>Humans and Adjuncts should not be able to have children with each other. It's not supposed to happen. Something is very, very wrong, and my Adjunct instincts are telling me to find out what.

>A small part of me somehow gets the feeling this is wrong somehow, me being alive. Like I'm breaking a law or something, but I push it from my mind. It's not really important.

We need a psychologist and a psychiatrist. Otherwise...

>>414560
I second this notion.

Well how peach, okay in light of this I still say the black agent but with the little machines I would be willing to take samantha.

Changing my vote to Samantha

>"If no one's ever pulled it off, how long do they stay there? What normally happens?"

"Um... they don't come back miss... they either succeed, or the machine things win, and we plasma wash the planet..."

>>414579
"You're telling me that the children of the royal families are regularly sent down to infected planets and, since none of them ever win, subsequently plasma-blasted to oblivion?"

Fucking hell.

>>414582
okay no that's enough talk.

>>414579
Reassuring. What's at our disposal? There's a time limit? Our partner will be here by her/his own consent?

>>414582
Nope.

Search Genetic Memory on SOLAR SIPHONS

guys i'm pretty sure the time limit is everyone dies. plasma wash kills the robots but it kills EVERYTHING making the planet unsuited for human habitation.

I sigh, taking in that I was basically born in a test tube, then sentenced to very probable death by either tiny machines killing me, or having my own side chuck plasma at me. Either didn't sound appealing. Either way, I wasn't getting out of this. Not, at least, with my present skills and resources. For now, I gesture for Samantha to join me and board my craft, which takes off, then proceeds to hook into an outgoing plasma stream and jump into the Relb system. Once there, we disconnect and begin normal flight towards Relb 3, and since all is quiet, I suppose now would be a good time to question Samantha, if I need to.

((Please note, any further questions towards Desmonia's genetic memory can and should be directed to the new discussion thread. I'll happily supply answers to any of your questions as best I can there. Just to help this thing keep moving along.))

Ask about the machines, and Relb 3

Her opinion.

>>414597
Ask what she did to get stuck being assigned to die with us on this trip.

>Ask about the machines, and Relb 3

"Oh, those things? I don't know much really. Every knows that it's almost impossible to get rid of the things for good, short of plasma washing the planet, but that means a lot of good people die. Even the Dark Ones can't fight them as well as they can. And I've seen a Dark One rip his way through a blast door like it wasn't even there. As for Relb... well, from what I hear, the infection ain't to bad there, but that don't mean much. The machines are supposed to be pretty smart, so they'll hide inside people. Pretty creepy idea, if you ask me... might try asking around about em once we touchdown."

>Ask what she did to get stuck being assigned to die with us on this trip.

"Eh? I volunteered! You think I'm just gonna stand around waiting for the machines to eat away the entire Empire? Sure, it might take awhile, but damn... The Lorana family's done a lot for me, took me in when I was a kid. Gave me a chance to learn something, instead of wasting away on some backwater. Least I can do is try to help out one their daughters, and maybe even find a way to kill the machines off for good."

Just as she finishes speaking, we hit the atmosphere, and a few minutes later I find myself standing in a crowded space-port, a backpack slung over one shoulder, a pistol, one henchman, enough money to buy this planet, and with the single goal of killing off every last... whatever they are, before they kill me or the Imperial Servants decide this entire planet is a bust and plasma wash the thing. Genetic memories serves to bolster this with images of plasma streams being redirected onto planets, literally washing the planet clean like a hose.

What now?

Shopping, I suppose. Shopping and recon.

>Oh, those things? I don't know much really.
Really reassuring.

>Eh? I volunteered!
A suicidal person. No allies for a long-term plan of overthrowing/destroying the Empire.

>What now?
Find someone with actual knowledge.

do you know anyone who might know anything about the nano machines? I'm going to need to understand them fairly well if i'm going to stand a chance against them.

We are nanomachines.

Need to find info. Find a public terminal, access Wikipedia, read.

