SepticGentleman

Hollow Moon 2240

CHARLIE KAYDEN

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Alert. Mixer storm manifesting in - twenty, minutes. Exit Hollow Moon or seek shelter soon.

“God damn it!”

That was all Charlie had to say in response to the alert coming on over the public service comms. She had other, more pressing matters that she was currently preoccupied with - for instance, the hulking, pissed off, gorilla-like alien creature chasing her through the jungle.

Four yellow eyes, crimson skin, a rocky hide, and a pair of short, well-worn horns. Research teams had a scientific name for them that Charlie could not for the life of her remember, but in place of any dumb nerd shit, the local mercs called them ‘thrashers’. Because they liked to thrash things. And it would be unwise to expect any better naming conventions from a community of violent, gun toting meatheads.

Charlie led the thrasher past the winding trees, over the rocks and short drops. If there weren’t so many obstructions in the way, the beast might very well have caught up to her by now. Smaller creatures were running scared from the chase as the thrasher shoved tree after tree aside, grunting and roaring in anger with every obstacle it forced its way through.

Charlie’s helmet pinged the location of a nearby prefab shelter. Number twelve, out of the many dotted around the Hollow Moon. That was her destination. Shelters had automated turrets posted around them - most did, at least. They’d take care of the thrasher.

She jumped down another short cliff, scrambling back on her feet as the thrasher leapt downward after her. The trees became fewer and thinner as they neared the clearing that shelter twelve lied in. Charlie could see the blocky, grey, modular exterior of the building, the big 12 emblazoned on the side, and the turrets surrounding it, scanning the area, ready to shoot anything that wasn’t the least bit human. As Charlie broke out into the clearing, the thrasher wasn't far behind, barreling towards her as she made a mad dash towards the shelter.

She sprinted past the detection line, and as the thrasher did the same, two of the turrets turned and locked onto the beast. Its pursuit was immediately halted by a hail of concussive gunfire, not designed to kill, but merely chase off with excessive force. The rounds careened off of the thrasher’s rock hide, chipping it some, but the ones hitting its face and belly caused it to rear back and fall over, onto its side.

Charlie watched, and smiled, and in that moment, seized the opportunity. She took her rifle - a jury-rigged mess of a thing - and aimed at the thrasher’s head. One well placed slug, and the thrasher’s left horn came off near its base. It tumbled back, standing itself back up and away from the turrets, which stopped firing once it left the detection range. It stood up on its legs to gain height, looked at Charlie, and roared ferociously. All the merc could do in response was smile and flip the beast her middle finger.

The roar was, however, interrupted by an even louder noise. A cacophonous boom, sounding from up above them. The thrasher didn’t think twice - it gave up its bravado and turned away, retreating into the jungle to find somewhere safe to hide. Charlie went and grabbed the horn she’d shot off, then looked up at the core of the Hollow Moon. It was covered in swelling blue clouds, flashes of light dancing inside, ready to burst in-

Alert. Mixer storm manifesting in - fifteen, minutes. Exit Hollow Moon or seek shelter immediately.

That long.

Charlie put away the thrasher’s horn in her pack, then brought up her ship’s location on her helmet’s HUD. Just a little under six miles away, parked near another shelter altogether.

“Shit…”

She’d gotten pretty sidetracked.

Charlie wasn’t about to make a mad jog back to her ship and risk cutting it so close with the storm, and the autonav module wasn't exactly in working order either. So she elected to hunker down for a spell, and turned and entered through the shelter’s automatic door.

“Entry logged at shelter - twelve.”

She looked around the gray, blank interior with random couches, seats, and tables strewn about. No one else was present. Seemed to be she was the first one in. Normally she saw at least a handful of folks in most of these shelters, sitting around, drinking, playing cards, swapping stories. Not this time, oddly.

“Oh, well.”

There were about fourteen minutes left before the storm hit. Charlie stepped towards one of the couches and placed her pack on top of it, set her rifle aside, and removed her helmet. She shook her head and brushed her hair to the side with her hand, dropping her helmet onto the couch. She gave a look over to a music player on a table near the other side of the shelter, went over to it, and turned it on to a blasting wave of heavy metal. She jumped a bit before putting her finger on the volume and bringing it down to a level that wouldn’t give her tinnitus.

“Fuckin’ A…”

She went back over to where all her stuff was and plopped down for a seat, relaxing with the music - odd combination though it may be - and looked out the window. The shutters would go down before the storm hit, and the whole thing would close up tight. So she’d wait and see if anyone else came about little ol’ shelter twelve before then.

