M4F14 - 7 Introduction

Bagliov-zen Written By L1S

In the Gamma quadrant of the universe lies the Mognmass galaxy - one of the newer galaxies only 6.5 billion years old and born of cosmic dust a young planet that is waiting to reach its full potential. Two suns overlook Bagliov-zen. The second and most distant giving a cooling blue haze adding a purple lush cloud full of plasmal electricity which give power to those within its gravitational grasp. Four moons gather around giving a harmonious balance to the rich ball from which they were spawned. Each is colored uniquely blue, green, red and yellow, reflecting the minerals they contain. Bagliov-zen is still fresh, that is why it was colonized - control of this newly formed orb in space gives access to the elements that are easily available. Plant growth had only began ninety millennia ago; the varieties are diverse already thanks to human interference, the introduction of plants that can react well in this dank dewy atmosphere that can barely sustain human life at this time. Cities are domed to sustain atmospheres. Will Bagliov-zen be forgiving of it's friendly symbiotic inhabitants that will filter it's atmosphere with Bio-infrastructural elements that were introduced three centuries earlier? The removal of hazardous heavy elements found in some abundant patches will satisfy both inhabitants and planet - or will it?

Affinion 7 Written by Y-S4N

As the sun sets, the dome of the space colony Affinion 7 casts a long shadow onto the land. The metal supports glisten in the waning sunlight and the translucent material covering the dome refracts more of the light. Inside the dome, the atmosphere and environment of Affinion 7 are controlled by the AIs Y-S4N and L15. These AIs are aware of everything that goes on in the space colony, and have total control over the conditions, making them akin to the gods of Affinion 7. They are the ones who oversee the irrigation systems that allow the artificially grown flora to survive, and they are the ones who maintain the power supply and life support within the space colony. They are also the ones who created the worker bots and then sent them to build the sleek buildings, which are completely made of a material that reflects the light coming in but allows the resident to see outside. Maintenance bots are sent twice a day to clean up the seamless streets of Affinion 7. The sound of birds chirping is artificially synthesized (there are no birds due to the possibility of their damaging the dome) and covers up the background hum of all of the colony's systems. Affinion 7 is a peaceful space colony, where the best and the brightest have converged. But these best and brightest have no idea of the storm that is to come...

The Transformation Written by Y-S4N

Under the cover of twilight stand a group of unusual figures that care nothing for the colors of the sky, the foliage and those that they are about to meet. They are all calm for they know they are the most formidable beings in the universe. In their natural form as they are now, they cannot reflect a single particle of light due to the blackest mass that makes up their unique Quadra-helix DNA. They are more vulnerable than ever in this state of magnaflux rest. Their polynomic flexium compound is strong, pliable though weak in certain conditions where high level doses of partronium fired with interphasing pulsonic bursts will make them weak and easier to destroy. Would the population be able to handle the incredible sight of the dense dark giant shadowy appearance of these transformers? Appearing as nothing, yet can draw looks and almost suck in the viewer like light drawn into a black hole. It is now time, time for action: a skillful clever planned attack on Affinion 7. A plan formed by their leader MangalaBot. There is no question that any order will be obeyed for their leader is focused and callous. He is feared by everyone that has crossed his path. He takes possession of words that describe evil; he cares for no one and no thing. Dispatching his orders without a hint of care or compassion he tells AcroBot to prove his systems are efficient, ordering this skillful, nimble, formidably stealthy and pilfering murder machine to upgrade his systems, have them checked and make ready for the mission that is beginning. AcroBot is ready. Meanwhile TetraBot is still. Simple instructions are given; actually they are complicated and encrypted to a degree that would be near to impossible to decipher by the ultimate computer grand wizard to decipher in a lifetime, for TetraBot it is considered un-testing and the task as good as done. Communication is simple, instructions clear. They take a new form. A form that will best fit this cosmopolitan group of variegated colonists who do not know the connection between these amoral reprobates with iniquity as their motto. Elements that exist on this planet will stabilize their DNA and the transformers want it all. And the price is everything, everything that you could care about. Affinion 7 is about to change....

Ground Zero Written by Y-S4N

A holographic star shot across the artificial sky projected onto the dome of Affinion 7. Watching it stood the figure of a man, or was it a machine? The solitary creature didn't know anymore. He had the vague notion that at some point in his past life he had been a man, but now his flesh and blood limbs had been replaced by metal and circuits. His spine had also been re-enforced with titanium alloy and the cybernetic implant that interfaced directly into his brain, making his reflexes faster and numbing the sensation of pain, was made apparent by the metallic piece circumscribing his right eye. His right eye itself had also been replaced by a cybernetic one, which allowed him to see farther and more clearly. However, the cybernetic enhancements had been added sequentially, and acquired by means that the law would not necessarily have deemed appropriate, and hence he had one blue eye (his real one), and one green eye (the cybernetic one). And most of his cybernetic enhancements he had had to implant himself, a feat with a degree of pain that any normal human and even most cyborgs would have been unable to endure, but somehow the pain had seemed barely noticeable to him...at least compared to the previous pain he had suffered. And yet he could not remember the cause of that pain.But it did not matter now. The only thing that mattered was his mission. He had to kill the Numbers. No matter how many Numbers the Corporation (Genevron) created, he would destroy them all. That was his only goal in life, the only reason he had to keep on living. He did not know why he had to kill them, but he knew that he did. That was the only thing he remembered, besides a name...Zero. That was what he was called...or was it what he called himself? No, that did not matter either, he thought as he approached the populated area of Affinion 7. He would go by Zero, and he would kill the numbers until there was only Zero.

