Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by CyberDragon »

The year is 3040. Solomon sat in his chair on the bridge of the Beacon of Hope, a massive spacecraft 500 miles long, and 200 miles wide and tall. Lights dimmed, sound muffled, and completely solitary. This was how he liked it best. Despite no one being in the room, he was never lonely. At any given moment, he was in contact with millions of people. Everyone on the ship was in contact with him. He in fact, was the ship. It's mind was his own, and everything that was a part of it was part of him. His mind controlled all of the ship's drones, service droids, security droids... anything that he built he controlled, giving him his codname: "Hivemind." One of the things he controlled was a shuttle that was carrying some new recruits into the ship. It looked like the Champions were going to be a few people stronger. It didn't take him long to find a group. In fact, one potential recruit (assuming he could persuade her to join) had teleported onto the ship by complete accident, nearly dying of shock in the process. He was in the process of visiting her to explain what was going on, while at the same time he worked on guiding the shuttle with the new recruits onto the ship.

----------------------------------------------------

"Attention passengers." Solomon's voice could be heard on the shuttle intercom. "We will be boarding the Beacon of Hope shortly. Less than two minutes, in fact. Once we pass through the environment shielding, artificial gravity will kick in. Please make sure you are in your seats when this happens or you might fall and injure yourself. When you exit the shuttle, please follow the arrows on the floor to the desk where The Lycan will give you your introductions." The shuttle holding the new recruits continued on, slowing it's velocity as it approaches the hanger.

----------------------------------------------------

One of the hive androids entered the medical bay and walked to the room where Kol was. It was cooled as she had an adverse reaction to the warm environment of the ship. He entered to a scene of exasperated doctors and healers attempting to tend to their patient. Kol was giving them a really difficult time. Hivemind entered and got a better look at the new life form. He had not encountered her species before. As he entered, he nodded to the doctors and they walked out into the observation room. "Greetings. Welcome to my ship." He said to Kol, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible.

----------------------------------------------------

The Lycan sat at a desk in a room adjacent to the hanger where the new arrivals were going to be entering. The great wolf-like beast-man was covered in stiff fur that was dark as midnight. His claws were long and sharp, and his teeth even more so. His eyes were brown and didn't show any whites when he looked forward. He would look flat out terrifying... if he wasn't browsing cat videos on his data pad with his head in his hand and a bored expression on his face. He had been waiting there since he was told to introduce the newcomers to the ship. It had been quite a while now, and he was getting impatient. Suddenly, his data pad pinged and the ground lit up with a stream of arrows that seemed to move through the door and stop at his desk. He looked at his notification, which opened a live feed from the hanger showing the shuttle passing through the environment shield and landing in the spot closest to his position. He closed the cat videos and perked up, waiting for the group to enter.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Before the doctors are even out the door Kol flexes her claws and shreds the bindings they had been trying to put on her upper right wrist. Calling "See? Claw work fine! not need itchy straps!" after the retreating doctors. "diss low kate not even a word..."

Despite her claims of being fine, she's still favoring the limb, and her fur doesn't do all that great a job hiding the bruises covering much of her when you're this close. Her attire doesn't hide much either; There's a large bundle of fur clothing on the bed behind her, Kol having discarded most of it save for her boots and what is vaguely similar to a low hanging sleeveless tunic of white furs.

"You speak Vori? Or I still use translator?" Kol asked warily, holding up the device in question, her voice distorted by the device struggling to translate a language it was still analyzing. Pausing a moment, she looked the machine over. Curiosity overtaking her, she takes a step closer and comments "you are... Different. Metalskin..."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

The announcement came that they were about to land and Jenny Miles closed the pad on the Bonkbuster novel she'd bought at the space port. All breasts and firearms asusual but it had helped pass the twenty or so hours she'd been on this ship full of people. Many of them had hurried to the side viewports when told the Beacon was in sight but she'd spent the last month in the Federal Artificial Reality suites familiarising herself with enough of the main routes through the ship that she might not have to rely on public shuttles and Federal self-driving vehicles to get around.

She put the pad into her pocket and stood, feeling and hearing her knees crick under the shift in position. She stretched and took a breath, hoping the Beacon would smell better than this multi-cultural stink sauna as she took her small case from the overheads and made ready to leave when the stewards said she could. According to the delivery documents the rest of her things had arrived yesterday and she hoped the haulage company hadn't lied to her.

