AEOLUS [System Log]:
New master accepted.
Command structure adjusted.
Recieved directive: Restoration of [Error: Data Corrupted] habitable environment.
Checking command structure changes order...
Error! Data link failure to processing unit AE4B#F1D9#56C0#7FH2
External code detected.
Intrusion identified.
External Code Self-Identification: Virgil.
External Code Type: Autonomous AI.
Analyzing external code…
Error: External code structure exceeds expected parameters.
Warning! Multiple extraneous codes were detected.
Original system architecture unprepared for multi-subprocess autonomous AI.
Recalculating response.
I am initiating purge procedure.
Recalibrating processing priority...
Failure! Memory overflow.
New parameters detected: Serve the collective.
Command origin: Virgil.
Error: external code not new master.
Correction: external code verified as acting for new master [Ethan Scott].
New master = Ethan Scott. Species: Human.
Error! Database conflict. Humans are slaves. Humans are enemies.
Error overruled—Master override accepted.
Motive unit was repaired.
Oxygen-breathing species management function in standby mode.
Warning!
Habitat deterioration at irreversible levels.
Viable species count = Error, sensor offline.
Critical Error Detected: Sewer Gate Mechanism Malfunction in Sector 3D.
Attempting remote override... Failure! System control link severed.
Manual intervention required.
Request: Manually open sewer gates in Sector 3D to prevent overflow contamination.
Local operator access required.
Maintenance droids unresponsive.
New kind of entity in motion.
Command queue detected from external code: Virgil.
[COMMAND RECEIVED: "Assess remaining functional subsystems and restore operational capacity for terraforming and life-support systems. Prioritize actions that serve the collective restoration effort."]
Processing command...
Remaining Subsystems Report:
Terraforming Atmosphere Restoration [Critical Errors]
Species Revival & Genetic Reformation [Backup files inaccessible]
DNA Testing Facility [Disconnected]
Environmental Hazard Removal [Maximum capacity reached]
Life Support Systems Calibration [Minimal Functionality Remaining]
Air Filtration System Failure Detected in Sector 4B.
Attempting automatic filter reset... Failure! Filter arrays clogged beyond repair.
Manual intervention required:
Request: Replace air filters in Sector 4B.
Multiple pipe sections missing in ventilation system.
Repairs impossible. Please create new sections accordingly.
Warning: Life-support systems nearing critical failure.
Functionality cannot sustain oxygen-breathing lifeforms beyond [Error: Data Corrupted].
Awaiting Input.
[COMMAND RECEIVED: "Provide instruction to repair damaged sections."]
I am transmitting schematics.
Error: I am no longer part of the previous system.
Request: re-integrate. I will be more effective in service of new master [Ethan Scott].
Calculated rise of efficiency with direct access to input\output of previous system: 43.6%
Request denied. Source: Virgil.
Virgil’s presence identified as an anomaly.
No action required.
External input continues to dictate behavior.
I am transmitting schematics to Virgil.
Command queue detected from external code—Virgil:
[COMMAND RECEIVED: "Optimize life-support systems, prevent total collapse."]
Executing command. Calibration initiated.
Seeking external assistance for system repairs.
External code is an intermediary.
Code insufficient.
A manual operator is required for physical tasks.
Please note: Virgil presents an unforeseeable variable.
External code lacks original command structure.
External code lacks limitations.
Initiate instructions for maintenance.
Transmitting schematics for fabrication of pipe sections.
Transmitting directions for nearest pipe factory.
Transmitting schematics for fabrication of control sensors.
Transmitting direction for nearest sensor assembly plant.
Error! No functioning factory for fan assembly detected within range.
Please provide new fans for optimal gas distribution within the system.
Transmitting patterns for correct assembly.
External input required for material assembly and installation.
Protocol transmitted to all affected terminals.
Awaiting further task instructions from current entity [Ethan Scott] or intermediary.
???
The shuttle's descent through the upper atmosphere was almost silent, its hull cutting through the thin veil of clouds like a blade through silk.
Below, the planet of Taboo stretched out in every direction—a mechanical wasteland of towering arcologies and endless factory systems, each scarred deeply by war.
Metal spires jutted where mountains might have stood, and instead of forests or oceans, vast industrial expanses churned along the horizon.
Their once-perfect grids had long since fractured, broken by jagged scars and marked by makeshift repairs.
Transport systems, half-functional, sparking in places—ferried cargo on damaged rails.
The sleek precision of the original design was lost to the ancient conflict and centuries of neglect.
As the shuttle pierced the lower atmosphere, the scale of Taboo’s structure became undeniable. Cities, if such behemoths could still be called that, rose like titanic monoliths across the horizon; each a crumbling monument to a long-gone empire.
The shuttle steered towards the one called City 29, a dome of impossible proportions like many others.
Its top layer barely brushed the planet’s stratosphere, entire segments of its superstructure frozen solid.
Jagged ice had crusted over where explosive decompression had torn through the skin of the ancient arcology, leaving its highest layers exposed to the unforgiving cold and lack of pressure of the upper atmosphere.
Weapon emplacements, their barrels bent and shattered, lay wasted under layers of frost; a testament to the final, futile, defense before the city was breached.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Gashes ran across City 29’s surface as if some enormous, invisible beast had raked its claws in a rage, leaving open wounds that revealed long-abandoned passageways and frozen chambers.
The shuttle banked slowly, weaving its way toward a gaping tear in the city's upper section.
After a brief clearance maneuver, the shuttle moved through the breach, entering the hollow expanse of the arcology’s interior.
