"The madman is a dreamer awake."
- Sigmund Freud
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_JONATHAN_
The highlands stretched out for kilometers on end, mutilated from their natural state and twisted beyond recognition. Towards the east, a mountain lay perpendicular to the ground, toppled by some unseen giant. North lay a towering cliff, emerging at sharp angles from deep within the ground. Atop it sat a small, squat machine, proportioned like a primate. Its large forearms dug into the rock, anchoring it against the heavy wind flowing up from the ground.
And atop the machine sat a man, gazing outwards beyond the cliff. Stretched before him was a massive coastline, but the horizon lay perpendicular to him, as though someone had rotated a picture 90 degrees. On the beach of this peculiar place lay a city, its blazing neon lights giving it the appearance of some deep sea fish from the distance.
"This view never ages," the man chuckled, "and I'm beginning to sound like an old man, rambling to myself."
From within the machine, a small figure clambered out, her long violet hair flowing in the wind. Her pale blue eyes were lifeless, gazing forever into some unknown abyss.
"It is inadvisable that you remain out here, the reserve tanks are down to 20%, and we will be unable to refuel in the remaining distance of this delivery"
The tone was flat and lifeless, barely above a whisper.
The man smiled, "you're really a chip off the block Lovelace. Guess some things are just destined to stay the same."
"Well then, we'd best get moving before the deadline hits."
The duo dropped back into the machine, hatch sealing with a metallic thud.
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Around 65 years ago, in the year of 0000SC, a catastrophic event called the Inversion occurred. By some strange twist of fate, this caused any land not populated by humanity to become a strange space existing in 4 Dimensions, termed the "Void". However, it also rendered roads and other networks of transport unusable, warped beyond comprehension by the strange forces of the Void.
It is in this world that our story begins. Within the fractured remains of humanity, a unique breed of person has evolved to reconnect the pieces. The Voidrunner.
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The squat machine bounded along, its cargo crates thunking with each step. In front stretched the city that had been seen earlier from the cliff, it's dark and weatherworn architecture sharply contrasting with the neon lights blazing in the night.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
"Entruck...." the man frowned, "it's been 20 years and the place still looks the same."
"Jonathan," Lovelace interrupted, "we're entering the Ranman boundary in approximately 200 meters, VARES engine power dropping rapidly. Switching to conventional reactor subsystems."
"Rodger,"
"Crossing the Ranman Boundary in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
Johnathan always hated the transition between 4D and 3D, it felt as though your insides were chucked into a washing machine, wrung inside out, and then shoved back into you. He envied how Lovelace handled it with such indifference, retaining her doll eyed gaze the entire time.
"Galilei cascade effect reaching criticality, outer mirage plating has decayed to 3D, Menitor-Inferius stable. All systems normal..."
"Correction, detecting high levels of frameshift dissonance."
Jonathan's eyes shot wide, dissonance meant that the forces of the void were having a fit, and that meant nothing good to the tiny can of metal they were in.
"how many SDU?"
"FS dissonance is approximately at 9672 Sakkijarven Displacement Units." Lovelace's voice still retained its whisper-like quality, all while an ear wrenching shriek of metal filled the cabin. "Structural failure imminent."
"Fuck me... Get the Hoid stabilizers online L, we're going to be blown apart at this rate."
Lovelace's hands flew across the keyboard, thousands of code lines flying past her eyes at inhuman speed. A deep woosh resonated through Jonathan's ears, and the creaking declined, settling into a dull throb.
"Hoid Stabilisers engaged, dissonance reduced to sub 500 SDU. Frame damage heavy, but not mission-critical. Contacting Entruck port security to request docking."
Jonathan fell back in his seat, groaning while the machine guided itself to the assigned dock. After taking that much of a beating Cathexis would need a full overhaul before it could do another cargo run. Saying nothing of the notoriously petty security at Entruck, that could take weeks. Weeks of no work meant no money.
And no money was a very bad thing.
Suddenly, the jolt that indicated docking resonated through the machine, dragging him out of his musings. Unbuckling his harness, he looked behind at Lovelace.
"Cargo processing is going to take at least 2 days, and we need to get Cathexis back to working order."
Lovelace looked at him, a hint of smugness in her face.
"With all due respect sir, I am aware."
Clambering out of the mech into the dock, the pair made their way down the gantry to ground level.
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_ABELARD_
The room was dark, scarcely lit by the flickering glow of a computer screen. In front of it sat the hunched figure of a man. His face was half-covered by a metal case, countless runes in some unknown language decorating them, the remaining half was emaciated with age, skin leathery and wrinkled. It looked as if he should have left this world many years ago.
The distinct click of keys could be heard as row after row of code illuminated the screen, and with a final tap, the man leaned back, watching as the code ran itself. He smiled, his job was done, all the pieces were in place.
He got up and ambled towards his kitchen.
He took a pair of bread slices from his breadbox, laying them flat on the table. Rummaging through his pantry, he withdrew 2 glass jars, one containing a viscous orange liquid, the other a thick yellow substance.
"I always loved this as a child, shame marmalade is so hard to find these days."
He withdrew a pair of knives, methodically spreading the jam and butter onto the bread slices. When he was satisfied, he washed both knives, carefully returning them to their place in the drawer as he chewed on the sandwich.
Then he sat down once more, deep in thought.
"At least I had that sandwich." He smiled.
Reaching into his coat, Abelard Von Obermayer withdrew a small pistol. It was a beautiful thing. He turned it over in his hands, admiring the chromed finish in the light. Then he undid the safety.
A crack resounded throughout the house, followed by a dull thud.
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_gh672dsj902.an_
The inside of the tank was warm.
She didn't know when awareness came. But the tank was all she knew, it's spherical inside her world, the blue fluid she floated in a surrogate for a mother's bosom.
That wasn't quite true, there were also the people outside. They wore strange things, and talked in a language she did not understand.
"Project Lagoon..." she thought to herself. That was the repeating one.
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