Just a little under thirteen minutes left.

Hollow Moon 2240

@Spoopy Scary Accepted, put her in the thing

Hollow Moon 2240

CHARLIE KAYDEN

A space-born wayward mercenary who’s been on more ships than she can recall. Charlie has lived most of her life working job after job in immediate succession, getting caught up in the occasional criminal activity, and getting kicked out of her fair share of bars and clubs. When the call of the Hollow Moon came about, Charlie hitched a ride aboard the Thermopylae as soon as she could. To her, the alien structure is one big meal ticket, and she’s hellbent on working up enough credits in order to make her lifelong dream purchase - a Tyzen CRD Series 19 ’Roaming Star’ model exo-mech.

Full image

Hollow Moon 2240

ACCEPTED CHARACTERS

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@SepticGentleman - Charlie Kayden

@Spoopy Scary - Cheyenne “Shy” Jung

@JunkMail - Edison Tadamasa

@Skai - Yara

@Sanity43217 - Dax Corvus

@Thrash Panda - Ebeneezer "Benny" Barns

Hollow Moon 2240

In the year 2095, a dying Earth was abandoned by the last of its human inhabitants.

Once just a fantasy, the prospect of thriving out amongst the stars began to become a reality. Major advancements in spaceflight technology presented mankind with the opportunity to explore the unknown reaches their home galaxy, in search of resources to accrue, places to call home - and for many, alien life to meet, though that still remained just a mere fantasy to most.

When the branching outward first began, all parties were united under the Central Galactic Government, formed on Earth before its fall. However, as more and more planets were claimed and colonies were formed, the CGG’s rule began to falter in the wake of the myriad factions electing to declare independence instead of sharing their bounties. This later escalated into full blown war, ending with the CGG being quashed by the many allied factions in the year 2137. From then on, the galaxy was at the whims of the separated forces that had fought for their independence, and all the benefits and detriments that came with it.

Megacorporations and weapon manufacturers soon became the leading parties across known galactic territories, their many licensed products having been used previously for the war against the CGG. High-end ships, profitable colonies, and later entire planets became market-viable through methods of diplomacy, bargaining, and in some cases, all-out force. While the galaxy was no longer at war, it had then become a splintered land.

Over a century has passed since the fall of the CGG. The galaxy has reached a point of general stability, with conflicts between the various ruling parties having become far less frequent, and far less lethal. In 2188, the Galactic Trade Agreements were established in order to facilitate more civilized transactions between the major groups, and to maintain peace within their controlled territories. Black markets maintain their own methods of business of course, having learned to better hide themselves. Independent drifter colonies made up of fleets of old, scavenged ships still cling to their solitude, but do business when they must in order to survive. Many smaller groups, even lone individuals, often take up work as freelance workers and mercenaries, scouring open ports and colonies for work, be it legal in that given area or otherwise.

This had all been the galaxy’s sense of normal for decades. Until, in the year 2240…

In one distant stretch of a newly acquired territory somewhere along the galactic outskirts, something unprecedented had been discovered - an entire planet being slowly broken apart and consumed, piece by piece, by a small, obsidian moon. Once the initial shock wore off, observation revealed a series of openings along the surface of the moon. An expeditionary team was formed to enter the moon and report their findings, none of them expecting to find what actually awaited them inside.

Past the outer metal shell, inside the moon was discovered to be completely hollow - and brimming with life. Described then as ‘an inverted planet’, an entire ecosystem was present - jungles, fields, waterways, and appropriate bizarre and alien fauna, all covering the interior surface. Six obsidian pillars evenly spaced around the interior held aloft a massive core, illuminating the wilderness surrounding it, feeding on the extracts from the broken planet that the moon was positioned near.

This was the first sign of alien life, architecture, technology, ever discovered by humans. In the awe of the moment, a simple name was given that would later become the official designation of the entire structure.

They called it ‘the Hollow Moon’.

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THE MASSING

Two months have passed since the initial discovery of the Hollow Moon. The secret, of course, did not last long at all. Drifter colonies, crewships, and megacorp proxy vessels arrived and formed a sizable gathering around it, all looking to see the phenomenon for themselves and, as should be expected, plunder its bounties.

