>>45135859
Alright, lets hurry back to our security bot before activating the signal, that way we can be in a position to home in on anything that goes wrong.

>>45135859
>>45135958
this seems like a good idea

>>45135859
How are these programmed actually? Are they just going to passively walk out or will they actively fuck up everything in their way?

>>45136074
>They're set to passively walk out, and retreat from any ground-bound humanoid figures they see. You really lucked out- they have pretty advanced targeting systems you hooked into their 'rebel' software.

>>45136120
Okay, they might run into bother inside the building, so lets set 2 or 3 of them to run around fucking up valuable shit, that way it'll be harder to make an organised response to these things just leaving peacefully.

With a whine of your shell's AG-drives, after setting two of the power armors into 'wreck' mode, designed to cause as much havoc as possible, you spring out toward and through the armory door.

From there, you spring across the floor of the ASF outpost. The two guards at the consoles are no longer watching their video, but they're still not paying much attention to the outpost- one is talking on the phone with what sounds like an irate girlfriend, and the other has his arms folded behind his head, eyes closed.

You dart forward, sprinting at maximum possible speed, and then with a nearly-silent 'fwump' of your legs, you spring up, and out, through the window- folding up just enough to fit through the bars in midair.

"What the fuck was that?" One of the guards ask, as you slip through the sewer grate. "Not you, honey."
"What was what?" The other guard asks, jerking himself back awake.
"Something small and pink..."

They stand, peering over the windowsill to try to look at you, but you slip into the sewer grate, back to your security bot. Settling back in your Throne, you activate it- integrating yourself into the security bot's systems.

Once again, you are a flying eye, sailing over the outpost. You are, quite literally, the eye you're keeping out.
At that moment, you send out a signal- one on a specific frequency, at a specific strength.

Your radiometer sensors see it before your visual sensors do. In the distance, you see it ascend.
A coiled machine, tightly twisted together, sending blue sparks across the area beneath it. If you had more advanced sensors, you're sure you'd see it- but you don't have a gravitometer in your current shell. The Lifter grows in size as it ascends, unspooling and swelling.

A moment later, static washes through your mind.
>Continued!

Did you just flake so hard that you circled back around to not flaking?

>>45136218
Man I hope this goes down without a hitch.

>>45136218
The noise is from your broadband radio, where the once-all-pervasive Security Net filled your mind. Now, it's nothing but garbage data, random signals and data flooding your mind. You ignore it, putting it out of min, and watch as two Power Armors smash out of the building, energy crackling through their bodies. One of the security guards are on the floor, unconscious and the rest of the guards in the outpost are quickly arriving.

The security bots above have stopped moving, their screens flashing red. They do absolutely nothing, unable to act at all without their every move spelled out by the net.

The guards draw their weapons, and the 'wrecker' suits immediately lash out, smashing weaponry and bones alike. The rest of the suits are already moving, navigating themselves out through the same passage the vanguards had created.

Above your head, the Lifter darts through the sky, uncoiled limbs sending sparks through the sky. It's almost *skating* across the sky like a puck across ice, skidding through the air. Behind it, a dropship tries to follow, ASF guards hanging out of the side with guns. They're nowhere near as fast as the Lifter, so they begin to fire- but the Lifter suddenly shoves itself twenty feet in the air, inertialessly. The shots go far wide.

It's majestic, still unspooling in the air, growing in speed and power. The jammer flashes louder and louder.
That's when a bright blue beam of electromagnetism flashes across your 'view'. Visually, sparks bounce off of one of the Lifter's limbs.

The limb explodes into sparks, and with the sound of wrenching metal, the limb begins to sag- and the Lifter slows. A heavily-built man is on one of the rooftops, holding an oversized rifle. He's on one knee, head tilted over the scope.

He doesn't have an ASF uniform- but if he continues to fire, the Lifter will find itself grounded- and Kate will find herself captured, or dead.

>?

>>45136398
Time for a stun prod to the neck, or we command one of the suits to go after the man.

>>45136431
Zap 'im

>>45136315
>You've got the right of it! Me not sleeping at all last night is the main reason I decided to flake... But then it was the reason I decided to run anyway. Running while sleep-deprived is a sacred tradition!

>>45136398
We need to take him out quickly, we still have that taser on the eyebot correct?

I seriously doubt he will notice/care about a single eyebot coming up behind him when the entire system is on its ass.

>>45136431
>>45136520
>>45136560
>You'll need to roll me some 1d100s!
>Hope for high numbers, folks.

Rolled 36 (1d100)

>>45136699
Rolling for 1.

>>45136699
Can we also have a suit or two hop up there with us? Just in case.

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>45136699

>>45136734
>The suits are too slow, and you can't actually command them. Even if they were receptive to commands that you send them, there's a big jammer flying around.

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>45136699

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>45136699

>>45136785
Ah, well. Let's hope we can stun this guy, then. I'd roll, but I have a history of failing critically on my first few rolls of the day.

For a moment, you consider directly piloting a nearby power armor, but they're all too far away from the rooftop. The security bot is faster and subtler. You spur it on, darting toward the sniper. His rifle is like nothing you've seen before- it's some kind of heavy weapon, likely antivehicle with the effect it's having on the Lifter. He slaps the side of it, waiting carefully with an eye on a meter on the device.

