PS3 Fic - Refugees of the Demon Star - updated 1/19

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PS3 Fic - Refugees of the Demon Star - updated 1/19

Postby Amwhere » Sun Sep 09, 2007 1:21 am

This is a PS3 fanfic - I started on it a couple years ago, and then recently I decided to toss it out and start over. (The old fic is still on the board.) This one will follow the old one's plot, but not entirely.

Lastly, I'm not a stickler on staying true to the game in every detail - although I will try, and I'd prefer trying to explain the game rather than glossing over it.

Without further ado...

The edited website version is: http://www.geocities.com/amwhere/out.html
Last edited by Amwhere on Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:35 am, edited 22 times in total.
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Postby Amwhere » Sun Sep 09, 2007 1:25 am

Tuesday, September 7th, 3086: Mission High School, San Francisco, Earth.

Miun opened the door marked '16'.

"Hi, sis," Mieu said from within, "Come in."

"Morning." Miun replied. The sisters shared the same long, bright red hair and deep blue eyes. Mieu was somewhat shorter than her sister, however.

The school bell rang. "Sit down at my desk, sis." Mieu said.

Students began to trickle in to the room, which was capped by a mad rush seconds before the tardy bell rang. Once everyone was settled in, Mieu stood and said. "This is History 12, and you're in room 16. Everyone in the right place? Good. I'm Mieu Rydori..." A few hands shot up. "Yes, I'm that Mieu Rydori, and that's my sister Miun." Mieu grabbed a stack of papers off of her desk and started to pass them out. "I wonder what you all know about myself and my sister - so I'll give an extra credit point to anyone who answers correctly. First question - what are we?"

A girl in the back blurted out, "Androids!"

"Right - but next time raise your hand. Ok - where did we come from?"

The girls' hand shot up. "Palma!"

"Yes - I can understand if you're excited..."

"Nicole," the girl said.

Mieu nodded. "Nicole. I can understand that you're excited to be here - but wait for me to call on you. Now, where is Palma?"

Nicole's hand rose.

"Yes, Nicole?"

"The... Algol system?"

Mieu shook her head. "Not quite. We come from the Algo system, which is what Palmans have called thier star since ancient times. However, oddly enough, Algo is the closest star to Algol. Last question - how did Miun and myself get here?"

Nicole was first yet again. "The... uh... Alisa?"

Mieu nodded. "Close enough - the ship was the Alisa III, and I bet at least one of you can trace your ancestry to the people aboard that ship. Before we discuss that class, I'd like to take roll. This'll be the only time I'll do this." After she was done, she continued, "This class will be all about Miun and myself. What we did, what we saw - and you'll see it through our eyes."

A hand shot up. "Will you tell us about how you liberated the Earth from the Xyil?"

Mieu smiled. "Yes - but that won't be for 4 semesters. I hope you'll be here. As you can see on the syllabus, this class is two periods long, and comes in four parts. However, this class shouldn't be too hard if you come everyday and pay attention. If you miss a day, we'll have a make up discussion during lunch - and since Miun and myself are the richest people 'alive', we'll feed you lunch." Mieu motioned to her sister. "We'll start the class on the most important day in Miun's life - which was in April of 3362..."

Many hands raised. "You didn't mishear me. I did say a date 175 years in the future. When we were aboard the Alisa III, we went through a timewarp. Now, listen, watch, and pay attention. Miun?"

Miun stood in front of the class. "As my older sister said, this was the most important day in my life..."

April 6th, AW1276 - Alis Military Academy, Techna, Palma.

I was laying on my bunk, staring at the ceiling while idly intercepting and decrypting passing radio traffic. I had nothing else better to do, as a few days ago my sisters and I were ordered to stay in the barracks.

One of my younger sisters, Miuu, walked over and stood over my bunk. "Hi, Miun."

"Hi." I replied. What now?

"I've figured out something that'll shake that trust of humans you have."

Figures. She'd been coming to me with this for a year now, and since we'd been cooped up in the barracks, she'd been bugging me every couple of hours. "Yes, sister? I do hope it's something new this time." I said, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

"It is," Miuu replied, with the same childlishy smug look on her face that she had everytime she brought this up. "Mieu."

"Mieu? What does our eldest sister have to do with anything?"

"Are you that dense, sister? All you need to do is look at her."

"At the time," Miun said to the class, "Mieu looked quite different that she is now - you could not have mistaken her as a human. Her hands and forearms were bare metal, and the skin of her lower torso and lower legs were just red plastic."