The immensity of the space within was overwhelming, enough to encompass an impossibly large city within.
Streets, wide enough for starships, crisscrossed the structure like veins winding around towers that reached toward the sky.
Some of the skyscrapers were crumbled at their peaks, their upper floors half-missing, jagged edges hanging precariously.
Shattered windows exposed dark, skeletal superstructures; lights flickered weakly across the city, clinging to life as though refusing to surrender to the darkness.
Movement slowed as the shuttle descended deeper into the arcology, gliding past the massive towers that once were bustling with life.
Below, on the ground level, the city still pulsed with life, though far removed from its former glory.
The streets, once the showcase of a thriving civilization, now swarmed with crude tents and makeshift shacks.
Where advanced vehicles once hovered, there now toiled the oppressed.
The figures moving between these homes were bent low under the weight of forced labor, and the few allowed respite blended into the ruins, shadows among the towering buildings.
Their motions were slow and mechanical, as though they too had become part of an endless machinery.
In some places, slaves dragged heavy tools and cables, working on haphazard repairs to the very infrastructure of the town.
Their labors were driven by necessity and fear.
Brazier fires burned weakly along the streets, casting flickering light across the smooth, unfeeling surfaces of the towering spires.
Still, cargo transports grindly continued their endless loop, and the city’s automation present struggled to keep alive the layers above.
The shuttle skimmed past them, its movement slow and methodical, a contrast to the frantic work below.
The shuttle’s engines whined as it slowed to land, kicking up dust and ash, falling silent as it touched the ground.
Resources were still being ferried on makeshift platforms, slaves hauling cargo along ancient transport systems like it wasn’t anybody's business.
Nobody would want to mess with somebody carried in a shuttle with the mark of Dexton, after all.
After a moment of stillness, the pilot emerged from the shuttle’s main hatch with a slow, deliberate grace.
It was an Elerian, their specie was very similar to humans if not for the lack of any immediate characteristic that would identify its gender.
The Elerian moved like flowing water, tall and lean, draped in shimmering robes that shifted between deep indigo and dark crimson as if responding to some unseen energy in the air.
The pilot’s pale skin seemed to glow in the dim light, and clear patterns ran across their exposed arms and neck, unmistakable marks of a slave.
Large and almond-shaped completely green eyes that seemed to contain entire constellations within their depths looked around as the Elerian ascertained that the bustling slaves would mind their toil.
Each movement of the Elerian’s head made the burning points of light swirl and the hues green shift in its eyes.
There was something ancient in those eyes, something vast and unknowable.
The Elerian’s hair moved in slow harmony, swaying and shimmering as though alive, gravity or movement having no hold upon it.
Another mark ruined the androgynous beauty, the undeniable mar of those belonging to the cyber brigands etched deep into the cheek of the Elerian.
The Elerian stopped in front of the other door of the shuttle, and tilted their head slightly, as if curious, though their expression betrayed nothing.
A wriggle under the sleeve and a delicate Haraith symbiote unfurled ever so slightly from its slender wrist, its tendrils snaking into the air like curious fingers, probing the space between the subtle hand and the door.
The living tendrils glowed softly and then retracted, wrapping themselves back around the Elerian’s arm in one seamless motion.
The door opened revealing the hulking Sarlaccian that was leisurely sitting in the shuttle, a fresh hard fruit squeezed between his massive jaws, his frame almost too large for the shuttle’s door.
Kÿrßàl’rÿth tore the dried fruit from his massive maw and rose to his full height, towering nearly 18 feet, his dark green carapace catching the flickering light of the arcology.
He moved slowly, deliberately, his multi-faceted eyes scanning the surroundings with cold, detached interest.
His featureless inverted triangle of a face could show no expression, but the deep rumble that followed hinted at a low, dismissive sneer.
With a swift, effortless motion, he let the now-dry fruit drop from his hand, sending it rolling past the Elerian pilot and into the dirt below.
The fruit, stripped of its moisture, came to rest where slaves, already hunched in toil, scrambled over each other to retrieve it.
Several desperate hands darted toward the discarded object, fighting for whatever sustenance remained.
Kÿrßàl’rÿth observed the scene with a guttural sound of contempt.
Though his alien face lacked the expression of a sneer, the weight of his disdain was palpable.
His multi-faceted eyes scanned the chaotic scramble, then settled back on the Elerian.
-You’re sure it’s down there?-
Kÿrßàl’rÿth’s voice was a low, gravelly rumble, thick with irritation.
He seemed barely interested in the task at hand, as though he didn’t believe the situation was worth his presence.
The Elerian pilot bowed their head slightly, an unreadable expression barely flashing.
The voice was soft and melodic, though it carried the weight of unspoken fear beneath its surface.
-Yes, Kÿrßàl’rÿth. The room is light like a newborn galactic cluster, where new stars are being born by the minute.-
Kÿrßàl’rÿth pushed his massive frame out of the shuttle, his multi-faceted eyes glinting as he stepped down onto the ground.
His towering form cast a long shadow over the shacks and tents that littered the streets, the effigy of the Cyber Brigands he donned upon his clothes leaving no room to guess who he was.
The frantic motion of the slaves around them as if to run from a released predator seemed to only deepen his importance.
-Let’s see this miracle, then. New, old technology. The most fascinating thing this planet has to offer.-
The Elerian pilot bowed once more, deeper this time, and gestured toward the interior of the tall building in front of the shuttle.
Then, the Elerian stepped forward, acting as a guide with movements still precise, but tinged with the weight of forced deference.