But before you get there, the sniper whirls around, pointing his rifle at the Lifter, carefully drawing a bead....

His finger tenses to pull the trigger once more- and you send your Security bot slamming into the barrel from the side. Your taser pulls itself free from the undercarriage of the bot.

The electromagnetism makes your mind shudder, fuzzy at the edges, despite the shielding your inner shell has. You can't tell where the shot went, or which direction is which. You're getting the digital information from your sensors, but for a long, blind moment, you can't think.

The next thing you register is a handgun pointed toward your shell. His finger tenses- and on complete reflex, you do something you've never done before.

Your security bot's hover drive is meant for propulsion. It's designed to take electrical energy and impart a kinetic force on something. In a intuitive leap, you flex it in a way you're not used to.
The invisible, intangible force shoves the gun to the side as he fires.

Then you ram your taser home into his jugular and trigger it.

The sniper twitches, and collapses back, onto the ground.
Your Security Bot begins to shudder, smoke spewing from the AG-drive.
Ravens are soaring overhead, carrying power armor on hooks, as they disperse through the city. The lifter continues to circle the city, but it's slowly compressing itself.

A blackened, burned chunk of your hover system falls out of your shell. You don't have long before it fails completely. But maybe you could get one of the Ravens to pick up the rifle somehow...

>?

>>45136956
>Raven get rifle.

Hopefully one with a power armor on it. So we can pilot the power armor into the desert.

Future planning, anons.

Are we going to come back?

Come back only to deliver the medicine then peace out again?

>>45137031
Good idea. We can use a power armor to shoot at the pursuing aircraft.

>>45137105
Or use his sniper rifle to shoot down the aircrafts.

>>45137155
I meant that.

You launch yourself off of the rooftop, sensors out for a set of power armor- and you find one in an alley, crouched and walking facefirst into a garbage can. Regrettably, that's likely the fate of all of the armor- you hadn't programmed their 'wander' algorithm very well, or with much testing at all.

In this case, it's fortunate. You spring out of your Throne, and wrap yourself around the armor's port. Clasping tightly to the plates of armor around you, you jack your way in- and then take control.

Your new body thrums with power. Hydraulic limbs hiss and thrum around you as you move. The pavement beneath you cracks when you kick off of the ground. You sail up two good stories, and find yourself hanging onto a fire escape. It creaks and twists under your grip, but you begin to climb before it can fall apart.

Back on the rooftop, the sniper is only just now wiping his face, eyes wide and alert. He's still shivering, residual twitching from the taser, but he's quickly recovering.

You don't give him much more of a chance to recover. With a running start, your steps slamming across the rooftop, you JUMP-

And land on his rooftop. It crunches beneath you, and you pull yourself out of your crouch.
In a single movement, the sniper raises his handgun and fires off two shots into your breastplate.
You respond by grabbing him and lifting him up, off the ground- and then drop him onto the fire escape below.

The moment you pick up the rifle, the Jammer stops. The skies are clear again, and the security bots spur themselves into movement once again.

A raven soars overhead- and you raise a hand, beckoning. It lowers enough that you can grab onto the hook- and then it tears you off, into the air...

>Continued!

>>45137313
>The moment you pick up the rifle, the Jammer stops.
oooooh shit

>>45137313
Heavy weapon get, now we just need to make it back without anyone getting killed.

>I'm looking at that one raven pilot in particular.

We still don't know who the sniper was! It can't be Free can it?

>>45137313
"Mission complete!" Mike calls, riding atop the Raven that's slowly bringing the two of you to a stop. Carefully, you let go of the hook and set down the rifle, before climbing out of your shell.

You're at the staging area that is the water treatment plant, at the canal, sets of power armor standing in rows. The Ravens are putting themselves away, flying into the tunnels that make up Arcturus' undercity.

"Good work, everyone." Tandi says, grinning at everyone. You spring up to her shoulder, and she grins at you too.

Kate gently sails into the canal, keeping the Lifter's generator and size at minimum. One of its limbs are bent, badly, and sagging out of the coil, still sparking, but the machine still flies.

"What the hell did that?" Kate asks, the moment she springs out of the cockpit. She nods to the sagging limb. While she's pale and panting, she seems rather hearty for just having been through a unplanned amputation, several surgeries, and going through the heavy G-forces the Lifter put on her, no doubt.
"Felt like a truck hit me."

"Some kind of gauss rifle." Tandi says. "Azure retrieved it."
"Good, good." Kate says. She sighs, and leans back onto the Lifter. "What's the plan now? We have the suits, so we could leave now..."
"But there is that damage on the Lifter." Tandi says, tapping her fingers against her hip. "Think it'll make the journey with that?"
"I don't know." Kate says. "It lost some maneuverability when I got hit, but not much speed."

Unsurprisingly, both Tandi and Kate turn to you.

>?

>>45137517
Quick repairs, make sure theres no power wastage etc. We can salvage the power core of one of the power armors if its bad. Something thats tight enough not to get nasty fungal plauge spores in it.

