[TWI] Twilight, The Final Frontier: Twipires IN SPACE!!!!

[Colesign]

Shevek

"That's acceptable to me personally." Shevek replies, feeling somewhat relieved that more extreme notions weren't put forward right off the bat.

"Only a few years ago, the terms of the Settlement of Annarres forbade inhabitants of Urras and other star systems from coming here. People feared contact with authoritarian cultures, for understandable reasons, mind you: assimilation, conquest, abuse...."

He pauses.

"But it led to stagnation. And ultimately, it was just another wall, an abrogation of liberty for the 'good of the whole'. Freedom can't be sacrificed for safety, even if few complained...and ultimately, I believe we must exist in concert with the rest of the universe in order to thrive. This Great Experiment of ours must be challenged, must be able to endure the entrenched practices of a universe, and prove to others that there's a better way to live, and possibly even pick up a few tricks from others."

He chuckles a bit

"All of this explanation of which is a roundabout way of saying that, as a now truly open society, the people affiliated with you are free to come to our world, free to build things with their own labor, and free to communicate with your masters as you wish. We are sharers, not owners, but I agree that we can share technology and ideas with each other."

He leans forward. "But if you and..." he pauses uncomfortably. Annaresti aren't comfortable with possessive pronouns.

"...your people wish to come to our world, then I tell you that you must come to it as yourselves. Not as an officer of Starfleet or a citizen of the Federation, but with nothing but yourself, hands as empty as a child [it's clear he means that metaphorically]. When you walk off your ships or materialize onto the Port of Annarres, you are one of us. We are you responsible to you and you to us, a fellow Annaresti with the same options as all the others. But they are not safe options. Freedom is never very safe."

He leans back with a quiet smile. "But you'll find the Freedom we all share in very interesting."

Garrin, the slightly wary Physics Federation Syndic, chimes in with a final comment. "And not easily abused."

Shevek nods, and looks around to see if anyone else has views to express.

{Quick Question: Is Urras now part of the Federation? As of the end of the book, it's in a Cold War Situation, and has a early/mid twenty first century tech base: ultimately an analogy for 1960s Cold War Earth.}

[The Tygre]

Wordlessly, with a silence as cold and empty as space, Legato leaves. As he walks through the darkness to the outside, he sends a message to his assassins; 'Nadrek has been captured. Spread and search out. Report anything you find to me. If he is found, leave no survivors. Return Nadrek to me. Now go.' His orders transmitted, the psion focuses, expanding his psychic field, searching for any clues that may be around him.

[doliest]

Kirk
"I do have to impress upon you the danger of putting this off and rejecting our aid. One of our most experienced dimensional experts has informed us that this anomoly could endanger the Empire and the Federation." All of that very true. All of it also not the full story.

Solo
Solo looks at Chewie. He doesn't say a word; but even drunk, even with a friend, Solo was still Solo. His eyes ask Chewie a simple question, 'Trap?'

[AnimeKid]

Ratchet and Clank

Ratchet:Orange
Clank:grey
Aphelion:Red

Ratchet looks shocked at the readouts. "Whoa! How did we get all the way here. It would have taken a load of spice to get us this far. Hey, mabye that's why the guy wanted it fixed. If this went public the spice market would crash, cause there would be no more need for spice. Whoa!" Clank interrupts his furry friend before he can get two wowed. "Perhaps so Ratchet, however our primary concern is that we have only a vague idea of where we are and where to go. If we left this planet now for all we know we could run into the Borg. We need to explore this planet first. I'm sure there must be some intelligent life here. It is possible that they could have a map that we could use." "And if they don't because this looks like an underdeveloped backwater planet?" "Then we will wing it." Their course of action decided they head into the dense forests with Aphelion flying overhead to warn them of incoming threats.

Junior

He jumps into his captains seat and gets comfortable as he says, "Alright old man. Realians full speed ahead. Set a course and execute it immediately, you heard the old man." The realians all respond, "Yessir", before commencing with his orders. Jr. then looks towards his two trusted officers/lieutenants Mary and Shelley. Mary was a woman of about 26 years of age who had blond hair that came down to her shoulders. She was wearing her usual Blue jacket with a portion of it missing that would usually cover the neck and tops of her breasts along with the usual boy shorts and thigh high boots and stockings. Her elder sister Shelley had Purple hair that came down to her mid-back and had two flower pendents in it. She was wearing her usual sleeveless Chinese-like dress that had a low neckline, a lavender scale-like pattern and a slit in the dress that came to about slightly above knee-level in the front and back. She also had on a black under-dress and calf high boots. Looking at them both Junior says, "Okay then... who are the Klingon's again and what are they like?", he says with an almost visible question mark above his head. Both girls sighed in disappointment. The Little Master really needed to study his alien races and the proper mannerisms to present to them. Shelley is the one to answer him with her deep baritone-like voice. (Take it away Cracklord, because I know nothing about the Klingons. Well I did but I just plain forgot.)