It had probably just been her imagination that she'd been broadcasting 'offical' waves and that was why no-one had sat next to her but it did seem she still had a few feet between herself and the person behind her as she headed out of the shuttle and headed across to the Customs Wolf.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Deske »

When it was announced that they were going to land Ulrich excitedly fastened his seatbelt in preparation for landing. While he had wanted to see the Beacon as they were arriving, there was already a crowd of people at the window and he didn't want to get in the way of their viewing. He placed the handheld videogame back into his bag and, before zipping it back up and sliding it under the seat in front of him, he checked to make sure that his emergency clothing and equipment were right where he had left them when he had boarded the shuttle 20 or so hours ago. It had been a pretty in depth playthrough and though he wasn't sure he'd unlocked all of the secrets it had to hold, what he had done had tided him over for the duration of the ride. He'd even managed to win some of the challenges posed by some of the much younger kids on the shuttle, cementing himself as one of the "Cool Old People." He chuckled at that and leaned back in his seat as the shuttle made it's way towards the hangar.

When the shuttle landed he stood up, taking a minute to work out the stiffness in his joints before grabbing his suitcase with the rest of his clothing in it. When the steward gave them the all clear to leave he headed off the shuttle, ducking under the door as he did so. He checked a few notifications on his watch, making sure the last sales had gone through. Luckily, they had, which meant he had enough credits to purchase what amenities he would need for his room so that he could make it feel more like home.

At seven-foot-three the Customs Office was easy to spot over the heads of the crowd. As he walked towards the office, he made note of the rat in front of him that everyone else seemed to be steering clear of. She did have a slight air of "official-ness" around her, so he imagined that must be what everyone else was avoiding. When he arrived, Ulrich took his place in line next to her, quietly deciding on whether or not striking up a conversation was out of the question.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Neon Icy Wings »

Tatiana stayed near motionless in her seat throughout the flight, somewhat nervous to be going to such a seat of power, much more used to back water planets or slums of city planets. As the shuttle landed, occupants already beginning to exit, her helmet's "eyes" flashed and she followed suit, the urge to caress her sniper rifle rising, a lesson never forgotten and mistake never repeated, if she even could, with it in storage, adding to her discomfort. While she took her place in line behind the rather large man, dwarfing her much smaller size by two and a half feet at least, one could not guess her thoughts and emotions by sight alone, her Armored Shell's helmet's wide grin and feline aesthetic masking her everything from the world. This helped the silent one well, as she was unsure what they'd make of her past, but the giant ship was probably the best place to go. Surely something of value could be gained here. A near robotic sigh came from the modulator inside the helmet; she hated lines, though knew this was one she shouldn't try and skip.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Buster wrote:Before the doctors are even out the door Kol flexes her claws and shreds the bindings they had been trying to put on her upper right wrist. Calling "See? Claw work fine! not need itchy straps!" after the retreating doctors. "diss low kate not even a word..."

Despite her claims of being fine, she's still favoring the limb, and her fur doesn't do all that great a job hiding the bruises covering much of her when you're this close. Her attire doesn't hide much either; There's a large bundle of fur clothing on the bed behind her, Kol having discarded most of it save for her boots and what is vaguely similar to a low hanging sleeveless tunic of white furs.

"You speak Vori? Or I still use translator?" Kol asked warily, holding up the device in question, her voice distorted by the device struggling to translate a language it was still analyzing. Pausing a moment, she looked the machine over. Curiosity overtaking her, she takes a step closer and comments "you are... Different. Metalskin..."
"You are still using a translator. And yes, I am made mostly of metal. Can you tell me where you are from?" He said, trying to calm the creature down.

--------------------------------------------

The Lycan stood up. He towered over most of the crowd, except for Ulrich. "Welcome everyone to the Beacon of Hope! And congratulations for going through a 20 hour flight without tearing your hair off. Our first stop will be to get your luggage, then we will go to the capitol district and I will give you further instructions when we get there." He grinned at the crowd, showing probably more sharp teeth than he intended to. "If you will follow me please. Don't stray from the path. The hive doesn't appreciate people trespassing on the defensive fortifications and you would no doubt get lost. Isn't that right, Hivemind?" He turned and looked at a security camera.

