Chapter 12-4 The Frame (I)

Chapter 12-4 The Frame (I)

Dont fuck with the voiders.

Im serious, consangs. Just dont.

I know the other Guilds talk about Voidwatch and their Enjoined Governing Intellects like theyre the soft, coldtech version of Omnitech, but the truth is theyre better than us. Older than us. Hell. If it werent for them, wed be nothing more than savages now. A bunch of broken half-strands living in shit-heaps worshiping our new Fallwalker gods.

But here's the thing. They wont touch thaumaturgy or necrotheurgy; they treat it like poison. Anything to do with the gods or the eldritch, I guess. And considering how the rest of the big black yonder is beyond Idheim, I dont think I can blame em.

I did a run for them once. A simple retrieval job. They lent me this gunwell, it was more battle platform than gun. Best godsdamned weapon I ever got to fire. Doesnt run out of bullets. Lets you know everything in a two-hundred-kilometer radius. Everything. Aratnid nests, aeros, heartrates, hostile loadouts. I managed to shoot the loci out a bunch of golems using it.

Fifth best day of my life.

Ill tell you, if they ever decide to end their little restriction on gods, were done. Its their planet by then and they can just do what they want. But the question keeps coming back to that, doesnt it?

If Souls and Heavens put a bunch of up-jumped savages like us on the same pedestal as the titans of the void, just what the hells made the last surviving power in this Ruptured galaxy choose Idheim as their hiding spot?

-Quail Tavers, School of the Warrens

12-4

The Frame (I)

Sunrise was not from Idheim. That was clear to Avo from a glance.

The more he studied the swarms thoughtstuff, the more he found himself lost in its phantasmal symphony. Strings of mem-data flowed between each one of its bodies like liquid circuitry. As such, its mind did not form an accretion of thoughtstuff so much as it did a kaleidoscopic lattice. Bathed in its perceptive exhale, the reality behind the swarms sapience was never in doubt, but a puzzling curtain of static integers spilled from its hive-link mind.

The sinews of its dreams were ones, zeros, and symbols beyond Avos comprehension, the presence of unknown technology and withheld gnosis similar to the mystery that crowned Denton.

Ms. Denton, could you please tune the frequency for our table, Sunrise said. Its words came as a buzzing melody, the ball of thickened insects vibrating outward from the core as if a dense cloud rippling from its nucleus.

Play Hendricks. I want to hear some strings. The other newcomer said this as he settled in next to Denton, stepping down into the alcove and suddenly rotating ninety degrees upright.

His invertedness was more than literal. Where Denton and Sunrise had their minds warped by coldtech, the mans thoughstuff ran as solid and round as any self-aware creature born on Idheim. Even his aesthetic ran counter to the woman he sat beside. A flashy holocoat obscured his body from sight as he hid behind a veil of strobing darkness. Studs of chrome and chains rattled from his shoulders. A flash of various Guild-symbol parodied spiraled along his waist.

Past the disguise, however, Avo could what sounded like a piston hammering away inside the mans chest, pumping rhythmic beats as his blood surged through his arteries in constant cycles.

Avos Auto-Seance activated. Draus cast him a memory. +Hes got a Dynamite Stringsmith Mark Twelve for an arm. Real gutterware stuff. Like having six different instruments packed into a single limb. Listen. You can practically hear the twangs of the strings every time he moves.+

The limbs models and specifications spilled over Avos vision as his curiosity fed. From a brief dip into the public Nether, the appendage was popular amongst anti-Guilder revolutionaries and aficionados of classical-style voider music. Whichever clique this Cas fell into, Avo couldnt tell, but the mans face looked as tough as mistreated leather.

Three lines of ritualized scarification ran across his face and ridged the bridge of his nose, but he wasnt nearly large enough to be a born Scaarthian. His features were hardened and rough, with a substantial jawline and poorly shaven beard that resembled a clash between patches of hair upon skin. Dark green eyes glowed from within depressed sockets as he glared back at Avo, grinding his jaw from side to side.

You thinking about taking a bite, ghoul? he asked.

Avo didnt look away. Social embarrassment was a human emotion, and he was far too tired to play at pleasantries. Always. Your eyes dont look as nice as hers. But eyes are eyes. Flesh is flesh. Still enough taste there.

The man cocked his head at Avo and narrowed his eyes as he reached into the veil of his holocoat.

Draus projectile launcher unfolded with a series of clicking servos. Avos Ghostjack surged to activation after.

Chambers looked at the two sides andnot wanting to be left outignited his index finger. Leaves began to spill out from the heat as he mimed aiming a gun, his expression tight with uncertainty.