[darkblade]

SPD

Satisfied with his findings Bridge slides his gloves back on and returns to Kruger. "A couple hellraisers but no one willing to do anything violent. Most of them are on the fence so this falls to Picard."

The canine alien considers this for a moment before nodding. "Good work. Lt Carson."

"That's Counsellor Carson, Sir. Project Dekaranger was retired years ago and I'm no longer SPD." Bridge reminds his former commanding officer.

Kruger nods. "I'm sorry. It's hard to see you and Kat again without remembering."

***

Bebop

Ed starts to form a reply as Faye walks into the Brig. "Do you have no decency? Ed's just a kid. Play Silence of the Lambs with someone your own size."

"I was having fun!" Ed protests crossing her arms in front of herself.

"This isn't a debate. Jet wants your help in the galley anyways. He's cooking peppers again." Faye sighs gently pushing the young hacker off the chair. Ed falls to the ground but smiles up at her "big sister" and heads off towards the galley.

Faye pulls out a cigarette and goes to light when she stops. "This isn't going to screw up your containment suit or anything right?"

[Cracklord]

Shevak, Jean-Luc, SPD
The days negotiations are concluded, with both sides feeling real progress has been made. With that, a recess is called, putting it on haitus so that you can both report back on the progress and result of the conversations, then continue the next day.

Bebop
"I do not have a biological need to breathe. The suit is airtight." It responded calmly. "Not that you would put it out anyway. You are angry with my actions in regards to him, and want to re-establish my position on this ship, that of a prisoner. As such, you intend to intimidate me."
The mist has stopped swirling, and has settled. "Allow me to assure you, there is no need. I have no intention of trying to escape, at least until we get to Earth. It is in my interest to be there as well, you see. I also have no intention of harming you or your crew. It would serve no purpose, afterall. And while you may find my analysis of your little friend threatening, all I did was force him to examine his beliefs. If they were worth following, examining them will only strengthen them."

Junior
"The Klingon's are one of the major powers in this galaxy, proud, tradition-bound and aggressive. For the most part, they are reluctant allies." Eisenhorn says.
The girls, meanwhile, tell you about the language, the culture, the history of aggression with the Federation, and a whole lot of other information that more or less is just saying what Eisenhorn did with more words.

Kirk
"We'll risk it." He says, reaching up to switch of the intercom, and the screen goes blank. So much for diplomacy. Now you can either return on your own empty handed without attempting investigation as a good Starfleet officer would, or act like a maverick and ignore the diplomatic channels altogether, sneak into hostile territory anyway and take it all into your own hands.

Solo
Chewie shakes his head, then lets out a guttural roar then changes depth and by degrees. You don't actually speak Wookie as well as you seem to, it's amazing enough that you speak it as well as you do. for someone without the right to recognize more then one in three words, so when Chewie speaks to you he sounds like he has a Cro-Magnon syllabus to make sure you understand. Normally that's fine, however, when it comes to getting across complex concepts it can be a little hard.
"Don't trust it. Lando knows everyone. Why you? You not spoken in years, and ripped him off last time."

Legato
He was taken from a bar, where he was due to meet another operative, by a group of bounty hunters. Several were identified, including one Gene Hunt. It seems a sensible place to start. his ship recently left the plant, heading inward, towards the more civilized planets orbiting closer to the sun.

[darkblade]

Bebop

"Ed's a girl. Don't worry about it though. Surprised me and I share most of the same anatomy with her." Faye shrugs as she lights up the cigarette and takes a long drag.

"So if you have no intention of hurting any of us why are you playing Hannibal to Ed?" Faye asks now content to have had some nicotine in her system.

((Note: Faye was in suspended animation from the early 2000s until about five years ago. She's partially amnesiac but is probably the only living being that still remembers Silence of the Lambs.))

***

SPD

Doggie begins escorting the representatives back to their temporary quarters as he leaves the others to their own devices.

Kat excuses herself from the others and makes her own way to Engineering. She's never been fond of crowds, particularly not of strangers she is expected to be nice to. Machines are much better companions.