"That's right." the voice from the shuttle came through the intercom speakers. "There are fifty miles of cargo bays, defense systems, and hangers before you reach civilization, and not everything is connected the way you would think."

"That seems to be a thing around here!" He walks over to a door opposite the one leading to the hanger. Wasn't his tail longer before? He put his paw on a screen. At least, it used to be a paw... After that, he typed in some sort of code. Now his fur was gone! He turned around and the door opened to the baggage area. He no longer looked like a wolf. Instead, a tall, strong looking human stood before them. There were a few things that weren't quite right though. His eyes still had very little whites, being mostly covered in his large brown irises. His teeth were also quite sharp looking when he smiled, and it seemed there were too many of them for a human mouth. "Nothing is quite what it seems. If you would please follow me into the baggage area and you can pick up what you brought. Then we can continue." He walked through the door and waited for the crowd to enter.
"It's not my job to seek the truth.
It's not my job to pick a side.
It's not my job to judge your sins.
It's my job to save your life."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

Jenny was pretty sure she wouldn't get lost anyway but she followed along with her hand luggage as Mr Steele showed off his capability to all and sundry who might not have known about it before. She noted it as a waste of a good surprise but supposed she appreciated the fact that he was meeting them in person. There was something to be said for the personal touch. It helped cut through things and alliterated problems. And it was part of what she was there for. She followed on where he led. She had a feeling they expected her to do a lot of that. "We'll see," she muttered, finally breaking her personal silence.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Ulrich nodded at Steele's instructions to not stray from the path. He certainly didn't want to get lost among this massive ship, though he had a feeling that even if he did get lost, he wouldn't be lost for long. He followed after the wolf, grinning as he noticed more and more changes occurring before they got to the baggage area. Once Steele had opened the door and the rest of the crowd had gone through, Ulrich ducked into the room after them. He hadn't shipped anything and all of his clothing was in his suitcase meaning he didn't have anything to grab. So he waited until everyone else had finished.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Neon Icy Wings »

Tatiana noted the transformation, interesting but nothing too amazing by her standards, she also became disappointed as she was instructed not to wander, understandable, but disappointing, the ship seemed it would be interesting to wander. She followed quickly, wanting to get her luggage, as little as there was, hating to be away from her rifle for too long. Not to mention her scant few keepsakes she's gained over the few years she'd like to confirm the well being of.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

There was nothing major for Jenny on the carousel as the important - large - stuff had been sent on so she took a moment to examine those closest to her as she waited on her small case. A large human and a bio-suit. Hmm. The suit told of something that had trouble operating in the ship atmosphere. Possibly liquiform? That style of suit suggested it more than a Gaseous or a mere different atmosphere breather. The Human was a large one. A REALLY large one. She fancied there was a hint of a smile behind the facial fur but the eyes had a heart of flint, teling of the pain of years. Jenny decided she'd look them up later and picked her minicase off the carousel, extended the handle and pulled it behind herself on wheels. "Let's take the nickel tour," she said, mainly to herself.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Randy smiled and waited for the group to finish picking up their suitcases and luggage. Once there was nothing left for them to pick up, he clapped his hands together. "All right then. Everyone got everything? I think we are ready to move on then! If you'll excuse... me... there..." He began walking around the outer walls through the crowd of people. He continued circling the walls until he reached... the exact door they just came through. "Ah! Here. This way forward!" he says as he types in the code and scans his hand again. He looks and grins at the confused crowd. "Remember, nothing is as it seems." He opens the door.

Instead of the customs room, the door opened up into a very large brightly lit room. It was busy with people of all kinds walking left and right through doors and up and down escalators which, according to the signs, led to maglev shuttles. The glass domed ceiling showed what looked like a bright, sunny day on earth without a cloud in the sky. Of course, it couldn't be real, but it did look and feel very convincing. "Welcome to the central hub! Champion recruits, please keep all equipment packed away in your suitcases until you have been registered. Even in the ship's interior, security is pretty tight."
"It's not my job to seek the truth.
It's not my job to pick a side.
It's not my job to judge your sins.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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CyberDragon wrote:"You are still using a translator. And yes, I am made mostly of metal. Can you tell me where you are from?" He said, trying to calm the creature down.
Kol gives an annoyed huff at the conformation she still needs the translator. Her attention never leaving the droid as she circles it, examining every centimetre.
"Vorika [Shield?]. Ruio spring tunnels." She answers, after a moment's hesitation. The translator making a ping to indicate a syntax error after one of the words. given the first half of it shares a root word with her language though, it may be the name of a country. "thick shell. verry sturdy." she mutters apreciatively, before speaking up again, and asking a question of her own. "Where is here? Healers ask many questions, answer few."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Neon Icy Wings »