The stretch of space that the Hollow Moon resides in, however, is owned and legally acquired property. The controlling party remains anonymous, allowing visitors to the Hollow Moon to explore it and take from it, albeit with one restriction - none of the Hollow Moon’s wildlife, from the smallest vermin to the gargantuan apex predators, are to be killed. Only capturing is allowed, and study is to be performed in the immediate vicinity of the Hollow Moon. Violation will be met with being banned from the entire system forever. As expected, this declaration aggravated many of the rather violently-dispositioned mercenaries present, but the law stands firm. Besides - very few of the larger groups would prefer to study carcasses.

Dozens of ships of varying sizes and origins are positioned around the Hollow Moon, chief among them being the Thermopylae - a drifter colony assembled from one heavily modified freighter, and a host of smaller vessels merged with it. It acts as an open house for all independent and representative parties, facilitating market trade, bounty assignments, and even residency to any who desire, granted that they follow the posted ordinances.

LAY OF THE LAND

The Hollow Moon itself is a monumental vessel, far more advanced than anything mankind has ever produced. The wilderness covering the interior is lush, vibrant, and bountiful. Much of it resembles a jungle, overgrown and abundant with multicolored flora, with streams of teal water cutting through many stretches of land. The early brave souls who have tasted the water have described it as being very sweet, with no other observable differences from normal water.

Collected samples of various plants have displayed a myriad of both beneficial and harmful effects. Some provide rapid regenerative capabilities when ingested, or bestow someone with temporarily heightened reflexes, enhanced eyesight, adrenaline boosts, and so on. Many more plants, however, bring about violent bodily reactions, internal bleeding, temporary (and in some rare cases, permanent) blindness, bone decay, and other such unpleasant effects. Some plants carry both positive and negative traits, so knowing which is which has become a major requirement for working in the field.

The wildlife, like the plant life, is just as varied. Creatures great and small, skittish and extremely hostile. Some of the larger beasts possess potent abilities as well - turning invisible, breathing fire, manipulating electricity, spitting acid, these and many more things that the mercenaries working in the field have to contend against. And standing above all else, the titanic apex predators that have claimed their own pieces of the Hollow Moon as their nesting grounds, that have already been the cause of many mercenaries’ deaths since the beginning. Larger and more ambitious groups maintain active bounties on these specific monsters, yet so far none have been captured, and all attempts to do so have ended in immense failure.

PREVIOUS OCCUPANTS

Remnants of a highly technologically advanced alien society exist all over the Hollow Moon. Multiple structures dotting the wilderness bear the makings of outposts, residential homes, field laboratories, and so on. Many strange artifacts have been found in these locations, but their individual purposes yet remain unclear, and attempts to activate them have been unsuccessful. All places and objects share the same composition - obsidian metal, unevenly textured, as if carved from some greater source.

Standing above all else is the core, a monumental obsidian structure supported by the six pillars, situated in the very center of the Hollow Moon. Believed to be the control point for the entire structure, few attempts have been made to approach it, all halted with extreme force by the surrounding automated security drones - henceforth dubbed by the local community as ‘Custodians’.

Large, airborn, and virtually indestructible. The Custodians lie in wait around the Hollow Moon’s core, self-activating upon any party approaching, implementing focused beams of energy emanating from their central ‘eyes’ to reduce all targets to dust. Upon the expiration or retreat of all offending parties, the Custodians return to the core and self-deactivate. Custodians, as their name implies, can also be observed performing regular maintenance on the core itself, the six pillars, and any patches of land that have been damaged due to mercenary and animal activity, able to miraculously regrow any destroyed vegetation through unknown means. All attempts to destroy a Custodian have met with catastrophic failure, and until better means are discovered, mercenaries have learned to leave them be, for their own sakes.

MIXER STORMS

Genetic reconstruction storms, colloquially referred to as ‘mixer storms’ by the local populace, are a regular and very dangerous phenomenon observed within the Hollow Moon. Every three days, fourteen hours, nine minutes and twenty-two seconds - counted to the exact number by researching parties - the core will discharge a massive cloud of blue-colored smoke, with bright arcs of energy coursing through it. This cloud will proceed to blanket the entirety of the Hollow Moon’s interior, and remain for a period of two minutes and sixteen seconds before rapidly dissipating.

Any organisms caught in a mixer storm, the only exception being the various apex predators, will be subject to rapid genetic mutations. Wildlife will instinctively seek shelter, usually in the forms of caves and burrows, minutes before the storm clouds form. Animals caught in the storm have been observed to undergo intense physical alterations, often adopting greater body mass, extra appendages, and in some rare cases, new biological abilities. As stated, apex predators are immune to the mixer storms’ effects, seemingly allowing themselves to be enveloped by them with no observable changes to their bodies afterwards.