Bridge though makes a bold move to approach Captain Picard. "Sir, while you are in command here and any diplomatic decisions are ultimately your's to decide and I am just a temp until your regular Counsellor returns from her leave I can't help but feel you are giving the anarchists a bit too much leeway right off the bat. While the purpose here is to maintain a stable connection between their people and the Federation it would seem a bit risky to make it seem as though the whole of Starfleet would be as accommodating as you have been today."

[Cracklord]

Bebop
Nadrek has studied human culture extensively, in order to understand his prey, but Popular culture was so fluid even the most tireless of researches would be hard pressed to make sense of that reference. "It passes the time." He replies blandly, playing neutral, given he is unsure if he's just been complemented, insulted, or something else. "It is not having an adverse effect on the child. Simply putting it in a position to question. If I wanted to hurt it, well then I would simply play on sympathy, lure it into a relaxed state, and bide my time for an opportunity. Then I would take her hostage, make unreasnoble demands and misdirect you, and then while you were confused I would sneak down to the engine room and shut down the life support, leaving you all to suffocate or freeze. I can survive absolute zero, and have no need of oxygen. If not for my ned for sustenance, I would have little issue surviving in space."

Jean Luc, Bridge
Riker and the other officers all surreptitiously start paying attention while seemingly looking over the recordings and double checking the minutes. They all trust their captain, and have long since learned not to doubt his abilities, but just the same he has yet to even broach the subject of a representative, let alone what actually joining the Federation will entail.
Autonomy was all very well and good, but joining the Federation was not simply a matter of signing a piece of paper and changing the name of your government.

Doggie
Worf joins you, as you escort the representatives off the ship, and back to the spaceport, where they will reconvene in twelve hours. After they’re gone, he sighs and shakes his head. “You know, it’s strange. Humans are always splitting off and joining new groups, talking about new ways to do things. My people have been doing the same thing since history began, and look how it’s worked for them. I can’t bring myself to understand it.”

Shevak
“Very generous of them.” Is the general consensus, as Picard, at least, has won them over as an honorable and forward thinking man whose head is in the right place. Although they remain suspicious of the Federation itself, as they would be to any administration or Authority, if it is made up of people like Picard, perhaps cutting themselves from it was the wrong decision.
You have a sudden image of the tiny, idyllic community you have here ripped asunder by exposure to the world outside, and you can’t help but the find the thought of it disturbing.

[The Tygre]

Legato follows the scent. He hides himself in his psychic field on the streets, invisible to sight and sense from... the cattle. Their stink fills his nose, and the chatter is like thousands of little insects crawling in his skull. Every last one of them is a virus, spreading, breeding, infecting other races with their horrible doctrine. But a trail of bodies is still a trail, and for now, Legato is a ghost. When he reaches the bar, Legato steps in, casually uncloaking himself in the corner.

[Colesign]

Shevek

The great fallacy of political complacency, Shevek knew, was the misconception that there existed an ideal society structure, that when implemented, would ensure freedom and equality on an automatic basis.

But that ain't so. Freedom is a process, a constant movement. "True Voyage is Return". In less complex language, Freedom requires work.

But Shevek is optimistic enough to believe that with a bit of work, the Anarchist society they possess on Annarres can not only stand strong under the societal pressure of the Federation's authority, but also promote a healthy amount of unrest and revaluation in the same.

With that in mind, after a bit of casual discussion, Shevek, Garrin, and the other Syndics inform one of the Red Shirts that the next meeting will be held on Annarres.

Then they depart to report back to their Syndicates, Cooperatives, Associations, Community Councils, etc.

(After all, it isn't a Star Trek episode without an Away Team...)

[darkblade]

Doggie

"My people were like that too. Look where it got them. That I think is humanity's biggest strength. Their ability to change and adapt. It makes up for their otherwise lack of genetic strengths in the grand scheme of things." Kruger shrugs as he leads the last anarchist to a set of visitor's quarters and walks back towards the crew sections of the ship.

"Sometimes the ability to throw your traditions out the window in the name of survival is a blessing. Of course it means that humans have a relatively limited view of their own history and have to keep revising it to make their heroes fit whatever the modern standards are. Already they have forgotten that Anubians were once worshipped as Gods after a SAR party found the downed Thanagarian research vessel."

***

Kat

Kat now on the Engineering deck makes her way towards the main console, her feline reflexes and stealth hiding her from the bulk of the crewmen. No doubt the android would notice her but he wouldn't think to alert the others until she was already on top of them. She stalked from the shadows for a few minutes before locating her target. A tall human of dark skin, born without functioning eyes he has to rely upon a VISOR for any form of vision, it has it's disadvantages but it makes up for them in being able to see past the visible spectrum most are limited to. It makes this a little harder.

