Trying a little experiment. Inspired by a little of
this, a little of that, and...well, I'm curious to
know
if this is any good or if it just falls flat.
If it's good enough, I'll post a revised version some
days from now (honest!), including at least a proper
title.
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: mechapd.txt
-- Desc: mechapd.txt
Posted May 1st, 7:55 AM, by user mechapd:
Hello. I am Lieutenant Marcus Reaver of the Upper City Police
Department. I'm making this blog because the shrink thought it would
be a good idea. The guys from Mega also wanted their "research data",
so much that they were going to order me to write this blog, but let
it be known I'd resign if that was my only reason. Mega only acts
like it owns everything.
So, why am I writing this? Because I get to play with mecha.
For real. And it makes my head hurt.
For those who don't know, a mecha (plural "mecha") is a large
humanoid vehicle, typically 2 to 3 stories tall. They differ from
standard exoskeletons (officially, "vehicles similar in size and shape
to unmodified human beings") in three ways. First, size. While there
is no official cutoff, I don't know of any exoskeletons taller than 10
feet, head to toe, while the mecha I pilot are usually closer to 30.
Second, utility. Exoskeletons are widely used, especially in
construction and the military (using armed and armored versions called
"battlesuits"). A growing number of people use them for
transportation, since you can take one on most elevators or stairs and
park it in your cubicle. (There's a joke about how the "strongest man
in the world" was so flabby from riding his exoskeleton everywhere
that his body grew around it, until it was medically and legally
recognized as part of him.) There are few things a mecha can do that
a squad of exoskeletons can't do as well or better, and a squad of
exoskeletons is much cheaper. When my new patrolmates and I were
reassigned to these experimental mecha, we thought it was just Mega
getting political pork again and we'd be back to real work in a few
months. I still think we were technically correct, but more on that
later.
Third, piloting. One wears an exoskeleton, and directs it by
moving one's body. One pilots a mecha from within its torso, and
directs it via a neural interface implant, which plugs in to the mecha
and entirely takes over your sensory and motor control systems so that
you feel like you are the mecha. You can't tell your own lungs to
breathe or your own heart to beat during this, but the mecha has life
support systems that take care of that for you. Cadet training
exposed us to samples of basic nerve gas, so we'd recognize it if some
psycho tried brewing his own. Being able to wade through a warehouse
full of it without a care in the world rocks.
It has its disadvantages, too. Taking damage hurts. The pain
takes some time to fade away even after I disconnect from the mecha.
But the worst part is its interaction with SD Mode.
We're not quite sure where they came up with this, but it looks
like some R&D lab in Japan. Mega's reps call it Supreme Defense Mode.
I've seen anime; I know what SD really means. As it turns out, both
meanings are correct. The mecha retracts most of its arms and legs
and shrinks its torso, converting the mass into some kind of integrity
failsafe and auto-repair system. In short, SD Mode is invulnerable.
You give up a lot of power when it's active, and your mecha sometimes
grows temporary lumps and pits if it takes a lot of damage, but the
worst that ever happens is temporary shutdown, flagged by swirling
patterns in the mecha's eyes. I've seen a mecha survive direct hits
from nuclear artillery shells in SD Mode, and it was the only thing
intact within a quarter mile. It's also somewhat cute, which can put
some citizens' minds at ease.
So, you'd think we'd go around like that all the time, right?
Wrong. Between the auto-repair system and the mecha's different
proportions, the controls have trouble reconfiguring themselves. This
is a problem while they're still plugged directly into our brains.
I've seen the most hardened officer I knew, who never once cracked a
smile in all the years I've known him, break down crying after 5
minutes in SD Mode, and he lasted longer than anyone else. Heightened
emotions might not be a problem, if they did not tend to interfere
with our judgment. Most of the pilots are now on psychological leave.
The only reason I'm not is that I tend to break happy, and to keep
things somewhat under control. And they need someone to deal with the
criminal mecha.
We haven't figured out where they're coming from yet. From time
to time, starting a week after we got our new assignment, a mecha just
seems to appear out of nowhere, just long enough to rip off a bank
vault (literally) or something, then gets to cover and vanishes.
