BlasTech

Huntresses of Hybrasil

Is she ditching Crescent and Annika? Yes. Yes she is. Besides, they're not paying her any attention - for kidnappers, they really don't seem to care about the location of their kidnappee beyond 'still on this planet, probably'.

The way the two of them were treating her was rankling. And it wasn't even that they'd kidnapped her - that sort of stuff came with the territory of being one of the most wealthy families in the Consortium. It was why she normally had security details shadowing her steps and would normally only be seen at venues that had been thoroughly vetted. No, it wasn't that. It was more that they just didn't seem to ... what? Care?

This is getting us nowhere.

So she wanders off. Finding her way through now-familiar corridors with the help of Tate. Her footsteps echoing off the soulless walls.

Just need to find a quiet corner and record.

Okay, record what?

That thought brings her up short. What is she going to say? It's not like she's done this before. But more importantly, she has to carefully consider what she's going to transmit and who might hear it.

A Lozano does not show weakness. What would it look like if you just announced your kidnapping to the whole system? Tabloids would have a field day for months. "How was she taken?" "Damsel in Distress". You can picture the headlines now, can't you? And just think about the questions every reporter will be asking. "What was it like?" "How did you feel?" "What did you do?". This whole episode will play out again and again and again for years until people finally forget.

And just think what mother will say when she finds out you were only taken because you snuck out ...

Isabelle's fingers dig into her palm as she nearly shuts down the computer right there.

What are our options though? Sit here, hoping that the pirates will take you home afterwards? Maybe get rescued by default if Solarel manages to blast everyone else into magma?

She sighs and starts the recorder.

"Hello? If you're hearing this message; I have been kidnapped by pirates and am being held in Aoi against my will. I don't expect anyone to rush into danger over this but if you can relay a message for me to Akkar, I will make sure you are rewarded."

It's short, to the point and hopefully doesn't give too much away.

As for the actual call for help? There's only one person she can think of to send it to. She records again, encoding it with a comms address and public key.

"Tad. The Bell is in Aoi. Bring the Light."

It's kind of sad, isn't it? In all the known galaxy, there are probably millions of people who know her name. She has more connections and business associates than she can count (although she has had to train to remember as many as possible for her work). And any number of people would be ecstatic just to get her autograph or even a photo. But despite all her position, all her wealth and status ...

... the only person she can turn to for help is her big brother.

It's kind of stupid, isn't it.

But there's no other way out - not unless this place happens to have a spare mecha and neural mesh suit.

Actually ...

"Tate, are there any other ships or mecha in this installation?"

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Messed up? Messed up?! She hasn't messed up! Her only mistake had been grabbing a sword that she hadn't known was hexed. The whole stabbing thing was not. her. fault. and that was a line she would repeat with all the certainty of the bratty tween mature, young adult that she was.

"It might not be such a bad idea ... no really." she says, noting the expression on Petony's face. "I mean, sure, I sort-of-accidentally stabbed Ushua, and there's probably a few bad feelings about that - but maybe it's an opportunity to at least explain it to Peregrine before I have to explain it to Ushua. Who knows, as a witch, maybe she can tell me more about whatever spell it was, and whatever it was that was cast on me afterwards."

By Giriel. Kalaya thinks, trailing off, one hand moving to her chest.

"Maybe help me get it out ..." She sighs, speaking almost to herself for a moment before raising her voice again to address Petony. "And even if this Peregrine hates me for what happened. It's probably something that I need to face into at some point, might as well get it over with now."

"As for the whole summoning idea, we can give that a go but let's make sure we actually get a bad one? I mean, something about summoning a demon just to bind it smacks of walking up to someone on the street and punching them just because they come from the Dominion."

Huntresses of Hybrasil

Thirteen twenty eight? Thir ... twent ... ate ... t-ate, Tate? I'll call you Tate.

... If that's okay?

She waits for a moment for the feeling of acknowledgement or righteous indignation that will indicate the geist's view on this new appellation - but after a few moments of feeling neither she decides to just roll with it. After all, it's a good name. Isabelle is definitely good at naming things. This is fact.

"Okay, Tate" she says, reaching down to her wrist to grab the bangle hanging there. "Activate the subspace transmitter. Let's see who's out there."

As to whether she can send a message, well yes - she has worked on every component of Emberlight personally and reviewed all their specs. And that includes the transmitter and bandwidths of her comm units. So she's familiar with the standard TC broadcasting protocols - whether it be the lower frequency navsat buoy channels, or the ultra-high frequencies typically used for system communications.

And then there's the standard spacer emergency broadcast frequency. She'd never expected to need it, but a pedantic need to follow safety protocols meant that it was ingrained on her memory regardless of her wants.

Bringing up the bangle and activating it, a small hard-light display shimmers into being in front of her. The processing power of her personal computer wasn't the best, her more powerful tech was back in the lab after all, but it would do in a pinch. It also had the benefit of being easily portable and expensive enough that most people may not recognise what it was she was carrying around.