Careful to remain in the blindspots of Geordi's visor Kat leaps from the shadowed bulkhead towards the Engineer. "Long time no see LaForge. Still no progress on the prosthetics I see?"

***

Bebop

"You wouldn't want to do that. I got a couple billion credit dept on my back and it's hereditary. If I die and it's ever traced back to you then you'll be out an empire." Faye explains with a slight smile.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. See this bounty hunting thing is not working out for me. It keeps me off Earth for the most part so relativity keeps the creditors away but it's not going to let me pay off anything. What would someone make on your payroll?"

[Cracklord]

Doggie
"Agreed." Worf replies, chuckling at that. Human history was something of a joke to those who observed it from an impartial position. It was really amazing they'd managed to advance at all in a meaningful way.
"I understand it can be an advantage, of course. Adapting quickly as problems arise is invaluable for their survival. However, I cannot help but wonder if they adapt at such a rate that it continues when they have no need of it.” To answer, he indicates the world they are standing on. “It’s inconceivable that in a galaxy filled with every lifeform imaginable that they would divide themselves into yet more groups over a tiny difference in ideology. Surely stregnth in unity is better.”

Bebop
Nadrek looks at you, and taps his fingers together. “Well, I believe I already promised to double your reward if you simply let me go. More expedient, saved me from having to go to the trouble of confronting you and the rest of the tedious business. But if you want to further formalize an accommodation…” He considers a moment. “Yes. I think we can. What if I was to make this debt of yours vanish, in a way that was not tied to you? Simply remove it as an issue. Would that be to your taste?”

Legato
It takes a while, but you find where they fled, the old, converted warehouse they stayed. They have become good at hiding, but not good enough to escape one with your intrinsic abilities. You knock down the flimsy door to find it empty. They’ve already left. You can see the abandoned tools, the still set up amenities, the tangled bedding and discarded clothes. They left in a hurry, not even stopping to pack.
Where?
Your search narrows, looking for anything that could narrow the search. Then you find a sheet of paper. Jobs are circled on it, as is the name of one in particular. Pandora.
Ah.

Edward
"We stand now at the birthplace of humanity." Edward says to nobody in particular, looking down at the small green and blue marble. "The beginning. It has taken me a thousand years to find what my parents lost, and now my work begins."
He gets up of his chair, and spreads his arm. “They have potential. We are there descendants, and will make of them what we have become. And more. Once I have completed, they shall be the jewel in the crown of the Culture, as they deserve to be.” He paused, as he heard a slow, steady clap, and turned to see Jasper had stepped ahead of his family and was bringing his pale hands together.
"Your intent is lofty indeed, for I do sense that you would do exactly as you say.” Jasper says, bored as ever with Edward. Then he smiles, his thin lips pulling back all the way to expose his gums, and his eyes bulge somewhat. “But I say now to you, that does not suit me," Jasper finished. Edward’s head snapped back up and his eyes were wide with disbelief. Jasper only smirked at his companion’s incredulity.
"I give and take as I please, lord. For a while, it suited me to go along with the no doubt admirable goals of your group, but I have grown weary of monotony and of small-minded beings who cannot understand what they are being offered. You never bothered to examine your motives, but we are here for the same reason. When you have everything, the only thing that matters is the power to create and destroy as you see fit, to cause happiness and misery as the mood suits you." Jasper says. “I tire of pulling primitives up to look up at the stars. I think I would prefer to smother them now.”
“You can’t meant that.” Edward said, seeing the spark of madness in his friends eye, and already realizing he did.
“Of course I do. When have you ever known me to lie about my intentions? I am tired of The Culture, and I am tired of our work. Why not simply take a primitive corner of the Universe for myself and rule it as I please? I am a true sybarite, Edward I live for my pleasure and I get it from all things. I am not base and cruel in my whims, at least not necessarily. I give pleasure to people as easily as I give pain, but only if it gratifies me to do so or is expedient. Nor am I foolish, I can cause pain, but I am neither sadistic nor self-destructive. What I am, Edward, is a rational thinking being. And what I see here indeed pleases me greatly."
Edward blinks. “But….” He is stopped as one of the bladelike protrusions like vast mechanical wings twitches at the sound of his voice ant scythes over, planting the sharpened tip at the hollow of his throat. Jasper himself doesn’t say a, he hasn't even twitched or glanced over at Edward, who's trying very hard not to draw a breath.
“Yes.” He says, with the ease of someone who has known someone else for a long time and learned to anticipate their moods and what they will say. “They could be great. They might even surpass us. Perhaps they will. If it pleases me. Go sit down and think on what I have said. You will come around. If you don’t, then don’t show your face on the bridge, for I prefer to live without regrets and for the sake of the time we have spent together it would be a shame to kill you.” The wing withdraws, then folds away, and Edward gets off the bridge.
"Are we agreed then?" he says up to the blinking red eye of the shipboard AI above the consols that fly the ship.

