Can you hear us....?
Major Somber..?
blinding lights flicker overhead
Major Somber: "What in the...? The hospital again? What's happened to me this time?"
an unfamiliar face comes into view
Unknown Doctor: "Nothing has Happened, not yet anyway"
"who in the heck are you?!?!, last thing I remember we had just arrived in a forest full of robots,
Did we have an epic battle?"
“I did not hear about a battle, but I seldom leave this facility. My name is Dr Nilah, I will need to take a sample for analysis”
just w-w-w-wait a minute there, Dr, person. I thought WE were the explorers?!?
"Seemingly sure, but we need to know how it is you are able to exist here, on this world"
Dr Nilah begins revving the chain saw
"no no no no no no no"
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP
oh, I forgot the anesthesia. pity
the major sobs a little and is knocked out by the pain
"Here is the sample you requested, and if that is all I'll let you take it from here Dr. Jazari"
"Thank you, please administer a mild stimulant to wake him back up, then you can take your leave"
Aye
Major somber once again fades back into consciousness
Sniff... sonnova bitch that hurt. that was my good leg too you sick bastards
wait, you... i know you. you we're in the forest
yes, it is a pleasure to see you again major. sorry about the loss of your one remaining functional leg
Hmmph
Are you prepared to answer questions at this time?
i take it your going to give me minimal choice to refuse
Correct Major
well then shoot your shot doc
Wonderful
are you aware of your current spatial location and method of arrival?
interdimensional highway project targeted world #24, Name unknown, Population unknown. Proximal distance to primary brikverse: Minimal. However the world does exhibit an odd phenomenon where it is causally located in between dimensions. In a sort of pocket. No other detected worlds present.
Fascinating, I was unaware that we had been detected in the wider brikverse. let alone someone figured out how to get here. Calculations indicated that wouldn't be for another few years
yeah well we had some breakthroughs
tell me how it's done
well i don't find this cot particularly comfort...
MAJOR
fine. well you see you need the portal hardware for one.
but there's no version of that portal here?
Nope, after we landed we were supposed to send an all clear back for the return tech.
"And then you need the transparent crystals to power up the portal, which we intended to source from here. Scans indicate that the crystals are plentiful near this planets core.
such a novel system
Jazari walks over to a nearby cold storage unit
“Tell me... Major, do all of your people possess the same fighting spirit your party had?”
“The anthropomorphic bird you brought with was especially fascinating, I’d be excited to see what other exotic life forms your people harbor”
WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!
I extracted information, and then his organs. it was.... intimate
what in the hell is wrong with you?!?
Well you see, major, this world is undergoing a sort of metamorphosis. We are changing. Behind we leave the weak, isolated, fractured people of the past. And into the future walks a reunified Rehinn, A metal Rehinn. A Perfect World.
and once that transformation is complete, I look beyond the borders of our tiny dimension.
You, intend to invade?
...yes
IT"LL NEVER WORK, the portal system was designed for small groups of explorers, NOT for an army. The energy required for even a group of 5 was immense. You would need almost infinite energy
And yet here we are, surrounded by the most brilliant minds in the brikverse. People of Science. Creators. our partnership WILL crack the code major
and if i refuse?
Please. Do. Nothing would bring me greater joy
GIVE IT A REST DOC
wait a minute... is that?!?
The decontamination unit hisses as the door opens, revealing Nervyr, having found his way to the lab
(he looks different than back home, wtf)
Teleporting your entire lab to the core of the planet? Insane
Not Changing the door code in 10 years? Also insane
Hello Nolan
hey Jaz, nice hair
shut up
what are you even doing here?
Well, I came to weigh my options. See if I could find one that let us both survive the day. and I came to see an old friend
Jazari scoffs
That's what we are? Do friends abandon each other at the drop of a hat or is that just a you thing?!
.... that's not what happened
No what happened was I spent years of my life building weapons for your fancy fucking Empire only to be tossed out because you were scared
Jaz i... you are tampering with life
YOU WERE SCARED. of what the next step was. love a good smart bomb but god forbid the machine has its own choice in who to kill
Whole lotta choice your ALL-gorithim gives them, I've seen what your machines do. I saw Kellers body.
You turned your thinkers into nothing more than glorified killing machines. Hypocrite
Anything else you want to lecture me on Saint Nolan? you, blind to the threats we are about to face as a people. would lead us into annihilation.
And your doing what exactly? last I check you had killed half the planet
AND STILL MORE MUST BE LOST. But those who remain, those who I will left up from the ashes, will be strong enough
Help me understand...? how could you? you who loved life?!?!
I've seen beyond Nolan.
Beyond what?
Our world.
Do you know what this is?
This is the Thought-Forge. The brain that controls the Thinkers.
And this?
This is the green core, well, it's encased in a protective shell. But it's in there.
What is a Core?
A sort of ancient powerful relic, apparently there are serval of them, each with a novel power over some part of reality. This is the core of life, and harmony. Its how the bots are able to communicate. However it also has a will of its own, and it showed me a universe outside of the walls of our dimension. Full of battles and conflict between trillions upon trillions of People
How is that even possible?
Even now, the powers that be out there are churning, i thought we would have serval years before we were discovered, but the scrapyard proved otherwise. and now this man here.
Let me guess? outworlder
Yep, from a place called studland. they are building a sort of Inter-dimensional teleportation network. it won't be long now before someone else finds there way here
what would you do? if faced with ancient star empires that span thousands of worlds. That are millennia old?
I don't know. jaz. I'd figure something out though I always do
splunky optimism verses the oldest forces in the universe, why does that not inspire confidence?
Call me old fashioned, there has to be another way, you can't just kill everyone that comes through a portal.
sure I can, I would lay waste to world after world to protect this one
I refuse to believe that this murderer is all that's left of my friend. But even so, in light of our current circumstances, I can't let you continue with your work.
Then I can't let you leave.
SHANKSPLOOOOOSSSHHHHHHHHH
I'm sorry Nolan, but it was a mistake to come here
I know *cough* But I needed to know, to see for myself what you are now
The person I was can't stand in the way of who I need to be, and neither can you
I don't care jaz
I remember, and I wish you could have shared just one more vision with me
Good bye old friend
BOOM
oh god, i gotta get out of here