I shook my head. "Honestly, I don't know what your driving at." I had an idea, but I wanted to hear it from Miuu.

"You are that dense," Miuu said. "Now, I'll speak slowly so you can understand - Instead of dismanling us when the humans are finished with us, maybe they'll put us in bodies like Mieu's."

At least it was a new reason. "Miuu, my sister, you're paranoid. I've listened with an open mind to every one of your reasons, but all they are conspricy theories."

"Miun, how can you trust those who can made your body walk in a pit of molten metal?"

"Sometimes, sister," I said, "you've got to trust your feelings."

"Feelings?" She snorted. "All that those do is blind you from what's right in front of your face.

"Maybe," I shrugged. "But they're part of what makes me me."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Miuu said, "when the rest of us break free from the Slavedriver and you're ordered to your death."

"Mine will be removed before then," I quipped back.

"Right, Miun. You keep hoping that." She turned and went back to her bunk.

The door outside opened, and all talking within the barracks ceased. A young voice said, "Miun Rydori, you've been requested to come with me."

"Coming," I called out, feeling my sisters stare at me as I left the barracks.

A first year cadet, who looked like he just barely met the age requirement of fifteen, was waiting for me. "Please come with me, ma'am," he said.

"Led the way, Cadet Simh," I smiled at him. "First day here?"

"Second," he said, then quickly added, "ma'am."

The sun was warm on my back as we walked through the base. There were still puddles on the ground for last night's rain. Clouds on the horizon fortold more wet weather. We went inside the tall grey building housed the base's administation offices. "Who I am seeing?"

"General Pyre, ma'am." He said, leading me past the office of the base's commander, Commandant Jager. I could smell incense wafting from inside.
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Postby Amwhere » Sun Sep 09, 2007 1:26 am

I wondered why the commander-in-chief of the entire Palman military wanted to see me. He'd given me orders before, of course, but usually either by visiphone or passing orders through Jager. Simh walked up to a door labeled simply "Officer's Office" and knocked. "Miun Rydori is here, as you requested, sir."

"Very good," Pyre said from within, "Send her in."

Pyre was a short, thin man with greying hair who had just turned 60. Still, when he said jump, you said "How high?" I had seen him dress down an officer half his age and a foot taller - the poor follow needed a week to recover. "Miun," he said, smiling broadly at me, "have a seat if you want."

I sat. "Why did you call me, sir?"

The general snapped open his briefcase and slid a yellow pill across the desk. "I order you to run the program on that pill."

Miuu's warning flashed through my mind, but I had no choice. Even if I didn't want to take the pill, the Slavedriver AI would simply force my body to do it. I picked the pill up and placed it under my tounge. It had a single program on it, simply entitled "Miun".

I knew what the program did as soon as I ran it, but I couldn't quite believe it. "It's gone," I said, quietly, "The Slavedriver - it's gone."

Pyre smiled. "Congratuations, Miun."

"But... why, sir?"

"I've come to trust you far more than any dog brained AI."

"So that's why you haven't given me a real order for a year?"

"Yes," Pyre said. "I wanted to see if I could really trust you, and you've proven yourself time and again."

I was almost at a loss for words. "Thank you, sir." I paused for a second. "What about my sisters, sir?"

Pyre nodded. "Your younger sisters still have growing to do, Miun. I'm sure you agree with me.

I did, of course - but Pyre didn't answer what I really wanted to know. "What about Mieu, sir?"

Pyre sighed, which surprised me. "I trust Mieu as much as you, but there's a reason for her being the way she is."

"Why, sir?"

Pyre paused for a couple seconds before saying, "Alright. Miun, what's said here will stay between you, me, and Commandant Jager."

Jager? What did that nutcase have to do with anything? "Of course, sir. Please tell me."

"Developing you androids cost a fantastic amount of meseta - every system you have needed a full scientific team, and many discoveres were made during the process. However, it almost bankrupted Sa Riik Robotics before a prototype could be built. You of course know about the artifical consciousness ban?"

I nodded. "The military isn't bound by that."

"No, but to get the money to have you built, we needed the apporval of the science council. They argeed, as long as the android looked non-human."

"Mieu." I said, "But what about me and the others."

"We lied." Pyre smiled. "We said we'd build one, but we asked for enough for all of you. We still had to keep the argeement on Mieu. Miun, Mieu will be free, but it'll take time. Trust me."