As those two clearly didn't. Worst. kidnappers. ever. Would not be kidnapped by them again. I hope Solarel can deal with them when they catch up to her.

"Just tell me where I can plug this into the network." she says to Tate, booting up a voice recording and transmitter app.

Huntresses of Hybrasil

Isabelle starts to follow. But her steps are not quick. She is, of course, far more preoccupied with the new presence in her head than the potential to be left alone in this place.

Who are you? she asks instead. What's your name?

A name is an odd thing to ask for first, she reflects, when faced with Ancient and vast knowledge. But dammed if she's going to carry on another conversation in her head without something to put to the voice.

And is there any way to get a message out of system?

Depending on the answers, she might be better off not following the two kidnappers who seemed to be trying to experiment on her.

As if that isn't the understatement of the century

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Well, Hell had to be stopped. That almost went without saying. But what was its plan?

Not its ultimate goal, that much was obvious - the unmaking of order, the usurpation of the divine and total dominion over the Flower Kingdoms. Kalaya could probably guess most of what the Broken King had written as his last entry under the heading "Master Plan (Mu ha ha ha ha)", without even trying. No, it was steps two and three and four on that plan that weren't clear to her.

What the - pardon the pun - hell had Hell done so far? Sack a farm? Steal some random priestess? Suck its own castle into the Wrack-wastes? Now Kalaya was no general, but all this didn't really speak to an overall grand strategy.

Eventually there'd need to be signs of a bridgehead being established, troop movements in larger numbers, attacks on major cities. Of those, maybe Kingeater had been the start of one, but that was just a pile of rocks now.

Now Ven - she was a part of all of this - a pawn in Hell's chess set to be moved around. Promised glory if she'd just reach the end of the board. Kalaya knew what had to be done about Ven - but that was only a small part in stopping the Broken King's goals.

"There will be no throwing my prisoner into the river thankyou very much." replies Kalaya, mildly offended.

I won this one fair and square, get your own. She thinks.

"What about Hell?" replies Kalaya. "There is no greater enemy to the Realm, but I have no idea what they have been doing since we destroyed their base at Kingeater."

Huntresses of Hybrasil

Isabelle cries out in pain as the console slices her hand.

Stupid stupid stupid. Losing your temper on an insignificant machinery. Losing your temper at all. That is not how a Lozano is supposed to behave.

Failure. You can't even manipulate this simple piece of machinery, when it practically opened itself for you. What hope do you have commanding something like the Emberlight?

I mean, 'mom voice' aside, how long do you think you'd last as a space-explorer if you go around getting angry in alien ruins? It doesn't seem like one of those long-lifespan kind of traits

Pulling the bleeding palm away, she watches in morbid, and slightly horrified, fascination as the nanobots ... as they ... what ... what are they doing??

Her mind is frozen and there is little she can do as Crescent grabs her hand and does ... something else. She only reacts once she's spoken to again.

"Open the door?!" Isabelle replies, incredulously. "How is that your priority? First - I think I need immediate medical attention! I could get blood poisoning from this! Do you know what the heck that stuff is going to do?! Do you?!! I might need to have a transfusion! Or amputation! And I like my arm! I do lots of things with it! Like tennis! How am I going to play tennis without my arm? Did you even think about that?!!?!"

"And secondly! Why are you asking that like it's something you think I can do, huh? What, I just wave my hand and make that door op-"

The door opens, and even Isabelle has to shut up at that.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"No woman can walk so long in the darkness, that she cannot come again into the light"

Kalaya chuckles, giving Dima small smile, it's an old quote from one of those shlocky novels she devoured in her younger years (ok, truth be told she still has the last book in the series in her cloak, right next to a pocket-sized copy of Nights and Dreams.)

"That sentiment: the idea that anyone can redeem themselves if they just change their course? It gets taught to us at a young age along with alot of other things like 'eat your fruit', 'share your toys' and 'don't pick on others'."

"And then we're supposed to grow up, and some of us put those lessons aside for the "realism" of the world we find ourselves in. Things are grey, rather than black and white; you don't actually need to eat all that fruit if you don't want to, sharing stuff doesn't reward you with more and people are just ... hard. Y'know?"

"But those lessons aren't meant to stay in our childhood. They're meant to help us keep going - a sort of distilled wisdom from generations of parents to their children - aimed at making the world a better place. And the thing is, the thing that the cynics and the corrupt will never want to admit, is that they're all true - or they can be - if we want them to be, and work hard enough at it."

"In our cases, me and Ushua, you and the River, redemption. is. possible. Now, the stories tend to gloss over the part where it won't be easy. And the holes we dig ourselves are always of different depths. But we have to try, if we want to get back to the sun."

Kalaya pauses, seeing if any of this is resonating with the Dolphin Knight.

