“So, how do we get out of here?”
Genvass, Rúna, Remi, and Taneka were all leaning up against a building, scanning the camp for potential weaknesses. Since learning the truth about the clan leader’s plot, the Valkyrie had bounced back remarkably well from her despair. Losing her sword had left her rudderless, without hope, but now that she had an enemy to fight, she was back on more familiar ground. She shrugged in response to the question.
“There’s a few options, though they all come with their own obstacles,” she cautioned. “Take tunneling out, for example.” She bent down and scooped up a handful of soil, showing it to the others. “Ground is sandy as hell, which makes digging out almost impossible. We’d need so much lumber and prefab panels to shore the tunnels up, the guards would spot it in a hot minute. Not to mention the constant cave-ins we’d be dealing with.”
“How do you know so much about tunnels?” Taneka asked her.
“Dig as many trenches and foxholes as I have, you become an expert,” Rúna snorted.
“Okay then, tunneling is out,” Genvass nodded. “What’s next?”
“We could try overwhelming the guards and rush the fences, but…” She nodded grimly towards the guard towers, each one armed with a machine gun.
“Pass,” Remi grimaced. “Just seems like a quick way to wind up dead.”
“Pretty much,” she agreed. “Same holds true for trying to cut the wire or sneaking out some other way. You get caught, it’s all over.”
“What else?” the ambassador sighed.
“Well, we could try bribing the guards,” she pointed out, “though the problem there is, I don’t think we have anything to bribe them with. Plus, there’s the chance they’ll take the bribe, then turn you in anyway.”
“We could try being… you know… friendly to them,” Taneka said suggestively.
“Maybe you could,” Rúna said coldly. “Me, I’d just end up cutting the bastard’s throat. Besides, same problem as before. They can always betray you afterward.”
“Still, bribery’s an option,” Genvass pointed out, “even if it comes with a few risks. Anything else?”
“There’s deception,” she said after a moment. “That one’s tricky, though.”
“We’d need ID, clothing, transportation, and a hell of a lot of luck,” Remi calculated, earning him a look from Rúna and the ambassador. “I’ve done my fair share of smuggling,” he reminded them.
“Besides, there’s a good chance they’d recognize we weren’t one of them,” the Valkyrie advised.
“Where did you learn so much about prison breaks?” Remi asked, now curious.
“From being on the other side of the fence,” she told him. “I’ve guarded POWs plenty of times. Gotta know all the tricks.” She nodded towards the towers once more. “There’s a reason they’re mostly using Valkyries for the job.”
“I don’t suppose you know any of them personally?” Genvass inquired. “Maybe well enough to explain to them what’s really going on?”
“I’ll try, but don’t hold your breath,” she cautioned. “Most of the Marines I knew were on Sonoitii Prime.” A dark look came over her. “A lot of them still are.”
“There’s one option you haven’t mentioned,” Taneka said candidly. “Getting help from outside.”
“If you know someone who can bust us out, I’m all ears,” Rúna fired back. “I don’t know who that would be, though, and even if I did, how would we contact them?”
“Bribe a guard and get a message out that way?” Genvass suggested.
“Fine. To who?” she said sharply.
They all looked at one another. “So, no help there,” Remi growled.
“We have to do something,” the ambassador pleaded. “We can’t just sit here and hope things turn out for the best.”
“Right now, the smartest thing we can do is gather information,” Rúna said. “Look around the camp and see if you can spot any weaknesses. Talk to the other prisoners. Talk to the guards, if they’ll let you. Watch for patterns. The more we know, the better our odds.”
“Besides, we’ve got bigger things to worry about,” Taneka cautioned. “For now, they’re just keeping us prisoner. What happens when they decide letting us live is just too risky?”
“Then Terra help us all,” Genvass whispered.
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Ess Peon waited aboard Peacemaker for the spaceport to shoot her a datalink, so she could transfer her program back to Terra Nova cyberspace. She grew annoyed when it wasn’t immediately forthcoming, before telling herself it was likely a technical issue and they’d soon get it sorted out.
When her flesh-and-blood counterparts were ambushed, however, she realized to her horror this was no mere foul-up.
