Starpath: Scoundrels of the Interstellar Highway - Thread 2 - Games

Iska took out a cigarette and opened her tablet. She puffed away on her cigg, opened up a picture and handed the tablet to Yanim, "Mahak clan has ship. Durandal, frigate. Iska not now maker. Clan Warboss Zyrik in Stalnazyp for planning. Can discuss with him." she explained calmly

"This is excellent," Yanim said, turning the tablet toward the other crew members. They leaned in and took a good look at the [url=http://i.imgur.com/Sy54RAQ.png]design[/url] in the dimly-lit cabin of the homkah. "I can already see marks of quality in the design. Whoever drafted this knew exactly what they were doing, although it is a quintessentially [I]western[/I] design..." Yanim handed the tablet back to Iska, and upon seeing the latter's cigarette, felt entitled to a quick hit of kagakitazh. Jag spoke, an opportunity finally having arisen as his boss snorted the rust-colored powder. "Do you have a moment, Yanim?" The sanghvi's tone was... off. Yanim peered up at the dark obelisk with confusion on her face. "Why wouldn't I?" she asked. Jag took a moment to respond. "This moment has been a long time coming," it replied. "Much has been done to restore... serenity. I do not wish to waste those sacrifices." Yanim blinked. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked. Dio chuckled nearby as Jag lowered its head a moment, as if unsure. "I sense that not all is well, despite current developments... but I want you to know that your friends will protect you, as they have always done. We are... proud to see what has become of you." "What the hell?" Dio blurted. "When did squid-rock get all mystical?" Yanim nodded slowly, made uncomfortable by Jag's uncharacteristic demeanor. "Thank you, but what do you mean that 'all is not well'?" Jag turned to Dio briefly before turning back, undeterred. "The past is alive, soft-carbon. The void has spoken of [I]you[/I], of your choices, and of the compulsions they've inspired. This moment, while very important, is leading to something greater still..." Yanim suddenly felt ill. "I know how dangerous things are right now, Jag. You don't need to remind me." Jag tilted its head. "The threat I sense is far from physical-" "Hey," Arkadam interrupted, his bloodshot eyes denoting his exhaustion. "The boss said she's heard enough, [I]sanghves[/I]." By using the kanad term for sanghvi, he brought racial tension into the room. Jag turned eerily slowly. "Very well." The moment passed like a dark cloud, and everyone was quiet for a moment. Yanim finally looked at Iska, thinking of what Jag had said about 'what had become' of her. It reminded her that, in the rush of everything, Yanim had not only failed to properly explain her actions to Iska, but had not even tried to learn what Iska had been through. In fact, Iska seemed more serious and less talkative than she remembered. Cautiously, Yanim broached the subject. "I suppose we finally have time to catch up, sekadera. I know I have a lot to explain, but I'd much rather know how you fared after Heidrov..."

Iska took a long drag and leaned back in her seat, "Warboss Saw call for crew. Final mission on planet Zeruel. Iska only kill for money for last time." She said in a low tone. She looked at Yanim and drew her finger over the tattoo that crossed her left eye, "Iska loose eye. Varn and Lion dead. After mission Iska want to go home. Bury papa. Warboss of militia now." She looked out of the window behind her, then back to Yanim with a frown, "Pretty calm on Rigel, but domov always up to something."

