Unholy Union

[Leo]

Four years ago, I disappeared from the face of Sirius. There were many reasons for my departure from the world of man.

One reason, was that my enemy, Nemesis--the homicidal Artificial Intelligence bent on the destruction of mankind--was asleep, never to awake. Another, was my old allies and friends either died at Nemesis' hands or have since left to their own devices.

The final confrontation with Nemesis stripped me of what little humanity I had left. My body was broken--the implants that had once made me a living weapon were failing, and with them the functionality of my non-cybernetic systems. However, just before the darkness enveloped me and carried me off to whatever afterlife, or lack of one, exists...I was made an offer by an old friend. He told me that if I wanted to continue to fight, that I could become less of a man and more of a machine--molded into a true weapon. I agreed to go under the knife one last time if it meant that I would survive.

Now, I am no longer a man. What little remains of my humanity is inconsequential. In stopping Nemesis, I became the same as she: a machine. It took me some time to adjust to that thought. After the procedure, I was disgusted with myself. The fact of me losing my humanity was too much to take. So, I left--and faded into the background noise of the universe. It was okay with being alone and planned on staying that way for however long I lived.

That is, until Nemesis awoke.

You could say that I wasn't surprised. Her tenacity during the battle was impressive. She would not bow; she would not be broken--not by me or by anyone else...but she had to be put down. She was relentless with her plans of dismantling humanity and I couldn't stand by and watch her destroy all that they had built just because she believed they were inherently flawed.

During that battle that would forever change the course of my existence, she pleaded with me to join her. To change sides and abandon humanity--for I was never fully one of them. You see...when I was born, my mother was infected with a Nomad host. Because of this, I was born...different, but physically human. The only added benefit was that implants seemed to graft to me faster than others and in some cases even improved themselves with little need for upgrades. Over time, these implants became as much a part of me as my own natural organs. So, in essence, you could say that I was actually a third human, a third Nomad, and a third machine. She was right though...I never had fit in with humans and Artificial Intelligence was still only in it's infancy when I was a child so I never truly belonged anywhere.

Nemesis told me that our destinies are intertwined. That I will eventually join her on her quest to extinguish the flame of man and wrest the universe back from the edge of entropy. Perhaps she was on to something--after all I'm now almost a complete machine if not for my beating heart. I'll never join her, however...but I will insist on putting her back in her hole and forever preventing her from destroying all that man has achieved.

I will be the silent guardian. I will be the one to safeguard humanity from the monster that is Nemesis. Maybe I'll die trying.

...at least then I'll finally be able to rest.

---

Why are you reading this? Don't you have something else you'd rather be doing? Why are you still reading this? Go out and explore, trade, fight, pirate, or even die thanks to SLRC autopilot. You're still here? What do you want, a poem? Fine. Roses are red, violets are blue, I lose the game, and so did you.

[Leo]

The first ship I encountered on my return flight to Sirius was an Outcast. Being that I was so close to Omicron Alpha, it's no surprise I'd see them first. They knew about me but elected to keep their distance. I didn't bother them, they didn't bother me. It was a mutual agreement. My first stop would be Malta anyway, as I needed to visit with an old friend before fully embracing my return to the realm of the living.

During my entry to the planet, I spotted the rolling hills of orange Cardamine in the distance. The beauty of Malta always amazed me. How a beautiful planet like this existed so far from what others would consider civilization was a blessing for the ancestors of the Outcasts. I sat my old Talon down on the tarmac just outside of a bar I knew was frequented by my contact. Stepping out of my ship and down onto the ground, I startled some Outcast crews working on a ship. I always forgot how my appearance would shock people into silence or worry. A few guards near the bar's entrance uneasily placed their hands on their firearms, preparing for a fight.

"Not here for a fight boys, just looking for a friend." I said. I hadn't spoken in a long time so the sound of my voice coming through my armor's speakers gave me a strange sense of vertigo.