Which put her in something of a quandary. Without a datalink, she was trapped aboard ship, and whoever was responsible had to be aware of her presence. It was no secret she was part of the diplomatic mission, and since they’d taken the ambassador and all the others into custody, she had to assume she was next. With Peacemaker’s data storage capacity… which was immense… she could play cat and mouse for days, but eventually, they’d corner and capture her. It was just a matter of time.
What she needed was a plan. Quickly.
Even as she watched the others being taken away, another team boarded the ship, obviously searching for her. They were a mixed bag; Tinkers, Valkyries, Corsairs, all of whom she could safely dodge… but when they linked a data storage unit to the ship’s mainframe and sent in a fellow Avatar to hunt her down, Ess knew she’d have to get creative in a hurry when she realized who she was facing.
Those attracted to the Avatar life tended to be of a type. It was no small thing to give up corporeal life, especially when you learned the gory details of what the transformation entailed. It was a one-way trip, but the payoff was huge. You could do anything, be anything, and go literally anywhere. With that kind of freedom at your digital fingertips, almost everyone took full advantage of it. And why wouldn’t you? Who goes to a smorgasbord and only samples the saltines?
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Of course, for every rule, there’s an exception, and that exception was Jeeves.
It was traditional to choose something outlandish for your digital persona. Their clan leader normally appeared as a caterpillar from an ancient children’s book, while she had chosen a mythical creature from an obscure game. Avatars were also known for their names, almost always a terrible pun. “Ess Peon”, for example, was merely an alternative spelling of espion, “spy” in the old French tongue. As a Data Retrieval Specialist, it amused her to no end.
Jeeves, however, had taken a very different approach. His name held no double entendres or play on words, and his appearance was purposefully bland. His digital image matched his name; a traditional British butler, complete with bowler and brolly. He rarely spoke, was seen nowhere socially, and in a crowd was so unassuming he completely disappeared, which was, of course, by design.
Unlike herself, Jeeves was a Fixer. If you had a difficult problem that needed to be solved, and you weren’t picky about how, he was your man. He was thorough, efficient, and as near as she could, born without a conscience. It was likely he was a true sociopath, but in her humble opinion, the term didn’t do him justice. They’d met briefly in passing once, and the experience had left her with a serious case of the creeps. She didn’t have a clue what he did outside of his work, for all she knew he put himself into stasis between gigs, which only made it worse, somehow. If there was a single universal truth regarding Terrans, it was that someone was always willing to hire a maniac like Jeeves.
How he’d been selected for the Avatars was a mystery, though she’d heard rumors he handled the occasional contract for Sibyl KriZ/AliZ. Considering the Dàifu’s involvement in all of this, not to mention spotting the Valkyrie Commandant exiting the warehouse, something told her this was one of those occasions. Were all the clan leaders involved? She had a hard time picturing the Knights being mixed up in all of this, but the rest? That was a real possibility.
A possibility she’d worry about later. Right now, she had bigger problems.
She knew she couldn’t duck Jeeves forever. And with the only way out guarded, escape wasn’t an option either. So what did that leave? Face him head-on? Yeah, no thank you. That was just a quick way to wind up shelved, or worse. She started to run, thinking furiously, taking random turns and doubling back on her trail while she tried to lose him, though she knew it was futile. She was buying herself time to think, to come up with a plan, but as she racked her electronic brain, none of her options looked appealing.
Which left her taking one hell of a gamble.
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As Jeeves entered Peacemaker’s mainframe, its size and complexity immediately impressed him. Very little left him in awe, but anything crafted by the Precursors was an exception. It was impossible not to be affected by their technological prowess; being inside one of their computers was like touching the works of God. He would never truly understand how their systems worked, which was how it should be. Mere mortals were not meant to unravel the divine mysteries, even attempting to do so was hubris of the highest order, bordering on the crime of blasphemy. Though, of course, the innate monkey nature of his fellow Terrans would keep them trying. Despite his own feelings on the matter, it was not his concern. The gods were more than capable of meting out punishment, should they so choose, it was not for him to act in their stead.
His own interests were far more… temporal.
Long ago, he’d realized he differed from most Terrans. Things that bothered them barely raised his eyebrow, and he’d discovered there was a place for those like him in society. Not in the limelight, which held no interest for him anyway, but in the shadows. It also paid extremely well, well enough for him to indulge in his hobby, a highly unusual one for an Avatar. No one else knew of his avocation, and no one ever would.
