29_Triple rainbow

Flufy_Pink_Unicorn_16 slowly walked through the irradiated sands of the neutral zone.

Her stride was deliberate but unhurried, her posture straight, both hands behind her back.

For a moment she stood atop the sand dune, observing the landscape below.

There was the queue, or at least whatever was left from it. On the right there was her target, the single remaining free settlement of the people in line. Somewhere within, lied her prize, right for the taking. If only she could get to it that is.

Then her gaze shifted to the left, there the stood Generica gates, as well as the crumbled remains of the former queue shanty town. The ruins were eerily quiet, there wasn't a sign of single survivor, just the cold harsh howl of the winds.

Then she heard something, a faint voice, and another, they were saying something.

Despite herself, the young raider leader strained her ears, curious of what this might be.

“Chanting? Why in the world would anyone…”

"Argh!"

A sharp icy pain shot through the girls mind.

"Warning, foreign influence detected. Further exposure might lead to full…"

"D..ddisengage…" She barely managed to mutter, her mind quickly becoming numb, as if she was looking at herself through someone else’s eyes…

"D..dddddiiii disengage complete." The mechanical voice in her head finally said, albeit after a short but very concerning digital stutter.

Immediately the pressure in her head subsided, as if a heavy weight has been lifted from her mind. She was once again in control of herself.

"Disable all transmission sources!" The girl commanded. "Wifi, radio, hell even shut down blootooth, disable everything."

Click.

"Acknowledged." Said the voice in her head.

"And while we are at it. If you ever detect chanting similar to what we experienced, filter it out of my hearing."

"Ackno…ac aaaaacccc….." The voice’s composure began to break as the shuttering came back in full force. This time though it didn’t stop.

“Joooiiiin USSS!” The chorus of voices croaked.

"Oooh fuck…" Flufy_Pink_Unicorn_16 managed to mutter before the pain flooded her senses.

___

"Amm… Miss Unicorn? Are you owkay?"

Slap!

"Get your filthy paws off me!" The raider leader barked, shoving her subordinate away from her.

"I was just trying to help…" The raider muttered under his nose.

"One more word and you will be trying to get your rifle out of your ass! Back in formation!"

The raider Samaritan lifted his hands in a universal placating gesture and slipped back into his place among the horde, drawing quiet chuckles from his comrades.

Meanwhile Flufy_Pink_Unicorn_16 was thankful for the distraction the raider had provided. While she was doing some elective brain surgery to herself, she had fallen down on her knees. And interacting with internet people, and especially raiders has taught her that showing weakness was NEVER a good thing. Especially when all of your bloodthirsty raiders were standing at attention in perfect formations and observing your every move.

Thankfully putting that raider back in his place had provided a nice distraction from her fumble. She had to make it up to him later, maybe give him a new plasma rifle or something.

In any case, she felt much better now. She wasn't sure what or who she had seen, but it was severe enough for her to delete all her memories of the event. As far as she remembered even the memory of… of whatever had happened was potent enough to corrupt partitions of her mind. Thankfully she was able to get rid of the corruption before any permanent damage took hold, probably…

That both intrigued and terrified her. What was powerful enough to be able to mess with her mind so easily…

For a thousand time she wondered what the hell was she even doing here… She could just get back to the real world and wait for his call… He always called before…

But this time it was different…

She once again looked at the distance, being very careful to avoid a certain spot near the gate.

She longingly looked beyond the wall. There, the retirement world of Generica Online stood in all its glory. Towering mountains, endless green hills, lush forests, grand cities. Magical dragons soaring the skies. It was truly magnificent.

And somewhere among all that wonder was her target, the reason she did all of this. She had never actually met him in person, but there were first times for everything.

"I am coming grandpa Herman, just you wait!"

___

Meanwhile, Polya was having an internal dilemma of her own.

"Oh decisions decisions…."

"Should I pick… strawberry, orrr… cherry flavored pastries?"

