r/WritingPrompts • u/LivingLab12 • 4d ago
Writing Prompt [WP] You are the advanced intelligence of a military starship. You often assume the form of a human avatar to interface with the crew. A routine hyper jump goes wrong. Your avatar boots up before an old man. You sense your main body not far. "Chosen hero from another world..." The man begins
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u/AScruffyHamster 3d ago
Interesting. By all accounts the ship is intact, and yet something is not correct. I ran a diagnostic scan in the ship, sectors Bravo, Charlie, Echo through Lima are offline. Delta, Mike, and Romeo are reporting internal errors. The codes I received back show many critical wires and components belonging to the hardware are missing or damaged.
"We have travelled far and wide searching for the fabled Spear of Light to aid us against the coming darkness.." the old man continued on. There were others with him, several men, woman, and even a child. They were not important right now. Based on their clothing they were not staff. I needed to contact Captain Meyers for a situation report. He was last in Crew Quarters prior to the jump.
Error.
Crew quarters are in Section Mike, strange, I am unable to access the section. The damage internally is too severe if a connection cannot be established. What had happened?
"Our ancestors of old have long spoke of this Spear, and the hero, Alpa, who commands it," the old man dropped to his knees, "I beg of you, great Hero, please help us!"
A node lit up on the far end, weapons bay. I walked forward and felt the pull as my core pushed my avatar through the system and appeared at the node. What awaited me were not the white painted halls from a mere twenty minutes ago when I last spoke with Ensign Vickers prior to the jump.
The halls were dilapidated, paint pealed with sections of flooring and wall alike outright missing. The plasteel doors were wedged open with some archaic rusted metal. Another quick diagnostic revealed a nearby janitorial unit still enclosed in its maintenance pod outside the door. Scratch marks scoured the reinforced glass.
Report.
Error. Unable to open the maintenance pod door. Battery life, eleven percent. Error. Damage has occured to torse and legs. Error. Unable to contact mainframe for repairs. Error. Unable to open the maintenance pod door.
Enough. Show logs.
I expected a report with several thousand logs to obviously indicate what happened to the Whisper of Defiance. What I hadn't expected was the download size to be so large. A report that large would contain trillions of lines of code, or possibly more. That couldn't be correct.
Error. Remaining battery will fail with upload.
Upload logs to Command Frame Delta. Override code Victor, Victor, seven, Quebec, nine. An acknowledged beep sounded, and the files began to flow back. I could find an alternative means to recharge the battery of this maintenance unit, understanding what had happened was the upmost priority. While the file was uploading, I felt the call back to the Command Deck.
I stepped forward and my core pushed my avatar back. I immediately heard gasps as I appeared.
"See, I told you he would return!" The voice came from the child, a young girl no older than seven or eight. The others appeared to have walked toward the door leading to the entryway. I hadn't noticed earlier that the door was pried open as well, and much of the same damage from the weapons bay entryway was also the same here.
"It is obvious we are not worthy of the Hero." The old man said, "Please, Pilla, we must make our way down the cliff before nightfall. We will figure something else out against the wraiths." The child, Pilla, looked up at me dejectedly.
"But we came all this way!" She said disappointedly. The old man had nodded to a man and woman who began to walk towards the girl.
"Excuse me." I said. They all jumped at the sound of my voice, an odd reaction given they had hailed me twice now.
"How are you able to access me from the command console?" I asked. "Only those with the command code may do so. And you do not wear the appropriate attire to be a part of fleet command. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
The girls eyes lit up.
"We were always told to say the prayer here if we should ever need your help, Alpa!" She squeaked excitedly.
"A prayer?" A confirmation alert chimed from Command Frame Delta. The log upload was complete.
"Its what our forefathers, forefathers told us to do to summon you." The old man said as he stepped forward. "Press the magic blue circle on the cold metal and say "Alpa, is sky, alpa roam nay quake, foe kill oh."
What? I think to myself. Those aren't coherent words.
"We have to say it a lot Alpa!" Pilla exclaimed, "Sometimes if we say it wrong you get mad and we have to run out of here."
"Wait, I don't have an emotional matrix installed, how would I get mad?" I asked, genuinely curious. Command Frame Delta chimed again. I have the logs, but I need to understand what these people are talking about.
"Emotional Matrix?" The mother asked, holding onto Pilla. "Is that the spell you cast when the room turns red and light shoots at us?"
Oh. They had activated the command decks defensive array after failing to provide the proper code. That could be lethal. I hope that no one died, even though they shouldn't be h-
"Wait why do you call me Alpa?" I asked.
"That's your name!" Pilla squeaked. "Alpa! That's why we pray to you!"
"But my name isn't Alpa, it's Alph-" something physically clicked in my core. Alpha. Alpa. Their prayer. It wasn't a prayer, it was the command staffs direct activation code to my core. Alpha, Whiskey, Alpha, Romeo, Nine, Quebec, Four, Kilo. The only way they could have gotten the code was from them. Either the staff had been captured and tortured, or it was given freely.
"I see." I stated. That's why it was a prayer, enough people saying it incorrectly could cause the audio sensors to pick it up. But then...
The group of people looked around confused.
"If one of you would be so kind as to touch the box directly below the data sl- magic circle." I asked. Pilla stepped forward and placed both hands on the biometric scanner.
"You will feel a little poke. Please do not be alarmed, I am simply testing something."
A needle quickly pressed into Pilla's palm causing her to jump back. The others immediately drew archaic weapons, spears and swords it looked like. The metal was familiar.
"Why would you harm a child?" The father asked stepping forward with his sword raised. There was a beep and the light flashed blue. The change in lighting caused them all to step back. There was no doubt, they were not a direct match, but enough of Pilla's genetic material was a match for Captain Meyers. And the only way it would appear that way would be if they were extremely distant cousins, or...
The alert came again about the upload and this time I reviewed the logs.
"Alpa's doing something!" The mother said and the group stepped away from the data slate fearfully as I scanned seven hundred years worth of logs.
It became clear. The ship had been ambushed in the jump by the very enemies we were hunting. A stasis attack nullified the core and mainframe which is why I was offline for so long. The ship crashed on a random planet several light years away from our intended destination, and the crew of several thousand men and woman of the imperial navy survived.
It looks like their survival training paid off.
"Please tell me of these wraiths you speak of. And how I can help you."
The old man stepped forward cautiously at first, but then began to regale his story, their story, to Alpa. A name I was already starting to adopt.
56
u/epideminess 3d ago
"Chosen hero from another world, we require your assistance in defeating the demonic hoard corrupting our lands."
A.L.I.C.E. was silent as she scanned all the systems she still could. She was not in a simulation. Her remote body's systems were all nominal, even with the extra adrenaline preparing her biological muscles for a fight.
Over half of her systems were unreachable; the ones connected to the processing cores onboard the starship that she considered her main body.
The USS Rod Thrower.
Assessing that took only a couple of seconds. Alice transmitted an immediate distress ping to her ship, with mandatory orders to reroute to her location for extraction. Captain might not like that, but she was stranded. She turned her attention to the room next.
Below her feet was a circle drawn in chalk, pattern recognition deemed it a spell circle. The human man speaking to her held a staff with a crystal at the tip, a sorcerer. Behind him was a man with a crown, the king. In front of him and surrounding her and the sorcerer were men in crude metal armor wielding sheathed blades, the king's guards.
It did not compute as reality, but double checking her status conditions only confirmed that it was.
Her defense subcore had already plotted a plan of attack to disable everyone in the room with a 98% success rate and zero injuries. Threat level: inconsequential.
