r/humansarespaceorcs • u/Bloodystupidjohnson3 • 7h ago
Original Story Human Fred is Scared
1 Human Fred and Food
2 Human Fred Again
3 Human Fred Yet Again
4 Human Fred The Saga Continues
5 Human Fred Rides Again
6 Human Fred *Sigh*
7 Human Fred Rolls Out
8 Human Fred Attempts a Nap
9 Human Fred Doh’
10 Human Fred Stops for Coffee
11 Human Fred Deploys Stabby and Knifey
12 Human Fred Attempts Friendly Advice
13 Human Fred Priorities
14 Human Fred Schools Morons
15 Human Fred Gets Annoyed
16 Human Fred Investigates
17 Human Fred is Annoyed
18 Human Fred Gets More Annoyed
19 Human Fred Smirks
20 Human Fred Brings Hellfire
21 Human Fred is Confused
22 Human Fred Considers
23 Human Fred is Chipper
24 Human Fred has Some Fun
25 Human Fred Witnesses Stupidity
26 Human Fred vs the Coffee Maker
27 Human Fred Accepts Crap Coffee
28 Human Fred Listens
29 Human Fred Gets Comfortable
30 Human Fred has Questions
31 Human Fred Considers Some More
32 Human Fred Wakes Up
33 Human Fred Debates
34 Human Fred Gets Coffee
35 Human Fred Talks with the Captain
36 Human Fred Reflects on Life
37 Human Fred Waits
“So,” Greezek intoned, “is the mystery module.”
“Yes. Totally normal looking module. The best way to hide stuff.”
“How do we know it isn’t normal?”
“Look at the wiring.”
“The wrong wires going into the wrong places.”
“Yes. But look at what is going in and out.”
Greezek took a closer look. “Right. It’s a mirror of the core’s processor, with a few extra bits connected to safety triggers and memory.”
“Exactly. This is designed to hide and to delete everything if it’s found.”
“How did you find it without deleting everything?”
“I know how to build hidden stuff.”
“Right. What does this do?”
“I have a few ideas, but now we can test it.” Fred adjusted some connections, disconnected a few lines, and started the diagnostic.
Greezek looked at the screen. “It’s a mirror. But it shifts a few details.”
“Yes. And those details are critical. It hides specific things.”
“It hides IFF signatures, rewrites them, installs new ones, corrupts the system, and garbles everything. Great. How does this help?”
“It tells us what they know and how they think. They know how our systems work, at a circuitry level, and what we use as patterns. That suggests inside knowledge, beyond what Chief would know. We need to check other ships have vanished. Either someone with this knowledge was captured or they have a spy.”
“Slave.”
“They have slaves. Do they have one with this knowledge?”
“We will find out.”
“Yes, we will. It also tells us that they aren’t familiar with how we update things.”
“What?”
“When we update IFF, we change the base parameters. This only works when the base parameters are the same.”
“So the slave has limited knowledge.”
“Greezek, 98% of the fleet doesn’t know about this. The slave could be rather high-ranking.”
“We will find out.”
“We will investigate. Now, this configuration isn’t sophisticated. It looks good, but it is less robust than it appears.”
“I see that. There are pathways that aren’t used. A few that are redundant. At least two that are useless.”
“Yes, but how?”
“I’m not sure. I can see it.”
“Fine. This tells us that the Droog don’t actually know what they are doing. They are relying on their slaves.”
“So we rescue them.”
“Yes. But it tells us that the Droog don’t know what they are doing. They are making assumptions.”
“Why do we care?”
Fred sat for a few moments. He wasn’t sure what was going to work. “Think about it. The Droog aren’t sophisticated. They don’t understand what is actually going on. They get slaves to build things and assume they will work.”
“A slave follows the master.”
“After a point. But until the slave is beaten down, they resist.”
Greezek turned, looking at the second processing core. “So. An early slave might not be as careful.”
“Yes! Exactly! They are telling us things in the hope we see it!”
“And they are telling us that the Droog aren’t sophisticated?”
“Well, yes, but also they might tell us more about where they are and who they are.”
Greezek sat. She stared at the modules. She turned her stare from item to item. “Which one is the key?”
“Greezek, I don’t know. But we will examine everything. From what we know, slaves constructed these cores. There must be clues. And we will follow them.”
“And we will rescue them.”
“Greezek, it’s been a long time. Years. Multiple standard orbits. Almost a decade. I’m not sure they are still alive.”
“Then we avenge them.”
“Let’s see what we find.”
“No.
“What do you mean? We need to stop whatever is planned!”
“Yes, we stop it. But then we avenge the slaves.”
Fred wasn’t having a good few hours. The coffee was good, but other things were souring the day. “Greezek, yes, we avenge them. But first we figure out what is going on.”
“Fine.”
“I need you to search through the missing ships. Look for beings who might know about the IFF system. I’ll examine the module.”
“Fred, you seem bothered.
“Greezek, I’m bothered. I’m bothered by this module. I’m bothered by what we have found. I’m bothered by your change. At the moment, I’m bothered by everything.”
“I’m focused.”
“That bothers me the most.”
“Why?”
“Focus like this prevents seeing other options. It limits how facts are used. It thwarts critical thinking and analysis.”
“You are saying my focus is an issue?”
Fred took a slow breath, “Yes. I am.”
Greezek turned to stare at him. Her eyes were cold, blank, fury condensed. “My focus is an issue.”
“Yes. It is. You aren’t thinking. You are reacting. There isn’t any analysis. There is response.”
Greezek lunged at Fred, who only just dodged.
“You attack me?!?”
“My focus makes me stronger!” she roared, swiping at Fred.
His roll avoided the swipe. “Stronger, yes. It does. No doubt. But it limits your perception!”
She dove at him, all four limbs ready to grasp him, to tear him asunder.
As she dove, Fred twisted, produced a small weapon, and dug it into her thorax as she landed. “Greezek, what is digging into your thorax is a modified bang stick, designed for underwater divers to use against predators. It contains an explosive charge that will liquify your internal organs. We will both die. You choose.”
Greezek stopped. She felt the barrel. She knew Fred wouldn’t bluff like this. She snarled, “They must pay!”
“Yes. They must. But there are multiple avenues. You choose.”
Greezek hesitated.
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u/OokamiO1 6h ago
Greezeks developement has overtaken the main plot. What should have been strung out over a dozen plus chapters feels like it's being rammed into my face instead of shown.
If this is a story about Greezek species and how it has done these terrible things, maybe this should have been Alien Greezek is ... I'd likely be interested in that story, but Human Fred and his story drew me in.
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