+++++ PERFECTLY +++++

GCU Grey Area replied.

[Draxx]

Paul Atreides
Freedom…

He steps off the ship moments after it settles on the port, not seeming to see those with whom he has lived all his life, his eyes staring ahead, out into the beyond, burning bright blue with the symptoms of Spice overdose. Kwisatz Haderach he had been called, all though what that entailed nobody was sure, only that it meant he was the final step in the chain of human development, the perfect being. What that meant for him, or for the universe was something the Bene Geseriat had hoped to control, but the Federation had, quite by accident, taken it out of their hands.

He walks barefoot over the muddy ground of the camp, disdaining the mask he needs to wear to breathe, and through the gates and the last boundary of civilization, out into the bizarre forest beyond, his mind opening as he glanced, taking in every minutiae of the incredible detail and marking it indelibly into his memory. The winds whistled through the soft leaves and branches, drops of water sliding down to moisten him like the lightest of caresses. The sounds of life surrounded him and, he could hear and read them all. Everywhere he looked he could see threads upon threads of times that may or may not come, plots within plots, and a grinding future ahead, like a cresting wave about to come crashing around him. And he could see the paths ahead that he must walk.

He could see Paul Atreides, and Paul Muad'dib, Emperor of worlds and a blind man, who walked the desert he hadn't seen set foot on, but already loved. He could see armies ravaging worlds, he could see humanity spreading beyond the reaches of this arm of the galaxy, as well as humanity dying, brief and forgotten, out-competed by its rivals. He could see a girl, a child in arms and a grown woman, with hear like fire and eyes that danced with mischief, and knew that he would grow to love her with all his soul, and she him, though they had not yet set eyes on each other. And he knew childhood had ended.

He had taken the Spice, knowing that he had to step forward if he was to keep on moving and seeing with mentat precision that the only way forward was the Spice. And he had been caught in the maelstrom of time, seeing all and understanding everything before he had struggle back to the present. At first he feared that he had lost his humanity, only to realize that no, he had been purged of everything else, leaving only that which was human behind.

He had come to live only in possibilities and probabilities and the vast expanse of ages yet to come, the present falling away to hover beyond his grasp, forever out of reach. But sacrifices had to be made. The merciless, precious present, would tear him apart. It was Maud’dib, humanity would need. Not Atreides.

He needed to take that apon himself now, strip away all that held him back. To make his way to the heart of the Federation and shatter it, replacing it’s shards to make an Empire that would span the entire galaxy in time. He would challenge the corrupted regimes and bureaucracy that had lost sight of destination and risen in the shelter of freedom and empty words while the world rotted around them. For rot it did, though nobody had noticed it yet, lacking his unique perspective.


He could feel all sins from the flesh purged in that instant, his identity now and forever cemented. It was not mere connection to a single world, but connection to every man and woman, every child and every life stretched throughout the universe to which he shared common ancestry.

He was everyone, all the men and women who had lived and died leading up to him. He was a Messiah, a visionary, a tyrant, a scientist, a philosopher, a warrior, a poet, a fool, and everything great and small. He had many names and faces, he was Bran Mak Morn, and Corum Jhaelen Irsei and Cormac FitzGeofery, and Erekosë, and many more, he was everyone born and everyone to come after, and would wear countless thousand more faces when he died. He was Maud’Dib.

"I am an empty vessel.” He told the ghosts in his head, spreading his arms. “Fill me…"

Mal Reynolds
Mal is far more practical than intellectual, but considers himself a good judge of character. He's quite aware that there is always a better liar then him, but for the most part trusts his instincts. He likes what he's seen of Preem Palver, and trusts he is who he says he is. A con wouldn't mime the mannerisms and unconscious drawl so effortlessly, and there really wasn’t any other reason they’d want to go after him.

Beside, he likes the man. He's bluff, honest (or at least appears that way) and puts him in mind of the country hands who raised him back on Shadow. That being the way it was, he's naturally disposed to want to help out as much as he can.

