Chapter 310: (Evil Never Dies) (2/2)

Are they...

Are they...

Are they in the SUDS system?

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TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

I thought only Terrans could be hooked into SUDS

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TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Ballroom dancing? That's one of those fads that... wait...

It was HUGE 8,000 years ago among the Cattle Queens and everyone else.

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DIGITAL ARTIFICIAL SENTIENCE SYSTEMS

OK, where are they?

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TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

Considering they fixed the emergency channels, they have to be where the hardware is.

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CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

Back up. TerraSol, what did you do to the system?

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TERRASOL

We found Legion. Turns out he wasn't dead.

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MANTID FREE WORLDS

You mentioned that.

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TERRASOL

Well, it turns out, he got into the SUDS system once before.

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TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

Daxin's wife.

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CLONE WORLDS CONSORTIUM

And the dogs and cats.

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TERRASOL

Well, who better to get us into the SUDS than Legion?

We Black Boxed him.

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MANTID FREE WORLDS

ARE YOU HIGH?

You put the master of the Fleet of One in a Black Box Project?

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TERRASOL

Who else is going to get into it? You?

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CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

Touche.

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MANTID FREE WORLDS

OK, there's some secrets going on here and I want them out in the open.

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TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

Do you need us to leave?

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MANTID FREE WORLDS

No, no. You get used to TerraSol. He's so twisty he has to screw his socks on.

Come on, spill.

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TERRASOL

All right.

There's evidence that the researchers working on the SoulNet and the SoulNet Neural Recording Application Device had made a major breakthrough.

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TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Oh boy.

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TERRASOL

We'd figured out how to add everyone to the system.

Even the Treana'ad, which meant we just needed to add the Mantid.

We added phasic energy systems to allow the Mantid to join the SUDS.

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MANTID FREE WORLDS

Oh my god. Oh my god.

THAT'S why the SUDS blew out!

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CYBERNETIC ORGANISM COLLECTIVE

If you did that, then when the Mantid attacked, they'd have a direct line straight into the system for their psychic attack!

Oh.

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TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

THAT explains why some of my people went crazy.

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TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

So, they wired the system up to accept Mantid psychics, the Mantid attacked, used psychic weaponry, and it blew out the whole system?

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TERRASOL

Not... quite.

Someone managed to get the system partially working.

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MANTID FREE WORLDS

Legion?

It was Legion, wasn't it?

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AKLTAK FREE FLIGHT

Oh, I bet it was

>You awake?

>Yeah.

>Ready?

>No.

>Close the door and you'll mat-trans to Layer Gamma.

>All right. Ready Wally?

>TRIUMPHANTBEEPING.MID

the Digital Omnimessiah.

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TERRASOL

Yeah, it was the Digital Omnimessiah. The Fourth Miracle.

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TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

Well, all this is fascinating, but how long until you're able to rejoin the rest of the universe?

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TERRASOL

Not sure. We'll probably be last.

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RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT

Oh, wow! I didn't realize anyone was actually speaking! I've been running PSA's and commercials on this channel!

Oops.

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The alarm sounded, a howling that accompanied red lights. The computers all spun up, the drives whining, using crystal platters rather than the solid state drives that had been old tech even back then. Amber monitors flickered to life and information streamed by.

The hexagonal chamber lit up, the walls blue with gold starbursts. The machinery hummed, for the second time in thousands of years.

The hum died away and the emergency lights went out, the siren going silent.

MAT-TRANS COMPLETE

was on several of the monitors.

It was silent for a long time, then the door opened.

A woman stood there. Naked.

A pack of cigarettes in one hand, a single cigarette in her mouth, a lighter in her other hand.

She lit the cigarette, inhaled, then slowly exhaled smoke before she spoke.

”Falmy, you bovine fucking bastard. I should respawn you with two cocks so I can geld you fucking twice.”