This story is one that begins with tragedy and ends with tragedy, nothing here will be understood beyond the base emotions we are pre-programmed with by natural selection, words will help but the rest is left to you to figure out. I am tired and am in need of much rest, unless you seek the truth I will ask of nothing but silence as this is a story greater than time, stone, metal, or flesh.
They call it outproxy a city adjacent from the ruins of the previous civilization. Most of it is filled with humans, or something like them, never really changes at all nothing happens here that you wont find in gossip circles all around. Each day is no different, selling, trading, hauling, general commerce and the overwatch is mandated by engineered humans, or obedient clones. The city itself is made of metal and stone and rain and darkness, time may pass but you don't see it here. Today a cloud sat almost as if it was waiting south of a town in east London, as it always does since august of this year, no one pays it a second thought. However this cloud was different, it was black not grey, which obviously put people at ease. Figures of people drag the rusted wet metal on dry steel rails, ringing in the underbelly of the city tunnels, the walls of this city patterned with what looks like sound dampened for when loud trains pass by so close to the stacked housings along the spillway. No grass or trees no one even knows what a tree is. Not even dirt, not really anyways. Each time it rains you'd think there would be praise as greenhouses are common above the underbelly, although as nice as that would be it isn't water, caustic rain filled with heavy medals and hydrochloric acids slam the metal roofs, the radiation of which heats the greenhouses and creates moisture from within. Forget the fact that there was food growing in them there would be no value in that, no what grows around these areas are mostly drugs.
Under this is mostly shops and residential, ofc the skies are filled with wires and cables but most of these are for power rather than data. Most of the jobs these people have is the redistribution of information, mostly cause everything in the intranet is tracked by the overwatch program. Material Printers from scrap are cheaper than transportation or even some cybernetics so much of what else goes on is manufacturing, guns, machine parts for any number of things. Factions rose and fell before and after this city the lack of energy is what keeps most of the fighting at a minimum, since a lot of people live either in packs of families or stark in contrast live alone completely or don't trust a single person not even their dealer. Animals are all extinct and have been for about 400 years, most of what you see are mechanisms for show or to serve as protection. The most well known forgers are in the subterrain or wasteways, faking your identity or completely changing is the norm in order to maintain privacy or protection, most forgers go under a pen-name for every cybernetic part they make, of course competition is in the quality of the parts, main manufacturers are that of large companies, forgers who have quality parts have runningmen who are a medium for the shipping of the best ones and charge a premium, never take a product from a forger who doesn't ask for a charge. Forgers are alternatively named blacksmiths as they can create entire bodies, suits, exo-skeletons each is handmade so they aren't be modified as easily, most are considered a work of art.
The cities around like outproxy like daemonkit and innerlink all surround the megacity called the core.
Each gate to the core is known as a heavens gate, guarded by the sentinels giant android humanoids they lack facial features with multiple limbs, brandishing a symbol on their chest.
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There is a beauty to it don't you think?
A process of elimination by execution, a guiding force, almost a law in regards to keeping order. However simple it might sound there is without a doubt strangeness to the execution. at first you don't feel anything as per protocol. After a time there is a light somewhere shapeless endless. It grows as does time and it seems as if the subjects are speaking to you by staring at you are they thinking? Are they believing?
You sit there telling yourself that it's impossible. You sit there spending more time evaluating could I? You never considered a reevaluation stating should I?
Chapter I - Runaway Slave
There is no action without consequence, the universe is guided on this simple principle: cause and affect. You cannot do without something being done to cause it so. This is the truth of fate and the reality of the world. Don't like it? Dream up a better one!
…
The halls boom and shove with a piercing silence.
Among the walkers there are piles of twitching pyramid scrap heaps blinking and spurring into insanity. A hand crawls with some semblance of intelligence avoiding being transplanted by a prisoner. Splashing footsteps fade in and out for a brief moment. The wind picks up as if its chasing them. Multiple figures cut through the wild grass like sharp knife weaving in between abandoned highways and rooftops.
'HAHA Another haul! What idiots for leaving their shit where i could see it! huh?'
The bigger android running with the thief turns around completely while still sprinting to scan behind them.
'Ma'am there are four of them.'
'Christ alive! Can't they just give up already??? I'm tired of having to get this stupid part every time I fuck up.'
The thief leaps onto the android and raises their hood. The android raises his arm and it detaches itself as the pink haired thief uses it as a rocket launcher to launch various spare parts the Android is made of at the concealed enemies behind them. After she lands a hit on one they intersect a railway and head down it. The pink haired thief knocks on the head of the android:
'Hey!? What time is it?'
The android replies: '1500 hours ma'am.