Yanim waited a while, expecting Iska to elaborate, but it was no use- she was continuing to be terse with her. "I heard about Varn," Yanim finally said, neglecting to even address Lion. She didn't know if Iska was aware of what Saw had shared with her before the destruction of Zeruel, about that monster, Dwan... She shook her head. If Iska didn't know, she figured it wouldn't be appropriate to tell her at the moment, especially not in mixed company. But Yanim needed to say something, because she felt responsible for the distance between the two. "I was at Zeruel, too," she said, finally. "I took those two blackjackets we captured at Hanza and the three of us hijacked a ship. That serek you saw back at the Aurikha was the owner. Turns out she was a smuggler, and we managed to cut a deal. We also recruited a medic, a friend of mine from Duroma. Her name was Gataska... I haven't seen her in a long time..." Yanim's thoughts were a bit scattered. She didn't know how in-depth she should bother making her story. She decided not to play up her contribution. What she did at Zeruel wasn't heroic, and plainly Iska didn't seem to think much of it either. "We went to Zeruel for the money, and, honestly, a bunch of stupid reasons I can't remember. We shouldn't have done that. Rask turned out to be just as rotten as he seemed, but Virin was different. I liked Virin, and I got him killed," she said, sadly. "We shouldn't have gone." After a moment of quiet, Yanim continued. "Saw left us a great deal of money and we split it up four ways. I wasted most of my portion on Duroma, trying to stay safe and obscure. I could hardly eat or sleep for months, and I was constantly angry. My drug habit was out of control, and the three of us who stayed after Gat went home all hated each other. We stayed together because it was convenient and because we had no homes to go home to. "Eventually, we bought that ship you saw in the hangar that was so destroyed. It looked nice when we bought it... We also found some people who were willing to fly with us, and it helped smooth things out. We took my alias and the name of that ship we had on Zeruel and combined them, Terika-Belladonna. "I wanted..." Yanim strained to speak against her newly-rediscovered sense of humility, "I wanted to fix the galaxy like I would fix a machine," she said. "But everything in this galaxy seems to be governed with violence, so I thought that I could use that, use violence and theft, and [I]killing[/I], to move the parts of the machine around and make it work the way I wanted it to. "And the thing is, I still believed that I was doing the right thing. I saw what Saw did to us and what the Collective was doing to my people, and how so many other planets worked the same way, and I felt like good people were always getting stabbed in the back, and they were always surprised about it because they're naive, and they expect better out of all the people around them... So I thought, rather than do good," she said, unable to look Iska in her eye, "I'd kill people like Saw and Vorokar until people like you and Jeremy could live in peace. No one else would have to live with the consequences. Just me. "It took a long time to get the ball rolling. I targeted criminals with bounties first. I also stole from black market vendors that I knew were getting their supplies from pirates. Rask and I got good at finding 'dirty work' and then turning on our employers. We managed to corner and kill a slave trafficker once, and a GKVR colonel another time. But sometimes we were desperate and we hurt people we shouldn't have hurt. Sometimes we were just too aggressive. "I got poisoned on Voyak while we were hunting a rogue assassin. We were trying to take him alive when it happened, and I couldn't control my rage afterward... it's why I stopped wearing that tail unless I needed it." Jag suddenly jerked upward, as if something startled it. Yanim paused. "What's wrong?" Jag gradually settled down. "I have just realized something, Yanim, but please continue." Yanim acknowledged Jag before turning back to Iska. "We started assembling the crew once we had enough money and we understood the business well enough, because we knew that after what happened on Voyak, sooner or later Rask and I were going to get ourselves killed. You must have heard about the Madness on Prospera after the F-Max Grand Prix, right? We were responsible, to an extent... "The Collective is swallowing up Itara, sekadera. The food from that planet sustains the populations of a dozen planets, including this one... they wanted to push those products into human space, but Sol wouldn't allow it because they knew what would happen. So the Collective found a crime ring on Prospera which would help them move the product onto the black market and beyond, into the untamed space out west... So we hit Prospera. We didn't know that the crime family controlling the whole thing would come unglued the way it did, or that the Death Vigil and YsCom and Tri-Enterprises were all going to hate-fuck each other the moment the whole situation went to shit," Yanim said, grabbing the sides of her head, painfully remembering the beginning of the meltdown. "At first I thought it was a good thing, but so many people got caught up in it... I wish it could have happened differently. The food ended up on the open market and the border planets bought it all up, so nobody went hungry. I suppose you're welcome for that," Yanim joked, dryly. "But that's why Intergalactica says we're responsible for the Madness. We were trying to prevent a famine. "We went to Voyak after that because Argos paid us a lot of money to go get them... something important, and keep it safe from the war zone. We had to work with the sanghvi to make it happen, and that meant pissing off the Collective even more, and not even for a reason that helped people. It was a Saw-type job for Saw-type money. That's when I finally woke up and realized that being naive had nothing to do with being good. The crew didn't like it, either. We broke ties with Argos afterward and set course for Rigel, but we got ambushed along the way. "You see, sekadera, while most of my company chose to take a better path, some believe that we're either beyond redemption or beyond reason. Rask and three other former employees all turned on us and attacked us as we neared the planet. That's why the Collective and the Ayr were both involved... I guess the best way to describe it is that we are all fighting desperately for the [I]chance[/I] to do something great, something selfless that will balance out for the mistakes we've made."