I, naturally, didn't like the answer - but I felt certain that was the truth. Not the entire story, but I figured I'd learn more later. "I will, sir. Thank you."

"Now," Pyre put his briefcase on the table and snapped it open, "I'm sure you'd like to know why you were built."

It was something that didn't really bother me, but I said, "Yes, sir."

"Put simply, Miun, you and your sisters were built to liberate us all."

"What do you mean?" I asked, not hiding the somewhat surprised look on my face, "Doesn't His Majesty control Palma?"

"Sadly, no." Pyre reached into his briefcase and pulled out a photograph of a blue spaceship. Despite the blurriness of the image, I could make out the word "Noah" painted on it's hull. "Over a thousand years, this ship - and the Earthmen on it - arrived from a planet known as "Earth"."

"I've never heard of it," I said.

"I'm not surprised." Pyre reached back into suitcase and pulled out a stack of photos. "Recognize any of these faces?"

I wasn't expecting to, but I recognized most of them "That's the prime minister, and that's the tyrant LaShec.

"They're all Earthmen. They've infested the government for a very long time, and they've used their influence to change our culture. For example, 700 years ago, the education minister at the time mandated that English be taught in schools. Within fifty years, it became our official language. English, before that, was totally unknown - and guess what the education minister was?"

"A large yellow chirper?" I said with a straight face.

Pyre laughed. "That would have made our problems much easier."

"Why are the Earthmen doing this?" I said, getting back to the point. "A thousand years is a long time to wait."

"Yes. We're certain that the same Earthmen have been spotted for hundreds of years."

"How? Are they not human?"

"Look at this," Pyre fished around in his briefcase yet again and handed a paper to me. "Look at this."

It was some sort of DNA report - other than that, I couldn't understand it. "Sir, I know a lot, but not everything."

"Sorry," Pyre said. "I forgot exactly what training we put you through. The report, I've been told, is that other than a few minor differences, they're as human as I am."

"How can they live so long, then?"

"We're not sure. Will you help us fight the Earthmen?"

"Of course," I replied.

Pyre reached back inside his briefcase and pulled out a thick folder. "This is everything that's needed to make you a real person. IDs, birth certificates, the works. They're real and will pass any check. There's also all the info that we have on the Earthmen - destroy that when you're done."

The first item in the folder was a military ID. "I'm a colonel, sir?"

"Yes. Officially, you'll be attached to me as an attache." He snapped the briefcase shut. "In a couple days, you and Mieu will be assigned to an apartment in the city. Feel free to tell her that, but nothing else we've said here. We don't want her to be ordered to share secrets with the wrong people."

I nodded. "I understand."

"Dismissed."

September 7th, 3086, Mission High School

"I stood in the lobby for a minute" Miun said to the class, "just trying to get over the fact that I was free. There was nothing stopping me from walking out of the base and disappearing. Believe me, that's a powerful feeling." She turned to Mieu. "I'm done."

Mieu stood from her desk. "Before we get to questions, I have to assign you your homework."

There were a few groans.

"It won't be that bad. Now, I want a paragraph summarizing what Miun said today, a paragraph about what you'd have done in Miun's shoes, and lastly a paragraph about yourself." Mieu repeated the assignment. "Alright. Tomorrow, we're going to cover both Palma's history, and our life before Miun was freed. With that in mind, any questions?"

A hand rose. "What is AW?"

"Good question," Mieu said. "AW is a dating system introduced by the Earthmen. The calendar is exactly like our own, except AW 0 is 2086. The problem is that, while the Palman day is virtually identical to Earth's, Parma's year is 10 days shorter. That means, one year New Year's Day will be in winter, and 18 years later it'll be in the middle of the summer. Any other questions? Class dismissed."
Last edited by Amwhere on Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:44 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby Malakai » Sun Sep 09, 2007 12:21 pm

Heh...I remember the old one. Quite ambitious to start it up again.
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Postby Amwhere » Tue Sep 25, 2007 8:28 am

A question for my faithful (hopefully) readers (again, hopefully):

Would you like it better if my new sections stay the way they are now (posted to the board), or written to another site like Black Waltz has done with her story:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2975049/1/P ... Sirens_Way

I could even do it both ways - but one way would be easier to maintain, especially if I need to edit things.
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Postby LegoMuskCat » Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:26 pm

Amwhere wrote:A question for my faithful (hopefully) readers (again, hopefully):

Would you like it better if my new sections stay the way they are now (posted to the board), or written to another site like Black Waltz has done with her story:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2975049/1/P ... Sirens_Way

I could even do it both ways - but one way would be easier to maintain, especially if I need to edit things.