We need to find somebody who actually knows things about the nanites as soon as possible. Particular points of interest include
- how much variance instances are to have from each other
- weapons are known to work against them
- weapons are known not to work against them
- known nanite weapon capabilities
- known nanite capabilities for impersonating or controlling humans or human technology
- what materials they are composed of
- what they use for a power source

get some advanced infiltrator crap.

we need to know how the they think, for example are the self aware or just a sophisticated decision tree? we also need to know if they have centralized control center or they use distributed computing.

I wonder a little, searching for a public terminal to access, and after a few minutes find one currently on stand-by. I boot the thing up, pay the necessary fees for it's use, then begin trying to dig up information on my apparent enemies. I'm met with almost no success, other than the year they first appeared, the startling ease at which the can take control of planets(although the length of time required for this process various wildly for some reason) and that no one likes them. There are a few names mentioned when I look up scientists that are currently researching them, but all of them are not on Relb 3. Or anywhere near Relb 3.

Further look into the what seems to kill them is met with great success. Plasma works wonders when it comes into contact with their fragile little metallic bodies. Who'd have thought? Furthermore, most weapons seem capable of killing individual nanite clusters, although the problem isn't so much the clusters themselves as the habit they have of "mind-controlling" allies. This is what apparently most are referring to as being "infected". It doesn't sound like it's a very pleasant thing to undergo, more so since Imperial Servants aren't immune to the process.

I pause a moment, having found everything a public terminal could give me on the subject of my immediate enemies, and wonder if there's anything else to find using the terminal before going to do something else.

humanxadjunct porn.

how long ago did the nanites appear? also you should talk to the doctor guy who made you. he might know something, like how well you body can resist infection, and why they made a human Adjunct hybrid. also he did make you, so you owe him a thank you and at least one hug.

> public terminal
This is classified information, you fool. Don't believe in anything controlled by the empire. You need more reliable sources, like gossip and tabloids. Find something about that bitch, Lady Maria, Head of the Lorana Royal Family.

>>414816
indeed. you just looked up what the empire tells the general populace. you will need to talk to someone important. such as your father.

My... father... the one back on the ship with the bitch, no? The one ship we aren't on anymore? But that doesn't mean I can't call him I suppose. After tapping away awhile at the terminals keyboard, I eventually track down the ship I was on(mostly because it's the only one that the bitch uses for anything important) and set the machine to making a long distance call. Since that could take awhile, I try digging up any dirt on my genetic mother.

There really isn't much to find on the person, per say, but lot's pops up about the family over-all. Apparently we have a tendency to act rather impulsively, and that's led to countless wars with other royal families, and sometimes even civil wars within house Lorana itself. Under Lady Maria's rule, however, the house seems to have stabilized somewhat. Why, no one can really guess at.

As for when the nanites first showed their faces, records indicate some four thousand years ago.

I get a message that my calls been connected. Switching over, I am greeted by my "father".

"Well, if it isn't my cute little hybrid... how you getting along out there? Can't really say you've been gone long, but I suppose you wouldn't have any clue where to go from there, no? Anything I can do to help, although I can't stay long. Already working on brewing up some siblings for you! Won't that be nice..."

That comment sends shivers down my spine, not because of the comment itself, but because my gut reaction is to rip this man's arm off and beat him into unconsciousness with it, then turn him over to... someone, just because he's breaking several genetics laws put in place by the Emperor.

>>415003
"while that sounds good please try to refrain from talking about something that breaks so many laws at the same time. it is triggering some powerful Adjunct instincts to kill you brutally and i'd like to think of you positively.

now, the heart of the matter is public terminals seem devoid of any real informationa and i just wanted to confirm with someone who would be more 'in the know.' if "they appeared and started trying to take over everything" was really all that is known about them.

"why are you making human servant hybrids? what possible benefit could it have over just making more servants? and why am I being sent out to die so soon after being made?"

>>415006

yeah, let's tell him so he doesn't get mauled to death by any future siblings for talking too much.

does mr. scientist know anything about nanites?