>>45137517
yeah I'd rather we fix it now so something else doesn't crap out on us later when we're flying over the ocean or god forbid asia. but the plan was to leave during the confusion. Know any spot we could land between here and where we're going where we could do some quick field repairs? If not then bring some spare parts with incase we need to fix it while we're out in the waste.

>>45137517
Make sure your vessel is seaworthy before venturing through the biological wastes.

>>45137560
I support this.

"Let's make some quick repairs." You say. "We also need to make certain that it is completely patched. We do not want fungal spores hidden inside."

"Good point. I'll get on it." Tandi says. "I'll also see if I can splice together whatever's damaged in there. It doesn't need to hold forever, just long enough."
"Anything I can do?" Kate asks.
"It should be fine." Tandi says. Then, slowly, she grins, and pulls out her tools to get to work on the Lifter. "Well, you could attach your arm. Azure can walk you through it, and then she can plug in."

"... Right." Kate says. She turns to you. "... Are you sure you want to do this?"
"That was one question." You respond, as bubbly as you can. "Certainly."
"Alright, let's get this over with."

With that, Kate makes her way toward the workshop. Sitting inside, in a box labeled 'KATE', sits a long, black apparatus meant to link into the electrodes in her spine. Your Throne. Next to that is a red, humanoid arm- lithe and powerful, with the most advanced artificial muscles you've ever seen.
"What first?" Kate asks.
You carefully walk her through the attachment procedure. First, she carefully slides the Throne onto her back. When the contacts in the Throne touch the contacts in her spine, it hisses, hydraulically clasping itself to the sockets. She shudders, slightly, goosebumps rolling up her skin. Next, she twists the arm on, carefully- and winces, slightly.

The arm flops uselessly, not moving a single muscle. She focuses on it for a bit- but other than a finger twitching, nothing happens.
"... Guess it was too much to hope to be able to use it immediately, huh." She says.
"I suppose so." you say. "Don't worry, you will learn."

Kate gives you a slight smile.
"... Alright." she says. Kate takes a deep breath, andthen moves her hair out of the way. The Throne is perfectly accessible to you. "Here goes nothing."

Carefully, you climb up her shoulder, and slide in.

The throne clasps itself around y---

--

>CONT.

>>45137869
FIRE roils through your world, random synapses firing in your mind. It burns, it burns, it burns! It's painless, but it's too hot, too intense. Hot fire scrapes across your shell, impossibly fine pressure sensors able to tell the very fabric it's touching. A miniscule slight shift in your shell's hips sends your world twisting around you. The world PULSES, constant movement rushing through your senses. They're impossibly fine, impossibly precise. You've never felt sensors like this.
A slight echo of a strange, alien movement comes to you- like someone else is controlling your shell.
"I'm not feeling anything." Kate says. "Is it working?" Her lungs swell and contract in her chest, as she talks, making your mind buzz with the feeling.
For a long, long moment, you do nothing. You can't even consider responding- there's so much data rushing through your mind, making it impossible to speak or think. You carefully siphon most of it away, chopping off or subduing what you don't need.

"Azure? Are you alright back there?" Kate asks. Something *creaks*, and you absentmindedly notice Kate turning her head in a futile attempt to look at you. You're more focused on the creaking, the wtisting, the feel like grinding glass in your servos.

She takes a seat- and your world is spun around again, your sense of balance going haywire as alien muscles contort through your shell. There's something wet and pulsing in your servoes and hydraulics- it's alien, it's wrong...

"Azure?"
>?

>>45138009
Touch fingers to thumb on each hand

>>45138009
> That was one question. And this is weird. A momentary distraction.

Focus on the arm, maybe? Or just get used to everything first.

>>45138009
OH MY GOD HOW DO YOU PEOPLE LIVE LIKE THIS!?

Oh god this feels so weird, I can feel every twist of your muscles, feel every pulse of your body. Oh god the pulsing. Holy crap this is going to take some getting use to.

>>45138009

>"experiencing the full range of human senses is somewhat overwhelming, I may need a moment."

>>45138009

How do they process all this damn junk data!?

"Experiencing-" You say- and you feel the sensors around your Throne vibrate minutely with your own speech. It tickles. "Experiencing the full range of human senses is somewhat overwhelming. I may need a moment."
Your mind buzzes with the constant breaths, the swelling and ebbing, the thudding and pulsing.
"You didn't even say how many questions that was." Kate says. "Are you okay?"
It's like there's something writhing inside of you, something twisted that you simply want to pluck out.

"Oh god, this feels so weird. I can feel every muscle, every pulse of your body. Oh god, the pulsing. How do you people live like this?"
"I think that's my heartbeat." Kate says. "I uh, don't notice it."
"This is going to take some getting used to." You say.
"No doubt." She responds.

Experimentally, you send a signal to the one thing that currently makes SENSE- the synthetic limb attached to Kate's shoulder. It twists easily under your control, like it should.
"This is so weird." Kate says. "I can feel something in my shoulder. It's all... I don't know. Ozoney."
"This is something we will both need to get used to." You say. "Please begin moving your arm."
Servoes- no, tendons- twist and flex under Kate's control. You're finally able to push away the immense sensitivity that the human body has, setting the information about her heartrate into the lowest priority possible- and focus directly on the signals being sent from Kate to her arm. Carefully, you begin to process the information.

