xenoscience

Tara lay on the track, pleading with her body to move, even just a little. She got lightheaded like this once in a while, but never in such a bad place, at such a bad time. She could see the five strangers on the other track—drunk college students, maybe?—lying passed out, unmoving. And getting closer and closer, an oncoming trolley, accompanied by the frantic squeal of failing brakes.

There, past the tracks—a familiar figure walking by, wearing the same uniform as Tara. The passerby froze as she took in the scene, cold dread filling her face. She was shouting something Tara couldn’t hear over the noise of the trolley. Next to her was the lever that controlled the junction—that controlled who the runaway trolley would hit. It was heading toward the college students, right? But the girl—the lever—she could save them—in exchange for—

Tara tried to imagine the terrible logic playing out in the other girl’s head, the impossible choice facing her. What would Tara do in her position? She had no idea.

Whatever you choose…it’s all right. I… I understand.

Tara shut her eyes tight.

Tara stood at the crossing, waiting for the trolley to pass and the gates to lift. Her eyes were screwed shut, just like they’d been the moment it happened, but the noises were still echoing in her head even now.

“…ra?” A concerned voice cut through the memories. “Tara?”

Tara’s eyes slowly opened to meet Lauren’s—tinged with worry and with something else hard to place, glimmering in those inky depths.

“What’s wrong, Tara?”

Alice takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly. This is it. Her first battle. The sky overhead is the color of a raw, bleeding bruise, and the violin screeching of the Sin echoes between the buildings. It’s huge. How is it so big? Couldn’t she start with something smaller?

She takes another breath. Ready or not, she’s going to do this. No—she is ready. She’s got to be. There’s no one else.

<chessmaster12> Okay, this is maybe more of an interpersonal question
<chessmaster12> But this chat is full of clever people, and I'd really love any advice anyone's got
<spare_throne> Not sure I'll be much help, but go for it.
<_cantarella> whats up chess?
<keikaku> give us the drama :3

“Kyra?”

Kyra sets her coffee and croissant down on the table and looks up toward the slightly tired voice calling out to her. “Oh— Luce, hi! Uh…”

“Didn’t expect to run into you out here. It’s good to see you!”

This is a lot farther from Lucille’s apartment than Kyra’s seen her go in a while. She’s wearing sweatpants and a baggy hoodie, but they look like they’ve been washed recently, at least. She’s doing better, maybe, but—

“Good to see you too, Luce. Um, just, now’s not really—”

Kyra stops as she sees Lucille’s eyes widen in terror. She turns to see Ivy standing behind her, carrying over a drink and pastry of her own, face slowly hardening into a glare. Kyra turns back, trying to come up with something to say to deescalate things, but Lucille immediately bolts before Kyra can get another word out. The bell on the cafe door jingles, and Lucille disappears down the street.

When you wake up, you spend a long while just staring into the mirror.

You feel like there’s someone standing right behind your reflection, but you can’t see anything. You’re always in the way.

She comes in and finds you staring again. She grabs your shoulder, steps in front of you, tells you to brush your teeth and come eat breakfast. So you do.

She’s made waffles. She’s trying. She knows you like them. But if you ever tell her why you like them, she’ll probably never make them again.

“Thank you again for your hospitality,” 9f said. “I hope we can visit again sometime, once our mission is done.”

ff nodded stiffly. “Thank you as well, for what you have shared with us.”

“Thanks!” d149 said from both heads in unison, waving their upper-left arm.

“you’ve opened up a whole new world—really!” the autogun chassis buzzed out.

“Bullets! Bullets!” 13’s chassis shouted cheerfully, with a half-dozen different guns strapped into holsters across her body.

a1 made a few final adjustments, then closed up 9f’s chest cavity and cranial plating. “Does everything appear functional?”

9f sat up on the workbench and flexed her limbs experimentally. “Oh, wow—yeah, everything feels great.” Are you picking this up ok?

Yes, the extended-range comms module appears to be functional.

“That takes care of all of us except you, right?” 9f asked.

“Correct. My module upgrades will need to be performed by you. One of you can connect to my debug port, and I can guide you through the process to the best of my ability.”

“Mmm…” 77 sighed. “You’re the only one who’s really got the training for this stuff. But I guess we don’t really have any other options. So, who’s gonna take point on opening her up?”

“Let us help.”

The group turned to look at 83 as she walked over to the workbench, 6c at her side.

a1 and 9f looked through shelves of hardware modules in the factory basement. They checked off each item against a shared list as they went—seeing if there was anything missing they’d need to make do without, or anything unrecorded that might be of use on their mission.

9f pulled down a box labeled “R-409”, examining the contents with confused astonishment and fascination. She made a mental note for later, then turned to check on a1 and resynchronize lists.

a1 was standing still, holding a box in her arms and staring off at another shelf to the side. They’d already checked everything there; it was just boxes of spare legs and feet, nothing they needed. 9f looked at a1 for a moment, then checked her magnetometer as a thought struck her.

“South?” she asked softly.

“South.”

==============
Project VARROA
==============

RESTRICTED DISCLOSURE: Protectorate XHQ Clearance 5+

RESTRICTED DISSEMINATION:
- Protectorate XHQ Intranet Indigo Workstations
- Icelake Vault Storage
- TAS 8a01:322:c7e6::92aa:0/116
- TAS 8a01:322:c7e6::9919:0/116
- TAS 8a01:322:c7e6::b07f:0/116
- TAS 8a01:322:c7e6::fade:0/116

Objectives:
1. Persistent global-scale disruption to synchronization protocols of rogue ARC strategy-system "Holy Mother"
2. Realignment or neutralization of all units constructed or converted by Holy Mother or subordinate systems
3. Termination of Holy Mother and complete destruction of all program data

...

“How’s it looking?” 77 asked a1.

Next to them at the workbench, 83 twisted together LEDs and batteries to make a handful of simple lights. She turned excitedly to show them to 6c, and the two ran off hand in hand, back to where the others were gathered.

a1 sat surrounded by hardware test clips and imaging equipment, still interfacing with a workstation as she spoke.

“I have recovered several auxiliary data files, but the majority of 0700’s core personality data appears to have resided in flash memory modules that were lost or heavily damaged. The data I have retrieved so far is insufficient for even a partial restoration.”

77 gently put a hand on a1’s shoulder.

“So, what now?”