That's the really scary part: for over a century, the main deterrent
to large crimes has been the fact that, once us police had our eye on
someone, there really wasn't any way to lose us. Just one incident
otherwise that got out to the press triggered a minor crime wave,
though none of the other criminals managed to disappear.
That's my situation. My shift's about to start, so I'd better
post this now. More tomorrow.
Posted May 1st, 5:22 PM, by user mechapd:
I said tomorrow, but I want to get this down now. It happened
again.
I was patrolling downtown (the local one - we're in district 5),
or rather wading through it while trying not to damage anything
(people outside exoskeletons come up to my knees, and the only sure
way to keep cars from cutting in front of one of your feet only to
get stepped on by the other is to take small steps), when I rounded a
corner and saw our mystery mecha. It had just stepped out into the
street, and appeared to be sizing up the gemchip factory when it saw
me. Of course, it ran.
High speed pursuit through populated areas is always dangerous,
but I think using mecha makes it more so. With each step, you or the
one you're chasing could squash one or a group of citizens.
Fortunately, being able to see as if I was the one running made it
easier to avoid traffic, and the suspect avoided harming anyone this
time. In fact, the mecha made a beeline for the nearest access hatch
to Mid City.
The city I live in has three main levels. Upper City started out
as an increasingly dense network of skyways between the upper levels
of high rises, then branched out with a floor of its own, covering
what is now known as Mid City. We span four states, and there would
be talk of making us our own state if our expansion wasn't threatening
to completely overrun at least one of those states. Most people these
days live in Upper City or Lower City, leaving Mid City as mostly an
empty forest of support beams going down to the ground.
I swear, that mecha seemed to just dissolve into one of the
support beams. It had a good lead, and I didn't get that good a look,
but there is no way it should have been able to stuff itself through a
man-sized doorway. Yet it did. At least, that's what it looked like.
The technicians are going over my video logs to see if I missed
something. I hope I did. I've had enough unexplained magic tricks
for a while.
Posted May 1st, 8:29 PM, by user reddfox1337:
Hey there! Just wanna say, I live in Lower City an' I saw you today
an' I gotta say, you've got yourself a fangirl! I've piloted mecha
myself and they're way hard to master, but you're like a total pro
already! And you've only had them for, what, a week? ^_^
Posted May 1st, 8:40 PM, by user mechapd:
You mean you've played video games using them, right? I can
count the number of mecha there have ever been in Upper, Mid, or Lower
City on two hands, including our recent mystery guest. There haven't
been any mecha in Lower City yet. But you're right, they do take
some getting used to. It's a lot harder in reality than in video
games.
We've had these mecha for a month. We thought this was an
elaborate April Fool's joke at first.
Posted May 1st, 8:55 PM, by user reddfox1337:
Where do you think your mecha were built? Upper City won't get its
hands dirty with large manufacturing projects like that. They ship
'em all down here. I helped with the test piloting for something that
looked a lot like your mecha. Maybe I even piloted yours.
And you so didn't have them a month ago. The training simulators,
maybe, but the mecha only shipped out of here on April 15th. Bet you
were "promoted to the real thing" about then. Mega's got a problem
just calling a spade a spade, if they think calling it a club might
get them one penny more.
N-E-wayz, ta! ^_^
Posted May 2nd, 7:40 AM, by user mechapd:
We really shouldn't be talking about things like that here. In
case you couldn't tell from my intro, it's almost certain this blog is
Being Read. But since you brought it up (and I can't edit your
posts), you're right. April 16th was the first time I actually laid
eyes on a mecha.
My boss says Mega says the test piloting was done by robot
dummies with simulation nervous systems. They admit some of the
manufacturing was done locally, but insist most of it was done
overseas, although they didn't seem to be able to agree exactly where.
Posted May 2nd, 10:42 AM, by user reddfox1337:
They're just claiming that so they don't have to pay taxes. It's
95% Lower City. The other 5% is gemchip electronics, which are shiny
enough that Upper City makes 'em themselves. I hear sapphires an'
diamonds an' the like used to be pretty expensive, before synthetics
were perfected. Now they're just pretty, an' pretty useful for some
things. Still valuable in bulk.