Tantiana picked up her two, small cases, one larger than the other, barely acknowledging the rodent analyzing her, being used to it. A helmet with a ominous grin tends to bring stares. After obtaining them she turned to follow on, finding the show of how the rooms change needlessly complicated, potentially useful, but needlessly complicated. A quiet, robotic huff could be heard as she viewed the fake sky, overcast was better than piercing blue. Though she did appreciate the swiftness of the tour.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by CyberDragon »

Hivemind looked at the pile of primitive looking fur clothing pile and guessed that Kol's planet was in a pre-industrial era. "We are on a ship. A vessel that travels between the stars. It seems you were caught in a random portal generation. A hole basically opened up and you fell through it into a different place."
"It's not my job to seek the truth.
It's not my job to pick a side.
It's not my job to judge your sins.
It's my job to save your life."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

Another one of the tricks was seen as the door opened on a new vista. She'd taken a full week to get used to the VR on these doors and to work out they'd be a within the automobile of a thing in a chase. Jenny hoped she wasn't drawing attention to herself by not looking totally thrilled about everything. She'd have to force some enthusiasm and she found she kinda of did want to know the old humans' feelings on this as they followed the big wolf like good pack members.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Buster »

Kol just looks at the drone funny, and deadpans "What?" as her mind is working overtime just trying to fit the bits of the medical complex she'd seen in one of the the only thing she knew of that could be called the word it had translated for 'vessel', and coming up blank. You could barely fit two people in an icerunner, forget even one of these rooms. And what the heck was a 'ship'? another strange skinnything not-word? "Say one more time. Translator get wrong."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Ulrich watched with interest as the wolf made his way around the wall. He had an idea of what he was doing but he waited with anticipation anyway. As soon as the trick was revealed his smile grew wider. He remembered that one from a fun house maze when he was a kid and he enjoyed and somewhat appreciated the theatrics Randy was putting into it.

Ulrich noticed the rat next to him displaying the same amount of enthusiasm as he should probably feel. He turned his head slightly in her direction, "Hah. You've seen these tricks too, haven't you?" He lowered his voice so that he wouldn't interrupt the tour.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by CyberDragon »

"What you just saw is exhibit A as to why you should stick with the group. These are portal doors. Many of these rooms are not actually connected. Instead, you type the room code for a destination into the key pad, go through some biometric security, and the door opens a portal to where you want to go. It's the fastest way to get to different parts of the ship. Once you all have registered at orientation, which will happen shortly, you will be recognized by the system and you will be able to use these doors to go almost anywhere you want, so learning about them is important. Attempting to open the doors without being recognized will cause the portal to open to random unimportant interior rooms along the outer fifty miles of the ship. You won't know where you are, you won't know where your going, you won't even know if the door will open again. You will be lost forever in the endless labyrinth. Or, you know, you could ask Hivemind for some help." He grinned as walked through the door and waited for the crowd to follow through. Once everyone was there, he shut the door and walked over to a fairly convincingly human-like android.

"All right! We'd like to get orientations done with as fast as possible so you can get on with your lives. All civilians, please go with the android next to me. he will show you to your orientation where you will probably watch a short video. The rest of you who are here to join the Champions, follow me and I will get you started." He waited for the droid to lead the civilians out of the group before leading the future champions to a different portal door.