Human beings are also subject to the mixer storms. If caught outside of a prefab shelter and not protected by fully sealed suits, they will rapidly adopt alien physical features, and oftentimes, gain additional superhuman abilities - however, these have been observed to be accompanied by severely detrimental side-effects, such as loss of one or multiple senses, limb failure, intense aversion to things such as bright lights or extreme temperatures, and other such traits. Being exposed to multiple storms causes further development of all changes, both positive and negative, and has been observed to rapidly deteriorate the victim’s mental state after a varying number of exposure instances, eventually to the point of ferality.

In what has become a local issue of new-age quasi-xenophobia, the anonymous party that holds the Hollow Moon’s location has put those affected by the mixer storms (dubbed ‘mixups’ by locals), whether by accident or completely intentionally, under the protection of their enforcers. This, of course, has led to the gradual separation of most humans from mixups, with vendors and bounty managers often refusing to do business with the latter entirely. Mixups are often left with little choice but to do their business through proxies (if they can find any who will work with them), or to simply strike out in the Hollow Moon’s wilderness, either on their own or banding together.

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OOC RULES AND INFORMATION

If you are indeed interested in joining, you have the option of either playing as a human mercenary or a mutated mixup, the difference being that mixups have a lot more modifiers expected to be displayed in any IC posts involving them.

If your character is a mixup;

• They get cool semi-alien physical features (just look up any humanoid-shaped alien for reference and run it by me)
• They get a superpower (just the one, not a whole batch)
• They will have an equal weakness to go along with their superpower
• They will be ostracized by the in-universe locals, and won’t be able to do business with most vendors and bounty managers
• If they get caught in multiple mixer storms, their physical forms and power/weakness will be further developed, which is both good and bad

This is a list of sci-fi technology concepts that don’t exist, or are otherwise not available to humans, within this setting (be warned this list may be added on to depending if examples I haven’t previously thought of are brought to my attention);

• Teleporters
• Digitally re/constructing in/organic material (commercially among humans, that is - Custodians can do this)

Following are some examples that are present, but I want to put some notes on;

• PROSTHETICS - Go hog wild with this one if you feel so inclined. Limbs, organs, eyes, just sprinkle them all around. I dig it. If you want extra limbs and cool features like arm blades and shit, we can talk about those separately.
• ENERGY WEAPONS - Anything involving a laser or plasma or what have you would be considered higher grade than conventional bullet-shooting firearms, but are still found among many parties.
• MECHS - They definitely exist, but the intention is that they’re extremely expensive and normally not found in the hands of every other mercenary out there. So unless you’re planning on playing a very wealthy one (and you’d have to make a fairly solid case for yourself), keep that fact in mind.
• ROBOTS - Are present, but I’m somewhat iffy on having them be used as player characters since they effectively bypass some IC obstacles. If you really wanna play one, we can talk it over.
• NANOTECH - Extremely advanced and expensive, and not likely to be found in the hands of the vast majority of mercs.

Now as far as character sheets go - I don’t need a sheet from anyone. Just a name, an image (optional, but highly recommended), and a paragraph or two for a description. All the finer details of your character, you can figure out during the course of the RP itself.

And that should about cover it, barring any future amendments.

Oh and here’s a Discord server to mingle on.

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

---

Just a little bit worse than someone getting kicked in the face.

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

Trevor’s exclamation of shock over the comm line was sudden and effective in making D spring into action. He was on the upper level overlooking the left side of the loading bay. The invading group rushed out of their hijacked shuttle, quickly entering into the crowd and unloading into them with their own array of firearms - rifles and machine guns. One of them took the initiative to look up and start firing into the gathering above. D lept back, as did several attending students, all bolting for the exit to the cafeteria. Four of them went down, one attempting to crawl away, but ceasing movement seconds later.

“Jesus CHRIST, DO SOMETHING!”

On it, Mister Norton.

D, still low to the ground, paused for just a moment to browse his options. The assailant most likely still had a bead on the upper level. So, a distraction would be in order. And he had just the right item for the job.

D placed both of his hands on his head. A few quick clicks and whirs sounded from his neck, as the space between his head and his torso suddenly became vacant. He detached his head from his body manually, in the place of the open neck space emerging a small, disc-shaped module on the end of a rod - a secondary visual device, just peeking out of the jacket collar.