Mega Corporation. Man, do they ever earn their name. I can believe
they think us test pilots were robot dummies, 'cause that's how they
treat most of their line workers. To be honest, some of 'em I
couldn't tell from a robot. Of course, robot dummies don't earn
paychecks, but like that matters to middle management. Hey, did ya
hear there's a motion at the next shareholder's meeting to actually
change their name to Mega Corporation, 'cause even the CEO can't
remember their official name after all those mergers?
Gotta go. Gotta be topside in ten minutes. C-ya!
Posted May 2nd, 5:40 PM, by user mechapd:
I look at the timing of your post, and I really hope you weren't
there. The mecha showed up again at 10:55 this morning. This time,
it pulled out a gun and tried to shoot my head off. I switched to SD
Mode and
Sorry. I'm not sure...I don't know if I'm ready to talk about
this just yet. I made some unwise decisions, and some people went to
the hospital today because of me. The other mecha picked me up and
ran away, and I should probably thank whoever was piloting it. It
stopped me from being a danger to others. But right now, after the
beating it gave me to trigger shutdown, I hurt too much to be very
thankful.
I wonder how it knew about SD Mode shutting down? It stopped the
instant it was triggered.
At least my video logs got a good look at the mecha. It's got
five animals painted on it, one on each arm and leg and another on the
torso: a turquoise hawk, a jade snake, an amber gorilla, a ruby wolf,
and a pearl rabbit. Shouldn't be too hard to spot, now if only we can
catch it.
Posted May 2nd, 9:50 PM, by user enviousss:
So, this is where the monster lurks online. Gonna issue an apology
for what you pulled today?
Posted May 2nd, 9:51 PM, by user reddfox1337:
LAY OFF HIM! Jerk. Can't you see what he's going through?
Posted May 2nd, 9:53 PM, by user enviousss:
I'll lay off him, when he undoes all the harm he did. Say, by
resigning his commission?
Posted May 2nd, 9:53 PM, by user skye:
stop it
Posted May 2nd, 9:55 PM, by user mechapd:
Thanks for the defense, but this is my blog. I'll tell people
when to stop.
Enviousss, stop it. I'm beating myself up enough as it is. I
don't need your help.
Posted May 2nd, 10:07 PM, by user reddfox1337:
Sorry. I told them about your blog 'cause you're so cool (as you
just demonstrated ^_^). I didn't think they'd raise a fuss.
Posted May 2nd, 10:18 PM, by user mechapd:
Don't worry. It happens.
Mind if I ask you something, by way of getting my mind off this
topic? Why do your entries show up with apostrophe marks?
Posted May 2nd, 10:24 PM, by user reddfox1337:
Chee. Don't'cha know how people live down here? I'm a nomad. Got a
voice to text thingy 'cause I can't lug around a keyboard. Too bulky.
We gotta build jus' 'bout everything ourselves, 'cause Mega tries to
keep us from shipping stuff in or out 'cept for its own shipments.
We even make our own land.
Posted May 2nd, 10:29 PM, by user mechapd:
Okay, two more questions:
1. How do you "say" those smiley faces?
2. What do you mean, "make our own land"?
Posted May 2nd, 10:32 PM, by user bananas:
I'll take that second question, if you don't mind. I assume she's
referring to the Diggers. Lower City, being subterranean, is one
giant cavern, which actually expands about as fast as Upper City. If
you need more room, just dig it out. If you need an airhole or your
own path to Mid City, just dig, so long as it's not too near a support
beam. There are concerns about the resulting structural stability,
especially since Upper City rests on Mid City which rests on Lower
City, but you need a license to dig, and the license exam enforces
some minimal competence. Most of the politics about digging is just
noise generated by Upper City merchants who'd rather we live in their
apartments and buy their wares.