I found that site very awkward when it came to that sort of thing...tried uploading some fanfiction I've written and it caused problems for some reason. (file type, maybe) :P But hey, that's just me.

Personally, I think the way it's being done now is just fine. All the posts are in the same thread, and it's easy to just scroll down to read the next part. :)

I think the better question is, what works best for you?
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Postby Black Waltz 0 » Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:59 pm

Post where it's easiest for you, and where all your friends are! :D

I only use ff.net because all my friends have accounts there, and I've been posting on it for years. I like the way it keeps my stories organised.

Regarding your story here, I never got a chance to read it in the past, so the rewritten version is new to me. And this looks very interesting. You have to write more!
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Postby Amwhere » Wed Sep 26, 2007 5:12 am

I'll keep writing it here, then. When it gets a little longer, I'll put the whole thing on my "website".

And a new section is coming soon. :)
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Postby Amwhere » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:49 am

Wednesday, September 8th, 3086, Mission High School.

The class filled quickly. "Good morning," Mieu said. "Pass up your homework and we'll get started."

A hand rose. "Yes, Robert?"

"Why don't you use the desk computers like any other class? And why don't we turn papers in to our online folders?"

"I find that using pencil and paper allows students to learn better," Mieu replied. "Trust me, I've been teaching for a long time. I'm not grading on your spelling, anyway."

Miun set the collected stack of papers on Mieu's desk. "That looks good," Mieu said. "Let's get started. Today. as I said yesterday, we'll be looking at Palma's history, as well as our own lives before Miun gained her freedom. We'll start with Palma. Miun?"

"The history of humans on Palma starts here, on Earth. Somehow, humans got from here to Palma - in an age where the horse was the fastest form of transport. Based off several ancient Palman texts, here's what probably happened..."

January 26th, 1831 BC, Somewhere near present day Bern, Switzerland.

Aikre sighed. The fire in his modest house was pleasantly warm, but he had to go outside into the oppressive cold. He put on his fur mittens, and after steeling himself for what was coming, he pushed the door open.

The cold cut through him like a knife. He huddled into his furs as best he could and trudged through the snow towards the lake. Sometimes Aikre hated being a blacksmith's apprentice. When the weather turned bitter cold and the other residents of the city either stayed at home or congregated at a food hall, his master Theri worked... and sent Aikre to fetch ore.

It wouldn't be nearly as bad if Aikre was the apprentice to any other blacksmith in the city; they paid porters to carry the ore to their workshops. Theri, however, was a cheapskate, and so, here Aikre trudged.

He pulled the warehouse door open. Grabbing a shovel, he filled a cart with ore and pushed it back outside. Aikre shook his head when the cart's thin iron shod wheels sunk into the snow. Now he'd have to drag the heavy cart.

Aikre finally reached Theri's workshop. He put the cart in the ore shed, and went into the work room.

"Good morning," Theri said, looking up from the anvil. "Let's get to work."

It was an hour later when Aikre looked up from his work and saw a bright light coming from under the door. "Master, what's that?" He said, pointing.

"I don't know." Together, master and apprentice went outside. Hanging above the wooden roofs of the city was a orb of bright white light. Aikre and Theri stared at it, speechless, until Aikre said, "What is that?"

Theri said nothing.

Suddenly, the orb of light enveloped Aikre, Theri, and the rest of the city. And then, just as suddenly, the light was gone. The bitter cold of a mountain winter was replaced with a breezy warmth. The snow capped mountains that surrounded the valley were gone, replaced by a flat plain of waving grass.

From the palace at the center of the city the announcement horn bellowed. "Come on," Theri said, calmly. "Her Majesty must know what's happened."

The square in front of the palace was full by the time the pair got there. It seems that the citizens of the city weren't afraid, but rather bewildered.

The herald on the palace balcony blew his horn. "All bow before Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Alis IV!"

"My loyal subjects!" The Empress said. "Today, the Great Light has given us these lands you now see around you! We must..."

September 8th, 3086, Mission High School

"What was that light, anyway?" Nicole asked.

"Most likely some sort of extraterrestrial," Miun replied. "The light visited Palma at least four times after this, and each time it gave an advance to Palma: steam engines, for example."