“Well, as it happens there is enough room on my vessel for one more, an’ we’re goin’ that way, so working something out shouldn’t be too difficult. Though I’m warnin’ you, it can get a bit tight.”

[Colesign]

Shevek

In a backdate to before the Anarchist Delegation left for home, Shevek tries to talk theoretical physics with one of the Enterprise's engineers.

Because Physics is fun!

[Cracklord]

Shevak

" - therefore to gain a complete unified, and consistent description of the fundamental structure of everything, we have to understand that all of the different 'fundamental ' particles of the Standard Model are really just different manifestations of one basic object, different resonances of energy, which suggests that any unit of measurement is ultimately misleading, if not wrong." He says, explaining a theory on a microscopic theory of gravity and the structure of both matter and energy.

Paul Atredis
"Paul?" It's Duncan Idaho, his face hidden behind the facemask, his loose clothing seeming strange on his body. Hi sword is on his hip, and his arms arms out-stretched, you father and his consort Jessica following behind. The air is burning the interior of your lungs, turning your throat raw.

[Colesign]

Shevek

"That supposition seems to rely on a multi-dimensional state of being for all matter. Analogously, just as classic three dimensional matter can occupy different locations within the universe through the passage of time, so would this unifying matter superimpose itself upon it's many different locations throughout the universe at the same time through additional dimensions."

Shevek frowns. "From one perspective, that would either mean that the whole of matter/energy is an extrusion of space/time, or the reverse, that space/time itself is a creation of matter/energy."

He chuckles. "Either way, that would blow Sequency physics out of the water."

[darkblade]

Bebop

Faye's eyes widen with surprise. She was only asking out of morbid curiosity. Though she would never admit it she looked at the crew of the Bebop as a family and never wanted to betray them but this was a whole game changer. "You can make them disappear?"

***

Doggie

"Unity is indeed a noble trait but so is their individuality." Doggie muses as they board a power lift.

"I got my weekly Holodeck session in fifteen minutes. If you'd care to join me for a quick sparring session we could continue this discussion."

[The Tygre]

Legato sends out another message; "Planet: Pandora. Search there." That message is all the Gung-Ho Guns receive from their shadowy leader before he leaves the warehouse. Coursing through the streets, working his way on foot through the crowd to the nearest port.

The port.

A symbol of his own failure. A mockery made directly in his face. The human disease spreading across planets and galaxies, corrupting and sickening everything it touched. Who knows how many worlds he will have to purge before the filth is eradicated? What lengths will he have to go to to eradicate the vermin? It doesn't matter. He has time. For now, the psychotic psion keeps his eyes open for the first ship going to Pandora.

[Cracklord]

Doggie
Work nods meaningfully, and his eyes narrow, a fierce light dancing through them. "That would be most enjoyable." He says. "I'll take care of the rest of my duties, then meet you here."

Shevak
"Only if you assume that they are separate to begin with." He replies. "What if it is all one thing? It would account for dark matter and gravity stretching time, as well as many other discrepancies in modern thought."

Bebop
"Well, as your young companion so astutely noted, not without collateral damage." He replied. "It's not a matter of influence, but I do have a series of skills that could cause all records of you to vanish completely." Seeing your expression he raises a hand. "Yes, it's liable to cause damage to your society, but I wouldn't be hurting anyone."

[Colesign]

Shevek

"Indeed!" Shevek replies.

"In some ways, the Subspace Ansible and it's Temporal Theory framework relies on the concept of the fundamental oneness of space, time, and different forms of matter. It cannot transmit matter over great distances instantaneously: rather it transmits ideas in the most literal sense, effecting changes in information content between the two ends of the Ansible transmitters. From the framework of your theory, since all matter is ultimately one thing, the dimensional gap that promotes the illusion of disconnectedness is used to create a resonation between the two points, and thus convey information."

Shevek shrugs. "I myself have always looked at the biggest problems in physics as stemming from the issue of time. It is like this, to make a foolish little picture: if one throws a rock at a tree, the Simultaniety physicist says that the rock has already hit the tree, and the Sequency physicist says that it never will hit the tree. Which is true? I've always tried to take the difficult path and choose both in my theoretical work. But in the end, the thrown rock does hit the tree, and neither the physics of sequential seperation or Unity can quite explain it."