There's a strong do-it-yourself culture down here. We try to share
how to do things as widely as possible, and we've got the technology
to make just about anything from the dirt we dig up. (Within limits:
no nuclear isotopes from lead or that kind of alchemy. But recycling
carbon dioxide, water, nutrients from the soil, and geothermal or
other energy into edible food is basic for us.) You might want to
come down here and visit some day.
Posted May 2nd, 10:41 PM, by user mechapd:
Thanks, but no thanks. They require all kinds of decontamination
procedures for people coming up from Lower City. Maybe when I can
take some vacation time to go through it all. Thank you for the
information, though.
Posted May 2nd, 10:43 PM, by user skye:
decontamination is placebo
Posted May 2nd, 10:44 PM, by user reddfox1337:
Like, what he said, dude. Seriously, there's so much bogus data they
hand out I'm surprised you still believe anything they say.
Oh, and the smiley? Say it like this: ^_^
Posted May 2nd, 10:50 PM, by user mechapd:
Whatever. I'm going to bed now.
Posted May 2nd, 10:58 PM, by user fluffykins6969:
Going to bed with anyone in particular? ^_^
Posted May 3rd, 5:15 PM, by user mechapd:
We did it! We caught the bastard! One of them, anyway.
It turns out that mystery mecha is actually made up of five
exoskeletons. They're designed to look like fairly mundane models
normally, but they can unfold and link up into something that's at
least the equal of my mecha. They've even got a hidden storage
compartment when separate. That's how they got the loot away, and
the gun from yesterday was broken into five pieces for smuggling into
Upper City. I wouldn't want to be one of the arms or legs, though:
they probably get motion sickness pretty quickly.
We figured this out after I grabbed one of the legs, the one with
the wolf on it. A little pulling popped it loose, which caused the
other four to unlink. They ran for Mid City, but we managed to seal
off the entrances to Lower City before they could reach it. They're
trapped in one of the support pillars, and we've got squads closing in
on them. The pillar's a large place to search, but we should have
them by dawn.
In the mean time, we had to apply some creative pressure to pop
my prisoner's suit open, but once we did, she was just another woman.
Kind of pretty, in her own way, but she's a bad guy, and she wouldn't
stop giving me the evil eye.
So, Red, what do you think? ^_^
Posted May 3rd, 10:15 PM, by user mechapd:
Red? Are you out there?
Posted May 4th, 7:50 AM, by user mechapd:
I'm not going to obsess. I'm sure something came up, Red, and
you just weren't online last night. But I wish I had someone to talk
to.
Today's going to be boring. I can feel it. They still haven't
found those other four, so most of my shift's going to be spent
scouring that pillar, looking for them.
Posted May 4th, 5:25 PM, by user mechapd:
Found them, kind of. They dug their own entrance to Lower City.
(Thanks for the tip, Bananas.) No way are we going to find them now.
At least there isn't much they can do without all five exoskeletons.
Posted May 5th, 7:58 AM, by user mechapd:
Meh.
Posted May 5th, 12:02 PM, by user reddfox1337:
Hey hey hey, don't get the blues 'cause you gots the Red! ^_^
Sorry, work had me tied up, so to speak. I got a look at ya while you
were on duty. Lemme just say, you are hunk-a-licious! Grade A Prime,
stuff of my dreams. I wish I wasn't so shy and I could introduce
myself in person. ^_^;
Posted May 5th, 1:15 PM, by user fluffykins6969:
What my virtual sister means to say is that she wants to jump your
bones. I know I would.
Posted May 5th, 2:02 PM, by user reddfox1337:
*whaps Fluffy* You jump anything with two legs and you know it.
Posted May 5th, 2:58 PM, by user fluffykins6969:
Oh, my. Is that a proposal? I'll be right over.
Posted May 5th, 5:12 PM, by user mechapd:
Thanks. I needed that after today.
They let her out on a technicality. "Circumstantial evidence",
they said. Despite the fact that she had a very unique exoskeleton,
the fact that I didn't actually catch her in the act of committing a
crime means I have to let her go. The defense attorney said anyone
could have been piloting that thing previously, even if it was the
same one.
I'm going to be seeing them on the street again before long.
And for most of the trial, she just kept looking at me. Was she
trying to memorize my face so she can snipe me out of a crowd or
something?
