06-16-2015, 11:20 PM
"Greetings, traveling Prime!"
Prime? Athena had been called many things before, but Prime was never among them. She wouldn't let her confusion show, though. She simply faced the approaching human. The voice was male, and muffled by some sort of mask... a space helmet, made of the same material as the rest of his armor (as she could tell when he came close enough). He was holding a gun, but in a traditional relaxed position. She jumped a little as she realized that more were approaching behind him - three, four, five? Athena gripped Crescent Gold and automatically tried to delve into the front man's mind to sense his intentions.
She couldn't.
Well. That would make things very different for her. That wasn't even one of her most recently-acquired abilities: she had been able to read minds since the second week of her existence. This dimension was rapidly becoming distasteful to her. Should she attack these people? No, there were too many for her to handle in her current pathetic state. This really was pathetic, after all. So, best to hear them out... and probably run for it if they proved to be hostile. At least she could always run.
The leader of the group stopped a few feet in front of her, Athena analyzing his every move. He coughed slightly and began addressing her.
"My allies and I send warmest welcomes from the majestic Empire of Coruscant. We are glad to see another Prime such as yourself arriving in the wondrous Omniverse." He uses too many positive adjectives, Athena thought dubiously. "We are commanded to assist newcomers in any way they might find necessary. We can answer any questions you might have, and would be glad to guide you to our world if you so wish." Ah, so it's a welcoming committee. Carrying guns. "Coruscant's high leader, Emperor Palpatine, wishes that you consider joining the Empire's faction as well. We are always open to talented Primes who can help us to enforce good and justice across the worlds."
Well, at least they claimed to work for the greater good. She had met plenty of groups that were blatantly evil and proud of it. However, there was no way in the three Timelines that she was going to join this faction of theirs outright. This group reminded her far too much of Firewall.
~~~
Athena, Delta, Abstract, and Zamir stood in uniform, in a line before Alice, their "personal Firewall representative." She held a clipboard as she addressed them.
"Thank you all very much for retrieving that abandoned spaceship so expeditiously. I have no doubt that you will all soon be excellent representatives of our fantastic company." She gave them all a warm-ish, fake-ish smile.
Abstract rolled his eyes in an exaggerated fashion. Delta shot him a glare, but Athena had to agree on some level. This woman was overly enthusiastic.
"Now, I just need a regular report on the task. Did you encounter any trouble on your way to the empty ship?" Alice continued.
"No, nothing of import," said Delta.
"Was there anything unusual on the ship or in its interior?"
Athena stiffened ever so slightly, but in a very calm voice, she asked, "What do you mean?"
"Oh, just anything outside of the regular equipment, especially seemingly dangerous material."
Athena's mind raced. Firewall didn't know, did they? About the strange substance that she had found? They certainly couldn't know how when she touched it, it gave her the strange ability of sensing human presences around her and speaking without her mouth... she snapped back to attention as Alice continued.
"Was there any sort of glowing substance in the ship's main storage container?"
That was far too uncannily specific. What if Firewall did know all about it, and this was a test of honesty? They had to tell the truth. And Athena had to do it. She was the one who had found it. The others were all looking at her expectantly.
"Well, some, yes. It was blue..."
There was no visible change in the face of Alice. There hadn't been much expression to begin with. All the same, Athena's stomach churned. The Firewall employee looked noncommittally down at her clipboard and scribbled a couple of things.
"What did you do?" she interrogated.
"I touched it..." Athena trailed off, growing more and more uneasy.
"And absorbed it?" Alice looked right at her. Athena gave a tiny nod.
As cool as ever, Alice reached into her Firewall official jacket, drew out a pistol, and aimed it at Athena's head, right between the eyes.
From that day forward, Athena was an official fugitive from the most powerful corporation in the universe.
~~~
Yes, definitely best not to trust them all too much yet. But she was quite interested in having some questions answered, and it had just occurred to her that she could be reborn in this world. (That would take some getting used to.) Therefore, she didn't have all that much to worry about, did she? She responded to the man who had greeted her: "I would very much like to see this Empire. I've been wandering for several minutes without direction. In the meantime, I also have just a few questions." The man seemed relieved - perhaps he was used to being attacked instead of treated cordially.
"Very well, this way," he said in an almost-friendly voice. Athena followed, still instinctively gripping Crescent Gold. She wasn't calm just yet.