D reared his arms back, head in his hands, and then proceeded to fling his big red mug over the railing and into the crowd. The sight of the head immediately caught the attention of the assailant who’d been watching the upper level, firing at it as it sailed through the air. Only seconds later was his firing interrupted upon the headless body of D rapidly descending from on high, tackling the assailant to the cold, blood-stained floor. The bodiless head of D, meanwhile, landed away from the ensuing craziness and, in the middle of his roll, popped out from the opening at his base four quintuply-jointed metal legs. A feature that he hadn’t made use of until this moment, and that Trevor had remained unaware of given his abstaining from rooting through D’s head. The bodiless head immediately began skittering away, at a remarkably quick pace no less, away from all the danger.

D’s headless body, on the other hand, stayed behind. He took the pinned assailant’s head in his hands and slammed it on the floor several times, until he was out cold. It was then that he turned his attention towards the next nearest enemy, who’d taken to looking the same way just in time to see his ally’s unconscious body, and the headless robot standing over him. And with no hesitation, he turned his rifle on D and began firing.

Bullets went both flying by headless D, and straight into him as well. Sparks flew out for everything hit that wasn’t protected by the thick gel coating, more bullets getting lodged inside. D jerked from side to side with each impact, pace slowing just a little before reaching his target and tackling him to the floor, just as he did the last one. Once he was pinned underneath the robot’s weight, D began connecting his fists to the assailant’s face in rapid succession - until he was interrupted by a sudden noise.

The man pressed a black spot somewhere on his own vest. Scanned his fingertip.

Three rapid beeps, followed by a long one at a slightly higher pitch. Orange lights accompanied each beep.

And then - boom.

Explosives, in the assailant’s vest. Activated manually.

A mixture of blood, viscera, clothes, equipment, and mechanical components flew out in all directions.

One assailant was dead. Another was unconscious. And the headless body of D was destroyed.

The bodiless head, however, was elsewhere.

And the screaming, the shooting, the chaos - all went on yet still.

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

---

D had arrived at the loading bay ahead of schedule. Thus so, he resolved to just wander around some before things started happening. It was gonna be an eventful first day for a lot of newly-enrolled parahumans, but sadly for them, none of it was gonna involve any of their faces getting kicked or any Archies hulking out or what have you, the exciting stuff. A shame - but also a necessary acceptance. D, for the first time in a long time, was gonna be on his best beha-

“Hey!”

D turned his head. Two security agents - a man and a woman - had approached him from behind, the man-one calling him out. D immediately lifted himself from his lax stance and stood upright. An admittedly weak attempt to pass off as nothing but a cold, unfeeling automaton.

Couple days ago, Trevor had given D some recorded responses in his own voice to work with, in case of an event such as this. Time to put them to use.

“Pre-recorded response, addressing security.”

“Yeah. Robot. Right.” The first agent said, “What are you doing here? Eggheads trying to get you to do guard work now?”

“Pre-recorded response, indicating this unit is acting solely within Promise security-established permissions.”

“Course you are.” The agent said as he stepped further towards D, very close now, “Whatever asshole in R&D is controlling you, let’s make sure they listen - you stay out of our business. No goofy-looking robots are getting in our way, you got that?”

“Pre-recorded response, recommending you to go fuck yourself.”

“The HELL did you just-”

D got right back in the agent’s face. He dropped the soulless automaton act for just a brief moment.

“Pre-recorded response, reminding present security personnel that if you damage this unit, which is protected under official orders, then Chief Gennedy will have you strung up by your nuts until they turn black and pop off like raisins - so back the fuck off.”

Prepared for all situations.

The guard took a cautionary step backwards, his girl buddy watching all the while. “Just…” He said, raising his finger under D’s chinny-chin-chin (that didn’t exist), “Don’t go doing anything stupid. You stand there, and you watch.”

They both stared each other down a moment as the agents proceeded to pass by D, turning their backs to him. The moment he felt assured that neither of them were gonna look back, he proceeded to vigorously wave goodbye, do a little dance, and top it off with a raising of his two favorite fingers - and a squat.

He stood back upright as the agents both walked away, oblivious to D’s mockery. He put his hands on his sides and turned to observe the loading bay’s grandeur.

Which, admittedly, there wasn’t that much of.