Iska made a sad face and looked down on Yanim who was clutching her head. She put her hand on her shoulder, "Ice princess. Galaxy not work like machine. Can not be fixed like machine." she paused and took a drag off her cigarette before putting it out. She kneeled on the floor to look Yanim in the eye, "Iska not know everything about Yanims work. But sounds to Iska, Yanim care too much." she continued, touching Yanims chest with a closed fist where the heart would be. "Tiny heart very powerful but not enough to care for entire galaxy. Take on too many problems and it will lead to big problem. Yanim need to find good cause. Iska know Yanim have honor, smart person." Yanim looked up from her hands, making eye contact with Iska, "Yanim need to stop being lost and find one good thing. And do it." she concluded. Then Iska put on a sly smile, "But Iska thank Yanim for food before she go."

"It sounds to me that your main problem is finding enough people who also want to bring positive change." interjected Chemosh. He turns around in his seat to face Yanim. "...and in a corrupted, complacent galaxy such as this, finding good people is going to be very hard."

Yanim sighed, smiling weakly. "I have two tasks left to fulfill, Iska, before I can rest. I want to ensure that this crew endures and is fully compensated for their work; I'm their employer and I owe it to them to leave them better off than they are now... The second is a responsibility that has fallen on all of us. That thing Argos wanted us to find on Voyak was only one of three, and they have the potential to do great and horrible things if brought together." Iska's face soured as Yanim's description reminded her of the Oracle and the search for its fragments. "We have one, Argos has one, and the Death Vigil has the last. I would destroy mine at the first opportunity, if not for the fact that with any two, the user could control a power beyond comprehension, a scenario so dangerous that a final option might even be preferable." "This is about the Archives? ...Why am I just now hearing this?" Dio interrupted. Yanim shot him a sidelong glance. "Because I didn't tell [I]everyone,[/I] only the ones that needed to know." "And we didn't need to know? ...And she does?" Dio challenged, pointing to Iska. "Everyone deserves to know, but knowledge can be very dangerous," Yanim said, suddenly reminded of the same rhetoric Red had used against her. "I'm sorry," she quickly added. "I should have explained this as soon as I was aware, just before we broke ties with Argos. There were more pressing issues at the time, and well, it's a difficult talk..." "What third option, Yanim-superior?" Jag finally asked. "Right," Yanim said with a nod and a deep breath. "If all [I]three[/I] Archives are brought together, then no one can control them. That power to destroy will be in the hands of an AI that has its own agenda. At the very least, we can be assured that it would either be equally merciful or equally malicious- no threat of Vigil domination-]" "Vigil domination?" Dio repeated, "Domination of what?" "The galaxy," Yanim said. Dio laughed, expecting others to do the same, but Yanim's tone was grave. Finally, Dio began to appreciate how unwelcome his "humor" was and became quiet. "So the second task, sekadera, is to locate and destroy one of the other two Archives, and then to destroy our own. Nothing can be done with a single Archive, ensuring that this threat remains locked away. With the ship we're purchasing here on Rigel, we're going to do our best to see it happen." --- Neasha wandered the halls of the Aurikha aimlessly. She wondered if the old and storied ship would be gradually gouged away and deposed of, just like her beloved Belladonna, or the dauntless Muramasa... She was growing tired of the constant need to re-home herself, and replacing lost possessions. Having nothing better to do, she began a log entry, seeing as it was past midnight. [quote]February 9th, 2385 We've somehow survived another day and we've made it all the way to Rigel. Rask is dead, and good riddance. Boss has gone away to Stalnazyp along with part of the crew, and the rest of us are trying to repair the Aurikha as much as possible before the enemy tracks us down again. If it were me directing those