[Cracklord]

Shevak
"Precisely. The main problem is that there is not a precise way of measuring time, or determining it. Theoretically, time does not even exist, particularly as described by delay differential equations specific to dynamical systems. Indeed, it is ubiquitous in many physical systems, however if duration does not exist…”
Since you haven’t been to the Dark Tower, or even suspect it's existence, you don’t know that the universe is indeed infinite in all dimensions, several of which beyond your perception, including time, so while your theories are interesting they are, ultimately, based on incomplete information. You go on debating string theory, unified field theory, quantum states and tie them off interestingly, as well as discussing the transmission of information and it’s effects on the physical world, then split up, both quite satisfied to have had that opportuniy.

Legato
You feel them respong, their minds mapping out the trip to the tiny moon already.
(Does anyone want to take up Outlaw Starr as PC's? I'll post a better update as soon as I get an answer.)

[darkblade]

Bebop

"So if I help you get out of this you'll make my debts disappear and no one gets hurt?" Faye asks for clarification. She's all but stopped moving the cigarette to her mouth just letting it burn right to the filter in her hand.

***

Doggie

Doggie enters the holodeck, to the familiar set of blank black walls and yellow horizontal lines. "Computer, training program Kruger A-53."

Hard light projectors reform the blank room into an Anubian combat ring. To someone versed in Earth history could easily see how the Anubians once were thought to be guardians of the underworld to the Ancient Egyptians. The arena is a stone circle carved into the ground enscribed with runes detailing the history of great warriors who fought for the Sirius system and the Anubian race.

"Computer, begin session."

Several robots with pitch black bodies and chrome heads and limbs appear on the outer edge of the circle. One arm ends in a normal humanoid fist, the other with a fearsome drill.

"Krybots, a good warm up." Doggie draws his sword, a traditional Anubian V-Sabre. It resembles an Earth Katanna in form but the rare Anubian ore forged into the blade and the shifting weight within in the weapon to accommodate for the different defensive tactics enemies may employ leave it a unique weapon and Doggie holds in his hands the very last one ever made.

The Krybots advance upon Doggie only to be quickly reduced to holographic scarp metal in short order.

[Draxx]

Paul
"Father..." He paused. He has never thought of it before, but language is such an incredible thing. And yet so flawed. Change the delivery, the intonation, any of the thouasands of elements that make up the word, even slightly, and it no longer makes sense. He hears them speak, but he hearns nothing but sounds is brain does not know how to interpret, sped up and slowed down. He watchs them mouth impotently, and can only shake his head. he was drifting again. With a wrench of will, he forces himself back into the present to hear what they said.

"This is not the place for us." He says. "We will die here." He already knows what his father is going to say, he is too much the product of his past and environment for him to agree to Paul, even though it will kill him, so Paul simply straightens and speaks again before Leo can answer. "I must leave. We will never see each other again. Thank you, for everything." With that he turns and walks back aboard the ship, ignoring everyone's stares at his sudden outburst. he waits until they are all gone, then stares at the controls a moment. They were not complicated. He could do this. And he could already read the flow of time ahead to steer this.

The sip takes off, flying away from the tiny moon that was intended to be his home, and towards the universe itself, the tiny prophet sitting inside, reading the flow of stars.

[Colesign]

Shevek

{Cool}

Shevek, after returning to Annarres, and after discussing things with people who wanted to hear the particulars, decides to return home and spend time with the partner and the daughter.

Tomorrow, the talks would continue on Annarres, in the city of Abbenay. Things looked like they'd go well.

He can't shake that foreboding premonition he'd experienced earlier, though. It tickled at the edge of his thoughts, whether a psychic prophecy, subconscious analysis, or simple instinct.

Things are going to change. More than they already have.

[Cracklord]

Legato
In the endless void between the stars the long form of a starship moved silently, its chalk-white surface in perfect contrast with the infinite night, the entire thing faintly ominous, like a spear head or the tip of an arrow, slicing through the emptiness towards it's target. The almost casual motion of this ship would send shivers up the spine of anyone watching.
The recent arms race after the Dominion war and with the less friendly neighbors of that arm of the galaxy, had continued to push weapons technology further. This had been a prototype, that featured a state of the art cloaking technology and capabilities, that was abandoned due to how impossible it was to maintain it. Your master picked it up for you. You've never had cause to complain.
You sit on the bridge, as your minions move about. They are another gift from you master, genetically engineered human-like beings, Augments they're officially called, bred to be free of the usual mental and physical limitations. They have been forbidden since the eugenics wars, but you have never been one to care what humanity has to say. It has amused you to train them to wear them away until they serve as pale imitations of yourself.
You are just coming within sight of the moon, when two things occur at much the same time. A ship is shown leaving, not the ship you came for mind, but still, and more to the point, your mind senses something. Being psychic connects you to other beings, both sentient and not sentient, and as you approach the moon you sense something, something, something so huge it almost unmakes you. The supreme moment of the human race. The spice can awaken latent psychic powers, which is essentially what happened here, though to an extent you've never imagined could actually be done.