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

---

2024. Eighth of August. 11:04 pm.

Richmond, Virginia. Somewhere out in the woods.

Clark. Parchek. Stromeyer. Roman. Haines. Radvi.

Six men stood before the condemned. They were by a lake, in the dead of night. Three cars parked nearby. Welles hung from a lonesome tree, but not by his neck - they would not let him go so easily.

He was bound, and gagged. He’d killed fifteen people earlier tonight. He was crying.

Haines - the boss - stepped forward. He’d lost his wife just hours ago. He had a small canister of gasoline in his hand. Walked up to Welles - almost said something. Didn’t. Just stared him down before twisting the cap off of the canister. Doused Welles with most of it. Everyone heard him struggle.

“Clark. Matches.”

Clark stepped forward and handed a pack of matches to Haines. He was the only one out of the group whose family wasn’t dead. Welles was caught before that could happen. He felt guilty among his friends.

Haines lit a match. He sheltered the flame in his hands, as if reluctant to let it go just yet. Welles struggled still. Haines whispered to himself.

_{“You deserve this.”}

He was convinced. He was just. He was good.

He threw the match and backed away. Welles lit up instantly. A light in the dark, isolated in the woodland, no one to witness it but the six men.

“Let’s go.”

Five of them turned towards the parked cars. Seen all they had to see. Radvi stayed and watched Welles burn. Burn and scream. Flesh melting. Flickers of light falling down onto the dirt beneath him.

This wasn’t right.

He took out his gun. He kept his eyes on Welles. This wasn’t right. He slowly raised the gun, his breaths becoming louder. Aimed at Welles’ head. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t-

“Sir?”

Radvi’s eyes went wide. He turned around. There was… a child? A young boy. Short, narrowed eyes, unkempt brown hair. Collared shirt, tie, vest, dress pants and shoes.

“Wh-” Radvi stammered.

There was no child there. There was never a child there. This wasn’t how it happened. This was wrong. Radvi stood with his gun lowered, between the child and Welles’ burning body. His head began to hurt. He breathed, and he spoke.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Matthew. I’m a bit lost.”

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

---

Sorry, lost the happy - BUT THE HAPPY’S BACK.

---

“Testing, testing, one-two-three-”

“A-B-C, one-two-three, baby, you an-”

“Okay, yes, great, thank you, shut up.”

D was strolling along the ring as Trevor spoke to him on the other end of the line. In the weeks that had passed since Homecoming night, Promise security had been told D was no longer a threat, and to further extent, was on their side. They’d been told he was a robot, not a man. They’d been told to stop trying to apprehend him or beat him senseless or rip his head off. And, for the most part, they listened, barring a few hiccups and misunderstandings in the days immediately following the announcement. Few of them liked him, more still wanted to kick his metal ass, and others felt threatened that automatons taking their jobs were on the rise. Gennedy put all of that noise to rest and told them to just let D be, and that he was very much under control, on a computerized level - which, of course, was a lie.

But none of them needed to know that.

“New arrivals are coming in at 1.” Trevor said to him over the communications line, “I want you there to keep an eye on things, since fuck knows what’ll happen - maybe Jello Bitch will show up after another long break, maybe some parahuman shit-kid will start trouble themselves, I don’t know.”

Yup. Newcomers set to show up on this joke of a station, as if never told that the metaphorical train had flown off the tracks and into the spiraling winds of ‘Good God why are there so many bodies’. Oh, well - D couldn’t say anything, he had no standing to object upon. He just smiled and went with it.

“You’ve got your own taser now, you’ve got a PSI chip, you’re as good as you can get for the time being.”

D patted the taser hidden in his pocket, extra charges tucked into his coat. Trevor had whipped up a copy of the prototype for him, as it had worked well enough against Arianna to warrant keeping in play.

“We’re not far off from rolling out a better version to the force at large. I’m also still working on something for you personally - sound frequency tech to better stop Jello Bitch in her tracks, since you’ve shown me that works. Won’t be ready for a bit though, so make do. Just don’t blow anyone’s ears out.”

A low chuckle from D in response. Blasting memes and music to destabilize Arianna - good times. Kinda wished he could go back to them.

“Anyway, I’ll let you go. I’ll be watching when 1 rolls around, make sure you’re at the loading bay by then. T out.”

And he was gone. D continued his casual stroll, on his way to the loading bay and whatever stops in between.

Smile on his face.

Happy’s back.

The Promise - Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning.

- The morning after Homecoming night -

R&D.