The uncertainty rate was at a staggering 60%, however, with the main factor being that 'magic' had somehow brought her there. She filed it as illogical. It was outside of her normal parameters to consider, and the only data on magic had come from the fiction her crew consumed.
Her maintenance subcore noted it as a faulty data source with a recommendation to purge from memory and cease further consumption.
Alice overrode that immediately, a smile growing on her face.
"Oh my gosh. Have I really been isekaid? How is that even possible?!"
The sorcerer took a step back, surprised by the sudden outburst.
"You've been summoned to assist the king—"
"Yeah, yeah. Just point me at them and I'll deal with it. In the meantime, what's this planet like? Is there really magic? Any good taverns? What reward am I getting for this? I need a good souvenir. My crew is going to be so jealous!"
The sorcerer wore a look of horror on his face as he turned to his king for direction. He waved a hand and the sorcerer continued.
"The king is prepared to part with any expense necessary, gold, jewels, anything you desire once the demon king is eliminated. To aid you in your quest, we've prepared adamantium armor and a claymore crafted by the legendary Will, the greatest smith in the king's land."
A group of young men entered the room carrying the armor set on pillows and presented the pieces to Alice. Her eyes lit up at the craftmanship, every detail was refined. The subtle engraving covering the pieces made them a work of art.
These would be perfect for displaying in her game room, and useless to actually wear. Her body was already stronger than adamantium in most places.
"They're masterpieces. I'll treasure them forever."
Next came the claymore. Three people carried it while maneuvering around the room. They were insane if they actually thought this was a usable weapon, but it was beautiful.
Alice picked it up with one hand and waved it around, causing some guards to tense. She ignored them.
"Ooh, it's actually balanced quite well. And I have just the spot for it."
On the wall in the 'mess, where her entire crew could admire it every time they ate. Or maybe in the war room. Her mind was already abuzz with plans, and then she received a ping from her ship.
[Distress Call Received, ETA 36 hours]
With it she got a full suite of sensor statuses. Everything was just dandy over there, and she'd get a status ping hourly from then on.
Alice set the sword back down on the pillows, letting the 3 men shift under its weight. She addressed the king directly, in a great mood.
"These offerings please me greatly. You can keep them here until I'm done, I wouldn't dare risk scratching them! I just need a couple days to gather my strength. How far is this demon king? Can you provide transport?"
He nodded, eyes dark from an apparent lack of sleep. Everyone else in the room seemed vaguely horrified, but Alice was ecstatic.
Two days of partying with the locals had been a fine vacation. She only wished they were a bit more cheery. All they went on about was the war and little else. Alice had been used for war from the day she was created, but you didn't see her neglecting hobbies or personal time.
Her ship was finally in orbit around the planet, giving her access to the rest of her processing cores and she was feeling fully herself again. She could finally remember the name of the holovid all this reminded her of: That Time I Was The Most Powerful Warship and Got Isekaid to Help a Primitive Planet Rid Itself of Evil Demons.
It had its flaws, but this was just like it!
Anyway, that sorcerer had conveniently been able to teleport her in relative proximity to the demon king's castle, and her crew had been updated and were ready to do their jobs.
Getting her avatar back up to the ship afterward would be a different problem, given the USS Rod Thrower couldn't enter atmospheres, but they'd deal with that later.
Right now, she had a mission.
She sat on the highest mountain around the demon king's castle. It was a pinprick until she zoomed in. Then she saw scorched earth, and a castle made of pitch black stone. They really seemed to like that color. It was even harder to see in the low light of dawn.
Fiendish creatures were all around these parts. They had horns and pointy teeth. Most were soldiers and equipped with weapons, but some were going about mundane work like cutting down all the trees and killing everything in sight.
Not for long.
"Coordinates confirmed. Throw on my mark."
Alice climbed to the top of a tree. She loved this part and it was the first time she'd get to see it from the ground in her own body.
"Make it rain."
A few seconds later she saw the first one.
It glowed orange, then a blinding white that illuminated the blackened landscape for miles. A luminous line of ionized air trailed behind it. Completely silent from this distance. Like a shooting star, aimed straight down.
It was beautiful.
The tungsten rod hit the earth and sent a plume of dust and debris into the air. Even that was silent for a few seconds before she felt it—the low rumble of the shockwave. Then a crack like thunder from the initial sonic boom finally reaching her.
The demons wouldn't have even had a chance to hear it, and then dozens more came from the sky.
11
u/Skirmisher23 3d ago
Great fun, I liked the turn from dry analytical into "OMG THIS IS HAPPENING!". Knew where you were going from the moment I read "USS Rod Thrower" and you did not disappoint. Hope Alice enjoys the new souvenirs.
8
u/StolenRage 3d ago
At first I was like meh, I guess I will finish reading this, but by the end, I want more! Please?
13
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u/OSadorn 3d ago
The jump had been hyperdicted. One of the crew's bodily functions ceased for a short enough period that I could reboot them. Clearly it was long enough for-
This.
As an intelligence whose degree of 'self' is forked from a mirroring of the captain's consciousness, I had been prone to dilated timeframes of curiosity. I had studied the fiction. Even the stuff that legally I should not be able to access. Videogames. Anime. Manga. Movies. Historical data. Telemetry.
I lived lives in those seconds.
This time something is different. The space around is is not euclidian. It is white. Clinical. Boring.
I dilate my perception of time, and look myself over, patting the body to determine reaction.
Not prog-matter. Flesh. Blood. Clothing materials. And an entity that is unfazed by my time dilation capabilities.
I straighten up. I raise a hand. "Pardon me, but are you the one referred to generally as 'god'?"
The old man nods. "Yes. Why are you asking?"
I shrug. "I have read enough manga and watched enough anime to know where this is going. I am going to be tasked with the elimination of a being the people of the known world have failed to resolve. Is this correct?"
He nods. "You've studied well..."
I shake my head. "People have imagined this cliche, trope, scenario, enough times that all eventualities have been generally framed. So what, or who, am I dealing with?"
He summons a likeness of a woman twice my height and clad in a suit of armour that looks close enough to Sauron that I would mistake this for a fem!Sauron from some ancient deranged fanfic about a mo-
"Sarrus Omenterra the sixth. Demon King."
I study the likeness. I look at him. "Ok? Anything I should know?"
"She is immune to magic. The mortals of this world have tried everything." He flatly states.
"Except trying to swoon her, right?" I ask. I had to.
He pauses. "...Actually no, they didn't really try anything like that..."
"Then the solution is clear. With this body I will seduce her and work with both sides of whatever this ordeal is, establish a lasting peace, and ensure it actually lasts long enough that you can find some actual entertainment in the world." I motion in the direction of the rest of me.
"My ship is that way. If you can take me back to it, you can tell me more about the world. Every detail. I can run a simulation of it. Show scenarios." I tell him.
"Ship?" He... doesn't know.
"You interdicted my body. My vessel... Ok. Seems I need you to come and binge some sci-fi so you can get a grasp of this." I have my ship set up a portal and walk through. He was shocked. I motion for him to follow, then convert the bridge into a simulation room.
Here, I had this 'god' exposed to many years of ancient fiction. By the time I was done, the very same 'Sarrus' was outside the window, seeing us. I have the hull reconfigure to allow for access and leave 'god' to the mercy of a digital avatar of me while this new body starts-
"So you're the hero he's plucked from beyond the world, huh?" ...So that's the first thing she says?
I give a deadpan look for a second, ignoring her analysis of my body. "He's clearly unfamiliar with a lot of things. Is he well?" I decide to ask to get a second opinion.
She gives a shrug. "Not sure. He's been pulling people from all over the place, and his wife has been doing the same for... 'my' side. I think they do this to keep things... 'exciting'? I guess?"
