(Uncertain if this is the correct subforum for this topic)Greetings, fellow AC2ers... It's been awhile. I've been away for... ever. First, real life interfered shortly after I finished my LP. Then, Beyond Earth was a gigantic letdown.
Why am I back? What is the title referring to?
I and my co-author have been writing an far-future set story that we're sure 4Xers will love, especially science-fiction 4Xers who enjoy the way history and psychology have shaped human development... which is the most apt description of SMAC fanatics
So far, we've written over 96k words.
We are releasing a VN (Visual Novel) soon... Here, have a teaser.
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Playthings
3274.07.12
Loop I Bubble. Jiuzhaigou System. Zechawa. White-hot lightning crackled in the sky above, and Amant felt it echoed her sentiment.
Over craggy, rock-strewn soil, she gave chase to her prey. She was armed with only a spear, its visage dark and sleek. Of light there was little, and the wind and rain drenched the woman’s form as she ran. Her build was as lean as the weapon she carried, and just as deceptively strong. Luminescent skin shone in the stormy darkness. Her hunting garb was a royal blue toga, cut for running, and waist long, jet black hair trailed in her wake.
She made for splendid footage, she knew. Her current viewer count was at a little over fourteen million. The almost invisible monocle she wore over her left eye kept her informed of the number watching her stream, and she laughed as the playlist she’d selected for the hunt neared its climax.
The creature she had dubbed Red Bear was only a quarter of a mile ahead, and Amant was gaining ground rapidly. When she’d first discovered the species, she had been on the edge of this mountain range, observing the warm lights of the dwellings from a distance. She’d stayed on the very outskirts of the tiny community, waiting for one of its monstrously huge denizens to venture just a bit further out so she could make her challenge.
Of course, such a primitive species had no way of understanding her verbal communication, so she’d made her point clear to the bewildered beast by throwing a rock at it. Red Bear was an enormous lifeform, almost three times her height, covered in a shaggy red hair and similar in physical characteristics to its namesake. However, it was far smarter than it appeared, and rather than charge the tiny being, it had opted to choose a much larger rock to throw back.
But Amant was not a coddled simulator junkie, soft and weak, foolhardy by a belief of human supremacy. She was a Versian, and her life was to hunt. She had cast aside the comforts of humanity’s technological edge, and pledged herself to a more spartan existence.
Well, as much as was sane, anyway. She wasn’t crazy. What was the point of such a lifestyle if it didn’t afford you glory? Naturally, the only way to gain glory was to be witnessed, when she’d quit her old occupation and taken up her new faith, she’d made sure to invest in the best video logging and data streaming equipment money could buy.
So here she was, provoking another fierce-looking primitive into a duel to the death. Only Red Bear didn’t seem very interested in dueling. After Amant had dodged the rock it threw at her, it turned and fled back to its village. Mighty as she was, Amant wasn’t cocky enough to fight a whole pack of five meter tall, razor-fanged creatures. Even so, she meant to keep her glory as intact as possible.
There were a number of options open to her. She could, of course, quit the hunt, but that was tantamount to committing social suicide; the Versian community would never let her live down such a failure. It wasn’t something worth seriously considering, at any rate. She could have gone back to her ship to retrieve more weaponry, maybe a nanoweave buckler and servosaw or perhaps her Xeto bow and arrows. While popular with the viewers, they only respected the use of such equipment against much more hardened opponents.
No, to stoop lower than her current tier and attain more assistance than her prey required would reduce her rating. Her carbide spear would have to do, so Amant did what she knew best. Commenting on the difficulty of what she was about to perform, she cited the techniques and stratagems of humanity’s ancient ancestors before making her way to the Red Bears’ village.
Then, in the depth of night, while most of them slept, she slew them. First she slew the village sentry, aided by superior vision and honed agility that rivaled a cat. When she had finished with him, she systematically moved from hut to hut, killing without remorse, a wraith in the night. A feral smile crossed her lips as her viewer count skyrocketed, climbing higher with every kill. Then, when all but her original prey were dead, she gathered the bodies into the center of the village. The rain began to fall. Standing on the pile of corpses, Amant gave a shrill cry and triggered her skin’s luminescence.
Her quarry made its appearance. The poor creature shambled out of its hut, still dazed from sleep, and froze. The sight of the strange creature it had encountered before, standing on the top of its slain kin filled its vision. Then it howled, a long mournful sound. All else was quiet, except for the steady chopping sound of a camera drone floating nearby, watching everything from a safe distance. Suddenly, predator and prey exploded into action, their roles momentarily reversed, as Red Bear charged the glowing huntress.
But Amant was a human being of the thirty-sixth century, and her size was meaningless here. She’d enhanced herself with the best augmentations she could find. Red Bear could not match her speed, and her skill with the spear was deadly. She danced, evading the alien’s crude blows and struck, swift as a snake.
Ever mindful of her viewers, she drew out the fight, darting between the huts, stabbing at her foe, eluding his charges, slowly tiring him. Eventually his rage died and fright must have taken the poor creature, because it gave a pitiful howl, turned, and fled.
And so now, after a short monologue to her audience on the virtues of retreat when facing a superior foe, she was giving chase. Nearly upon her prey, Amant cried out, hurling her spear with all her might. She meant to slay the creature with that throw, but her voice had given away her intent and it spun at the last moment.
The spear still caught Red Bear in the side. It collapsed in a heap and a whine, and Amant knew her moment of triumph was upon her.
Suddenly, a blinding light flooded her vision. She stumbled mid run, and felt herself tumble into something. Pushing herself off, she stood there blinking while her eyes quickly adjusted.
“Amant Wave?” came a voice. The figure was directly ahead of her, and clad in a dark red. No, he was dark red. Before her stood something humanoid, a bit taller than her, and very clearly a machine. On it’s chest, emblazoned in silver in small letters were the letters “SDF”.
Amant swallowed involuntarily. “Yes?”
“I am Operator Ichor, of the Sidereal Defense Fleet.” The humanoid machine paused, letting its statement sink in. “Your actions are in violation of the Sentient Rights Act of 3276. You are to cease and desist. Your property will be confiscated, and you will accompany me for questioning.”
Touching a slender bracelet on her wrist, Amant cut the video feed. Whatever happened next, video evidence posted to the entire net was not going to help.
“Now listen, this lifeform is hardly what most people would consider sentient. It’s barely grasped the use of tools and there’s no hint of a working langu-”
“Silence. This is not your first offense. I have secured more video evidence, that you have generously provided by uploading it to the net. You will come with me… or I will be forced to subdue you.” The last was said in a tone that made the Versian huntress shudder.
“No, I don’t think so.” She turned, lightning fast, while her camera drone sped toward the ensemble’s head. But before she could get two steps, there was a sound of whirring servos and the discharge of a weapon.
Amant heard the automatic camera crumple to the dirt, but she had no choice but to continue fleeing. It was a Sidereal Operator after all. They were one-man armies, sworn to defend human space against alien incursions. Why he had come for her was a mystery, but it didn’t change the simple fact that fighting would be suicide. However, while he was speaking, she had used her bracelet to call for her shuttle and if she could just get to it…
There was a sonic boom as the tiny form of her ship streaked toward her, but then a light lanced out from somewhere on the ground. The shuttle exploded, its burning remains raining down, and Amant’s last flicker of hope died.
She swore, halting and turning to stare at the machine. Even though the operator was faceless, she knew he was smiling. That same feral smile that she herself wore when she faced down her prey.
The smile of a predator.
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