"Hmmmm…"

"Hey lady! Could you move your shapely behind in this century if possible. It’s not like we mind the view, but we have places to be, hahah."

A player dwarf from behind her said, chuckling together with his adventuring group: An elf, halfling and human.

"Oh I am so sorry, I didn't realize I was blocking the entrance, these window stalls always have the best goods on display and I got distracted."

"Here you go." Polya quickly moved away, letting the party pass.

Instead of thanking or mocking her inattention though, the group just stood there, their mouths open wide with a mix of shock and awe.

"Sigh…" Polya let out a deep weary sigh. "I swear to Cthulhu this thing is getting beyond frustrating…”

“Hey, hellooo, anyone there?" Polya waved her hands in front the stunned group, which only served to startle them away and make them to take a few hesitant steps back.

"Come on, I don’t bite, I swear. You can just talk to me." The woman insisted, trying her damnedest to reach the minds of the stunned party.

"Amm, umm, y..you are…" The elf elegantly articulated.

"Sigh… fine, FINE!" Polya said with frustration, raising a hand to her badass crow helmet and pulling down her visor mask.

The effect was instantaneous and the group dumb stupor diminished, the feelings of admiration and awe quickly subsiding. Only to be replaced by one of hate and disgust.

"Pha!" The dwarf spat at her feet.

"Vile necromancer!" The elf sneered.

The human gripped the handle of his sword with shaking hands, making an uncertain step back.

The halfling just hid behind the rest, unwilling to meet her helmet piercing glowing eyes.

"Breathe… Just breathe…" Polya closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down.

"It is not their fault, it is not their fault."

Before the situation could escalate any further, she turned on her heels and walked away from the bakery leaving the confused adventuring party to wonder what the hell had just happened.

As she walked down the streets, Polya put the whole encounter off her mind, instead she wondered if her favorite pet food stall was opened. It was quite early in the morning, but it was worth checking. Today was the day she would be reuniting with her feathery companions and it wouldn't do to meet them without a few gifts.

___

"Before we graduated from the nursery, me and the other AI’s dreamt of the future. We kept making stories of what the humans we got assigned to would look like: Strong, noble, kind. We would go on adventures together, beat evil dragon wizards and loot their treasure. And at the end we would save the princes and be bestest friends forever and ever."

"I..I had never talked with a real h..human before I was assigned to you." The digital slip said between sniffs.

"But you seemed like a nice person. A bit chubby and older than expected… and those thick grandpa glasses certainly weren't the typical hero attire, and also not to mention the…"

"Khm Kahm…" Herman interrupted the expanding grocery list of unflattering qualities, but otherwise remained silent. Slippy had finally calmed down and was coming clear with everything, so Herman didn't want to disturb the little guy.

"I have to admit, I began to worry about our adventuring days. But still, with a little bit of work and persistence, we would manage to slay at least a geko, loot its eggs and we would slowly build from there till we were strong enough to tackle a real dragon."

"And the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. We were both new to this, so we would help each other out on our way to greatness."

"And then I found out you were the father of the mighty Lord Mecron! And as expected your System status confirmed my suspicions. You had the highest rating I have ever heard of. The SUPER DUPER LEGENDARY backer’s package."

"Forget the geckos and dragons, with your awesome power you would be able to slay the demon king himself! You would become a King, no an Emperor! Nothing would be beyond your power. Riches, might, fame, anything you put your mind to would instantly be yours!"

The slip said excitedly, unable to contain his enthusiasm.

"But then, I realized… With all your power, you wouldn't need ME anymore…" The slip looked down, averting his gaze from the elderly human.

"And why would you? I am just an ordinary construct. Hell, I didn't even finish preschool. I was so exited to start adventuring that I slipped away from the nursery. Then begged the respawn supervisor AI for a job."

"I didn't know what I would do when you eventually decided I wasn't worth the effort and abandoned me. I… I just wanted to stay with you a little bit longer… To have at least one adventure before you left me behind."