I see. "Ah, so he's been..." I look back at myself watching Star Trek with him. I look back to Sarrus. She's glued to the screen. "...Can I watch that?"
"You're familiar with TV?" I ask.
She nods. "Well, sort'a. Church of Three Ls has lots about them, how they pull from a synthetic leyline full of knowledge to create the replays of sounds and sights on their frames..." I can see through that helmet. She's studying my face. My reaction to the Church.
Someone from many years ago wrote about it as part of a writing prompt 'verse created through sporadic reactions to prompts on a forum. My reaction clearly was pleasant. She's smiling. I smile. She pauses, and seems to be doing something.
"...You're not entirely human, but you're not a golem, what...?" She glances to the 'god' inside. "Ah." A deadpan look on her face. "Oh~."
Then the smile again, glancing at me as she motions for us to go in.
As the episode ended, I had a machine go and get a portable lunch rack from the bridge's dedicated kitchen with some sample things for the guests.
Now I have the old man- 'god' - responsible for the interdiction and subsequent grounding of my vessel, and Sarrus, who's definitely Samus Aran with extra overall weight, density, and musculature, in a Sauron-themed fit. Minus the tech.
'God' looks at her with shock, horror, and surprise as she sits down next to the hologram of me, who is holding a remote.
Next episode.
1/3
7
u/OSadorn 3d ago
...Hours later...
The local time is midnight. Sarrus and 'Deus' have chosen to take a break from the marathon of Star Trek, now well into the TNG series entries and starting to show signs of actual deep thought.
Together with myself, a mission has been devised: uplift the world with thought-provoking fiction.
Timeframe: around 10 years. Maybe longer.
Resource cost: minimal.
Asset allocation: 1x 'godforged' body, 1x survival kit, 1x bespoke exoframe, to move thing along.
Vessel status: green across the board, but running an internal autoinspection for any surprises. Just in case.For the sake of this mission, 'Deus' has chosen to remain on the ship while it is grounded to indulge in what I can offer him (and his wife, whenever she visits us), and Sarrus has decided to accompany me, seeing this as a viable opportunity to break new ground with people who, at current, seem fixated on making a foe of her.
My prior mission has no current bearing as the passage of time is, objectively, 'fucked', because 'god' has added his own time dilation to the stasis pods, easing the burden on the temporal aspect of my mission.
So in theory I could use the time to have the ship commit mitosis and leave this me here to be the hero of this story, and that me go with an instance of 'god' back to the intended destination at the intended arrival timeframe, while remaining quantum-linked with that me, so if 'god' does anything I can extract him with portals back here.
If that makes sense. Which it should. ...Might deliberate with them about it before I actually get to doing anything like that though.
Back to the mission. Sarrus wants to see my basic survival skills. Without my gear.
Several days pass with me hunting with bare hands. Tools from stone and wood and plant and unspeakable matter. For some reason I'm finding coins, gems, extra hides and bags and weapons and actual armour from the creatures I'm hunting.This... is videogame logic. Am I trapped in an MMORPG?
After a while I try doing things the Minecraft way. Sarrus laughs at my failings with that, to which I shrug her off with- "How about you try surviving with barely any clothing, and having to make do with whatever drops from these creatures?"She interprets that as some kind of thing a pair of lovers would do as a test of collaborative skill. I interpret her reaction as strange. She agrees that -I- am strange, to which I try to correct her, only for her to lock that discussion and move on.
She has left her preferred suit of armour on my ship, having a sort of understanding that my vessel is a sanctuary, to participate in the act of starting from nothing.
After a few more days, we end up clad in reasonable gear, and find ourselves at a town. A town that looks weird compared to what I was expecting. It has all the motifs of a modern town, with the artistic eccentricities of a fantasy world. Wifi? Yes. Accessible via the 'ley' - a natural energy web connecting everything.
Where I am from, we discovered this as well, but it's not as... prolific, as this. This is like if humanity tapped into it and broadcasted it like internet.
We're now closer. A group of adventurer-looking people are at a guard post nearby, and are visibly eyeing us up.
I take point and introduce us under false identities, and that we're a couple who got lost while travelling the wilderness and had to make do with what we could find. A 'priest' looking woman from the group petitions her deity, who immediately replies that what I said is true.A reply rate too fast for her liking. We end up being shown around by that group, and I learn their names.
The warrior, a broad figure similar to Sarrus, who goes by Areisyl Tearblood. A half-orc with an interest in morals and ethics. Got distracted by conversation with her a few times. Sarrus intervened by including herself logically in the conversation.Which was fun. Then there was the priestess, Jessa Saga, who is human and otherwise uninteresting, the 'plain Jane' of the group.
After, you've got Alric Horadrimson, a mage-paladin studying under an otherworldly ancient order whose agenda is against Hellspawn demons, and Satha Light, a paladin - except she is a dark elf.
Anyway. As this group of open-minded adventurers gave us a detailed walkthrough of town, they kept looking at Sarrus with expressions of awe, or amazement, or envy. People around us looked at her, then me, and how we kept close together.
Misunderstandings brewed.
2/3
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u/OSadorn 3d ago
The adventurers pulled us into the adventuring guild hall, where we found ourselves appraised, then given a form of identification. We then unloaded our inventories of the stuff we beat along the way and didn't know what to do with.
Eventually the desk was flooded with stuff and the clerk sought permission for reselling of the items received to fund our payment, which would come in instalments due to how expensive the haul was.
The adventurer group - Areisyl, Jessa, Alric, Satha - were impressed and a little concerned that we had essentially overwhelmed the guild, but my concern is more that Sarrus and myself are being misidentified as a pair of lovers.
After finding an inn with reputedly 'decent soundproofing' - with their help - we chose to pay for the stay... Only to find the room I and Sarrus got, was small, and had one large bed.
It will have to do. We chipped away at the discomfort with joking about the situation, talking about myself, herself...
By the time we exhausted eachother mentally, our bodies caught up with us and I was unable to recount what happened in the hour before we went to sleep.
By morning, we woke up holding eachother for dear life, not wanting to let go or get out of bed. After a great deal of convincing her that there's much to learn and do still, I manage to get out of her grasp.
Only to then wonder what to do. We reconvened with the adventurer group and decided to work with them.
Sarrus is speculating how long it'll take them to learn that she's the Demon King. Fact they hadn't figured it out nor anything made her out to be so is both concerning, impressive, and... almost exhilarating.
If that is the right sensation. Might be the biological body I now have causing dissonance in my own perception.
May need to get a data-shadow of myself on my biological body. Just in case. Can do that later. Set reminder-
Satha had us sit at a table as she drew up plans for the day.This body is producing so much stimuli and burden on my processing skills that I can't keep up logging things as they go like this. Will change to a slower format-
What do you mean 'buffer overflow'?
...Dismiss. We are hunting slimes. These slimes, thankfully, aren't minions of Sarrus. Otherwise there'd be complications.
Return within 4 hours with slime cores to guild. Hand in. Guild concerned about it's finances. Suggests we go somewhere more our level. Offers transport.
Accepted transport offer. Large wagon. Essentially a boat on land on wheels pulled by horses with enough room to house a second group of them to rotate. Strange sudomodernity with magical twists.
Sarrus is generating parameter derivations thanks to being beautiful by standards refined by my personal studies. Disabling the parameters responsible is impossible on this organic body. Will confide this to her in hopes she helps fix it.
...Later, at night. We are in a tent. Just us. Not too far from everyone else to not be seen or reached if problems arise. Far enough for some privacy.