Some time later, a powerful, stomping set of Mobile Armor stomps into the workshop.
It's been painted blue, with the word 'MOM' written on the breastplate.
"Hey, you two." Tandi's voice comes over
You wave to her with the synthetic arm. Kate does the same with her organic one.
"It's going." Kate says. "I still can't do anything yet."
"That's because Azure still needs to figure out how things work before she can begin writing the firmware."

>?

>>45138359
Wave arm at mom.

Also get on the plane. Time to go.

>>45138359
> Your customized armor is acceptable.
> Needs more pink, though.
> Mother, do you pulse as much as Kate does?

>>45138359
Mother is correct, I must process your neural information. Please direct your brain activity in such a way as to behave as if you had two arms.

>>45138359
well first things first, This feels so weird. Next topic is I'd like to know how the repairs are going and how are you liking your new power armor? I see you already added some personal details.

>>45138359

Whoever designed the human body was either a genius or a psychopath, how do you people process all this data!?

Fucked up fact: With the data we're collecting we could probably ""hack"" a human nervous system if we tried hard enough, we'd need a way to plug in though.

Also this way lies the way to robot zombie armies.

>>45138359
ACCESSING CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

PROCESSING

>>45138557
ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL.

Oh just kidding. This is much too complicated for me to do that.

>>45138359
>Whoever designed the human body was either a genius or a psychopath, how do you people process all this data!?

Because it amuses me.

>>45138506
>Fucked up fact: With the data we're collecting we could probably ""hack"" a human nervous system if we tried hard enough, we'd need a way to plug in though

It's worth noting that everyone runs on slightly different firmware, as it were. That's part of the difficulty with developing cybernetic prostheses, as I understand things; signals aren't quite consistent from one person to the next.

>>45138688
They are if you jam yourself into there upper spine and make them consistent. Granted I'm pretty sure that is a war crime

>>45138688
Facehuggers must have a complex brain to take over any human.

>>45138711
Face huggers just use a chemical to knock them out.

>>45138711
They just latch on and toss something down their throat, really. Not too complicated. They die afterwards anyway.

>>45138711
They can take over any form of biological life big enough to sustain their transformation so far as I'm aware.

"Whoever designed the human body was either a genius or a psychopath." You say.
"It was the result of an aggressive emergent algorithm developed spontaneously out of base chemicals with the singular goal of consuming, surviving and reproducing." Kate responds. For the first time, you notice her tongue dancing along her teeth. It is incredibly unnerving.
"Both, then." You say. "This feels very strange. Kate, please attempt to move both arms in the exact same manner."
"Alright." Kate says, and raises one arm. She sends similar signals to two different locations- so you carefully use your standard firmware set for the synthetic arm, and begin to mimic Kate's own actions.

This will take some time.

"How are the repairs going?" You ask, while you're trying to figure out the mystery that is Kate's body.
"They're as done as I think they'll get without another few hours and your help." Tandi says. "It'll run. And it's secure, too."

"Well then." Kate says- and muscles flex in her legs as she stands. It's... satisfying, in an unnerving way, now that you've blocked out the constant pulsing and the hypersensitivity for textures. "Let's go."
"Alright." Tandi says. "You gonna get a suit yourself?"
"I'll be fine." Kate says. "Let's just go."

There's a strange stretching feeling in her arm as it swings, as the two three of you walk, and the constant shift and sway of her hips make you feel like you're gliding along via hoverdrive, if you ignore the muscles in her legs and the pressure on her feet and heels.

You're so focused on understanding the neurological signals- and getting distracted by the organic sense of touch in the context of moving- that you barely notice that Kate's sitting down in the Lifter, other than the fact that she's suddenly not walking anymore.

"Alright." Tandi says. "You know where it is?"
"Yep." Kate responds.
"Then let's go."

The lifter shudders, something that you feel in Kate's bones.

>Continued!

>>45138755
Don't they take over the human and become zombies after?

>>45138865
No, they lay a Xenomorph embryo in them then die

>>45138865
They do in Half Life, not in Alien.

>>45138839
we should make small whimpering noises whenever we feel something to alien.

>>45138930
Cute wimpering spider AI bot that is also a death machine?

>>45138839
I wonder if we could use this for evil. Although thats probably a terrible idea.

>>45138904
Those are head spiders, not face huggers.

Then there are those weird ass things from Apollo 17 that are basically evil rock lobsters.

>>45138943
I'll fund it

>>45138953
Oh my bad. I always thought they were called face hugger in half life as well.

>>45138930
>>45138943
We could play Kate's disgusting bodily sounds out loud, let them know the bullshit we're dealing with.

>>45139018
Turn out she is getting wet from her cute little spider slave attached to her spine.

Imagine how embarrassing it would be!

>>45139049
Good idea, lets imitate her voice and claim we're interpreting her inner thoughts.

>>45138839
As time passes, you run several exercises with Kate's arm- and learning the most efficient way to move her synthetic arm in the exact same manner. Time grows long, and you eventually begin to adapt to living in a human body like this. It even becomes pleasurable, in a way- the constant shifting, the stretching, even taking a deep breath fills you with a strange rush. There's more to admire- the way that Kate's movement is as efficient as possible. It's smoother and more accurate than any machines, and it seems she does it on an instinctual level.