He was a Collector.
There were many of his clan who were collectors as well, but the difference lay in its form. Others gathered up works of art, or music, or amassed data on various subjects, anything accessible in the digital world, where they could enjoy them at their leisure. His, on the other hand, all belonged to the physical realm, the very world he’d left behind. Artifacts from old Terra were highly revered among the clans, sometimes becoming actual shrines.
His collection outshone them all.
Among his possessions was a complete copy of the King James Bible, printed in the year 1897 anno domini, a sizable fragment of the Yajurveda, in the original Sanskrit, a well-worn reproduction of the Quran, printed in the early years of the Diaspora, a string of Mala prayer beads, made from traditional rudraksha seed fruit, it was truly something to behold. He even had one of the earliest copies of the Terran creed, almost two centuries old. All had been difficult to acquire, and all were religious in nature. The study of the divine fascinated him, pondering the questions theologians and philosophers had wrestled over since the very origins of their race. He’d even commissioned a Tinker to design and build a set of waldoes that allowed him to physically interact with his acquisitions, sensitive enough to actually feel the ink on the worn pages.
Who needed a digital fantasy world when he could touch the Word of God?
Putting those thoughts aside, he focused instead on his current mission. Tracking down and apprehending a fellow Avatar was one of his core specialties, and he always savored the hunt. That his target was a Data Retrieval Specialist, with skills of her own, made it even more enjoyable. Beginning his search, he found traces of her spoor almost immediately, a disappointing turn of events to be sure. It would seem his quarry was not particularly skilled after all. Pity, that.
Following the trail, he discovered places where she had attempted to conceal her trail, amateurish efforts at best. This was growing more unsatisfying by the moment. Where was the thrill of the chase? Of pitting his mind against hers? It was obvious now this would be over all too soon, though at least he could take some small satisfaction in how well he was being compensated for this assignment. There was a Kashmiri prayer rug he’d been eyeing for some time now…
Entering another section of the mainframe, his senses were immediately on high alert. She was close, he could feel her presence nearby. As he drew closer, he readied his tools for the capture, scanning the surrounding area for his prize.
“... No! Stay away from me!” she screamed, bolting from her hiding place and fleeing for her life. It was all over now as he began chasing her down, closing in for that final moment. She looked over her shoulder in panic, her eyes wide in terror, trying desperately to put distance between them, but to no avail. In desperation, she swerved as he reached for her, choosing the direction at random as he came to an abrupt halt.
Ess Peon didn’t even have time to scream as she flung herself into the mainframe’s electrical core, a bright flash blinding Jeeves as her code was shredded beyond recovery.
Cautiously he moved closer, though giving the core itself a wide berth. That much voltage was instantly fatal to his kind, as his quarry had just proven. Inspecting the surrounding space, he located fragments of her cybernetic DNA, pulling out his collection kit as he gathered up what remnants he could salvage. The Sibyl would demand proof of his kill, naturally, despite its dreary anticlimactic nature. Not the ending he had envisioned at all.
What a waste of his talents.
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Three full days passed before Ess Peon even dared to peek out from her camouflaged sanctuary. Cautiously sniffing the surrounding aether, she spotted no trace of Jeeves, or anyone else. It was still possible he was lurking about, deducing her little subterfuge, but she didn’t dare stay hidden forever. Creating a simulacrum version of herself and sending it pell-mell into the electrical core had been a stratagem born of desperation, but with no other options left open to her, she’d crossed her digital fingers and prayed. She was amazed it had actually worked, though she wasn’t ready to claim victory just yet. Once she was safely removed from this place, then she’d celebrate. Besides, she had to get off this ship and contact…
That brought her skidding to a halt. Contact who? Someone from the mission? Either they were now locked away somewhere, or had suffered an even worse fate. Regardless, they were in no position to help, in fact, they probably desperately needed rescue themselves. And considering all that had happened, who the hell could she even trust?
Tiptoeing through the ship’s memory core, she discovered there were several technicians on board, Tinkers mostly, going over the Precursor ship and struggling to uncover its secrets. Well, with any luck that would keep them occupied for a while… like say, the next few decades… before silently cheering in triumph as she located her prize.
A hardline data tap leading off the ship.
She spent a heartbeat deciding, another to steel her courage… and then in a flash, she was gone.