"Why?" Nicole said.

"No one knows." Miun answered. "Now, from the time of humanities arrival on Palma to the arrival of the Earthmen thousands of years later, Palma's history is quite boring. Boring in comparison to Earth's history, anyway. Through out the vast majority of Palma's history, the planet was unified under one king. You've heard some of the things the Earthmen did after they showed up, and as the class goes on, you'll hear more.""Now," Mieu said, "we'll jump ahead five millennia or so, to my 'birthday'. We have two, actually: The first was when we were born in virtual reality, and our first awakening in the real world. So, that means you'll have to get us presents on two days!" She grinned. "Just kidding. We both celebrate our awakening day as our birthday."

"While in real time it was only a month or so, it seemed like we had spent 23 years in virtual reality. In VR, we had a virtual human body - we got hurt, sick, hungry... while it was only virtual, it seemed real to us at the time."

"This is what happened on my last day in virtual reality," Mieu said, "and what happened after my awakening."

October 13th, AW1270: Virtual Reality

I sat in the spring sun, uncomfortably sweaty in my black chef's uniform. The college president droned on and on about how we were excellent students and that we were so dedicated. Never mind that this school had the reputation of being the party school in the cooking college circuit.

"I present to you the class of 1269!" At that, I threw my chef's head high into the air with a cheer, and I gratefully took off my chef's jacket.

I picked up a random hat off the ground and made my way across the rugby pitch to the stands, where Miun and the rest of the spectators were filing on to the grass to congratulate the graduates. Suddenly, my foot found a hole in the field and I tripped, falling on my stomach.

My knee stung a bit. My ankle hurt, but not all that badly.

"You alright, sis?" My younger sister offered me a hand.

"I think so, Miun," I said as Miun helped my to my feet, "I tweaked my ankle."

I limped over to the stands and sat down. As I took off my shoe to look at my ankle to make sure it wasn't sprained, Miun asked, "You got any plans later?"

My ankle wasn't swelling, and the pain was starting to fade. "A few friends and I are going out to celebrate."
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Postby Amwhere » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:51 am

"You deserve it, Mieu." Miun smiled. "We can celebrate later."

I stood up. By now my ankle was just sore. "I'll see you later, sis."

"I'll be waiting," She walked off.

I made my way to the parking lot, where my friends were talking. "I saw you fall," one of them asked me, "you alright?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

We hopped into a cab and told the driver to drive to a restaurant. The food was excellent, and we moved on to the bar close to our house. I never seemed to be able to get the buzz by friends got from alcohol, and I normally didn't drink. Tonight, though, we all drank, laughed, and got very, very drunk.

The five of us stumbled out of the bar into the night. "Let's take the shortcut home!" One of my friends slurred.

I was having trouble standing up straight, but my mind was crystal clear. "Crossing the track isn't a smart idea when you're sober." I spoke slowly, trying not to slur. "Besides, it's only going to save us a couple minutes."

"Oh, come on." My friends pulled me with them on to the track. I watched them cross the track one by one and when they were done, they yelled, "See? It's safe!"

I could have gone back. I probably should have. But, right then, being alone at night while drunk didn't sound all the great either. I began to cross, stumbling a bit on the smooth metal.

In the dim light my already injured foot found an open service hole. I felt something snap and a searing pain shot up my leg. I tugged my leg, trying to free it, but all I got was more searing pain.

"Mieu!" My friends yelled out from the far side. "The carrier's coming!"

I looked up and saw a pair of lights round the bend. The massive hover carriers carried cargo from place to place at nearly the speed of sound, and I had one speeding towards me.

Fear took hold of me as I franticly tried to free my ankle, but it would not budge. I looked back up and saw the carrier was slowing, but it wouldn't stop in time. I close my eyes and hoped for a miracle. The light filled my eyelids, and...

October 16th, AW1270: Sa Riik Laboratories, Techna, Palma

Mieu paused in her story. "Now, I want you all to keep in mind, now and in the future, that while I'll try to put my senses into human terms the best I can, they're not exactly what I feel."

The rushing of the rapidly approaching carrier was replaced by the soft whoosh of fans.

Then, suddenly, it hit me. I knew that I was an android, and I knew what my true body was capable of. I knew that, with just a thought, I could see in the ultraviolet and infrared, amongst other things.

I opened my eyes and saw that my body looked nothing like my virtual one. I was a little disappointed in my artificial appearance, but I was happy to be alive.