Bebop
"I said I would not harm anyone, not that nobody would get hurt." he mentions. "There are many ways to argue hurt. If the economy of a planet collapses, people will be hurt, for instance, as their way of life collapses around them. It’s the same sort of problem here. If I make your debts vanish, the bank will collapse as it is unable to cover its own loans, many people will be rendered bankrupt as all their savings default, and many will lose their jobs and means of providing for themselves. This universe is all connected. We cannot influence it any way without fall-out effects in what it is connected to.”

Doggie
Worf enters just in time to decapitate the last one with a powerful swing of his enormous two-handed blade of curious design, before lowering it and glancing around with every sign of respect at your results. He's dressed in a harness over his uniform, you notice. He kicks the head out of the way as the world fades and the next data-scape is loaded. "Interesting foes those." He notes. "I've seen many different warriors from all corners of the worlds, but never like them."

Shevak
You were lent a data-pad, that talks about the worlds of the federation. You get the message, but take the pad, thinking it might be interesting to learn more. Your having trouble relaxing, so decide to look through. The first world mentioned, curiously, is Arrakis, colloquially known as Dune, not Earth as you'd expect. The legendry homeplace of humanity is the subject of much private speculation on Annares, given that you haven't heard news about it in nearly a hundred years and have little records to settle your curiosity.

[Colesign]

Shevek

Shevek, after plugging the datapad in and uploading the information to the AnarrNet (No Way an Anarchist Society wouldn't be Open Source), starts to page through the Arrakis Entry.

[industrious]

Preem

He throws back his head and laughs at the Captain's words, drops of the cheap whiskey falling from his mouth onto the table.

"Tight, he says. Less you ever had to harvest twenty hands-worth of work with nuttin but your own self and your two childrens, you ain't seen tight. Begging your pardon, I spect, since them words ain't exactly proper. But dun worry two shakes of a woman's fine fanny bout me, Cap'n."

He leans forward then.

"So. How much would the ride cost me?"

[The Tygre]

That power... that infinite, unyielding power, glaring in his sight brighter than the sun... He can feel it. He craves it, even as its very flavor repulses him. He can feel it sliding between his lips and down his throat to his gut, the psychic residue practically palpable. But he has a mission; he is to go to Pandora. These are his master's orders. And the last time that Legato disobeyed his master, his limbs were snapped like twigs, his spine bent over itself, and his neck crooked 180 degrees. It took over two years of psychic willpower to regenerate himself into any working condition. And that was not even for a mission in person; that was for daring to send one of the Guns after a personal target.

The frustration overwhelms Legato. He lets out an inhuman hiss as he implodes a crew-member's organs. Blood oozing from his mouth, eyes boiling, limbs twitching, the drone falls to the floor. It lacks the magic it used to hold, however. The deceased's crew-members don't even pay him any mind, and it is only a matter of minutes before another drone arrives and attends to the open station.

In the mean-time, Legato concentrates. He forms a seed in the ether, a black parasite of miniscule size. The seed floats through space until it lands on the psychic mass, hanging on like a tick. It is nearly impossible for anyone but Legato to destroy, and while not capable of much, acts as a kind of psychic locator. When his mission on Pandora is done, then Bluesummers will track down the seed and its fertile soil.

For now, Legato sits in quiet anticipation, waiting for his landing on Pandora.

[Draxx]

Mal
He pauses, considering the matter. On one hand, it's not all that much to ask for, really, and he quite likes the man. On the other, given the state of his ship he owes it to himself and the crew he's responsible for to squeeze every tiny bit he can out of the man. That's got to be his first priority in any buisness transaction.

So he names a figure. It's a big figure, calculated to make the man start and start negotiating. Which is entirely what Mal wants, the way he reacts will tell mal what he can afford, and they can work out a more realistic number between them.

[doliest]

Kirk
"Spock? What are the possible dangers of that wormhole?" Kirk knows that the wormhole needs investigating; however, there's no reason to utterly break every diplomatic rule Starfleet has unless the wormhole is actually dangerous to life in the Romulan Star Empire, and, indeed, the Federation.

Solo
Solo nods slowly, looking at Lando, smiling. "So....Lando. I do gotta ask; what made you think 'this is a job for Solo.' I mean, you're connected. Well, you were last time I saw you." Han smiles, trying to play it off as a drunken conversation starter, rather than the prod it really is.