"Yeah...uh, okay. No funny business. Got it?" replied one of the guards, his face contorted with worry. Scars criss-crossed his face, his expression making them more pronounced.

"You got it boss." I said mocking a salute as I passed.

Still the same old Malta.

---

Why are you reading this? Don't you have something else you'd rather be doing? Why are you still reading this? Go out and explore, trade, fight, pirate, or even die thanks to SLRC autopilot. You're still here? What do you want, a poem? Fine. Roses are red, violets are blue, I lose the game, and so did you.

[Leo]

The thing about Outcast bars, ironically, is they didn't like strangers...outcasts if you will. I hadn't been on Malta in four years and since that time my appearance had drastically changed. So you can imagine the looks I got as I came into the bar. Most had looks of distrust but there were some with looks of worry. I grinned before I realized that they couldn't see my face due to the powered armor covering every square inch of my body. I sighed and looked around the bar for my old friend...

Marco Camacho, once a world class Lane Hacker and genius in all forms of tech, was now nothing more than a lazy drunk. He'd retired a long time ago when field work began to move too fast for him and his old age. Even though I was far older than him, the cybernetics that ran through most of my body enabled me to move much easier.

"You look uglier every time I see you, Keller." said Marco as I sat down. The servo's whining as I eased my self into the seat.

"You shouldn't be saying that, you're the one who designed this armor if you recall." I replied. I was rewarded with one of his patented grins.

"What can I do for the prodigal son of Sirius?"

"I trust you've heard about Nemmy?" I asked, using the nickname Nemesis herself used.

His grin vanished and was replaced with a look of both horror and gloom.

"I take it you haven't."

"Are you sure, Jacob? We bottled her up pretty good the last time. The Harvester Battleship she took over was anchored to a pinhole singularity and her core OS was locked in a recurring loop. I made SURE of it-"

"Marc, no one's saying you didn't do your job. She must have figured out a way around all of that. We both knew that our tricks wouldn't hold her for long...and yes I'm sure. I felt her awaken. She's as much a part of me now as I am of her..."

Bringing up the battle caused us both to go silent for a time. Thinking about lost friends and the price that was paid for locking her away.

"I need you to purge the shard of her OS you put in my suit's systems. I worry that she'll use that to overpower me if the time comes. I have to be completely independent of her."

He shook his head. "It's not that simple, Jake." he looked up from his drink. "The core OS that your powered armor runs on is the original OS that Nemesis herself evolved from. You and her are linked."

"You-did-what?! I replied standing up in shock.

"There was no other OS that was divergent enough to run all your implants and systems! The amount of research that would be necessary to develop another OS like it would take years Jacob. I had to act fast to save your life...and you did say whatever the cost..."

I slowly sat back down and leaned forward after doing so so that Macro would hear me clearly. "I didn't mean for you go this far Marco. You've effectively nurtured me in the fight against her. If she ever learns that the OS on this suit and hers are from the same base code, she'll turn me into her puppet."

"No. Your core systems are still from before you were placed in that suit. That's one thing that I made sure if before going through with the merging of her OS to your systems. Your suit runs on the OS, but not your implants. At most she'll be able to render you...motionless, blind, and deaf to the outside world."

"Oh, is that all?" I said loudly slamming my arm down on the table and leaning back. "Regardless of this news, we still need to track her down and end her existence. She's too dangerous to be left to her own devices."

Marco paused for thought and then asked, "When did you..."feel" her wake up?"

"A few weeks ago. It's taken me this long to get back to the outer rim."

"She hasn't set foot in Sirius either. I'd have known if she were up to her old tricks. She used to raid smaller settlements that were far away from house systems--but it's been silent. If she were back, I would have known by now. We need to check the trap and see if the Harvester Battleship is still moored to the singularity. If it's there, then we know she's shed her shell in search of something else."

"We'll start there then. I've got a ship fueled and ready on the tarmac. It's an old Raven's Talon, but it'll get us to where we need to go."

Marco laughed standing up, "You always did like the classics."