I was in a nondescript white room. The was only a stainless steel table and chair in it, and only a computer screen and a door broke the featureless white of the walls.

The door opened and a tall man with greying brown hair and wearing a white lab coat entered the room. I realized that I could see the pores on his face and the individual threads in his coat. I didn't want to see that, and with that though, my vision turned down to the same I was used to. I could violate someone privacy with these sensors, I thought.

"Hello, Mieu," The man said. "I'm Dr. Syre. Welcome to the real world. I'm sorry we had to kill you in virtual reality like that, but you needed it. Remember that fear, Mieu, for you'll likely never need to feel that again."

"Hello." My voice sounded the same. "And I hope I don't feel that again."

"I'll be running tests on you to make sure everything works. How do you feel."

"Like I should be, I guess." I replied.

"You'll get used to your body quickly," Dr. Syre said.

Once the shock of the realization of my true nature that worn off somewhat, something else came to mind. "Is Miun real?"

Dr. Syre nodded. "In fact, she had just died in VR, and you'll be able to see her when she awakens in a couple days. We were a bit worried about her, actually. She took your death hard."

"That's an understatement," Miun said, "For days after her death I didn't get out of bed save to go to the bathroom and eat. I, literally, became depressed as I could possibly be. It was a virtual year between Mieu's death and my own, and I never really recovered until I saw her in reality."

"I'm sure she'll feel better once she sees me," I said. "Or the new me, at any rate."

"I'm sure she well." Syre said, moving over to the computer screen on the wall, "Now, I order you to sit in that chair."

That's rude, I thought. Suddenly a voice rang in my head. "An order has been given. Please follow it."

Huh? What was that? And what was the voice going to do, make me sit? A instant later I knew that answer as my body moved of it's own accord. I tried to stop it, but it wouldn't respond until I was sitting.

Dr. Syre nodded and turned to me. "The Slavedriver's working."

"That's what that was?"

"Yes." He sighed. "I had a small part in your creation, Mieu, and I find putting something like that on a sentient being like yourself to be barbaric. We've moved far past the time where we had slaves... but here we are again."

"Thank you for caring, doctor." I said, honestly.

"Don't tell anyone this, but your father has given me and the handful that knows the truth about the Mieu Project that you will be freed. When, I don't not know."

"My father?" I said. "Who is he?"

"I can't tell you, Mieu. The creation of artificial consciousness like you is highly illegal. Although we have approval for you, if word got out about who built you... it could be use as a chip for blackmail. Or worse."

"I understand."

"We've got a lot of testing to do. Let's start."

September 8th, 3086: Mission High School.
"The testing was both to get me used to my body and to make sure everything worked," Mieu said. "A couple days after I was awoken, it was Miun's turn."

"Yes," Miun said, "it was. I died in hostage situation gone horribly wrong. When I woke up, though, I saw Mieu's face looking at me and I didn't care that I was an android, or that I had for follow every order given to me. None it mattered... my sister was alive."
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Postby Amwhere » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:54 am

The class, Mieu's highly experienced eye could tell, was paying full attention to the presentation.

"After testing," Mieu said, "We learned what we had been designed for - spying, assassination, and sabotage - we were the ultimate special forces operative. To that end we were trained for twenty hours a day for four years in anything that could help us, such as computer hacking, forgery, firearms, personal combat... really, you name it, there's a chance we'd trained at least a little in it."

"Why not twenty four hours a day?" A student asked.

"Not everything can be taught in the classroom." Mieu replied. "Miun got to go out any enjoy Techna's attractions. I got to work in the base's kitchen. I didn't feel slighted - after all, I looked like an dumb robot, and I enjoy cooking."

"After our training," Mieu continued, "I worked on the base. Miun, however, got to work with General Pyre's elite Eagle Team. What Miun did with the Eagle Team isn't important, but we'll see them again in this class. And that brings us to the day Miun got her freedom. Any questions?"

Nicole raised her hand. "I know that this may sound like a stupid question," the blond haired girl said, "but don't you two set off metal detectors?"

The class laughed. "It's a valid question!" Mieu exclaimed. After the class had calmed down, she continued. "As you can see, we look perfectly human. If you came up and touched us, hugged us, or poked us, we'd feel perfectly human, too." Mieu reached into her desk and pulled out a screwdriver. "In fact..." She rolled up her white shirt sleeve and thrust the screwdriver into her forearm and pulled it out. Blood welled out of the wound and went down her arm, dripping on to her desk. "If you tested this blood, it would return as human." Mieu wiped the blood off her arm.