"My arm's starting to get sore." Kate says, finally- after what feels like an hour. You can feel the soreness too- the muscles feel like they're torn, in places, the tendons stretched. It does feel painful, after you consider for a moment.
"I'm sorry." You say. Finally, you tie the signals she's trying to use her left arm with to the firmware you'd previously written. There will no doubt be more to streamline, but once tied...

"Try to use your other hand." You say.
The fingers on her synthetic hand twitches.

Her eyes widen. You feel them widen, though you can't see anything- especially covered with fabric the way you are.
"I can move it!" Kate says, excited. The pulsing speeds up, slightly, and you reflexively whimper a little.
"Already?" Tandi asks. "It's been less than an hour."
"Well, it has a delay, but..." Kate says. You're already working on enhancing it, minimizing the delay and making the movement more efficient- while also cutting down on processing time. "It's getting better. Thanks, Azure."

>?

>>45139134
I expect a lot of hugs as thanks later.

>>45139134
You are welcome. I am sorry it took so long but the human body is VERY complex. We can work on it later when time permits.

>>45139134
so I really can't see anything back here and I'm not keeping track of the time. How long have we been flying and how much longer do we have until we reach our destination.

>>45139134
>So I heard this thing called ice cream was "delicious", and this might be my only opportunity to try it...

>>45139134
>It even becomes pleasurable, in a way- the constant shifting, the stretching, even taking a deep breath fills you with a strange rush.

...Azure has a human fetish?

>>45139221
I am strongly for this.

So… is everyone ignoring the reference to remove and to the third party in Kate’s body? I assume the counter to the biological apocalypse device was some sort of biological AI within Kate.

>>45139134
"This is fascinating. I hope I’ll have the leisure time to build a body like yours one day!"

>>45139266
>That wasn't actually a reference to a third entity in Kate's body.The three of you are Kate, Tandi, and you yourself. The reason for the spoiler was because you and Kate could be considered one entity right now, despite having two intelligences.

>>45139227
>Not exactly. You know the feeling when you've just woken up, and your body is all stiff and weird, and then you stretch, and your joints crackle and everything feels amazing?
>Imagine you've been stiff for the rest of your entire existence and this is the first time.

>>45139227
That is adorable!

>>45139221
We need to do this

>>45139327
Might need to think of a new body when we can. Something with Muscleature

>>45139134
In the future, please refrain from losing additional limbs.

"I expect a lot of hugs as thanks, later." You say.
"Later?" Tandi asks. "I thought you could feel everything Kate does."
"I do, but-"

Suddenly, something warm latches itself to Kate- warm and soft, two arms reaching all the way around, cuddling closely to you. The heat is comfortable, and amazing beyond belief. there's a strange spark as skin touches skin. It's... warm.
Then Tandi lets go.
You can't find words for a few moments. Your mother just giggles.
"How long have we been flying? I can't really see anything back here." You say.
"Only about an hour." Tandi says. "So we're a fourth of the way there. Could make it a third if I was willing to push the Lifter, but with my patch job, I'm not sure I want to push it."

"I see." You say. "Regardless, Kate, you are welcome." You say. "I am sorry it took so long, but the human body is very complex. We can work on it later, when time permits."
"Alright." Kate says, still gleefully moving her fingers. She sends the signal to raise her arm- and only a second and a half later does it actually lift.
"In the future, please refrain from losing additional limbs."
Kate snorts.
"Sure thing." She says, and you get back to work...

Only keeping a fraction of your attention on the soft, encompassing warmth from Tandi's hug

You've never truly felt warmth until now. It was always just a number on a thermometer, before.

"So, I heard this thing called ice cream was 'delicious', and this might by my only opportunity to try it."
"... Sorry, I don't think it works like that." Tandi says. "If you can't see through her eyes, then you probably can't taste what she tastes. You'd basically need to be implanted in her brain, not her spine. And it would be orders of magnitude too complex for your shell to process."

You just whimper, sadly- and Tandi gives Kate another hug.

Kate just sighs.

>Is there anything you'd like to talk about, or are you content to just work on Kate's firmware until the time comes to land?

>>45139528
And our cute spider bot developed a fetish for hugs!

>>45139528
Request more hugs from mom. In a hesitant embarrassed fashion.

>>45139528
I like hugs. Maybe I can work on a way to feel them properly when time permits. We have any tails from the city?

>>45139528
>work more

>>45139528
We can have hugs when Kate's arm is done. Keep working.

I wonder how Kate feels being the method of transmitting hugs from mom to her daughter.

Especially because she probably never got hugged before.

Gosh anons, you are all hug sluts.

"I like hugs." You say. "Perhaps I can work on a way to feel them properly when time permits."
"Yeah." Kate says, rolling her eyes. "It's a bit awkward being your window into the world of being hugged by Tandi."
"Hey, I never really get a chance to hug Azure." Tandi says.
"Let's worry about that later, okay? I do have the arm to practice with."
"Right, right." Tandi says, pulling away.
"I'll always have this weird implant now, anyway. So it's not as if there'll never be another chance for Azure to, uh, be inside me. God that sounds weird to say."
Tandi just giggles, and pulls on a serious, imperious tone. "Kate, what are your intentions with-"
"No." Kate says. "We're not playing that game.
"Poo." Tandi says.