>"While that sounds good please try to refrain from talking about something that breaks so many laws at the same time. It is triggering some powerful Adjunct instincts to kill you brutally and i'd like to think of you positively. Now, the heart of the matter is public terminals seem devoid of any real information and i just wanted to confirm with someone who would be more 'in the know.' if "they appeared and started trying to take over everything" was really all that is known about them."

"Brutal killing instincts? Marvelous! You really have gained the adjuncts need to correct lawbreakers through any means necessary. Oh, simply outstanding! And it seems you can resist the urges. This... I need to record this. But first, your questions. Nanites aren't really... anyone's thing, in the researching world. To be truthful, the scientific specialty in the empire has always been genetics and social engineering. Well, that and solar siphon technology, but the latter has stalled somewhat without an Emperor to help direct efforts. The most I could tell you about nanites is that you don't want even a single on touching. It's game over after that. They tend to completely infect and control a human within a few minutes. Imperial Servants usually take a few days. I'd assume your somewhere in the middle of that. I'd give you a day at most if you get nanites in your body. Anything else?"

>"Why are you making human servant hybrids? What possible benefit could it have over just making more servants? And why am I being sent out to die so soon after being made?"

"What benefit? Servants do not serve anyone except the Emperor. They do not care how royal your blood is, all that matters is that you have to hold the title. They refuse to involve themselves at all, unless someone starts breaking rules... like me! Thankfully I'm kept well hidden, at least for now. I expect I'll get discovered and executed within another year or so. Adjuncts have always been very good at infiltration and information gathering. Assassination as well, if the situation demands. As for sending you off to die so early, well, that the royal family business. If you win, the Lorana family essentially becomes the main Imperial family until you die, since you'd be empress. You were made specifically for that purpose. The bitch wants to see if a hybrid could do better than a human. That has yet to be seen, obviously."

"so no one knows anything about the nanaties that have been popping up and killing worlds for the last four thousand years? no ones decide to look into them? or at least the technology in general? why? is there some old imperial degree preventing it? or do they only show up once or twice ever thousand years? "

Politely thank him for his information, hang up the phone, and look for a way to discreetly extract yourself from this planet and royal succession fiasco.

Maybe go meet up with a SCIENCE guy if you really want to stop the nanites--y'know, at a safe distance.

>>415130
i highly doubt that will be possible, i bet the planet is blockaded and only one-way ships heading to the surface are allowed to go to it. aka, drop ships. and any ships trying to take off are assumed to be infected and destroyed.

>"So no one knows anything about the nanaties that have been popping up and killing worlds for the last four thousand years? No ones decide to look into them? Or at least the technology in general? Why? Is there some old imperial degree preventing it? or do they only show up once or twice ever thousand years? "

"Father" blinks a little in surprise, then lets out of another cackle of joy. "Ah, already developing an inquisitive mind. Well, no, they're actually infecting a good thirty percent of an intergalactic empire that currently has no Emperor, and whose central government is run by a Imperial Servants, who don't go out of their way to do anything unless an Emperor tells them they should. As to your question regarding studying the little bastards, you try researching something the size of a human skin cell while it tries to eat your equipment and make more of itself in the process. That was.... not a pleasant experience, watching my colleague get eaten alive. Interesting, but not pleasant. Besides, most of the Imperial Royal Families are busy dropping their offspring on infected planets and making them compete to see who can come up with a solution. And it would be those same families that fund research into the things. I suppose their might be scientists on infected worlds that were doing research, but that research won't be getting off planet anytime soon. Can't risk spreading the little things, now can we? Anything else? I really should be going, but it's just too much fun to watch your reactions..."

go. drink. have fun. also ask about rumors on who might be acting weird or is suspected to be infected.

or maybe even visit the local authorities with a different face and hack into their database.

>>415149
>you try researching something the size of a human skin cell while it tries to eat your equipment and make more of itself in the process.
"If they keep eating eating everything, why let them get in contact in the first place?
I may be an abomination of science, but even I know about diamagnetic levitation, or if that's too much for the things, hypersonic levitation works just as well.
What about energy shields? In small numbers nanites should fry instantaneously, so there's your method of transport as well.
And haven't you ever tried freezing the bastards down to near absolute zero by soaking them in liquid hydrogen? Hell, if you can't get energy shielded containers, it would be just as effective to trap a few nanites in a block of solid Argon."