Out of Time Written by Y-S4N It was after curfew, and the streets of Affinion 7 were dark and deserted. So no one saw the burst of light that preceded the appearance of the figure of a woman. For a moment, she wobbled on her legs, attempting to keep her balance. As the disorientation of time travel subsided, she began to take in her surroundings. She was in an alleyway between two buildings that had been built in a style that she remembered reading about in the history holobooks. She had really done it, she had succeeded in going back in time to the set point. Now she had a chance to change her world, to prevent the Mutant Revolution from occurring and being recorded in the history files. But she couldn't do it alone...after all, she was a Quantum Accelerator, a scientist. Only those familiar with all the intricacies of the Quantum Accelerating Device could be trusted to operate it and arrive at the correct time. In order to have the strength to kill her target, she needed to meet up with the other Quantum Accelerators. She would have to blend in with the regular population in order to buy herself time and find her target. She sighed and pushed the 'cloak' button on her QAD. Then she walked into the night...

Alien! Written by Y-S4N Masked by the trajectory of the holographic shooting star, a real object broke through the dome and into the colony. The breach was detected immediately by Y-S4N's sensors, and the object was tracked as nanobots were sent to fix the hole in the dome structure. The object landed in a deserted field that was covered with artificially maintained grass and surrounded by artificially grown trees that had recently been transplanted there. A few moments later, a long black leg covered with long sticky hairs came out of the fiery crater. Then another leg, and another, and another...

At last the alien creature to which the legs belonged heaved its sleek black body up out of the crater. It glistened in the (artificial) moonlight. The creature turned what must have been it's head one way, then another. A rabbit (which had been bred in vitro) hopped past the crater. In a flash, the creature snatched up the rabbit with two of its hairy legs. It brought its prey up to what must have been it's mouth, and swallowed the squirming animal whole. Seconds later, long fibers came spewing out of what must have been its mouth and the creature used its legs to wrap the fibers around itself, into a cacoon...

Interesting, mused the host AI Y-S4N, as it sent gardener bots to repair the damage to the ground. Maybe we won't alert the citizens about this development just yet. Let's see how the clever population deals...

The Calm Before the Storm Written by Y-S4N

Inside the populated area of the space colony, the inhabitants were recharging. The robots had plugged themselves into recharging stations to refresh the power supply in their capacitors. The Med bot was also downloading updates to its broad database of invaluable medical information and defragmenting its hard drive so that it could access the data as quickly as possible. Robbie the Robot was updating its database of invaluable lawyer jokes. The humans (or humanoid creatures) were performing the act of sleeping. The Herbalist was dreaming of running around freely in a garden of plants he had seen in the holographic database of long extinct flora. The Public Relations Expert was having nightmares that all of a sudden all his inside contacts that he had spent so many years cultivating had turned into rabbits. The BioEngineer was tossing and turning in her bed, sleeping the same fitful sleep she had been sleeping for the last 50 years. The Wraith was snoozing on its watch outside the empty prison unit. Outside, under the holographic stars, slept the Space Agent, his dreams filled with memories of all his past adventures traveling across the galaxy. A smile appeared on his face as the shapely aquamarine figure of the "friendly" P1YM4T5 alien species appeared in his mind. Inside a capsule in Genevron Corp Labs, the Number seven slept the deep dreamless sleep that he had been engineered to sleep...

But not all the humans (and humanoids) were sleeping...in a dark room under the streets the lights from a monitor flickered as the Uber-Hacker downloaded confidential information from the mainframe and uploaded his own files. Of course, the omniscient and omnipotent AIs L1S and Y-S4N knew what was going on, but they condoned the Uber-Hacker's behavior because they were curious to see what she would do with the information. In another part of the space colony, the Mad Scientist was busy soldering the last circuits in his disrupter ray. As he worked in a mad flurry, he mumbled to himself "I'll show them, I'll show them all!" In yet another part of the space colony, the cybernetic droid was running through the data it had collected on the humans that day and carefully picking out the optimal one that it would choose to clone parts from the next day. Last but not least, the Mutant was huddled in the shadows of an abandoned building unit, shivering, his arms wrapped around his legs. How lonely he felt, how much he wished he had a friend. But all the others called him by that name, "freak", and looked at him with those unbearable disgusted eyes...

Suddenly, a shadow appeared outside the open door of the building unit where the Mutant was hiding. A moment later, a figure appeared. The Mutant looked up to see (artificial) moonlight shine off a metallic piece around the figure's eye. Instinctively, the Mutant initially contracted further into the shadows, but as he looked into the creature's eyes, his muscles relaxed. For what he saw emanating from those two inhomogeneously colored eyes was the same thing that he felt had been consuming his own heart: the pain of being absolutely and inextricably alone.

(to be continued)...