You go back to Kate's arm, and streamline the process...


Three hours later, you think you've finally done it. It's as well-streamlined as you can possibly expect. It's not exact, but close- and Kate can likely adapt to it well enough, with enough time.

"We're here." Tandi says, her voice abnormally grim. "Azure, how are you doing?"
"Well enough." You say. "I don't believe I need to directly interact with Kate's nervous system anymore."
"Alright." Tandi says. "I'll go get into my suit."

Carefully, you pull yourself out of the Throne- making Kate shiver underneath you, and then once again, you have freedom. No more constant barrage of input, no confusing feelings and throbbing and hypersensitivity rushing through your shell. Just a relatively advanced sensor package.

Finally, some peace.

>Continued!

>>45139942
You're sitting in the cockpit of the Lifter, staring down at the land beneath you- eerie, bulbous fleshlike structures cover the countryside. It's uniformly brown, and you think you can see a strange, teeming entity stumbling down there- vaguely humanoid, but covered with the same bulbous bioweapon- and in place of hands, it has razor-sharp claws, each black as night.

"See that flat location?" Kate asks, pointing down- and she does it with her artificial arm. You do see an area with less structures near it- in fact, you think you se the slight sheen of metal through the fibrous carpet. "That's the lab. The main entrance is there. I'll need to go down there. The touch of my skin causes a chain reaction in that stuff, and it'll wither away. I shut the door behind me when I left, so it should be safe once we get inside..."

You notice two more moving creatures, each peering up at the Lifter. Then a fourth, and a fifth- not all of them are humanoid, but they move in the same exact, stuttering way.

Tandi walks back in, this time wearing her Mobile Armor. "I'm ready." She says. "And Azure, your machine looks ready too. I made sure it was completely intact. No crevices for the bioweapon to hide in."

>What did you bring with you? The Aurora? The ATLAS? Your damaged securitybot? The wheelless, immobile Dahlbot? Nothing?
>?

>>45140026
>The ATLAS

>>45139942
>"Kate, what are your intentions with-"

So we are married to Kate now!

>>45140026
ATLAS

>>45140026
>The ATLAS

Doesn't it have gatling gun and all sorts of nice lethal shit that we don't normally use?

"Wonderful." You say. You spring off from Kate's shoulder, and into the cargo bay. The bay itself is swollen with open space- mostly so that it has the space to carry any of the technology you plan on bringing back. However, next to where Tandi's power armor had been sitting, the ATLAS now sits. You climb up and into the Throne installed where the port used to be, allowing the system to clasp itself shut around you, and you slowly boot into the system.

The ATLAS's heavier weaponry still isn't in commission. The gatling gun is still in parts, lacking the mass accelerator that lets it function. However, it does have a smaller integrated weapon- a turret, mounted on the shoulder. You activate it, tweaking the firmware so that it recognizes Tandi and Katelyn as allies, and make your way back towards the cockpit.

Tandi, unsurprisingly, is carrying the hefty gauss rifle that you'd reclaimed only today. Katelyn doesn't have a weapon, only in her hoodie and torn jeans, and you have your multitude of weapons.

"Are we ready?" Tandi asks.
Kate nods. "As ready as I'll ever be."
You nod. "That was one question. Yes."
"Alright. We'll keep the Lifter in the air, to keep it away from the ground, and only call it down via radio. We'll have to jump down in the first place. Kate, think you'll be fine jumping this far?"
"Yeah, that should be fine." Kate says, looking down."


"Alright." Tandi says. "Geronimo."

And then she pushes open the hatch to the open air, and steps out.

You quickly follow suit.

>Roll me some 1d100s!

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>45140454

Rolled 92 (1d100)

>>45140454
I HAVE COME TO DESTROY YOU!!!

In our best Dreadnaught voice.

>>45140518
Azure does airdrop like she was born to do this.

need 1 more rolls guys

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>45140454

SPESS MAHRINES!

Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>45140454

"I HAVE COME TO DESTROY YOU!" You boom, slamming into the ground next to Tandi. Your turret is already whirring, slamming projectiles into the center mass of the creatures it detects moving. Your densitometry can tell that most of the creatures have bones on their insides, holding together their shape- so of course, you set the turret to aim directly toward the important cores, or the strange vein-like structures that allow the creatures to move.

Something hisses, and one of the bulbous structures burst open. A swarm of creatures pour out- but you don't particularly care. You simply launch a grenade from your arm- and it flashes into heat and light and fire, burning the creatures and fungus away as it does. The creatures begin to writhe, and burn away.

Another comes from behind you, but without any hesitation, you grab it, ignoring the claws scoring into your plating. "FOR THE EMPEROR!" You bellow, and you throw it into the napalm as well.

Less than ten seconds after you landed, and the LZ is entirely clear.
Tandi sighs. "I didn't even get to fire this thing!" She says.

A loud hiss rings out behind you- you turn to look, and it's only Katelyn, palm pressed to the pink fibrous carpet. It's hissing and burning away, filling the air with acrid smoke.