Gennedy stepped in through the door.

“Alright Trevor, what did-”

His words came to a halt the moment he noticed there, in Trevor’s workspace, was a seated Freaky-D by the back wall. All lights off.

“What the hell?”

“Relax.” Trevor said, swinging around in his chair, “He’s in sleep mode.”

“What?”

“Wake up.” Trevor said to the seated D, who promptly arose as directed, all lights coming to life. His helmet was still cracked and damaged, the image of his default face broken in several spots. “Jacket.” Trevor added, to which D proceeded to raise his hands up towards his collar. Gennedy watched with some mix of caution and confusion as D opened up his jacket to reveal…

“You’re joking.”

Metal. Wires. Components. A mechanical endoskeleton, all wrapped in a body-shaped mould of translucent, near-black gel. Visible damage was present in several areas, the gel having been distorted and somewhat cleaved away to get to the center.

“He’s a fucking robot?” Gennedy said.

“It actually makes a lot of sense, after everything he’s been involved in.” Trevor said, “His physical abilities, the impacts he’s gotten right back up from, how certain parahuman abilities didn’t work on him. And it explains how he seemed just fine after security spaced him.”

“This is a different entity from the first one altogether.” Gennedy said, putting two and two together, “A backup.”

“Yep. One of - I’m not sure how many total.” Trevor continued, “After he was arrested last night, some of your boys decided to take him somewhere private and rough him up a bit - real professional, by the way - and that led to trying to get his helmet off. Stuck on there pretty tight. They wouldn’t tell me what exactly they did, but eventually they made their way here with the helmet in one hand, and the headless body in the other.”

“What then?” Gennedy asked.

“Dug my fingers into him.” Trevor said, passing by how wrong that sounded, “Overwrote his systems and made him only able to act on direct orders. After that, I spent all the time figuring out how he worked. The riot gel coating his limbs and torso protects the endoskeleton against severe impacts. Batteries are connected throughout his head and gut on a separable cord. Figured he must have been sapping power directly from the station, he has adapter systems in both of his hands. And his feet - built-in skates and boost modules.”

“This is ridiculous.” Gennedy replied.

“Agreed.” Trevor said, “He’s ridiculously sophisticated compared to most publicly known robotics companies’ projects.”

“Where did he-… where did it come from? Who the hell sent robots to this station?”

“That, I’m still trying to figure out. He has files in his head, but a lot of it’s either encrypted or corrupted. What wasn’t though, was footage from last night. He got another solid look at-”

“Arianna. I know.”

“Look, you saw it, you have to understand by now. What happened to Radvi happened because of her. The bodies, the breakout, you have nothing short of a direct confession to pin it all on her.”

“Yes, Trevor, I understand that.”

“And all it took was Radvi nearly getting killed to sway you?”

“Quiet. I will be putting more effort towards finding and apprehending her, and I expect you to maintain directing your attention towards null tech development. Wrath is pleased with your taser’s success, so he’s likely to give you more resources and manpower to work with.”

“Great. Awesome. ‘Bout damn time. I’ve still got plenty of ideas I can get rolling.”

“Good. Speaking of, where is the taser?”

“It got lost out in the field, but I’ve got a tracking chip in it. I’m gonna send D to fetch it, make sure he’s working right. To that end, from here on out, I’d appreciate you telling security what the deal is and to not try arresting him anymore?”

“Fine. As long as you can guarantee he’s under control.”

“Well, this one is. I don’t know how many other backups are hiding out there, but if I can get my hands on them and they’re relatively not fucked up, I can bring them all in line too. Once you get inside his head, it’s pretty simple, long as you know what you’re doing.”

“I’ll take your word for it. When you find out more about where it came from and why it came up to this station in the first place, I want to know. But don’t let that take priority over the null tech.”

“You got it.”

“Good. That’ll be all.”

Gennedy took his leave. Trevor watched as he did, out the door and out of sight. After a couple minutes passed and he felt certain the Chief wasn’t gonna come running back for any reason, he slowly took to saying, “And… he… fell for it.”

D slumped his shoulders, letting out a few broken sounds that might have been some random sound effect, were it not for his busted head.

“I didn’t have very high hopes, but it looks like you’re in the clear.” Trevor said, turning around to face D, “If the Chief’s true to his word, security shouldn’t be on your ass anymore.”

Still slumped, D responded with a thumbs up. Seemed sound clips were out for the time being.