A sharp eyed student at the front of the class exclaimed, "There's no wound there!"

Mieu smiled. "Our skin and musculature are made of millions of nanobots, much like your skin is made of cells. Our skin happens to be able to grow back a little faster. Under that is our armor skeleton, and under that is our true muscles, power plant, et cetera. Of course, all of this doesn't answer Nicole's question - do we set off metal detectors." She paused.

"The answer is: Not if we don't want to. Our skeletons and insides are made of metal. However, we have a system that defeats scans like a metal detector's, so we will read as human. Anymore questions?"

The class was silent.

"Homework for tonight will be to write a page summarizing what was presented in class today. For those who stay for lunch, we've got cheeseburgers with all the fixings, and a classic cartoon from Palma for you. Class dismissed."
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Postby Amwhere » Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:06 am

The story I post here are basically a first draft - I've polished them a little, but I know there's some rough spots in there. So... I'd love constructive criticism. Every so often I'll take that and polish it up for the website version.

(I've put the website up: http://www.geocities.com/amwhere/story.html )

Anyway, here it is. :)
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Postby Amwhere » Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:46 am

How do you guys are gals like my theory on how humans got to Palma? (It'll be fully explained before the end of the book, I promise.)
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Postby Amwhere » Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:53 am

I should have a new section up in a couple days.

I'd still like a comment or two on the old one. :)
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Postby Amwhere » Sat Oct 06, 2007 9:49 am

Thursday, September 9th, 3086: Mission High School

After homework was collected, Mieu said, "Today, you'll see Miun and I fight!"

There were a few cheers in the room.

"Remember two days ago that General Pyre said we were going to be living in an apartment? Well..."

April 9th, AW1276, Techna, Palma

Mieu and I sat in the back of the military transport truck. We drove down a street of nearly identical houses - differently colored cubes with convex tops. We stopped in front of a house painted a soft yellow. "We're here, ma'am." The driver said. He passed a key card to Miun. "This house is yours."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Sure as sure can be."

I shrugged. "All right. Come along, Mieu."

We got out, and as soon we were inside the house, Mieu said, "A bit more that Pyre said we'd get."

"Yeah," I replied, dropping my duffle bag on the floor. "Pretty bare in here." The kitchen had the standard refrigerator, stove, and auto-cooker. The rest of the house turned out to be bare, save the combination computer/phone/television set into the living room wall.

"Why do we need four bedrooms?" Mieu said.

"I don't know." I turned on the computer. "We do need to find furnishings for this place."

Mieu nodded. "How much meseta did Pyre give you?"

"Almost enough to buy this place," I said. That was an exaggeration, of course, but the six years of "back pay" Pyre gave me was quite a bit.

There was a knock on the front door. I waited until Mieu was in the alcove near the kitchen entrance before I opened it.

It was a older lady with grey hair carrying a plate of warm cookies. "Hello." She said, looking up at me. "I was on my porch when you drove up." She handed me the cookies. "I just baked these."

"Thank you," I said, smiling. "I'm Miun."

"My name is Arie." She looked around me and into the house. "Are you living here alone?"

I nodded. "Just me and my cyborg Mieu."

"Here on Earth," Miun said, "'Cyborg' means a human that has some sort of mechanical parts. On Palma, 'cyborg' means a robot that has human looking features. Most cyborgs on part only have human looking faces... although, if you feel them, the vast majority feel like warm plastic. Mieu's human looking face, shoulders, and thighs are rare, and even more rare is that her skin felt pretty much like skin."

"Of course, I look and feel perfectly human now," Mieu added.

"Duh." Miun replied, cracking a smile.


"Your cyborg looks a lot like you," Arie remarked.

"My parents surprised me with her," I said.

"So what do you do, Miun? You a student?"

I shook my head. "I'm an officer in the King's Army. I keep His Majesty's cyborgs in tip-top shape."

It was Arie's turn to shake her head. "What's a young pretty girl like you doing in the military?"

"It's my choice."

Arie smiled. "Good for you. Anyway, I need to get ready to go out. Enjoy the cookies."

I sighed as I closed the door.

"It's alright, sis," Mieu said, as if reading my mind, "I know you don't mean it."

"I know, Mieu. I still hate calling you a mere cyborg." I took the wrap off the plate of cookies. "Want a cookie?"