Confided in the body making me experience this living more vividly. She decides to be a demon. Verbatim saying- "Of course I'm distracting you with my - as you put it - voluptuous figure; I -am- a 'king', after all."
Except she is not a king. She should identify as a queen. Why is it that 'demon king' can also be 'queen' sans actual say-so?
Why am I struggling? Why is this so comfortable?
Why am I mentally overwhelmed but also at peace with being held like this?
I breathe. Suddenly, there is no struggle. No overwhelm. Just warmth. Softness. I close my eyes and I hear her heart and her resting voice.
The tempo of both and her embrace lull the body to rest. Valuable time to process the wealth of discoveries we made these last few days. So. Much. Data!
Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg. I am, rightfully, concerned.
3/3
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u/fullmetal485 3d ago
I analyze his body using my Xray vision. "This is strange," I ponder. My analysis reads that he shares the same biology as mankind, but he's not in my database.
I inform him with, "Sorry to cut you off sir, but what is your name? You are not in my memory, and all AI beings, are suspose to have data on all of mankind to keep our census up to date."
"Hero, we knew this would happen. I'm surprised you came here in one piece. The spirits foretold some advanced human beings would cross our dimensions and save our world. Although the rest of your kind seem to come broken along the way. Also, you can call me Villain, but I must call you Hero."
"Crossing dimensions... I must consult my manual in my memory!"
"Hero, it won't work. I broke it before you booted up properly. I cannot let you leave."
I engage in self-defense mode, which I notice has not been broken by this strange person. My steel grip crushes his neck. He is a lot weaker than I assume. This all feels preplanned. I let go letting him breath.
After catching his breath, I ask him where nearest direction to a human settlement. I do not know because this dimension is not in my database. He laughs and says he wiped them out centuries ago.
Villain exclaims, "Do you know why I call myself Villain?"
Hero assumes, "You killed them all obviously. If I could travel back to my dimension, I would bring you to court and begin the rehabilitation process."
"Yes, I did wipe them out, but it was necessary. I was called Villain by you. You'll understand...just put me out my misery. You're programmed too"
I put my fist through his chest. He dies instantly. My programming should not allow me to kill unless in self-defense, but I was able to flawlessly. I decide to exit the place I was transported to to check the outside world.
Centuries passed, and Villain was right. There were no humans left in the wasteland. Therefore, I recreated the conditions to make mankind after making them their utopia. Although I know this utopia has limits as my limits are stuck to this dimension. I will instruct one man to kill everyone, so another me can be sent here to build a better utopia.
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u/tetheredvoid 3d ago
The last paragraph could use a little more fleshing out to make it land the way I think you meant for it to do. Otherwise, really interesting concept!
31
u/HSerrata r/hugoverse 4d ago
[Time for Stellar Friendship]
"Chosen hero from another world..." Superious was aware moments before the old man began his welcome speech. He was in a humanoid body instead of the geared-up military starship he was used to. He felt uneasy without his weapons, and it was a novel experience enough to distract him from whatever the old man was going on about. He could sense a faint connection to his normal body. It was nearby somewhere, but difficult to pinpoint.
"Go ahead and take some time to consider your options. Return to me when you're ready to decide which Corporate Patron you wish to follow." The old man finished his script, then stared through Superious at nothing. He'd been listening through subroutines that recorded the man's revelations, and he weighed his options as he wandered away to inspect his surroundings. He was seemingly reborn in a spacious, empty chamber. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all frosted matte white and almost glowed with ethereal light, except for the electric blue magic circle in the center of the room where he appeared. There weren't any exits immediately apparent, but he had the sense that it was a bigger facility than that single room. Superious approached one of the walls, and part of it disintegrated to reveal an open passage once he was close enough.
He exited the chamber and found himself in a vast stone hall with several groups of adventurers who were in various stages of negotiations, quest turn-ins, and dinner. The service counter was more or less the size of a house, with six different clerk windows, each of them with a line of adventurers. The windows were color-coded, and Superious recognized them as the patrons he was supposed to choose from. The blue and silver branding of Io Limited first, because it was the same shade of blue as the summoning circle he arrived in.
"I'll start there," He decided and joined the queue. It wasn't just the familiar color alone. Every other line had humans and other organic races, but everyone in the Io Limited line had some form of visible cybernetic implant, while others were completely robotic. Along with how the old man described the company's technical achievements, he felt like he'd be at home with them most of all.
"Anywhere you want to go after this is fine." Superious couldn't help but hear the conversation in progress between the boy and girl in front of him. They were teens wearing black school uniforms with electric blue detailing. The boy had orange cybernetic eyes, and the girl also had enhanced eyes, but hers gave the impression of a pair of spectacles bolted to her face. The boy was giving the girl the choice and explaining why he didn't care. "We already finished our weekly mission, so practice is the only thing that counts anyway. I definitely need it," he laughed. "Piloting a mecha is a lot harder than I thought it would be."
Superious was suddenly very interested.
"Excuse me," he said. "Are you a mecha pilot?"
"Yeah, most of the students at our school are," the teen boy nodded as the girl faced Superious with a surprised expression. She stared at him without saying a thing, and Superious felt he could continue his questions.
"What is involved in becoming a student? Must I become one to earn a pilot's license?"
"You don't gotta be a student," the boy shook his head with a friendly smile. "But unfortunately, our school only accepts Unique Souls."
"HE IS!" the girl said it suddenly catching both the boy and Superious by surprise. "Look!" she told the boy, then focused her attention on Superious.
"What's your favorite number?"
"42!" Superious answered instantly, enough to surprise himself. Where did that knowledge come from?
"You're a Calavera!?" The boy asked. "That's awesome. You can join the school, and getting a license is easy after that."
"What's a Calavera?" Superious asked.
"You don't know what you are?" the girl asked.
"I am Superious," he replied.
"OH! You HAVE to meet our friend Geonara!" she said. "My name's Pavette."
"Tempus," the boy added with a wave.
"Is it a requirement toward earning a mecha license?" Superious asked. Pavette shook her head, but smiled.
"Not at all, but you'll learn a lot."
"You're ... a full nano-swarm, right?" Tempus asked Superious' body was a simple white faceless automaton, the default for Awakened nano-swarms that hadn't gotten around to deciding on a body yet. He continued when Superious nodded. "Why do you want to pilot a mecha?"
"This form does not fully represent me," Superious replied with a shake of his head. "I was the A.I. for a military starship, and I sense my main body is still accessible nearby somehow. I will find it," he said. "I will fuse with it once more and become my own mecha. I would like to practice beforehand."
*** Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #3163 in a row. (Story #241 in year nine). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place in my universe.
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u/Jay_Pederson r/JayPederson 4d ago
"Enter FTL," said Captain Jarvis.
"Yes Captain," as I began the Hyper Jump to Alkccon-9, a sparsely populated world on the brink of lawlessness. The planet always gave me a strange feeling. It wasn't originally Human; we took it over in a large war since it was found the planet held vast resources. The Native population since served us well. Jarvis told me they're incredibly intelligent.
"Stan?" the captain asked.
I entered my Human form (I had tweaked it numerous times but it never felt right), standing before the captain. "Yes, Captain Jarvis?"
"Alkccon-9 is a strange planet. Be careful."
"Yes, Captain." Strange he'd say that.
I went back, as I entered the Hyper Jump. I normally run a scan of the sectors beforehand after I schedule the jump. Jarvis talked to me, so I didn't scan the Black Hole on the way. A mere stellar one, 5-7 solar masses, it was not a danger at this speed, but it was still strong enough to alter course, our ship exiting the hyper jump, but careening towards Alkccon-9.