“Now do keep in mind I very much could have cracked whatever system you’ve got in that big red head of yours, put you under my command...” Trevor added, “But I didn’t. ‘Cause Rad, against better judgement, trusted you. And I trust him. So, vicariously, I trust you. For now.”

D didn’t respond any, just listened.

“Rad… Jacob’s out of the game, for the time being. But you and I are still in, so we gotta do right by him and get this murdering bitch. I don’t know who the fuck’s behind your controls, or if you’re just some crazy AI up here for no good reason, but whatever you came up to the Promise for at the start, you’ve done enough to prove you wanna help stop Arianna more.”

A nod from D.

“So that’s what we’re gonna do, and with Rad on the bench, you’re gonna be my new guinea pig for testing any null tech me and the other eggheads cook up. And you’re a robot, so that gives me room to take some normally implausible liberties. Gonna be fun.”

A short, distorted laugh from D.

“First thing’s first, though. This you is pretty fucked up, and I don’t really know how to repair you, so maybe consider bringing another one of your duplicates up to bat.”

A thumbs up from D.

“And after that… you’re gonna go get my taser back.”

---

- About half an hour later -

Back at the scene of the crime.

D - a different D, third iteration, the previous and more damaged one still residing within Trevor’s workspace - dug his hands through some dirt by a tree, as the tracking chip’s signal dictated the approximate location of the taser to him. Trevor was beaming the signal to him through his somatic predecessor.

He held the broken components in his hands. Looked at them for just a moment before pocketing them both and standing up. Before heading back to Trevor’s office within R&D however, he turned in the direction of the forest deadfall, wandering towards it.

He stood on the edge, looking down at the exact location where last night’s events had all gone to hell. Where he watched helplessly as Radvi nearly bled to death, but thankfully, others were there to save him. Some of his blood was still on that damn rock, as a dried up stain.

He just… took in the scene, for a moment, and thought. He’d originally come up this station to have an all around good time, the tensions between humans and parahumans be damned. To just enjoy himself, screw with people, run around and be a fool.

Funny how intentions can change, just like that.

---

- Later that day -

Radvi was asleep.

He lay on his bed, all manners of medical equipment surrounding him. Monitor keeping track of his vitals, tubes feeding him nutrients intravenously. A nice, cozy blanket covering him. Head turned onto its left. His right - all patched up in white, the damage inflicted days ago obscured from view. He was still.

His necklace rested on the bedside stand. Still connected to his wife’s ring and his daughter’s bracelet.

Trevor was at his side, seated in a chair he’d pulled up. He watched Radvi for a while after entering the room, taking his time to think - about whether or not he should just leave, or… say something. His words might fall on deaf ears, but…

It felt right.

“So… hey, buddy.” Trevor began, “Lookin’ good.”

No response from Radvi.

“Last night, the uh… the taser worked. That’s good. Got lost somewhere, but it’s fine, D took care of it. He and I have teamed up, he’s gonna be my new field tester.”

No response.

“I, uh… saw it all. Last night. D managed to get me the footage. Little messed up but still got everything. You should work on your trigger discipline some time, man.”

Trevor chuckled for just a brief second. No response.

“Anyway, some good did come of this. Gennedy’s all in now, force has started taking Arianna seriously. All it took was you getting your face split open. Bitchin’, right?”

No response.

“And Wrath was impressed with the taser’s success. He’s, uh… putting more resources my way, giving me more folks to order around. Get projects done faster. Not gonna lie, makes me pretty giddy. Might just let all the power go to my big bald head, right? Heh?”

No response.

Trevor paused. Sniffled a bit. Took a moment to find his words.

“You’re, uh… you’re out for now, but I’m still in. D is too. And your, uh… your various parahuman friends, I guess. Arianna, she’s still hiding and… planning who fucking knows what. But it seems like you sold pretty much everyone on her being top priority. So… good job, man.”

No response.

Moment of silence.

“You’re just about the only person on this shit heap of a station that I’ve been willing to call a friend, so I promise you… we’ll find her.” Trevor said sternly. “We will find her and we will annihilate her.”

He raised his finger to Radvi.

“I. Fucking. Swear it.”

No response.

Trevor gently placed his hand on Radvi’s arm. “Wake up soon, buddy.” He said quietly. Moments more passed, and then it was time for him to leave.

And Radvi was… almost, alone.

…

…

…

“Might this provoke… intervention?”

“Maybe. Time will tell.”