Now Ariane has some difficult questions... ----- Chapter 11. "Arena," Ariane said to the empty air of her own room in the Embassy of Humanity, "I have serious questions with respect to the operation of a new Faction, and it would seem unwise to trust other Factions for the answers. Will you speak?" She knew from experience that the Arena – or whatever intelligence controlled it – would rarely speak on its own, and even if addressed directly would only speak if the request fit [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 10
July 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment
We haven't checked in with Simon's point of view in a while... ----- Chapter 10. "Doctor Sandrisson!" Relgof Nov'ne Knarph strode from one of the shining metal and glass doors opening from the immense silver-and-marble appearing lobby of the Embassy of the Analytic and embraced Simon, to the human scientist's momentary surprise. He returned the hug, however. Either they have similar gestures, or he has carefully studied ours and knows that to adopt them will make him seem closer to us. Not [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 9
July 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Orphan had a problem... ----- Chapter 9. DuQuesne studied Orphan carefully. He's good at playing the game. But I don't think he's doing much of that right now. He means it. "You can't do this yourself? A one-man ship or something like that?" As Orphan's hands flicked outward, Ariane answered. "I don't think that would be practical – not if he's going into the, what did they call it, Deeps, the areas away from settled Spheres." "Alas, exactly correct, Captain Austin." Orphan's [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 8
June 28, 2013 By 19 Comments
Well, they'd gotten a call from Orphan, who made a most interesting statement... ----- Chapter 8. "Welcome back, Captain Austin, Dr. DuQuesne," Orphan said expansively as she and Marc entered, Wu Kung just behind her. Simon was visiting Relgof and the Analytic, starting discussions to find out about the Sky Gates, while Gabrielle and Carl were moving their merchandise from the Grail to the Embassy; Laila Canning was currently at the Embassy in case others came to call. Orphan's hard, [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 7
June 26, 2013 By 2 Comments
They'd just sat down to discuss their problems... ----- Chapter 7. "Well, that does seem to rather complicate things," Laila said, pushing her own bobbed brown hair back with a distracted air. Ariane noted that she seemed to have absorbed the data-dump more easily than Carl. Not surprising – she was used to having three fully-active AISages before we came here, and losing them nearly killed her. If anyone can handle immense amounts of data in one shot, it's Dr. Laila Canning. "Yeah. Whoa." [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 6
June 24, 2013 By 2 Comments
Well, Our Heroes had arrived back in the Arena; it was time to head to the Embassy and meet up with the rest of the group... ----- Chapter 6. That's Wu, DuQuesne thought with a fond smile, even as he and the other three followed the impulsive Monkey King through. Even when he's on-duty, he's still a kid in so many ways. As they arrived, he heard Wu give an exclamation that meant roughly "wonderful!" . In a single flurry of motion Wu Kung streaked up the Gateway, reached the very crest of [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 5
June 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Well, they now knew they had another urgent reason to go back... so it's back to the Arena! ----- Chapter 5. "Final countdown to Transition," Ariane Austin said,and Wu finally felt a tingle of anticipation. To a new world… The hours spent preparing the ship for departure had been… a combination of depressing and confusing. He knew he couldn't help with any of the preparations – this was not like any ship he had ever been aboard before – and he hated having to sit still, let everyone [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 4
June 19, 2013 By 3 Comments
We continue, with our friends having made a worrisome discovery... ----- Chapter 4. Ariane looked at the mixture of anger, sorrow, and pain on DuQuesne's face, and the horror on that of the Hyperion Monkey King, and instantly understood. "Oh, my god," she murmured. "She was one of the five, wasn't she?" "Yeah," DuQuesne said slowly. "One of us. One of the best of us, in the beginning." "Five?" Simon echoed. She glanced at DuQuesne; he said nothing, but [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 3
June 17, 2013 By 7 Comments
Let's take a look at our third regular point of view... ----- Chapter 3. Simon jolted awake from the doze he'd been in, the restraints on Holy Grail's copilot seat keeping him from catapulting through the air. What… "We have a detection, Simon," his AISage Mio said, her projection materializing nearby. "Displaying now." Simon didn't question her assertion, but for his own peace of mind – or lack thereof – he checked the readings himself. The results did not comfort him. No [ Continue reading... ]
Spheres of Influence: Chapter 2
June 14, 2013 By 3 Comments
DuQuesne had finally gotten a friend to wake up... ----- Chapter 2. Ariane stood unmoving in the doorway, afraid to break the magic of that moment. Her own heart had leapt when Wu Kung's hand moved to stop DuQuesne, but the incredible light that had seemed to shine from Marc's face was something she'd never even imagined possible. She had heard tears of sadness being blown away in a wind of relief and happiness that she'd never thought Marc would ever feel. She just watched, holding her hand out to keep [ Continue reading... ]
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