September 9th, 3086, Mission High School[/b
]Mieu reached under her desk and picked up a large plate of cookies. Setting them on her desk, she said, "Come up and take one." Once the class had settled down, Mieu continued. "After a long and boring night..."

[b]April 10th, AW1276, Miun's and Mieu's house

I was sitting on the floor, cross legged, watching TV with Miun. We had the windows fully opaque - a cyborg that I looked to be should be in their alcove, staring blankly into space - not watching morning TV. Luckily for me, one of the bedrooms had an only window that faced a solid fence, so I had somewhere to go to be myself.

"I wonder when the furniture will arrive," Miun said.

"Soon, I hope. I can almost hear my echo in here.". If I was listening for it, I probably could have heard my echo, but that wasn't the point.

The phone rang. Miun got up to answer it, while I got out of the phone's angle of view.

It was General Pyre, and I moved back in the phone's view. "Good morning," He said. "I hope the house is to your liking."

"It is, sir," Miun replied. "But it's a bit more than we were expecting."

"I forgot we had it, and I thought it would make a nice surprise. Besides, who knows how the extra bedrooms will be useful?"

"Thank you, sir," Miun said.

Pyre's voice lost it's casualness. "Now to business. I've sent someone to pick you both up. You're to report to Commandant Jager."

"Jager, sir?" Miun didn't hide the disappointment in her voice.

"I know he's a few feathers short of a chirper, Miun, but he's a local hero and I can't just remove him."

Miun sighed. "Yes, sir."

Well, he did save two dozen people by personally running into a burning building, I radioed to my sister. That has to count for something.

It has, Miun replied. He's not in a insane asylum, is he?

He's not that crazy. Actually, I think it's kind of funny.

Funny? It'll be funny when he orders us to hunt 'them'.

Pyre was none the wiser to our almost instantaneous conversation. "Your ride will be here shortly," he said. "Good luck, both of you." He hung up.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on our door. Miun opened it, and it was the same driver that drove us here yesterday. "Ma'am, I'm here to take you to Commandant Jager."

"I was alerted to this." Miun replied. "Come along, Mieu."

When we arrived at the base and had parked in front of the base headquarters, the driver turned to Miun and handed her a set of keycards. "That buggy's yours," he said, pointing at the small battery powered car we were parked next to.

I had owned a buggy like that during my life in VR. It was designed to be storable in small spaces, such as the small storage areas in an apartment building. To that end, the buggy only weighed two hundred pounds, and could break down into sections to make carrying easier. However, it's small battery could only hold a couple hours worth of power, and it could barely putt along at forty miles an hour. Miun and I could pick the buggy up and run carrying it at twice of the buggy's top speed.

Miun thanked the driver, and I followed her into the headquarters building.

"Colonel Rydori to see Commandant Jager," Miun said to the secretary.

"He's waiting for you," the secretary responded, "Go on in."

Miun opened the Commandant's office door. "Come in, quickly," Jager hissed from inside, "And close the door!"

There is no lights on in Jager's office, and while Miun and I could see, we knew it was almost pitch black to Jager's eyes. Jager was a short man that always seemed to wear grandiose hats that were a size too large. He was searching for something in his desk. As he did, however, his feather covered hat feel on the floor.

Miun turned on her eyelights to help him. "Turn those down!" He hissed, "We don't want them to be watching!"

"Them, sir?" Miun asked. She always asked that question... at least the couple times I was with her when she talked to Jager.

"Them!" That was always Jager's response. "Ah, here it is." He unfurled a map on his desk. "Yesterday, we've received reports of a raid on a small village," he pointed at an unmarked spot in the Termina foothills, "it seems only a couple men and a cyborg were involved."

"Only a couple men and a cyborg?" Miun echoed. "Even a village sheriff should be able to repulse that."

"This is a 'backwards' village." Jager said.

"Ah." Miun said, nodding.

"Backwards village?" Robert asked.

"It's kind of like the Amish," Mieu answered. "They only use limited technology, and high powered weapons aren't part of that."


"I want you two to go to that village and bring those bandits to justice," Jager said.

"Consider it done, sir."

"Good. One more thing: General Pyre asked me to tell you that picking up a new set of claws at the cyborg shop wouldn't be a bad idea."

"Anything else, sir?" Miun asked.

"No, you're dismissed." We turned to leave. "Be sure to watch out for them!"
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