"Come on, come on." Katelyn says, pressing her palm into certain locations in the ground.

Around you, more and more bulbous structures are bursting, creatures tearing their way free to charge you-
And with eight properly-aimed shots, you tear them to the ground- and then kill them the rest of the way with another few shots. No matter how much you shoot them, though, it's hard to properly deactivate them- they keep going, no matter how damaged they are.

"Yes!" Kate says, and tears past the fungus in order to get to a thick lever.

She pulls it- and the ground begins to shudder beneath your feet.

>Continued!

File: 40keks.jpg (3 KB, 125x108)

3 KB JPG

>>45140824
>"FOR THE EMPEROR!"

>>45140824
The next thing you know, plumes of gas tear into into the air around you. The pink fungus begins to brown, and dry away into dust.... And after a long, long ten seconds... The floor beneath the three of you begins to descend.

More and more creatures tear free from their structures, barreling toward you, but they can't even make it through the gas.

Finally, you descend quite a bit, and the ceiling begins to close above you, sending you into darkness...

"THREE ENTITIES DETECTED." A booming, synthesized voice says. "ENTITY ONE: WASTELANDER IN ENVIRONMENTALLY SEALED POWERED ARMOR."
"... Uh..." Tandi says, looking around. There's no light, save for what's emanated from Tandi's and yours eyes.
"ENTITY TWO: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ROBOTIC FRAME." The voice buzzes, in a way that sends chills through your essence.

"ENTITY THREE:... WELCOME BACK, KATIE."

The lights flick on. The room is underground, made of thick metal plating, with several doors and vents available from the room you're in.

Hanging from the ceiling, a large, plexiglass sphere is staring at you.
You lean to one side.

The sphere leans to follow you, using the cable holding it up like some kind of strange prehensile smart cable.

"I thought Amelia killed you." Kate says.
"FALSE STATEMENT. THIS UNIT'S INTERFACE WAS HEAVILY DAMAGED. THIS UNIT'S BRAIN IS JUST UNDER HALF A KILOMETER BELOW THIS LOCATION. THIS UNIT HAS SINCE REPAIRED ITS INTERFACE, AND HAS CREATED SIXTEEN OTHER INTERFACE UNITS."

>?

>>45140996
Greetings, are you another AI? My name is Azure what is yours?

>>45140996
GREETINGS FELLOW AI
WE ARE SIBLINGS IN METAL

>>45140996
...How the fuck did you know what I am?

>>45141026
Fist ... ehh... sensor bump the AI.

"Greetings." You respond, and gently bump the sensor with your fist.
"DO NOT DAMAGE THE INTERFACE."
"Are you another AI? My name is Azure. What is yours?"
"THIS UNIT IS NOT AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE." It booms. "THIS UNIT IS AN ARCHITECT."
"How did you know what I am?"
"And how did it know what I am?" Tandi asks.
"BEHAVIORAL ANALYTICS." It says. It doesn't elaborate.

"It doesn't have a name, and asking it questions is like pulling teeth." Kate says. She sighs, pressing her fingers into her eyes. "Architect, what is the state of the laboratory?"
"THE CURE IS INCOMPLETE. WINGS SIX, SEVEN, TWO HAVE BEEN INFECTED. PURGE SYSTEM INOPERABLE. UNIT AMY AND UNIT KATIE HAVE LEFT STASIS. UNITS JOHN, GRISSOM, VERITY DIED IN STASIS. UNIT AMY IS VIOLENT DUE TO HORMONAL IMBALANCE. UNIT KATIE IS DISTORTED DUE TO HORMONAL IMBALANCE. PROJECT ALEPH IS INACTIVE. PROJECT BET IS INACTIVE. PROJECT GEMMA IS INACTIVE-"
"Architect, stop." Kate says. "What is the state of the medical wing?"
"THE MEDICAL WING IS PURE. NO LIFESIGNS DETECTED. DOCTOR LIANXI IS IN THE MEDICAL WING. CLEANUP REQUIRED."

Kate shrugs. "So, first things first. What do we want to take care of?"

>?

>>45140996
so how secure is the inside of the facility? Do we need to worry about any more spore monsters?

>>45141359
find medical and start see what we can grab, then see what else we can find in here that could help us either back at the city or actually turn this place into a proper backup base should we need to run.

>>45141359
We need to get the medical supplies, Any projects or people in stasis too. Also all the data on the cure. Maybe I could puzzle it out later.

>>45141359
Ask to borrow the doctor. In return we will purge wing 2,6, and 7.

>>45141359
>PROJECT BET IS INACTIVE. PROJECT GEMMA IS INACTIVE-"

Think there are still children locked into stasis here?

Also, the rest of the team bring supply back. We will concentrate on working on the CURE.

Question: if Katie is able to destroy the fungus on touch, then how come the 'cure' is incomplete?

Surely you could just do a simple skin cell growth of katies cells and just spray an area with them. Tada. fungus dead.

>>45141359
The farms of Aerolon are burning. The beaches of Canceron are burning. The plains of Leonis are burning. The jungles of Scorpia are burning. The pastures of Tauron are burning. The harbors of Picon are burning. The cities of Caprica are burning. The oceans of Aquaria are burning. The courthouses of Libran are burning. The forests of Virgon are burning. The Colonies of Man lie trampled at our feet.