Black Fleet ships, I'd just drop a bomb from orbit and be done with us... They must have deeper intentions than just killing us all off, which is why I'm a bit worried about the Boss heading into town. If she's over there, then there's nothing of value left in this ship, except the Archive, of course, but does the Collective even know about that? And what if the Vigil comes here? Or Argos? I'm scared. -Neasha Kyral[/quote] --- [I]"[...and you're certain he'll be comatose for the duration?]" "[Positive. We were able to find or create exact duplicates of his personal effects, all except that notebook.]" "[He carries that everywhere. We have to make sure it's returned from the operation, even if we have to doctor it to remove any changes...]"[/I] [video=youtube;FhFAnGmzbCo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhFAnGmzbCo[/video] Ryvik stirred in his bed. His head was pounding, and he was practically lying in a pool of his own sweat. Rolling agonizingly onto his side, he tried to remember where he was; his surroundings were unfamiliar and unusually artificial. He was still wearing his uniform, his cap placed nearby on a nightstand. He gagged as he reached into his pocket, searching for his tablet. When he found it, he checked the date and time and saw that it was early morning, February 9th. Straining himself, he slowly remembered the previous night's drive to the port, to meet with Vorokar. But once he reached it, he couldn't quite remember what happened next. Had he been drunk? Miserably, he stood up and removed his dampened jacket and shirt, leaving them on the bed as he searched a nearby closet for something dry, and quickly found some generic batakya gym clothes. He slowly came to accept that he was aboard the Perikal, heading... somewhere important. [I]Rigel,[/I] he thought to himself. [I]Yanim is there. It's finally going to be over.[/I] When he had fully dressed himself, he staggered to the door and activated the room lights. A message alert awaited him on the ship's secure intranet, and with a tap, he played the message. "[Ryvik, I hope that by the time this message reaches you, you will be feeling better.]" the message began. It was Vorokar's voice. "[When I met you at Yadakhmarot, you looked as if you were ready to drop. Sever fever, the doctor said... some sort of infection. You were trying to work right through it but I was very concerned for your health. I insisted they take you to your quarters immediately after you received treatment, and they said you'll be making a full recovery in short order- delightful. Unfortunately, this setback means we were unable to brief you fully on your mission, but we're not due to arrive until Sunday so we still have time. We will begin your mission briefing tomorrow morning. Get some rest, my boy.]" The message ended, and Ryvik slumped against the wall. It was good to know, at least, what was going on, but something felt confusing about the turn of events. He remembered Vorokar insisting on him seeing the doctor, and he remembered getting an injection. But the further along he tried to retrace his steps, the more difficult and foggy everything became. He still felt tired and decided to let it all pass, shuffling back to his bed and flopping down, already less nauseous than before. Vorokar would explain everything in the morning, after all. He laid in his bed thought about the night he spent sleeping in the cold, wondering if that was the source of his illness. His anger toward his mother and father returned, and he drifted into sleep feeling thankful for the state and the batakya. He was finally around people he could trust again.

Chemosh spoke up again. "So, these devices... In essence, they somehow give you 'godlike' powers in a way?"

Iron sighed. "This job just keeps getting better and better." He turned towards Sting who was sitting on the opposite side of the transport compartment. "What's your take on this, partner?"

Yanim appeared perplexed by Chemosh's question. "I'm not exactly sure what you mean. I was raised in a culture without, eh... [I]'mythical tradition'[/I] or religion or anything of that nature... we kanads know our origins and so we've had no reason for that sort of thing. So this term, 'godlike...' what do you mean by that?"

