The Dark Deal

Broken images of an arrival to a planet begin to materialize.  The images themselves seem short circuited.  Distorted.  They flicker in and out.  Something is wrong.  Something went very wrong.  Warren concentrates to recall.  War machines flash in and out of focus.  Gorikak laughs histerically as he fires.  A crash landing from outter orbit.  A bomb explodes.  Callen is singed by a laser canon.  Too many images.  Senseless images.  Panic begins to fill his mind.  He's regained conscience after... after how long?  

"Where am I?"  

Darkness fills everything.  A great void where once life and activity existed.  He attempts to remove his blindfold but limbs fail to move.  Bound by something unseen.  Unfelt.  Wait!  He attempts again and is alarmed at the realization; he cannot feel anything!  For a time it is all he can do to keep the panic at bay.  Training finally reasons with him that he must be induced.  Injured.  Badly injured and having lucid dreams.  These instances are not uncommon where the patient becomes fully aware and at times feels the pain.  Good news though, no pain.  Relief and calm begin to reign again.

"Think!  Think!  What was the last thing....?"

The images begin again.  Still broken.  Warren attempts to focus, but something is wrong.  He concentrates and finally a mosaic begins to unfold, not even a tenth of what he is accustomed to reviewing.  A million images appear; each playing short distorted clips.  Finally he spots the one he is looking for.  A new face.  He needed to be killed.  Why?  What was his name?  No need to know the name right now, just what happened.  His blade is produced and horror strikes Warren as he sees the cause of his current status. Stabbed in the heart multiple times.  Dread consumes him as he realizes there is no chance for survival.  If he were at a hospital the chances would be slim, but he is too far away from one.  Death is a certainty.  He would know.

"NO! NO!! Get me out!  I'm still alive!!"

His scream is futile, his voice also fails him.  Terror seizes him, this is what he always feared the end to be like.  Empty nothing.

Suddenly a chilling voice reverberates into his core.  

"Take my hand. Serve me and I shall make you whole again."

That voice.  The same voice he has heard ever since becoming friends with... Callen?  

"We were friends once..."

That voice that beckoned him constantly.  But one can only serve a single master and he is too late in the game.  

"I know whom I serve!"  

The offer must be denied.  The hand is taken.

"I will serve you."

Warren is stunned at what just happened.  In the blink of an eye, he heard himself accept the dark ones "blessing".

"FOOL!  What have you done?!?!"  

Warren is surprised that he can feel again.  Terrific pain as never before felt racks at everything.  Pain that knows no bounds.  Sinew is torn apart.  Then suddenly, Warren ceases to exist.

-- To be continued --

Veeeery interesting......

The 3D printer humms in the brightly lit room as it finishes creating the small parts bidden by its master.  It took some time to re-route the electric panels for the lights.  The damn battle cat being no help as it continuously tried to inject its venom into Warren with the off attempts to gore him.  It now lays dormant, the poison long expended.  Machine learning has its uses, but it is so primitive.  

"Stupid machine.  Oh don't you worry kitty, you'll come in handy as soon as I'm finished here."

Allies is what Warren needs most now.  The ones he could have trusted have proven to want him dead.  Certainly multiple attempts now.  Though he cannot prove it, his near beheading seems to ring as suspicious as well.  Anger at not knowing who marked  him for that one still gnaws at him.  But nothing to the anger towards the pompous military leader who dismissed his attempted murder case as unimportant.  That was the last straw.  How he hopes the virus he planted did its job and finished him off.  

The mechanical cat stirs as rodent passes by.  Warren glances over to it.  The cat now completely ignores Warren; non-threat.

The room is domed shaped.  An intersection of tunnels long vacant since the arrival of these mechanical felines.  Brightly lit, the old faded graffiti is now apparent, telling the stories of underground crime exploits.  Warren sits at a nearby table busy at work reconstructing tiny transistors.  Parts are scattered in neat piles, each with its own use.  Technologies, some of which he is just now learning how to use; such as the robot parts collected from the strange androids in the battle of Zahtnos.  The broken crystal contained within one of the androids was quickly deemed as useless.  However, the android circuitry became alive with the intact crystal collected from an interrogation of one of the Zhodani some years back.  The thought of the interrogation brings a wicked smile to Warrens face. That poor soul had attempted to secret its use asking for a promise from Warren to return the crystal to their home planet.  Now this technology is being implemented in the new and improved bracer.  But first a willing ally is needed.  One that can bring the old and merge it with the new.

Warren stands to check on the status of the 3D printer.  As he does, a shower of translucent tentacles encircles him protectively.  It's time for another feeding.  For a time, the feedings were easy to come by.  Visitors had come on a regular basis.  Strange at first that they would be looking for him specifically.  Well armed shooting first, then asking questions, then running and dying later.  Each visit was the same.  Some ran, some stood stunned, mind melted at the sight of the tentacled fiend.  Each visit ended the same, those that stayed were devoured, the ones that ran never returned.  As the visits progressed it became apparent that these intrusions were not mere coincidences.  Before being devoured, they always attempted to appeal to Warrens humanity.  A father of this many children.  A beautiful woman waiting for them.  How hurt she would be at being widowed.  Some engaged to marry soon.  If he would but let them live they would never come after him again.  On occasion, a truly terrified victim would give a name.  The most common of which was of a woman that Warren knew.  A good friend of Callen.  A former detective and now employed by Anthony Muscatelli.  The very same woman that called Warren just prior to the limousine being blown to burning char by a missile.  Yet another thread to his old comrades attempting to kill him.  Betrayal is a bitter pill, especially of those you come to trust and risked your life for.

The hum stops followed by the pleasant chimes of a happy tune indicating that the 3D print is completed.  Gathering the final pieces from the trays, Warren hurries back to the table.  It is now complete.  With the parts salvaged from the robots of the unexpected encounter with Dr. Fibonacci and the Zhodani andriods, it is finally complete.  A spark of electricity is all it takes for it to light up and come alive.  Self sustained power rushes through it's microscopic circuitry.  Finally, an old friend has been resurrected.

Warren was a truly psychotic douche.

.... Was?

Stop giving Eric ideas...

A spark of electricity is all it takes for it to light up and come alive.  Self sustained power rushes through it's microscopic circuitry.  Finally, an old friend has been resurrected.

Why do I get the feeling that Warren is about to become the Brainiac/Tentacled Horror of the Traveller universe?

And if that is the case, Japanese school girls beware...

Maximum Shepherd wrote:

A spark of electricity is all it takes for it to light up and come alive.  Self sustained power rushes through it's microscopic circuitry.  Finally, an old friend has been resurrected.

Why do I get the feeling that Warren is about to become the Brainiac/Tentacled Horror of the Traveller universe?

And if that is the case, Japanese school girls beware...

Heh, look who's giving ideas now, Alex!