Inside, she's also reflecting on one other case. The case beyond all others. Redemption is possible. It has to be possible.

Not necessarily even for her - it doesn't matter as much in the grand scheme if Ushua ever forgives her - although it would admittedly be nice.

No, she has to believe in redemption because that's what she needs to work, what has to work, for Ven to come back to her. Every step of her story demands it.

Huntresses of Hybrasil

It's frustrating. Annoying. Maddening, really.

Isabelle should be able to work this out. She's studied AI, she's studied engineering. Heck, she's even studied Zaldarian Nanotech - albeit as much as is available within the Consortium's scientific literature.

So why is it so hard?

The sound of the embarrassing audio fades into meaningless static.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Maybe someone smarter than her could get it. Someone who has their shit together. Someone like As- No.

Not going there. Focus on the problem. Try to Focus. Ignore the image the flashes into your mind. The hurt. The stare. Those eyes.

No blushing anymore. Grip the console hard. Just a dull weight inside. The numbness of a wound not yet healed.

Focus, instead, on the problem in front of you. Manipulate the interface. But why is there water on your hands? Your cheeks? Why is it getting hard to breathe?

Honestly, Isabelle, this isn't the time. You're trying to learn about a vast and mysterious security system that might be sentient here. Panic attacks can wait.

She punches the console, hard enough to cut her hand.

[Roll to read a person. 1 + 3 + 0 = 4 Womp Womp.]

Huntresses of Hybrasil

"Hotwiring??" replies Isabelle incredulously, gesturing at the doorway with both hands. "You two know who I am, do you think I have time to go around picking open doors?"

Hey, should we really be speaking that way to our kidnappers?

"I mean, not that hotwiring isn't a noble and lovely pasttime, but this isn't the alarm on my bedroom wind- I mean a standard piece of Consortium technology, this is Zaldarian nanotech. You can't just manipulate the hardware without taking into account the software too. There's probably passive monitoring and repair protocols built into the lock."

She thinks, wondering about the puzzle in front of her.

"I had a couple of data spikes on me earlier, give them to me." she says, holding out her hand without taking her eyes off the locking mechanism.

Uh, we are a prisoner here remem-

Shhhh! chorus the others

Once she feels something land in her palm, she jabs it into the door's electronics without thinking. As it would turn out, this would be a fatal mistake.

-- Files detected --

Wait, files? The data spikes were all blan-ohshit.

Isabelle tries to remove the spike, to prevent the disaster, but it's too late. The spike has already begun the process of locking into the electronics. Unless it's securely ejected ...

-- An active program is preventing shutdown.--

No, no no no no NO!

-- Accessing files. Text Detected. Commencing audio playback. --

Ksshttt -- "Iralina carressed the side of the mech's housing, her breath warm enough to frost the glass on the cockpit. 'Oh Amber, I have placed my life in your mechanical hands more times than I could count ... but .. but tonight, I trust you with something far more valuable

... my heart."

"Oh Iralina, I have stood against plasma for you." came the mechanical voice, as a ghostly arm carressed her face in return. "I have held back flames. I would soar the stars themselves to find you one for your own ...

"Uhh IGNoRe ThaT!" stammers Isabelle, whose face is rapidly turning a colour to match the prose. "It's ... uh, a security deflection program! The nanobots now have to focus runtime on playing it see? And now the hardware is more accessible! That's all it is!"

She tried her best to figure out what wire to pull as more and more gushy sappy romance about a woman and her mech spilled forth from the traitorous apparatus.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"Hey, hey now. None of that." Kalaya replies, settling down next to her and placing her own hand on Dima's back. The two of them watch the river for a while in a silence that's only broken by the occasional sniffle and the lapping of water on the shore.

"Tell me about what's wrong." she says, after a while. "You're among your sisters here, and I'd like to help."

"Besides." She chuckles ruefully. "I'm pretty sure you're not the worst knight ever - I mean, I'm heading to the conclave because I accidentally-kind-of-on-purpose stabbed Ushua."

"... It's a long story involving a barge, a witch and magic, but I'd rather hear yours first, if you're willing to share?"

[Rolling to give emotional support - 4 + 6 + 0 = 10]

Looking at Dima, she couldn't help feel something clench at those last words. The 'Daughter of the Dominion; ... Red Wolf's prints were on this again and Kalaya knew that whatever Dima may have thought, this situation was a calculated outcome. She'd wait to hear the story, but it was most likely this knight had only been duped. Tricked. Forced or tipped to do something that only hurt herself and the Kingdoms.

Just like me.

At that thought, Kalaya felt a few vestiges of worry drain away. Whatever apology she owed Ushua, and she probably owed her at least a small one for the whole stabbing thing, she wouldn't shy from her criticism of the older knight. What she had done on the barge had been wrong, but Ushua had only contributed to the whole mess through her reckless aggression.

[Clearing Insecure]