An entire culture that does not know God? No wonder the galaxy is in such a terrible state. "What I meant by 'godlike' is absolute omnipotence, absolute power to do [I]anything.[/I] The power to create life itself, to mold it out of the earth just as the one true God had done eons ago. To tell the sun when to rise, and when the rain to fall. To have all existence itself bend to your will. That kind of power." he responded.

[I]One true God?[/I] Yanim thought to herself as she squinted at Chemosh, scrutinizing him and wondered how much of an influence Moloch had actually had during his time with the crew. [I]First Jag, and now Frosty acting strange...[/I] "The comparison is disturbingly close, kadaren. However, while the powers granted through the use of the Archives would be staggering, they would also be limited by the imagination of the user... So while you could say that the power to destroy and remake would be akin to the work of a [I]god[/I], the end result would almost certainly be undesirable by any measure- unless the AI is fully released. "You must realize," she added, setting a trap, "that if this galaxy were the work of some '[I]God[/I],' it's quite a disturbing creation. The misery its design is capable of rendering is beyond comprehension. If this AI is capable of affecting such change as to transform the galaxy with systematic utility, there's no doubt that the end result would be [I]better.[/I] But we, being the selfish little creatures 'God' left behind," she joked, "probably wouldn't be wanted in such a scenario. That's what we fear- that it's not for us... "The AI would be greater than God," she said with a sarcastic grin. It was a test to see what Moloch's influence had wrought.

"If God can be outclassed by lines of code and a series of 1's and 0's, then he is no god at all. Thus, it's why it would be necessary to create him, don't you think?"

"Nope," Yanim said, propping a leg up on her knee and leaning back in her seat. "Not necessary at all... and very, very risky. If this machine is logical, as I would assume any AI would be, then it would take the [I]quickest and easiest[/I] path to achieving galactic harmony."

[QUOTE]"Not necessary at all... and very, very risky. If this machine is logical, as I would assume any AI would be, then it would take the [I]quickest and easiest[/I] path to achieving galactic harmony."[/QUOTE] "Which would be the systematic takeover of all forms of technology and life. We'd be mindless drones by the time it was all over with." said Taylor, speaking up.

"No wonder Mordecai wants it then." Amy spoke in turn. "The old bastard probably thinks he can control it."

"Oh, I agree. There is no need in this troubled galaxy to create a godlike machine which will no doubt make things marginally better. No need at all..." he sarcastically droned. "You have no idea the potential you have in your hands. [I]None of you do.[/I]" He shook his head and turned back around.

[QUOTE=Infab;52133097]"Which would be the systematic takeover of all forms of technology and life. We'd be mindless drones by the time it was all over with." said Taylor, speaking up.[/QUOTE] "Or," Dio interjected, "it just kills us all. That'd be even faster, right boss?" "Probably," Yanim replied with a shrug. "Point to Dio." Dio was actually proud of himself. [editline]21st April 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=F T;52133114]"Oh, I agree. There is no need in this troubled galaxy to create a godlike machine which will no doubt make things marginally better. No need at all..." he sarcastically droned. "You have no idea the potential you have in your hands. [I]None of you do.[/I]" He shook his head and turned back around.[/QUOTE] "Is that what you really think?" Yanim said, sounding far more bitter than before. "Do you not think I've considered what [I]I'd[/I] do if I had control, if I could command the sort of power that AI has locked away? Just look at how I've been wasting these last few years... And worst of all, that machine knows exactly how to fix me, and if I had two Archives, I could do it myself," she ranted. Arkadam stirred a bit, having heard her. He held his tongue, but wanted to ask why she wouldn't go this route anyway. As it turned out, Yanim was about to answer that. "But," she said, relaxing a bit, "I have a strong suspicion that the machine [I]wants[/I] me to fall victim to that temptation. Because it certainly wants all three of its Archives in the same place at the same time, and if I bring two together without destroying them, then Argos or the Vigil will be a half step behind. And then- [B]we all lose.[/B]"

János waited patiently for a response from Taylor, but he had been waiting for so long that he began to worry over what was happening. He still didn't know what was going on; not even the news regarding the Boss. He had his forehead on his knuckles, wondering what he should do. He decided to just send another message. [QUOTE]Cap, is something going on? Don't know what has been happening since you guys came back from the snow- and for good reason too. I need to speak to you.[/QUOTE]

Amy leaned closer to Taylor to whisper. "Are you getting these strange vibes from Frosty or am I imagening things? Did something happen?"