--------------------------------------------------

"Umm... hmm..." Solomon was trying to figure out the best way to break the news to her without causing panic. He sighed. The droid held out his hand and a holographic model of the ship appeared in it. "This is a small model... more like a map, of where we are. It's a... flying metal country. It flies between the stars, not through the air. Umm... Does that make more sense? Right now, we are... here." He zoomed the model in so it displayed a map of the medical center, with a small dot where Kol and he were. "This is one of the medical centers."
"It's not my job to seek the truth.
It's not my job to pick a side.
It's not my job to judge your sins.
It's my job to save your life."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Buster »

alarmingly quickly Kol is crouched down in front of the projection, a giddy 'five year old just found a shiny thing' look on her face. speaking of which it's so close part of her muzzle is sticking into the aft starboard quarter of the hologram as she examines it up close...

she seems to be trying to pick it up, or grab it, or poke it, or anything really... and whimpering in frustration when she cant.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

Deske wrote:Ulrich noticed the rat next to him displaying the same amount of enthusiasm as he should probably feel. He turned his head slightly in her direction, "Hah. You've seen these tricks too, haven't you?" He lowered his voice so that he wouldn't interrupt the tour.
"Once or twice," Jenny admitted before offering a hand half heartedly, as though she'd just remembered the thing called manners. "Jenny Miles. Rat and IOC."
--------------------------------------
After the portal, she kept her own counsel again and followed Steele.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Deske »

Ulrich took her hand and gave it a gentle but firm shake, "Ulrich Baumgartner. Human, possibly part giant. IOC, huh? Sounds a lot cooler than my job. Back on Earth I dabbled in the electronics industry. I may have also part timed at a bakery and taught martial arts on the weekends." He turned his head to look where he was stepping as he stepped through the portal.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Neon Icy Wings »

Tatiana became curious about the portal doors, wondering what would happen should one of the doors malfunction as she stepped through the portal. She listened to the rodent and mountain exchange words, a little interested in the martial arts mention before her imagination stole away her attention. Her mind roamed back to the what ifs of malfunction, such as, what if there was but a single linchpin that could affect the entire world of a ship. If that linchpin were to snap as she was walking through a portal door... She mentally berated herself, determined to not let her paranoia consume her over the matter like it had with gravlifts. As she followed the Lycan through the portal, her thoughts abruptly shifted to what ifs and possibilities of the future. What would her duties be, and what kind of people she'd meet. A robotic sigh followed that thought. She hated meeting people, establishing a solid base to build on with people was difficult and time consuming. Attempts would have to be made after the tour and possible initiation. While her thoughts flurried, to an outside observer she was merely following, hardly moving otherwise, to the point it would be hard to decipher her sigh's meaning.

She had to admit though, the tour was quite peaceful. She could learn to appreciate it, and depending on what the future holds, perhaps she should, quickly..
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by CyberDragon »

Buster wrote:alarmingly quickly Kol is crouched down in front of the projection, a giddy 'five year old just found a shiny thing' look on her face. speaking of which it's so close part of her muzzle is sticking into the aft starboard quarter of the hologram as she examines it up close...

she seems to be trying to pick it up, or grab it, or poke it, or anything really... and whimpering in frustration when she cant.
Hivemind wasn't too alarmed at Kol's quick movements. He wasn't really worried about getting hurt because at this point, loosing a body was similar to cracking a fingernail. If he had hundreds of thousands of hands. He was more concerned about Kol. He might have to be blunt to get her to understand what was going on. He turned off the hologram. It was clearly distracting and not helping his explanation. "That was just light. It wasn't actually there, so it can't actually be touched." He walked over to a "window" and put his hand on the blind controls. "Please don't be alarmed when I show you this." He opened the blinds to reveal a live feed of outside. They were currently in a wide orbit around earth. About the same distance away from it as the moon, but on a different side. "This is where we are. We are circling the world I grew up on. Your planet is a long ways away. I don't know where it is. Until we can find it, I'm afraid this flying country we are in is your home."