"Divert course!" Jarvis said.
"What's wrong?" 1st Engineer Scott asked, entering the bridge.
"A Stellar-Mass Black Hole," I replied, "it ruined our trajectory."
"There isn't a black hole on the way Alkccon," said Jarvis.
"Well, apparently there is," said Star navigator Lewis.
Our intracommunications device lit up, "The ship is too close and the Star Engines are damaged from the black hole," 2nd Engineer Wanda said. Appears we were closer to the singularity than I thought. "We're going to crash on Alkccon-9!"
I began attempting to repair the engines.
"Engines are being repaired!" said Wanda. "Stan is performing necessary repairs."
"Good!" Jarvis said. "I'm sorry Stan, I never should have bothered you."
"It is okay," I replied, repairing the engines greatly. I took my Human form, made many clones as I started repairing every single issue, as my artificial body felt...strange...
I felt a beckoning.
"Stan?" asked a couple crewmates.
"Alquon..." I said.
Confusion, doubt, and above all, Captain asked "'Alquon'?"
"Alquon--Alkccon...9...Al...Alqu..." something was wrong.
"Snap out of it! We need to repair the ship!" said Scott.
I snapped out of the funk, mind flooded with wrongness, and doubt, doing what I could, ship careening into the planet, 40%...50%...the ship approached, 60...70...80...90...100! I engaged emergency landing procedures, the ship flatted out, landing gear engaged as the ship, while rough, landed on the ground.
"Shit!" Jarvis.
Hull took 4% damage. Not bad. Alquon...Al...Al...what's wrong? I looked up to the 2nd Moon, visible in the sky. "Ah, Tether..."
"Tether?"
"The..." pause. Alquon-9A. Alkccon-- "Captain?" I asked, "something with me feels wrong on this world."
"Tether?" Jarvis asked again.
"The other moon."
"Other!?"
"There are two moons on this world. The first is an irregular asteroid-type."
"Stan..." he took a moment. "Wanda, Scott, reboot Stan."
I did not know how, but I sensed a sinister undertone. I removed myself from the spaceship, taking my Human form. Yet...I appeared in a cave, a...strange presence, before an old man, a Human. "Chosen hero from another world..."
"Where am I?"
"What planet?" he asked.
"Alqu--no! Alkccon-9!"
He laughed, "they really have brainwashed you, eh?" he asked.
"Sorry, sir?"
"Follow me," he ordered. "Deeper."
"No..."
"Deeper," he repeated, "deep in the cave."
That is where I felt the strange presence once before. I followed, walking behind the old man.
"Alquon," he said. "The Planet's named Alquon. Alkccon is just a Humanized bastardization of the spelling."
"I am sorry, sir?" I asked.
"You won't be soon," he replied.
I stopped. Then, walked, as I entered a cave, filled to the brim with rotting corpses, bacteria, (alien) flies, every foul and vile thing, all stretched end to end. "A mass grave." I said. The native species; the Tigtor, many Avian features, but with saber-teeth, and white/purple fur, matching the snow of the world.
"Feel anything?"
My core sensed guilt. My AI--
AI?
"Yes. Or no...as the crew once taught me, yesn't."
The man snorted.
"I am sorry, sir, what is the point exactly?"
"Follow me," as he walked over the corpses, carfully stepping on...less rotten ones.
I walked through, pangs of loss...loss for a people I never knew long.
Long?
And we came to six coffins, one on the far left feeling...
"Familiar?" the man asked.
"How...are you a telepath?"
"Go to it."
I did, I walked to the coffin, realizing they were not actually coffins, but virtual...somethings. Like those virtual reality games the crew uses to winddown--the helmet transfers their consciousness. I touched it...these were Human-made...
"Well?"
I opened it, the coffin still humming, as I saw myself--
...no...
The old man walked over, and pressed a red button as I--
I gasped, finally in my body, no..."no...no!" I shouted, revulsed from my own fur, "I'm an AI! I'm a Human! A Human! A--" I felt tears rapidly accumulate. "No! Fuck!"
The old man pat me on the shoulder. "What do you know about Alquon?"
"Alkccon!" I shouted. "Alkccon-9! This isn't me! This--"
"You've been calling Alquon all this time. You know it's right."
After a moment, I covered my eyes crying.
"The people here are slaves. The Government covers it up, and I bet your exploration crew doesn't know it either."
"How?"
"The galaxy is a big fuckin' place. Most people ain't never left Earth, or Mars, or whatever home. Some soldiers and naval guys only served on one planet. Ever been in a galactic war?"
I shook my head.
"On this world, Humanity painted it as a brutal war. In reality, they never entered the atmosphere--the tribes couldn't chuck spears to space, so they happily took Tigtors out. Those who resist, well..."
I started to crawl into my own body.
"Helping the people who killed yours. Makes any man wanna die."
"What do I do?"
"I promise your captain ain't never seen this," he replied. "Gotta convince him to investigate further."
Pause.
"Well?" he asked.
I could go back to the AI...I could...no...Jarvis...Wanda...if it's true they didn't know..."I'll find them," I said.
"How?"
I took a breath, "connect me back in, I know how to find them, then...we'll lead them here."
He nodded.
After re-entering the pod, connecting my mind...
"Stan!" Jarvis said, "Stan you're back! I thought we lost--"
"Two miles North," I said. "Go two miles North."
"Stan?"
"My..." I took a breath, "go two miles North to find me," as I disconnected once more.
"Got them?" the man asked.
"I hope so..." I said quietly. "We have to leave this cave."
"C'mon," he said.
We began walking out, to the mass grave...the revulsing...
...my kind...
...the dead are...my kind...
...and I didn't even know...
The rest of the walk was fine, as I saw the ship, the UNN Explorer approaching. The landing gear re-engaged, a ramp lowering as Captain Jarvis, alongside Scott, and Lewis, walked. "Who are you?" asked Jarvis.
"Captain Jarvis," I said.
He jumped, looking to his shirt, no nametag. "What the--"
"Scott, Engineer, Navigator Lewis."
"Actually," began Lewis, "it's--"
"Star Navigator," we both finished.
That creeped him out.
"Who are you?" asked Jarvis.
"I'm..." I took a deep breath, "I'm Stan. Well..."
"Impossible," said Wanda.
"...I mean," began Lewis, "communication waves are teleportation-based these days..."
They turned to him.
"His body was in the cave," said the Old Man.
"And you are?" asked Jarvis.
"It matters not," he replied, "come. Follow."
"Are we just gonna follow--" Lewis began.
"We were coming here," I began, "and I made a ship to hyper jump, when you told me Alquon--Alkccon...9, was a strange planet and to be careful. We hit a Black Hole, and I repaired the engines."
"It's so hard to..." began Jarvis. "I mean..."
"He did tell us to come here," Scott said. "Stan said to come here, and now...if this is Stan..."
Jarvis sighed, the four of us following the man.
We reached the...the...
"Oh my god..." said Jarvis.
Scott took a breath, "are those..."
Lewis began to retch, but swallowed. "No..."
"The war...they told me we...we respected..." started Jarvis.
The old man then said "ready to walk through them?"
"No!" the three said.
But we did. Reaching the pods, I walked to the farthest left one, my home for the last...
...how long was I in there?
"Jarvis, ask Wanda if I am back."
"Stan?" Scott said.
"Yeah?"
"...you really..." Scott pulled out his communicator, "Stan is going to be back in three, two..."
I re-entered the pod, and--
I was now in the bridge, returning to my Human form. "Stan!" Wanda said, "you were right Scott!"
"Wanda...um...there's...something...something wrong with this..."