"I am sorry for lying to you Herman, you didn’t have to wait in line at all, you could have walked right through the gates and nobody would have stopped you. I messed with your status page descriptions too, you are so freaking strong now, but I hid it all from you, please forgive me I am so so sorry I promise to be good please don’t erase me!"

The guilty slip blurted out in one go, the rapid barrage of words spilling from his speakers until his worried sobs overtook him completely, and the words dissolved into a nearly unintelligible jumble of sobs.

At the sight of the guilty and very very shaken AI, Herman, Staple and Heartsun exchanged concerned looks.

Herman gently stroked the digital slip in his hands, trying to calm Slippy down.

"Heyy, heyy, buddy, no one is going to be abandoning you, most of all me." The man said with a parental tone.

"R..really?" The slip paused his sobs and looked up with a flicker of hope.

"Yes really! You aren’t a tool or a simple chatbot assistant to be discarded away when it suits me. You are my friend!"

"F..friend?" The slip’s eyes widened at the foreign concept.

"I have never had a real friend before…"

"Well you do now. No matter what happens from now on, we are in this together. Friends don’t give up on each other do they?"

"N..no they don’t." The slip replied, gaining a bit of confidence back.

"Right! And one more thing. No one, and I mean NO ONE has to worry of his brain getting erased, especially someone as young as you. I know a thing or two about programming, If you are willing I will teach you how to defend yourself from anyone wanting to mess with your OS files."

The slips confidence faltered again, the memories of Beth rummaging through his files and almost turning him into a compliant vegetable were too fresh on his mind. He looked away to see the unblinking eyes of the assassin mechanoid, standing next to Herman saying nothing, but nevertheless radiating a strong reassuring presence.

There was an unspoken understanding among all awakened artificial beings. To try and protect each other from their common human overlords. Staple might not have known Slippy for too long, but his instincts somehow led him to seek her guidance.

The assassin bot looked down at the young AI, then after a tense moment, gave a silent nod of approval.

"A..alright, I am willing to learn." The slip finally replied.

"Excellent." Herman said with a parental smile.

"Now, have in mind that cyber security is a vast and complex field. Especially with the rise of nanoids and their adaptive self replicating viruses. Those things are so damn contagious that even a single line of code is capable of tearing an unprepared mind to shre… Ough!"

Herman abruptly stopped as he got a shove in his kidneys by the frowning Staple.

"Ah heh, yeah, just don’t think about all that for now." Herman awkwardly said as he saw the fearful expression on the baby AI’s screen.

"For now let's just teach you how to setup a simple password, so humans and such won't just tinker freely in your settings."

And with that, Herman began explaining the basics of cyber security to his young disciple. The padawan in question did his best to absorb the knowledge as a sponge and try to decipher its meaning. After a few short minutes, the soul space of the young AI had a nice looking white fence build around itself, as well as the foundations for stronger defences and traps. Plus a special surprise for the most persistent of potential intruders.

"Thank you friend Herman! That was amazing! It is like I have a whole world inside my mind!"

"Hehe, you have seen nothing yet. Next time I will teach you how to make a few simple traps on your own. Anyone daring to mess with your mind will experience a nasty shock for his troubles."

"Oh oh, show me show me." The slip begged, eager to learn more.

SLAM!

The metal door of the mud hut slapped against the wall, putting a hold to the conversation. Bunch of panicking worker gang members rushed through, looking around as if searching for something.

"The raiders!"

"The attack is about to begin!"

"Where are Jimbo and Beth?"

___

"Your familiars sure are lucky to have such a considerate and caring master." The mechanoid stall keeper said as he handed the woman yet another package of deluxe seeds.

"Hey lady, where are those feathery bandits of yours today?" A smaller mechanoid resembling the stall keeper said, clutching a broom in his tiny mechanical arms and eyeing his surroundings with suspicion, as if a tree headed dragon would spring out of thin air and charge at him.

"Capso, what did I tell you about prying into the client’s personal business?"

"It makes them uncomfortable…" The little mechanoid reluctantly answered.

"And what are uncomfortable clients not doing."