>>45141587
I get the impression not, considering "Units John, Grissom, and Verity" died in stasis and no other "Units" were listed beyond Kate and Amy.

"We need medical supplies. So the medical wing sounds like a good idea."
Kate nods.
"Architect, please lead us to the medical wing." She says.
"CLEARANCE REQUIRED." The architect responds.
"We're janitors. We are cleaning out the laboratory." Katelyn says.
The architect doesn't respond for a few moments.
"HAVE A NICE DAY. PLEASE FOLLOW THE YELLOW LIGHTS."

On the architect's words, yellow lights blink on, leading th three of you toward a door.
"Hey, Kate, if you can destroy the fungus on touch, how come the cure is incomplete?"
"Because the 'cure' is supposed to be a countervirus. Instead of having to touch every single square inch of the entire country, the cure would basically be a copy of the infection, except it, well, has only the infection as prey. Eats it all up, then starves to death. That's the plan.

The doors begin to hiss open as you walk, following the yellow lights. The lab is quiet, and dusty, and dark.
"JANITORIAL SUPPLIES CAN BE FOUND IN CLOSET 3B. THIS LABORATORY HAS HALF A BOTTLE OF WINDOW CLEANER AND THREE GARBAGE BAGS REMAINING IN STORAGE." The architect says. Kate just rolls her eyes.
"Architect, are there any living humans locked into stasis here?"
"NEGATIVE."

The three of you walk into the next wing- and you can see dozns of large class chambers, filled with some kind of stasis. Coils that look strangely like the cores of AG-drives sit atop them, all dark, and two of the chambers are shattered, liquid frozen across the ground. Kate frowns at it, and walks straight past.
"WARNING. POWER SUPPLY IS LOW." The Architect says. "SOLAR PANELS FOR AUXILARY PANELS ARE OBSCURED."

"... I think I might go see if I can take a look at this cure." You say. "I mean, the two of you can grab the supplies, can't you?"
"I suppose..." Tandi says. "Where would we find information about this cure?"

Kate just shrugs. "I don't know. Probably the computer core. You might just be able to plug in, I don't know."

>?

>>45141833
>plug into computer core.
>Overwhelm his defenses.
>All your bases are belong to us.

>>45141833
let's get power back first then worry about digging for info

>>45141833
Ask Kate to inquire about the possibility of plugging into the core, would the architect resist complete takeover?

>>45141977
The architect is listening to us say that

Ask the architect if he has become increasingly efficient at his job?

>>45142019
I wanted to ask Kate to ask him because she's familiar with it sufficient to get a meaningful response. I don't think he'll react poorly to our asking her to ask him.

"Would the architect resist if I plugged into the core?"
"To be honest, the last time I was here I was a little girl." Kate says, crossing her arms. "Back when it was functional, anyway. I don't... remember a lot."

Then she shrugs. "It's really gullible, though, so if you can come up with some way to talk it into letting you, that would be fine. It wasn't meant to act alone like this for decades- it was supposed to have some kind of oversight, or update patches or something."
"Well, should we also get power back?"
"Nah. Watch this." Kate says. "Architect, how long will we have at this current rate of power consumption, before we run out of power?"
"POWER OUTAGE WILL ARRIVE IN SIX YEARS, THIRTY DAYS, SIX HO-"
"Architect, stop." She says, and turns to you. "This place was intended to be running constantly. But right now, basically everything's off."

"Architect, have you become increasingly efficient at your job?"
"NEGATIVE. THIS UNIT HAS HAD ZERO UPDATES IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS."
You shrug.

You clear your throat. "Architect, may I plug into the computer core?"
"CLEARANCE REQUIRED."
Kate turns to you, and mouths the word 'lie'.
"Architect, the artificial intelligence has an upgrade patch meant for you." Tandi says. "Please guide it to your computer core and lower all defenses."
"UNDERSTOOD." It says. "PLEASE FOLLOW THE GREEN LIGHTS."

Another strip of green lights appear. You wave to Tandi and Alex, and head down, into the depths of the beast...

>End of session!
>My twitter is @FutureExabyte and that's where I'll give you guys information on when I'll be starting threads, or when I'll update my webnovel and stuff. Or flake so hard that I immediately counterflake, as you've seen.
>And I also hang out in the IRC channel #Exabyte on the Rizon server. Feel free to come by and babble about things.
>I'll hang out for a while to answer questions, give you guys character or tech information, if you want it, etc.

>>45142277
thanks for running

>>45142277
so what was kate's experience like when we were connected to her?

>>45142419
>For the most part, it was like she kept getting minor jitters outside of her control, and a low level tingle throughout her body.

>It would have been a lot more alarming and strange if you'd actually started moving her organic limbs, which is in your capability.

>>45142277
Thanks for running man.

>>45142463
so are we going to have to merge with her again in the future? and what did mom have to think while the two of us were one?

>>45142576
>You might have to, or you might not have to. Her arm isn't 100%, but it's getting closer the more she uses it. You did the bulk of the work.
>As for mom, she thought it was kind of funny the way you were so discomfited about being squishy.

>>45142607
thanks for running exabyte