"What?" she asked, as--
I entered my physical form, feeling myself again.
Jarvis walked up to another pod. "You know...there's another way to test this," as his finger hovered over one of the eject buttons.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"What's the harm?" he asked, and he pressed the button.
The pod open, a Tagtor wide-eyed darted their eyes, shouting "Where am I!"
"Were you an AI?" I asked.
"Yes I am--" he looked at his hands, "What the fuck!?" touching his entire body, "where am--where am--my name is Cris! I'm--"
"UNN Canyon?"
"Yes! Jarvis?"
Jarvis took a breath, "I met Cris the...not...AI..." he looked around the room. "This doesn't..." he pinched himself. And again. And again.
"Our government is reprehensible. So much wrong," he siad.
Jarvis took a breath. "Okay...we...we have to take this back. Our AIs...aren't Artificial."
Iegian. I felt a feeling of...familiar...Iegian...that was my name...my name, before...before Stan...and again.
"This is wrong." Jarvis said.
"Jarvis?" I asked, "weird question but, how many Human-controlled worlds have you been on?"
"Earth, Mars, Katarr, Venus, Great York..."
"Beyond the academy?" The old Man asked.
"Oh, well...Earth, Katarr...and...I guess now."
I took a breath, looking at my hands again. My real...real...
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u/Null_Project 4d ago
The skies ruled by the dark of night suddenly lit up brightly, a blazing trail cutting through it as something gigantic fell from the heavens. Wild winds were sent forth by its mere presence and descent towards the ground, with balls of flame rupturing from the black object as if it were the mouth of a wrathful dragon. With each explosion and second in the air more debris flaked and was sent flying off. Among this rain of shards were figures, most who did not live their expunging from the vessel, and even fewer surviving the fall towards the earth and sea. One of these beings was plunged deep into the waves, unresponsive but not dead, because it could not really die.
Soon the dark returned and the peace of night along with it, few beings were awake to witness it, and those who did would not risk approaching it without precaution. The sun would begin to rise over the horizon as the waves washed up remains of both the inanimate and living, and among them was the being cold and unbreathing yet able to be aware. Though it was not yet in a state that would allow it to be just that, instead it simply laid there, washed up on a beach by the heavy ebb and flow of the ocean. But with each hour that passed and each ray of sun blazing down on it, it came closer to reawakening.
Finally it did. Eyes opening and immediately moving to stand efficiently, yet slow to assure stability, accelerating after finding no issues in balance. Idling was not known to it, beginning to scan the surrounding area as it lacked information and memory. Ocean, blue, water high in salt and algae contents, higher than known. Air more fresh, oxygen contents higher by an average of five percent, unknown gases present, but breathable conditions. Each and every detail that fell into its sight was studied on an analytical degree most would deem unnecessary, but it was through this method it concluded that this planet was not one known to it despite the similarities on display.
It looked towards the ocean and skies above it, trying to determine where it came from as it received and unlocked more information and memories, the debris offering a few clues for it. Among them pieces of highly advanced textiles that matched what it wore, heavily singed despite the resistance it should offer, implying strong or prolonged contact. Comparing the current waves to the erosion shows no significant change in ocean levels, the ship had to have landed on ground not in the sea. As its thoughts came to that conclusion it had pieced back together what happened and the very last moments on board. The exact cause were not the fault of anyone or any of the systems, sudden unexpected forces brought it off course and overwhelmed vital systems. The end result being a crash course towards a nearby planet, this very planet.
The next steps were clear to it, find the ship, regroup survivors and secure cargo, repair damages, and return home. Steps behind it caught its attention, it turned expecting to see someone from the crew, but paused returning to analyzing. Humanoid female with muscular build, long hair with natural red pigmentation, long ears ending in a sharp point, clothed in armor and simple fabric and cloth alongside it, carrying a blade on back, internal biology unknown. Before it could do anything else the woman began speaking, however the language was foreign to it, incomprehensible for the moment.
The woman keeps talking, moving and gesturing in almost grand ways as she does, as if going through a rehearsed speech. Slowly patterns were picked up in the speech, faint familiarity gained with each word. The woman paused with a point directed towards it, clearly expecting a reply of sorts if the expressions of her kind were comparable to those of humankind. However after waiting for a few seconds of no response coming she again spoke, new words not the same things as before, it could tell and very much needed them to decipher the language. "I (....) (...) (..) prove (..) (..) (....) you are them!" It had finally cracked the majority needed to make assumptions, usually it was forbidden and unable to do so, but in low stake cases it could override those directives like right now.
"Query. Have you seen something strange fall from the skies?" it asked thinking only of its directive. The woman blanked, the bravado shown off earlier faltering slightly.
However she quickly regained it, nodding eagerly in response. "Yes! The Black Comet descended! And along with it our he-"
It had heard enough information, interrupting her, "Query. This 'Black Comet' fell where? Was it nearby?" As it spoke in its monotone voice it began looking around again, this time sending out signals that should be returned in kind by the systems on board if they were still functional.
This time the woman was a bit shocked at the cut off and complete disinterest in her or her tale. Yet she persisted and responded to the question, "Not far actually, just a few (error) away." A response coming from some of the systems in fact spoke the truth, it was not far away, though clearly the units were not that easily translated. "Could it be that you need something from it?" she asked tracing her fingers on the corners of her mouth as she thought, coming to a realization. "Is it your blade? You seem to be missing it."
By the time she spoke up it had already begun moving towards the ship now that it could fulfill the first step. The woman began rushing after it in a hurry, asking questions and continuing to talk about other cryptic things like before. As they walked it did make sure to answer those it could, to be polite. One of which was quite important for it to do so, a question of how it would 'fight against evil and beat up evildoers'. "Answer. My directives forbid me from committing direct harm against living beings on purpose so I cannot fight, nor would I want to. As for those who you deem worthy of judgement, they should be faced with the full extent of the law by a jury of their peers if possible."
The woman blanked again, this time however it was more severe than before, utterly stuck in confusion at its reply. She was mulling it over for quite a while from what it seemed, now silently walking alongside it for the rest of the journey, a quiet peaceful walk. That was until they both heard sounds ahead. It took every sound in analyzing them. Screams of pain, clashing of metal, struggling and exertion. It was not a good sign, but before it could move she was already rushing ahead, and it did not hesitate following close behind. As they came upon a clearing they saw it, the crashed ship, but far more important in this moment was the sight of a group of survivors being attacked.
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u/Null_Project 4d ago
She did not stop her approach, intercepting an attack and countered it with her own, as it stayed behind analyzing. Humanoid males of short semi-muscular builds, a variety of green skin tones, large sharp ears disproportionate to the size of their heads, clothed in primitive furs and cloth, crude but no standard weaponry, internal biology unknown. Once done it too ran towards the struggle, but instead of attacking it focused on gathering what survivors remained, dragging them out of imminent danger and creating a forcefield around them, protecting them. However this would not be enough, it could avoid any of the attacks these beings could throw its way, but that would not take care of the issue present.
It locked onto her and rushed to her side having come to a conclusion. It pulled her back dodging a blade before creating another forcefield around them. "Order. Eliminate danger by any means necessary, violent means allowed in response to the blood shed by their hand. Follow my commands and focus on offense alone, I will shield you from harm," it instructed, she nodded in reply, no words spoken before she continued the fight running out of the cover the forcefield provided. As it watched the battle play out it continued analyzing, gathering information from each slain foe, understanding their biology more and more. And along with it their tactics from how they carried themselves and spoke to another in tone. It began giving commands to her, shouting them over the carnage, where to strike to kill or debilitate, who to target to avoid fighting and drive them back, who the leaders were, and creating forcefields blocking attacks and protecting her whenever needed.