This did it. Slowly, he turned around to face Yanim and stared her deeply into her eyes, his gaze piercing directly into her soul. In the smooth, silky voice he spoke in, he quite eerily uttered his response. "You know, Yanim... you're starting to remind me of my [B]father[/B]." He turned around again after that.

And now, Yanim had caught him. "You were an amnesiac when I met you, and now you speak of your family. So let's do away with any more pretending that there's not something going on." Yanim crossed her arms. "Do you remember your true name, or do you want me to keep calling you Frosty? That's not a choice, by the way... If you won't trust us with your name, then you're no longer welcome in this company."

[QUOTE] "Are you getting these strange vibes from Frosty or am I imagening things? Did something happen?"[/QUOTE] "I'm thinking that Frosty might not be Frosty anymore. His memories finally resurfaced fully, and thats a [B][I]really[/I][/B] bad thing." whispered Taylor back. And statements just now gave off a big ass red flag. He's not Frosty anymore. Not a trace of him left. And now the boss was calling him out. She felt her holotablet vibrate, so she checked it. Another message from János. She replied quickly. [QUOTE]We're heading into town. Will talk to you when I get back. Frosty isn't Frosty anymore.[/QUOTE]

János was surprised by the speed he received the reply, perhaps things are actually fine- fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK [B]FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK[/B] [I][B]FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUUUCK[/B][/I] He screamed as though he just saw an actual poltergeist. He quickly responded to Taylor by sending pics - first that of Frosty hugging with Moloch brotherly, second that of Frosty charging towards Sting - before replying with text too. [QUOTE]I'm unfortunately aware. That was the good reason why I don't know what has been going on, though there is another reason. Remember what we talked about. Just hope things are fine on your end, because I'm freaking out over here. We'll talk about the other reason when you get back then.[/QUOTE]

Taylor read over the message she recieved from Janos a few moments later, then simply replied. [QUOTE]Got it. Everything's calm here for the moment.[/QUOTE] - - - - - - - - - - - Valk stood outside of János' door after a few minutes. "What the fuck are you screaming about? Made me fucking jump and almost snap a repair drone's motherboard in half."

"Fine. My name." Chemosh rolled his eyes, turned around to face the group in the truck, and sat straight. "I suppose it's very obvious by now my name is not actually Frosty. And might I say... [I]I don't like that name...[/I] It sounds so... [I]soft.[/I] No, I didn't like that name at all... My name, and may you please say it along with me, is: [B][I]CHEMOSH[/I][/B]..." The name slithered out of his mouth like a parasite leaving the the body of it's host to find a new victim to infest. "...And I do hope it is not hard to pronounce."

János looked slightly reassured by Taylor's reply, but then, out of the blue, he heard Valk outside his door. He didn't respond for a moment, as he wasn't sure what to say. Valk might have some things to say about his proprietary parts, and he isn't sure what she might say about Chemosh the Reborn. Perhaps he'll see how interested she is about finding out. "Oh, um, nothing! Just minding my own business in here!"

[QUOTE]"Oh, um, nothing! Just minding my own business in here!"[/QUOTE] "Really didn't sound like nothing, fuckhead." said Valk, rolling her eyes. "Did you see a space rat and pussy out? Someone touched your gun? What was it?"

"Fine, Chemosh," Yanim replied with a sharp sneer. "On one hand, I'm glad you've rediscovered yourself. Unfortunately, on the other hand, you have a home world to return to, do you not? And I suspect you have ulterior motives for staying with this crew, otherwise you would be heading that way..."

János squinted his eyes a little. It seems like she might not let up, so he might as well give in. "If you want to know, come in," he said through the door.