unity to be careful when dealing with Tommy Tomkins."

 

The marshal nodded. "Yes, I will do just that. We will hold that briefing after you have done sending the return communications to the Field-Marshal."

Edited June 25, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0047: Of Tammy Tomkins and Others

 

Tammy Tomkins heard news coming in of a big battle raging closer to the expanding Great Sphere but not in the area where it was 'predicted' that it would halt. Samantha, the Unity girl child, had come to her again and had informed Tammy that the unityfolk were aware that the Great Sphere would stop and where, when, it would stop growing. Others also seemed to know such as the TripleLords of the TripleEmpire. The Australian Federal Government had been forced to accept the huge force going into its territories, that it no longer had any real control of, and the British Commonwealth Empire was forced to accept the presence, assistance, of the TripleEmpire.

 

Tammy made her way across the eco-communal settlement, past unityfolk busy working with a power array that drew electricity out of the air; such tricks only worked since the Great Sphere had begun to appear on that world and the bigger the Great Sphere became, the more power was available. The problem was that there was growing troubles with use of radio signals be it with one way broadcasting, two way communications or radar. Unityfolk had a secondary group mentality and it could reach high levels of computational ability and intelligence but they were new to doing such. Still they had already begun to generate new technological breakthroughs. It was soon clear to Tammy that the eco-commune was far from the only settlement of the unityfolk in Australia and that what outsiders saw was far from the whole settlement.

 

"TripleImperial and Australian military forces landed at an area designated as Bridgehead Zone Alpha. Aircraft dropped paratroopers and parachute-canisters of equipment and supplies; the TripleImperial aeroships landed and discharged large numbers of TripleImperial Legionaries, other followers and much equipment and supplies. The aeroships also carried extra equipment and supplies for the Australian Forces. This is the biggest battle to ever take place on Australian soil, even including all the conventional battles of the Australian Civil War." The tall thin man was speaking from where he sat in a big old wooden rocking-chair. "The enemy seems to be in the form of thousands of exotic humans of a kind known as shapenoids but also shaperzae shapeshifters that often try to infiltrate defensive lines. The enemy is using gravity-hovercraft equipped with some kind of light force fields and light but effective armor along with energy guns, caseless projectile guns and multiple purpose missile launchers. They also have the use of something called gravity-copters, like helicopters but with disks instead of rotors and able to carry much more; they have better armor and arms than helicopters along with greater speed."

 

Tammy spoke to the man, whom she 'sensed' was not really of Unity, though somehow linked strongly with Unity. "What of the TripleImperial Forces, what do they use?"

 

"The same kind of gravity-hovercraft and gravity-copters much like those used by the enemy but also power-mecha, big chunky things on six, four or two legs. There is a TripleSublord in control of the bridgehead forces, even the Australian forces though in theory they command themselves." The tall, thin, oriental man turned to her. "I am a UnitySublord and you are 'special'! I do not think that you quite remember what you really are. Yet it is good to know that you, like all others of your kind that fell into Sad-Hat's trap, escaped from it and dealt Sad-Hat his final, but well deserved blow, in the process. As a small infant you were found wandering in the Australian Outback."

 

"Yes, and was taken to the city of Adelaide where I was adopted by a very loving family, some of whom died in the Australian Civil War." She frowned at him softly. "I am remembering thins slowly, painfully. There are the Lord Factions such as the UtopianLords, the DeathlessLords, the TripleLords, the HarmonyLords and others but I do not remember the 'UnityLords'"

 

The man responded calmly. "We come from the UtopianLords, having swung away from their ideal of controlling humanity towards a utopian future. The UtopianLords fear Unity as an aberration because they can not either truly understand or control it. We, former UtopianLords, intend to guide Unity until we are redundant in that role and then become advisers and assistants to Unity. Of course this is easier said than done for a wide range of reasons including our own temptations to have too much control and not to give up control when we will need to do so."

 

Tammy found herself liking the man, to her surprise. "Darker things are stirring out there, things antinatural and antilife in 'nature'."

 

The man sat up suddenly and looked to her with much intensity. "You would 'sense' much more than we UnityLords and Unity at this time. We UnityLords are but a relatively small Lord Faction and Unity is young on this world. Please tell me what you can."

 

Tammy grimaced. "I catch 'glimpses' of undead things, of zombies, of huge lumbering zombies, of vampire things. There are things called damphirs that fight the undead. There are, strangest of all, friendly zombies and damphirs. Strange also are smart zombies, both aggressive and friendly. Worse are the green glimmering fogs and the glowing green monsters that come out of the glowing green fogs, not that the monsters glow very much. Yet, even as I 'sense' them, I do not think they are strongly on this world yet."

 

"You 'presense' their coming, a sign of great psychic power, ability and experience." The man stood up and stretched before speaking to Tammy again. "My name is Eric Idol. I suggest we go down deeper into this settlement, down into the hidden bunker complex that I suspect that you suspected was down there."

 

Tammy frowned. "I want to see my family in Adelaide, at least what is left of them."

 

"We will see what we can do for you, Tammy, but you may have more resources, than you realize, to carry out such a request yourself." The UnitySublord responded. "Please follow me. Your friend, Lisa, will be brought down to the bunker complex also."

Edited June 21, 2012 by Maharg67