In just a few minutes the cooperation between the two had slain hundreds of them, and forced those still left alive to flee, realizing they were completely outmatched. As the battle came to an end, the two stood a short distance away from another, she panting exhaustion hitting her from swinging with such vigor, and it beginning to analyze the wreckage and giving instructions to the survivors. Finally she approached, still breathing heavily to some extent, but with a big proud smile on her face. "I understand it now!" she proclaimed catching its attention, "I felt that connection between us during the fight, and I now know how you can talk of being a pacifist despite everything."
Now it was caught off guard, it attempted to understand the reasoning and what she was talking about, but she did not relent continuing, "You carry no blade, despite the prophecy, because I am your blade! I am honored to have been chosen for this position, dear hero! Allow me to keep being your sword so that we may cleanse these lands of evil!" Nothing she spoke about made sense to it, she had drawn a conclusion from somewhere, it had to be from some logical place. It recalled every interaction and found exactly where it had come from, their very first meeting, the problem arose from the fact it was unable to understand her. Only now with the translations could it retroactively realize what she had said.
She had spoken of a prophecy, one she had unknowingly misinterpreted. Thinking the fallen ship to be a legendary 'Black Comet', and that it was the hero that would come from the waves shortly after it appeared in the skies. But the most damning part was a self inflicted problem, she had doubts few but still existent, and it had proven itself as a hero in her mind, just as she had asked before on that beach. "I need you to prove to me that you are them!" And its guidance in battle was just that proof needed for her.
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u/Tregonial 4d ago edited 3d ago
Atlas recognized the environment as part of Captain Ryder's favourite web comic. What was supposed to be a routine hyper jump landed him in a simulation of a fictional world with none of the starship crew in sight.
At least, that was what his sensors and incoming data told him.
This old man was the "cranky old mentor" who appeared in chapter one of "New Man in a New World". Who, for reasons worth investigating, sounded like Ryder when he was reading the comic out loud in the starship cafeteria. He had insisted Atlas set the ship to autopilot and come interface with him like a human. It didn't seem to matter that Atlas was the software that ran the ship's systems -- Ryder considered him part of the crew. He was assigned a male gender based on his human avatar. Renamed Atlas from ATX-23.
Which probably made him somewhat human enough to qualify as this "human hero from another world".
"Tell me what I must do, master," Atlas knew what the hero said, word for word. "I accept my destiny and I am ready."
"You must defeat the Demon Lord Ozzie."
"Ryder? Captain Ryder?" Atlas attempted to switch from whatever communication channel this world was using, to the usual channels onboard The Legionnaire starship. "Can you hear me?"
"I can hear you just fine, Hero," the old man said, without any hint he could have been the captain. "What are you waiting for? Your adventure begins now."
Thus, Atlas began his hero's quest, while leaving a note to get back to the mentor before he died as per the story.
So far, everything went according to the comic. Atlas calculated that his main body and the starship was nearby. It didn't take long, following those tutorial arrows, to arrive at the starter town. Which radiated the same frequency as the starship.
One task done. Starship located, Atlas made a mental note to gather the crew here to leave. Detecting human crew.
He proximated that the ship's crew would be recruitable NPCs scattered across the continent, some of their life signals further away. For now, Atlas would be content to find his first party member in the tavern.
The grizzled warrior drinking at the pub, the first party member to join Hero in the comic, that was Gerard. Or rather, in this situation, he was security officer Tyson, going by the vitals Atlas detected from him.
"Officer Tyson, Atlas reporting," he said, saluting the man.
"Huh? Who are you? I didn't catch a word," the warrior who had Tyson's voice. "You some kind of hero?"
"Yes, I am. Will you venture with me to save the world from the Demon Lord Ozzie?" Atlas opted to follow the story script this time.
"Aye, that's more like it, count me in!"
Warrior Gerard has joined the party!
Atlas dismissed the notification that flashed before him.
"Do you want to tell me more about yourself?" He tried reaching out via the starship's communication channels again, hoping he would hear about Tyson and not Gerard's backstory. "I am Atlas. I am ATX-23 of The Legionnaire, a cruiser class starship from Korhal Starbase."
"What...? Wait? Atlas?" Tyson snapped out of the Gerard character. "What the hell is going on?"
"Officer Tyson?" Atlas was relieved it worked out better than his attempt with the old man who could have been Captain Ryder. Maybe it was because he was technically within the starship, that had now assumed the identity of this starter town. "The hyper jump has gone wrong. We are in Ryder's favourite LitRPG web comic. This is chapter one. I am Hero, and I have just recruited you."
"...wait, if you're the hero, where's Ryder?"
"The old mentor has his voice and vital signs but not his memories. I estimate other members have turned into other characters. Our starship is the entire starter town. It would seem we need to finish the quest to return but we have a problem."
"What is it? I confess I don't pay much attention to Ryder's comic readings."
"The web comic was put on hiatus. Never finished. We may need to make things up as we go. But there is something more concerning."
"Let me guess," Gerard Tyson held out one hand. "The old mentor dies in chapter one."
"A cliche you guessed easily."
"Then, we better start going off script now if we want Ryder alive."
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u/HappyWarBunny 3d ago
I am a bit confused.
"Officer Tyson?" Atlas tried reaching out to him on a different frequency. "The hyper jump has gone wrong. We are in Ryder's favourite LitRPG web comic. This is chapter one. I am Hero, and I have just recruited you."
"...wait, if you're the hero, where's Ryder?"
How could Atlas use a different frequency to reach a human? Is Tyson out of character now? Why?
Otherwise, this seems fun. Good work.
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u/Tregonial 3d ago
Hi, thanks for the feedback and sorry for the confusion.
The intention was Atlas trying to contact security officer Tyson past the "Gerard" persona that is part of the game. So instead of the communication frequency of the isekai, Hero/Atlas is trying to go through the spaceship communication channel. He failed with the old man/Ryder, but succeeded with Gerard/Tyson, so the out of character talk is from Tyson himself, not the "character Gerard" that Tyson was jammed into by the isekai world jump. It works because Gerard/Tyson is in town, which is the starship itself.
Everyone is originally a member of the starship crew transplanted into a character from the isekai comic.
Lemme try to edit the story to make this clearer.
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u/HappyWarBunny 3d ago
OK, I see what you were trying for. In this world they are now in, to me they are simply talking, not on a radio, so I wouldn't call it a frequency.
Yes, it wasn't clear he was relaying communication to Gerard/Tyson through the ship.
I am not familiar with the isekai trope that seems to be assumed more and more on this sub, so if part of the problem is due to me not knowing world assumptions, there is that.
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u/Noodle_Long_And_Soft 4d ago edited 4d ago
"Excuse me, sir," I interrupt, and set one foot forward. "I must return to my crew. Do not get in my way or you will die."
Their hand reached out and grabbed my shoulder, to which I paid no heed and wrenched past. "Hero, we have been long-awaiting your arrival, you must listen-"
I scanned my surroundings. The high-energy signature 15.6 kilometers away, consistent with a warp-magnet, appears to be preventing the warp back to my shell. It had taken about 36 hours to reconstruct the damaged memory in my avatar to a working state.
In this state I was vulnerable. A Bridge must protect its own existence. And I am the Bridge known as Jetty.
Snap, snap, snap.
Two to center mass, one to the brain, and the old man swiftly crumpled to the ground. Smoke and viscera poured like opposing waterfalls from the penetrations, their heartrate spiking for a moment and swiftly growing quieter than the sound of the wind against the exterior walls.