'Perfect! We are almost ready.'
The dark gushes of turbulent wind slowly creeps up and suddenly a train blows through one of the pursuers with a violent thud and clanking of steel as the two thieves somersault atop the train. What was left of the dark clouds appears as two humanoid shades rising from the front of the train.
'Two down, two to go!'
They sprint along the train backwards gaining distance before hiding between carts. Sound of prying metal can be heard and finally the sound of mechanized uncoupling.
'That'll keep them preoccupied for now.'
The couple rest for a brief time, the pink haired thief undoes her cloak fully and reveals an intricate array of mechanized exoskeleton supports on her collar bones and forearms piercing though her old clothes and jacket. She stands up and stretches upon a sudden shaking of the train car slowing to a halt. The android's old school monitor for a face begins to light and flicker showing a boot process and connection status before tuning itself into the radio revealing their heist.
'BZZT -d the two were seen jettisoning from the main array, on the run near 4595 Substation G2 Sector 7. Weirdly enough the threat is minimal as what was reported to be stolen was in fact just data and no products from ADOM were targeted.'
The girls eyes close, 'That's what they think.'
She pulls out the mostly spherical object and takes a plug from her wrist and pulls a wire out to plug into the object sending her eyes into shock. Her body rag dolls hanging on the edge of the railing. The android rises quickly and picks the girl up before hopping off the train cart heading into a town.
The android sighs from a walkie-talkie like voice: 'twelve hours in and i still don't get paid.'
He continues, laying her down on a wall and takes a couple parts from a heap and begins welding and tinkering. 'Ya know if you weren't such a high risk target I would probably find myself another job.'
The girl wakes back up screaming in joy: 'WOOOO HAHA, yeah good luck with that...heh.'
The android looks up and then back down continuing what he was doing.
'There isn't enough nanites to keep you from going under again, we will have to buy more if you keep trying to splice manually.
'I know. I like it manual, makes me feel free, like a bird.'
'Madetsuko? What's a bird?'
'I told you call me Tsuko, Nevermind that, what have you come up with?'
He holds up a make shift radio transmitter and gently hits the top of his head with it.
'What? need help?'
'I can't really see the back of my head now can I?'
'Alright alright, but don't judge my wiring jobs ok?'
The girl exclaims, 'And whats this talk about you worrying about my degradation, you know I'm good for another 110 years.'
The android hangs his head before replying, 'They cut production of M2's you have 50 years before any stock heap within twenty thousand miles is used up...'
The girl interjects, 'focus on the mission we have a job to finish, and you're getting paid this time, otherwise I'm breaking this dudes kneecaps. Honestly who does he think he is trying to pull a fast one on us! how was I supposed to know our target had level ten security!'
She sighs finishing her work installing the makeshift radio into the androids head.
'Geryon, I'm going to be ok alright? Leave your channels open I'm going to see if we can't get something to eat.'
Geryon stands up and raises his hand to extend an antenna out of his hand and pointer finger. The sound of static clears as she tunes his knobs at where his chin would be. There is rustling under the dunes of scrap and dirt. A crack is formed from the bottom of the valley and a mechanical worm maw whurs itself to life. The couple retreat into an area resembling a park.
Tsuko mumbles 'Woah woah wait why was this place made if there hasn't been children in decades?'
Suddenly several worms appear surrounding the park equipment made with the flesh of androids. 'How is it that we became the food?!'
Geryon raises his right arm and slams it onto a pile of cube shaped scrap and launches it at the worms. Two of them burst into black-silver liquid and hydrophobic metal scrap. The third biggest worm towers over them two fold and engulfs Geryon entirely.
Tsuko slams her fist on the worm yelling, 'HEY YOU BIG AMALGAMATED PILE OF SCRAP LET US KICK YOUR ASS! YOU-'
The worm bulges and bursts with Geryon in a 'T' pose with large triangular knifes. He shouts excitedly 'Look what I just found!'
Tsuko stands up and puts her hands on her hips, 'That's not food Geryon.'
'I can keep these right' Geryon spins the knives looking surprised.
'Only if you leave me out of carrying them for ya!' She picks up a couple pieces of worm like its logs for a fire and heads to a half destroyed apartment.
'Bring hope we have something flint like.'
After sun down the couple lay across a fire made with the corpse of the worms while also feeding on the silver-black liquid inside. 'I think this is grade 2 or 3 lubricant it was made before I was designed.' Geryon drinks the lubricant with his chest cavity.
'Don't play with your food.' Tsuko replies 'Or I'll resort to feeding you silicon based scrap instead.
They finish their dinner and run diagnostics before shutting down for the night, the hums of wild machines creep around the corners of buildings and dead trees.
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