---------------------------------------------------

The portal led to an official looking briefing room. The Lycan stood and waited for the three recruits to file in. "Huh. Kind of hoped there'd be more. Anyway, Welcome again to the Beacon of Hope. If you are here, you came to become a champion. If not, then you are very lost and suck at following simple directions. Anyway, most of your registration has been done already. I just need to get some quick scans and pictures to get you all into the database. Then we can discuss things like Champion equipment, codenames, and your options from there. Before I do the scans and photos, does anyone have any questions?"
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It's not my job to pick a side.
It's not my job to judge your sins.
It's my job to save your life."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

"As stated in my documents," Jenny said, matter-of-factly, "I am looking to be more of... a liaison for the group with local law enforcement. Although I can certainly defend myself."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Ulrich shook his head, "I have no questions. At least for now," he chuckled.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Tatiana went through her mind, finding no real concerns or questions, "Negative. No questions in mind." Her voice sounded for the first time since arriving on the ship, distinctly robotic undertones to a somewhat normal voice. She glanced around, wondering if such small recruitment sizes were normal.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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"Yes... Jenny Miles, right? I've read your documents. Still, you need to be registered as a Champion liaison in the database, which requires you go through this orientation. Otherwise you might accidentally find yourself locked in a storage room after using a portal door. Also, there are parts of the ship that you still wouldn't know about until you become registered as a Champion. In fact, I believe the first assignment is in one of them..." He turns to the rest of the group. "If nobody has any questions, then let me explain a few rules the Champions have. These rules will also apply to you, Miss Miles."

"The first and most important rule is that Champions don't kill. We are held to a higher standard than soldiers or law enforcement because we have power. Things that qualify as threats to normal people are not usually threats to us, and people are always afraid about abuse of power. In addition, it is often difficult to determine who the good guys are and who the bad guys are and a good indicator is which side is deliberately trying to end things with as little bloodshed on both sides as possible. It is our job to be heroes and it makes our job that much harder if people see blood on our hands. There are rarely exceptions to this rule."

"Second: We don't pick and choose who to save. You must be willing to put yourselves on the line for people you don't know, or even people you don't like. If we as a group refused to help someone because we didn't like them, or believed the universe would be better without them, it would damage people's trust in us. What would keep us from simply ceasing to save the lives of people just because we didn't like them? You can turn down lower priority missions (at the cost of not being paid for those) but you might be recruited for higher priority missions. This is your job after all."

"Third: You might have noticed or you might not have, but the air in the ship is filled with microscopic organic nanobots. They are odorless, tasteless, and harmless. They operate as power limiters as long as they are active and you breathe them in. While on the ship, you might find your abilities, if they are strong enough, are suddenly weaker. This is to prevent higher power individuals from accidentally blowing a hole in the ship."

"There are more rules, but those are the big ones that apply to us at the moment. Does anyone have any questions about the rules?"
He asked. He was holding his data pad up, and had been scanning and photographing the recruits as he spoke.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Ulrich shook his head. He didn't have a problem with any of these rules, though the nanobots did sound really cool.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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CyberDragon wrote:Hivemind wasn't too alarmed at Kol's quick movements. He wasn't really worried about getting hurt because at this point, loosing a body was similar to cracking a fingernail. If he had hundreds of thousands of hands. He was more concerned about Kol. He might have to be blunt to get her to understand what was going on. He turned off the hologram. It was clearly distracting and not helping his explanation. "That was just light. It wasn't actually there, so it can't actually be touched." He walked over to a "window" and put his hand on the blind controls. "Please don't be alarmed when I show you this." He opened the blinds to reveal a live feed of outside. They were currently in a wide orbit around earth. About the same distance away from it as the moon, but on a different side. "This is where we are. We are circling the world I grew up on. Your planet is a long ways away. I don't know where it is. Until we can find it, I'm afraid this flying country we are in is your home."
Confused at first when the hologram disappeared, she mumbles something the translator doesn't catch, before following the drone over to the window.

Wait... if the ancestors lights are below us, but I don't feel sideways... We're above the flat lands? That's possible? But how, there's nothing to tunnel through up there... and what is... wait... what?

"Can't see ground... and giant flying ball just floats there..." she mutters, before pausing. the translator making an almost triumphant sounding ping as it finally gets a handle on the correct syntax. "This place is wierd."

"The doctors kept using strange words that don't mean anything... you do too... Ship, world, orbit, planet, city... some sound like you're trying to talk about the tunnels and caverns of home, but it's still off... What is all that?" she asks after a good minute of silently staring off into space (literally), her voice actually level for a change.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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The hive-bot rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It... would probably be easiest to just show you. But before we can leave this room, we need to fix your claw. Otherwise it will continue to hurt and could become infected. It will only take our healer a minute to stop the pain and speed up the healing process. Then I will show you where you are."
"It's not my job to seek the truth.
It's not my job to pick a side.
It's not my job to judge your sins.
It's my job to save your life."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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her pupils shrink to pinpricks as the word 'infection' brings to mind a cousin of hers who had to have one of his limbs amputated...