Dont do it, consang, Chambers said. Ive never shot anyone with my finger before, but Ill finger you today as my first. He paused as soon as the words left his mouth. Denton fixed him with an awkward stare.

Cas, she said, mention that youre pulling out cigarettes next time you do that?

Your biometric readings indicate a high state of arousal. Your eyes are narrowed and your blood is running fast. From all the data we have compiled, any other being sheathed in your morphology would be experiencing hyper-violent psychosis by this point. You are an extreme outlier.

He didnt quite know how to take that. Saying Im a faulty ghoul.

We dont have enough information to make a judgment based on that. Only that you are different.

Made that way, Avo replied. A long-suppressed desire unmoored within as the urge to seek out his home up in the Tiers returned. Walton had done something to create him. Build his mind.

The extent of his true nature was psychopathy and choice both, the traits gifted by determined design. Or so it seemed. If such were to be the case, then he wondered as to the memories he possessed of the Undercroft and his upbringing, of the past he supposedly lived and the life he led.

How much of it was real in totality? How much was just patchwork mem-data taken and perfected into a thinking construct by a father yearning to atone for immortal sins?

We are all made to be a certain way. By the chaos of evolution and natural birth. Or the focus and sculpture of genetic engineering. But beyond our hardware, there is the totality of our reactions to the things we face. And the lives we lead. You lead a very interesting life, Avo. Very interesting.

He caught sight of Draus smirk in his periphery. Well, shit, rotlick. Look at you charmin our little bug-consangs with all that self-control. Not havin flesh dangling between your fangs has gone and done wonders for that monstrous charisma of yours.

An Echohead slithered around and snapped out to pierce her from the other side. She caught it without looking.

Downloads done, Denton said. Her eyes were cycling now, thoughtstuff rising and cresting in active waves of restructuring sequences. The effects of eating the bee were like a phantasmal seed allowed to sprout at the center of her mind. The static of her thoughts intensified as her accretion swelled. Saving each and every detail using his Metamind, Avo studied the occurrences before him as he tried to puzzle out what was happening to Dentons mind.

From the roiling substance of thoughstuff emerged phantoms. The ghosts supporting their architecture were likewise mechanical in nature, their forms more circuitry than wisp-like, numbers running up from the roots of their flowing strands.

If youre curious about how banned mem-data gets smuggled around, this is the way it's usually done. Cas shot Denton a look as her eyes began to cycle. With how many eyes there are in the city, it doesnt take Guilder Necros long to null you with a desist once they mem-lock to the banned memories. So they parted and parceled and hidden behind cyberized brains. Pure coldtech logic enhancers and the like. Doesnt work perfectly either though. The Silvers got plenty of Incubi specialized in void-based affairs.

Which is why all confidential and unsanctioned memories are to be assembled here in a thinkeasy, Denton said, as she began molding her phantoms into shape. If what Im about to show you leak over into the public

Yeah, Avo said. Hunters.

Guild-response knots more my guess, Draus added. Doubt you just got a couple of sequences of trade secrets rattlin around in that mind of yours.

Denton shrugged coyly. A bit more, perhaps.

Her phantoms melded, forming multiple interfaces containing specific FATE Skeins and personnel profiles. Slowly, the profiles began to expand into a wider web of intrigue under the header Project Godshaper.

By the end, there were a hundred and thirteen dossiers to expand, with each separated into major columns of involvement based on profession. Guilder Godclads, freelance Fallwalkers, commissioned Agnosi, and suspected spies were highlighted with specific labels when looked upon.

Surprise followed as he noticed there were redacted profiles connected to members from Voidwatch. He hadnt known the voiders to ever assist in thaumaturgically related endeavors, and with the details withheld, his curiosity only grew.

Voidwatch, Avo said. Why are they censored?

Because we couldnt intercept the details from the suspected admins to confirm our suspicions, Sunrise said, almost mournfully.

Admins? Draus asked.

The swarm hummed melodiously. Voidwatch isnt nearly as united as you might assume, Captain Draus.

Draus sneered. Yeah, aint so different from the others, right?

Quite different, Im afraid, Sunrise said. Our union was one held by the dichotomy between extremes. But even between our various governing intellects, there are preferences in lifestyle and

Hey, wait a minute, Chambers said, interrupting Sunrise. Squinting his eyes, he leaned close to the Agnosi column as he pointed to a profile at the very top. Bringbring that one up, I think He licked his lips and shot a look at Avo and Draus. Isnt she Isnt that?

The profile expanded. The face of the Agnosi bloomed into prominence as her simulated form came into shape above the conspiracy map.

Avo felt his mind reel as Kae Kusanades face finally loaded in her entirety. Kae?