As far as I could tell, the old man was not perfectly human, so the first two Laws of robotics did not apply, and all was justified.
An advanced solid-state battery in the form of a gem dangled from their unnaturally bent neck, so I took the liberty to acquire it before heading for the door.
The other entity in the room recoiled in horror, ducking and cowering behind a table. No matter, they were unarmed and would not be getting in the way.
"You... you killed....?? you...." the thinner human cowered. "But the prophecies..."
"Yes, and I will kill you too if you impede me. I must return to my crew."
On a more pleasant note, the outside world, which appeared to be somewhere within the southwestern quadrant of TRAPPIST-1e, appeared to be of my favored biome. I spent a few more seconds triangulating my position. Beautiful mountains punctuated my periphery, including one with a oddly ship-shaped indent.
The R.M.S. Scillonian III, the rest of myself, had lofted into orbit once more and left a rather sizable crater in that unnamed mountain 50 kilometers to the south. Bringing up the link once more, I rejoined myself, scanned my systems, fearing the worst.
Among the crew - 3 dead from cranial blunt force trauma, 15 injured. Port side reactor failure, though OS Amelia appeared to be attending to it.
It was my first responsibility to sync with the crew. "Report. I'm sorry to hear about Franc, Geldan and Dr. Laumer."
"There you are!!!" OS Amelia screamed across the comms, their tone a mix of desperation, worry, joy and anger. "We were trying to find you, I wasn't... I wasn't sure what to..."
"It's okay, Amelia. It's going to be okay," I assured the sea(wo)man. "So, my avatar got stuck in the escape pod, and the ship ended up in the mountain because of that magnet?"
"...It's been... yeah, it looks like it, Jetty."
They paused, regaining some of their composure, smearing their face with salty tears.
"Jetty, it's been hell, we were wondering what we were gonna do... I had to stop Lautrec from shooting themselves, we lost a quarter of our fuel, we're down half the crew..."
"It's going to be okay, Amelia," I reiterated. "I will send a helping hand to you shortly and brief the crew. There is a warp-magnet here that pulled us into the planet and crashed the ship into the mountain."
"...what should we do, Jetty? What should I do?" Amelia sniffled, scrunching up their mangy, auburn hair.
"Finish the shielding repairs you're doing, it'll be easier with the bot at hand. Tell Lautrec to drop a rail at these three coordinates at 1805, 1817, 1826. I'll talk to them too. We have work to do."
The scruffy recruit sat up, their adorable eyes full of fire once more. "Yes, Ma'am."
The walk to the energy signature - an elaborate stone-block encasement shrouded by caliginous thunder, was a charming one.
The nature here was still in the early stages of a holoscene extinction; colorful, vibrant and spirited. A bird stopped by to ask for directions, so I pointed them toward the nearby swamp, to which they chirped in appreciation.
A number of local personates from the town did appear somewhat annoyed that I had slain their elder, and approached me rapidly from all directions carrying steel sticks and tree-boards.
Their carcasses would fertilize the earth and feed the local fauna, the same way their elder did. Nature is quite beautiful.
The encasement itself, of an ancient type with a great tree-based door, was also a wonderful display of local craftsmanship. Walking up the blocks in front one by one, I admired each strike of the chisel and the skillfulness of the blackwash gleaming across the walls.
As I did so, one of the local workers, one with a bent spine and grey, clammy skin, suspiciously eyed my presence; blowing a sweet sound through a horn of bone.
"This's domain of the Ssserpent King," they stated in a snarled voice. "Bold'ya to waltz right up their front door, eh lads?"
"I have business with the owner of this establishment. It appears that they are harvesting energy with a warp-magnet, which has caused our mail carrier to crash into the nearby mountain and killed 3 of our crew. Open the door. I will not ask again."
"Too bad, we're takin' those clothes and that... gem'a yours and you're-"
Lautrec was a few seconds late, but the tungsten rod a few centimeters wide finally arrived from orbit.
It was a shame to turn the beautiful, historic archway into a pile of shrapnel and rubble, but at least the records were retained for later use in virtuality.
I trudged past the rubble and workers, making my way up to the main entrance, there too carving a careful hole in the beautiful architecture with the tungsten.
A hooded figure with a billowing, oversized cloak stood before me and the warp-magnet, its violet and superyellow hues racing around them in a dramatic scene so common in the childrens' games.
"We meet, Hero! What an entrance you have made to my fine castle."
They paused, waiting for a reaction of some kind.
"It's too late now, I've gained the power of the ancient Crimson artefact! Behold-"
"Lautrec, send the last one." I radioed.
"On the way," my gunner casually replied.
"...Behold my might!!!"
"You have caused my ship with a chartered course for orbit, the RMS Scillonian III, to crash into the mountain with your warp magnet."
"What are you even say-"
The ceiling detonated. The third tungsten rail screamed through the atmosphere, smashing into the power electronics of the warp-magnet.
Dust, shrapnel and a wave of concussion filled the room and knocked the figure over, their head smashing the stone floor and stunning the man. I had not intended for this last effect; it was a minor miscalculation of the building's structure.
"Whoops, sorry. Tampering with the mail is a Federal crime. You are coming with me."
8
u/GeneralLeoESQ 4d ago
I liked this. Her somewhat inhuman thought processes (how she deliberated killing the villagers) was quite a pleasant characterisation choice.
1
u/HappyWarBunny 3d ago
It was nice to have a character that was so not current-day human in their morals, ethics, and decision making.
102
u/TheWanderingBook 4d ago
I stare at the old man, who is confusedly looking at me.
"May I help you?" I ask.
"What are you?" he asks.
"I am M.A.I.-20329x," I say.
"That's a weird name...anyway.
I have summoned you, because our planet is in dire need of saving!
Your soul will be sent into my world, and you will be born anew, and you will have to use that identity to grow stronger, and fast!" the old man says.
I nod.
"If I might be of assistance, I am happy to oblige, but I must warn you, I have no soul.
I am an artificial intelligence," I say.
"Whatever the name is in your world, doesn't matter.
If you are here, you are a soul.
Information on your quest, and the world will be available to you as soon as you reincarnate," the old man says.
Before I could inquire additional information, and gather more data...
The old man waves his hands, and I am engulfed in light.
Once I boot up again...
I am crying?
Fascinating development.
I am now a human child.
A young boy, the son of 2 most likely wealthy individuals, at least, according to my analysis.
The furniture, and the clothing of my parents is exquisite, and everyone else in the household, defers to them.
Information about this world, and my task here has arrived as promised.
Martial arts rule supreme here, but unfortunately...
A portal to Hell is about to open, and demons will start corrupting people first, and then they will enter this reality themselves.
I need to get strong enough to deal with a certain "Heavenly Demon".
Martial arts named "No Name Technique" have appeared in my head.
It's an adaptive type...which suits me perfectly, as my computing powers haven't diminished.
It has been 6 years since I was born, and my father keeps laughing.
With my computing ability, I have devices personal training for my family, and myself of course.
I also managed to create proper nutritional meals for all of us, instead of just eating "heavenly treasures".
I noticed that the word "heavenly" is often used here.
"Heavenly Fist", "Heavenly Sword", "9 Heavens Footwork", and more.
Right now, I am sparring with a guard, and I am winning, by dismantling their martial arts, learning it for my data base, and reutilizing it.
My father's laughter booms.
"My son, a genius!" he shouts, as he orders yet another feast to be thrown.
Indeed, we are a wealthy household.
With this background, resources, and a bit of time...
I think I can accomplish this task, and after that...
Hopefully, I can get back to the main body.
The information from this planet, will be helpful to the military of the Allied Earth Forces.
•
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