>>415155
doesn't matter, we are here, he is there. we can try your ideas if we find them. just get our systems ready.

>>415155
also, if the nanites ARE magnetic at all, it wouldn't be hard to utterly discombobulate them with an electromagnet easily produced and powered by the tech available.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGytW_C6hR8&#t=198s

I think we should maybe go to a public place such as a bar to learn through gossip and rumours and such. We should also find a guy equipped with SCIENCE to aid with inventing a way of destructing these things.

A very important question: Is it just organisms that the nanites can control, or have they also been known directly to co-opt technology to their own ends?

>diamagnetic levitation, or if that's too much for the things, hypersonic levitation works just as well.
My mind conjures up the words, but concepts escape me. In effect... What in the name of the first born is diamagnetic levitation? Or hypersonic levitation? I am not a scientist, I am I stealthy killing machine. I am not quite sure why I even know the terms.

>Is it just organisms that the nanites can control, or have they also been known directly to co-opt technology to their own ends?

"Technology as well, although thank the the stars they've never managed to touch a solar siphon. The Imperial Servants usually blew those up if they ever got too close to one."

>What about energy shields? In small numbers nanites should fry instantaneously, so there's your method of transport as well.
And haven't you ever tried freezing the bastards down to near absolute zero by soaking them in liquid hydrogen? Hell, if you can't get energy shielded containers, it would be just as effective to trap a few nanites in a block of solid Argon."

"As I said, I'm a geneticist. I don't know machines. Go talk to someone else about the nanite problem. If you have a genetics question, I'm your man, but until then, I can't really help you. I shouldn't even be helping you right now. Anyway, I've got to run, so bye bye. One of your siblings is... well, I've just got to go." The call goes dead, and I sigh in frustration before closing down the terminal and moving away from it. Precious little was learned, but I suppose it's better than nothing.

I decide finding a bar or some other such place is in order, and am quickly rewarded with a rather large establishment just outside the port. As soon as I enter, I find nearly every single eye in the place focusing on me for a split second, then I'm dismissed. At least openly dismissed. These people are clearly not skilled at hiding their leering, although I can't say I'm bothered as my body is merely another tool for serving the Empire. I glance around, searching for someone equipped with... SCIENCE, although that doesn't seem to be a task easily accomplished here, as well as someone who might be willing to open their mouth for a pretty girl in a skin-tight body suit. That seems to be just about everybody, but I'd rather stick to someone that doesn't seem drunk. I tell Samantha to go find a nice corner to sit in, handing her my bag as it would only impede my efforts, then survey the potentials.

A group of what appears to be starship pilots, 7-8 of them, likely stranded on the planet once it became infected.

Another group of about 20 local gangsters, who are speaking in hushed tones about something that seems to be in the middle of them all.

A woman who looks too drunk to speak coherently much less be useful.

A boy of about 16 at a table by himself in the back, probably skipping school, judging from his more youthful appearance.

The Waitress and the Bartender, holding a hushed conversation near the bar itself.

Who to approach first...

Fuck the bar. Look up the number for the local university, use your crazy amounts of money to hire a team of scientists, ask them the questions you asked "dad," and get a reasonable solution to this problem.

the bartending team. approach sneakily at first to hear some of what they're saying. order a beer when you're noticed.

My vote is going with the bartender & waitress.

Where is Samantha?

I think the 16 year old boy...

That or the bartender and the waitress.

>>415361
I glance at Samantha, who is currently guarding our gear at a table in a corner, trying to look like she knows what I'm doing and failing.

As for myself, I slide quietly and as inconspicuously as possible to the bar, but both the waitress and the barkeep notice me long before I arrive at my destination. The waitress departs to handle the other guests, while the barkeep begins wiping cups until I arrive, at which point he greets me with a smile and asks if he can get me anything to drink.

An ordinary beer.

Something non-alcoholic. Lemonade?