Posted May 5th, 9:02 PM, by user reddfox1337:
Out, out, OUT! I'm EXHAUSTED, d-oh, is this on?
Umm, ah...sorry to hear about the, hah, trial. I mean, umm, the
defense had a good poiII-
Hey, can you at least wait for just one minute?
Sorry. Fluffy can be a little, umm, persistent when she wants to,
ahh, cuddle. N-E-wayz, just keep it up - no, Fluffy, I wasn't talking
to you - and I'm sure you'll come out ahead.
Why are you grinning, Flu...oh, come on! That was not even innuendo
and you know it!
I think I'd better go now. Talk later, when I've got some privacy.
Posted May 6th, 9:12 AM, by user mechapd:
Ah, the weekend. Too bad criminals don't take weekends off, so
neither do we. But at least I can kick back at my desk and do some
paperwork. And it sounds like you had a fun Friday night, Red.
You know, I've tried to find your blog, but I couldn't. Don't
all users of this system have to have their own blog?
Posted May 6th, 10:24 AM, by user reddfox1337:
Would you believe I made an account just so I could comment on your
blog? Same for all my friends, I think. ^_^
Posted May 6th, 11:03 AM, by user mechapd:
No, Fluffy's got a blog, where she lists her exploits. You
should read last night's entry. It's really detailed.
Posted May 6th, 11:48 AM, by user reddfox1337:
Thanks, but I think I'll pass.
Posted May 6th, 12:01 PM, by user mechapd:
Then I'll quote a bit of it. "I've always enjoyed helping
fulfill fantasies. When I heard my virtual sister scream 'MARCUS', my
pleasure was far more than any mere physical act could give on its
own."
Posted May 6th, 4:17 PM, by user reddfox1337:
I just spent the past four hours reading and rereading her blog and oh
my gawd do I feel dirty.
I feel used. She didn't want me for me, she wanted me because I like
you. She tapped that, like some kind of vampire.
Posted May 6th, 4:43 PM, by user mechapd:
"Succubus" is the word you're looking for, I think.
Anyway, Bananas also has a blog. He's some kind of Lower City
civil engineer, I think. Strange, I didn't think Mega hired much in
the Lower City, but he keeps going on about this project of his.
Whatever it is, he really doesn't like it, but it pays well. Some
kind of PR thing for a new product of Mega's.
Posted May 6th, 4:52 PM, by user reddfox1337:
Some kind? He runs the Digging-
Umm, nevermind. Not supposed to talk about that.
Posted May 6th, 4:54 PM, by user mechapd:
Talk about what, Red? Or should I say, Ruby Wolf?
Posted May 6th, 4:55 PM, by user reddfox1337:
o_o You know?
Posted May 6th, 4:56 PM, by user mechapd:
Wasn't hard to figure out. Ruby Wolf, red fox. Amber ape,
bananas. And so forth. And I think I know why.
I said mecha weren't the most practical for most uses, right?
But what if Mega really really wanted to start selling mecha, at a
high markup? Make its own market! Convince the public there are
mecha criminals at large, who might be able to get away time and
again, but at least mecha police can chase them away. Mega's large
enough to buy up almost any competitor, except those who can't be
bought, like Lower City. But those competitors can be discredited,
say if they're identified as the source of mecha criminals.
Posted May 6th, 4:57 PM, by user reddfox1337:
I now have only minutes to live. They threatened to kill us if we
told anyone.
I know.
Wh-MARCUS?!?
That's why I put a homing beacon on your exoskeleton.
B-b-but...how did you get your mecha down here?!?
I dug. Now, can you lead me to your friends before certain unfriendly
types find them? "Protective custody" is still on the books. ^_^
Posted May 6th, 5:00 PM, by user enviousss:
Watch out. Some of us are "certain unfriendly types". And you have
just earned the wrath of Mega.
- Exec. VP of Business Development, Mega Corporation
Posted May 6th, 5:02 PM, by user skye:
this was my trap for you enviousss
i needed proof you were unethical
you are so fired
- chairman, mega corporation
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