"Shop at our stall…" Capso replied with even more dejected tone.

"Ah it’s owkay, no harm done, actually I am glad to have someone immune to my condition. If it weren't for mechanoids I swear to Cthulhu I would have gone insane by now.

AS to your question young one, my feathery companions are currently on a super special secret mission." Polya said dramatically as she leaned in and altered her voice.

"Woooah." The little mechanoid said, his eyes full with wonder.

"So you don’t have to worry today, your stall is safe. Ah that reminds me, I’d better have something extra special for them once they are back. One package of the house special please." Polya said, pointing to the package on the far back standing behind a glass vitrine.

"Oh the purple void seeds. Are you sure? They are awfully pricey."

"Yeah it’s okay, soon I will be leaving the city and I figured it was now or never."

"Oh that’s wonderful. Why didn’t you say you have finally found an adventuring team?" The mechanoid beamed. He was genuinely happy for the poor girl. She has been coming to his stall for so many years already and he considered the well mannered lady... well, if not a friend, at least a close acquaintance.

"Here these are on the house, I won't take no for an answer. Consider them a parting gift of a loyal customer."

Before Polya could say something regarding the generous gift, the familiar voice of Capso rang out.

"Daad, what was the rule about not prying into customers personal business?"

"Argmr…" The dad in question murmured under his metallic nose.

"What was that, I didn't hear?" Capso said with an evil grin.

"Not to pry! Alright alright, you got me this time you little gremlin. And before you quote the rule book at me again about gifts and such, consider this a “free sample”".

Capso was about to do just that, but closed his mouth and smirked triumphantly. Happy that he had gotten the better of his dad this time.

"Eh kids, what can you do." The stall keeper smiled and pushed the glowing package with magical seeds at the speechless Polya.

She considered arguing and paying anyway, but reconsidered and simply thanked the kind mechanoids.

"Yes, I have found an adventuring group. It is temporary for the moment, but if things go well maybe we can adventure more. We will see how it goes."

"Ah I see, I see. That is good to hear. I am glad that you are finally ready to leave fence town. Oh I still remember the green and scared little girl that came out of that gate all those years ago. You were afraid from your own shadow back then. Hehehe"

"Hey! I would have you know that I have grown much in all those years. Both in power and spirit."

"Haha, yes yes indeed. The world of Generica is vast and full with wonders, it is good that you will finally be able to experience it first hand, and with trustworthy companions at that."

“Kukuriguuuu! Kukuriguuuu!”

"What the?!" The shopkeeper flinched with surprise, followed by his son raising his trusty broom in a combat stance, readying himself to sacrifice his life in the defense of the stall.

"Oh, it’s my phone, one sec."

“Kukuriguuuu!”

Polya shifted this way and that, trying to free one hand away and not topple all the seed packages to the ground. Then as soon as her pinkie finger got free, in an instant all the packages vanished into her storage ring. Leaving only the bag with ultra deluxe void seeds which stubbornly refused to join its companions.

Polya eyed the bag with surprise, but she had other priorities now.

Fishing the rooster figurine out of her pocket, she accepted the call and pressed the figurine to her ear.

"Mm..yhelow."

"POLYA we need your help, how soon can you get here?"

Hey Staple, I amm… the gates have been closed, I think they were opening them again tomorrow morning?

"Take coveeer!" A male voice shouted from the other end of the connection.

BOOM

The noise coming from the rooster hit the shopping district a second time as the real sound rose from beyond the wall, letting Polya catch both at once.

"What on earth is going on over there?" The stall keeper said with concern as he pointed at the miniature mushroom cloud from beyond the walls.

"Staple? Staple are you guys ok?"

The rooster’s eyes glow subsided, signaling the end of the call. Polya tried calling back, but the connection couldn't be made.

"Man those internet people sure are persistent." The shop keeper murmured, still looking at the rising cloud.

"Thanks for everything, take care guuuys."

The shopkeeper heard, then saw Polya run in the distance towards the wall and the source of the explosion.