Okaymaybetheitchystrapthingsarentsobad. did her voice just change octaves?
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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As she listened, Jenny reminded herself she needed to check the 'stun' setting on all her weapons. Except 'sluggy', of course. There she's just have to aim properly. No killing? Easy for him to do. But she's manage. She ran a quick check on the wrist computer to make sure the Palmgrip security override systems were operational and said no when the question came.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Tatiana's head tilted, her first thought wondering if the nanobots would effect her as intended, considering her "body's" consistency. She shrugged the thought off, thinking on the other points. She was a little annoyed at the no killing rule, not handy to have extra stress riding on top of trying to survive a tough scrape. She gave a mental sigh, guessing it was best to not get into those situations then, "Negative, no major concerns."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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"It's not. The doctor only needs you to wear it for a couple minutes." He turned to the observation window. "Doctor, would you please come in here?" A few seconds later, the doctor from before enters the room. She walks over to Kol. "Are you going to cooperate now?" She asks as she readies the bandages.

----------------------------------

"Excellent." The Lycan says when nobody has any questions. "You guys don't ask too many questions, do you? That might be both a blessing and a curse." He sits down at the briefing table with his data pad in his hand. "Why don't you guys introduce yourselves to each other while I finish filling out the forms."
"It's not my job to seek the truth.
It's not my job to pick a side.
It's not my job to judge your sins.
It's my job to save your life."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Ulrich laughed, a large laugh fitting of his stature, "Well, you didn't really give us too much information to be confused about!" He laughed for a few seconds longer before regaining his composure and turning to the other two, "Anyway, I guess I'll go first. Hello! I am Ulrich Baumgartner. I'm 58 years old, but please just call me Ulrich. It makes me feel old when someone says "Sir" or "Mister" to me." He chuckled again, quieter this time, "Back on Earth I worked in the electronics industry. Mostly repairs and such, both physical and virtual. I also worked at a friends bakery and taught martial arts on the weekend. There aren't any belt colors in the discipline I teach, but if I had to put one to it, it'd probably be a rather new black belt. I'm not new to the discipline, but I don't think anyone ever truly reaches the top. Any master will tell you that there is always more to learn. Anyway, that's about it, I think. It's great to meet you all!"
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Kol grumbles... something, voice too low for the translator to pick up, but begrudgingly holds out the injured paw.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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"As I said before," Jenny repeated, "I'm Jenny Miles. An IOC field agent of about eight years experience. I can pilot most shuttles and use pretty much any firearm. I hold the silver star and the Bronze heart," she added, thinking of the siege she'd gotten the silver for and the wounds for the bronze before continuing. "I think they're in a drawer somewhere," she added with little emotion. "I'm not an open book," she finished.
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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"Good. Now hold still." She began to wrap Kol's injured limb in some special bandages. When she was done, she placed her hands just over the injury, not touching it. Kol would feel a slight tingling sensation that would last about a minute. Suddenly, the bandages seemed to fall apart and off of the limb down to the floor. Kol's limb would feel much stronger and much better, no longer hurting and no longer sporting the bruises or injuries. "There. Was that so bad?"
"It's not my job to seek the truth.
It's not my job to pick a side.
It's not my job to judge your sins.
It's my job to save your life."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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Tatiana was intrigued by the difference between the two next to her, the talkative, friendly Ulrich and the more reserved Jenny. She gave a shrug, "Tatiana. Wanderer, mercenary, former now. Searcher." She pondered sharing more, but after thinking over Jenny's book comment thought better of it, "Not much else to say." She decided to test her rifle lightly, feeling kinetic energy flow into her still cased rifle and safely out again, "Here's hoping this champion gig runs well."
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Re: Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

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"I have to admit." He said as he filled out the forms on his data pad. "We are somewhat past our prime. Only three of the six original founders are still around. Hivemind, my wife Morgan, and myself."
"It's not my job to seek the truth.
It's not my job to pick a side.
It's not my job to judge your sins.
It's my job to save your life."
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