Prime? Athena had been called many things before, but Prime was never among them. She wouldn't let her confusion show, though. She simply faced the approaching human. The voice was male, and muffled by some sort of mask... a space helmet, made of the same material as the rest of his armor (as she could tell when he came close enough). He was holding a gun, but in a traditional relaxed position. She jumped a little as she realized that more were approaching behind him - three, four, five? Athena gripped Crescent Gold and automatically tried to delve into the front man's mind to sense his intentions.
She couldn't.
Well. That would make things very different for her. That wasn't even one of her most recently-acquired abilities: she had been able to read minds since the second week of her existence. This dimension was rapidly becoming distasteful to her. Should she attack these people? No, there were too many for her to handle in her current pathetic state. This really was pathetic, after all. So, best to hear them out... and probably run for it if they proved to be hostile. At least she could always run.
The leader of the group stopped a few feet in front of her, Athena analyzing his every move. He coughed slightly and began addressing her.
"My allies and I send warmest welcomes from the majestic Empire of Coruscant. We are glad to see another Prime such as yourself arriving in the wondrous Omniverse." He uses too many positive adjectives, Athena thought dubiously. "We are commanded to assist newcomers in any way they might find necessary. We can answer any questions you might have, and would be glad to guide you to our world if you so wish." Ah, so it's a welcoming committee. Carrying guns. "Coruscant's high leader, Emperor Palpatine, wishes that you consider joining the Empire's faction as well. We are always open to talented Primes who can help us to enforce good and justice across the worlds."
Well, at least they claimed to work for the greater good. She had met plenty of groups that were blatantly evil and proud of it. However, there was no way in the three Timelines that she was going to join this faction of theirs outright. This group reminded her far too much of Firewall.
~~~
Athena, Delta, Abstract, and Zamir stood in uniform, in a line before Alice, their "personal Firewall representative." She held a clipboard as she addressed them.
"Thank you all very much for retrieving that abandoned spaceship so expeditiously. I have no doubt that you will all soon be excellent representatives of our fantastic company." She gave them all a warm-ish, fake-ish smile.
Abstract rolled his eyes in an exaggerated fashion. Delta shot him a glare, but Athena had to agree on some level. This woman was overly enthusiastic.
"Now, I just need a regular report on the task. Did you encounter any trouble on your way to the empty ship?" Alice continued.
"No, nothing of import," said Delta.
"Was there anything unusual on the ship or in its interior?"
Athena stiffened ever so slightly, but in a very calm voice, she asked, "What do you mean?"
"Oh, just anything outside of the regular equipment, especially seemingly dangerous material."
Athena's mind raced. Firewall didn't know, did they? About the strange substance that she had found? They certainly couldn't know how when she touched it, it gave her the strange ability of sensing human presences around her and speaking without her mouth... she snapped back to attention as Alice continued.
"Was there any sort of glowing substance in the ship's main storage container?"
That was far too uncannily specific. What if Firewall did know all about it, and this was a test of honesty? They had to tell the truth. And Athena had to do it. She was the one who had found it. The others were all looking at her expectantly.
"Well, some, yes. It was blue..."
There was no visible change in the face of Alice. There hadn't been much expression to begin with. All the same, Athena's stomach churned. The Firewall employee looked noncommittally down at her clipboard and scribbled a couple of things.
"What did you do?" she interrogated.
"I touched it..." Athena trailed off, growing more and more uneasy.
"And absorbed it?" Alice looked right at her. Athena gave a tiny nod.
As cool as ever, Alice reached into her Firewall official jacket, drew out a pistol, and aimed it at Athena's head, right between the eyes.
From that day forward, Athena was an official fugitive from the most powerful corporation in the universe.
~~~
Yes, definitely best not to trust them all too much yet. But she was quite interested in having some questions answered, and it had just occurred to her that she could be reborn in this world. (That would take some getting used to.) Therefore, she didn't have all that much to worry about, did she? She responded to the man who had greeted her: "I would very much like to see this Empire. I've been wandering for several minutes without direction. In the meantime, I also have just a few questions." The man seemed relieved - perhaps he was used to being attacked instead of treated cordially.
"Very well, this way," he said in an almost-friendly voice. Athena followed, still instinctively gripping Crescent Gold. She wasn't calm just yet.
![[Image: 2WaRJHm.png]](http://i.imgur.com/2WaRJHm.png)