《Sophie》Chapter 35
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“Ingenious, no?" said Marilyn proud of herself.
"I guess, if you understand this type of thing," said Milly.
"The General will take comfort in knowing I determine information using a set of particles and not anti-particles. I kept the anti-matter here on Mars just in case the General gets nervous." Earth's scientists would be shocked to learn that Electoral had mastered teleportation of data. It explained how she managed to broadcast across the Sun. The animation ended. The feed returned to the journalist and her little group inside the pod.
"Doctor," said Sophie as she stood up in the ship. "We have to go. Time is short. I seriously don't care about figure skaters. Adults like to make simple things complicated. Do you need me to hold any of the equipment?"
"Yes. I can only hold your father's body in this low gravity environment. Can you take his feeder suitcase?"
Milly looked into one of her flying cameras, and resumed her broadcast. "Welcome back. That was strange. You guys wanted it, not me. To the part of the audience still watching," she joked, “we just landed here at the Electoral Center. We are guests of the Artificial Intelligence known by all as Marilyn Monroe. We will be the first human beings, aside from Electoral creator Georges Vouvelakis to enter this structure. It was constructed fully by robots. Today, you get to discover the most remote and secretive dwelling in the solar system, live on CNN."
The capsule door raised up revealing a long dark passageway. There was air and light but the low gravity remained. The round-shaped passageway seemed carved in obsidian. In the distance was a flat shiny metal door, likely the outer shell of the Center. On both sides of the pathway little phosphorescent rocks lit the way. The tunnel looked wet or oily. Most children would have been scared; Sophie was not. She lead the way and jumped down the nearly three-foot ledge onto the soft ground, suitcase and her basket of toys in hand. She was a natural in the weak gravity. The black substance below her feet felt like the foam covering kindergarten yards.
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They ventured carefully down the built-on-demand corridor, one by one. The exception being Sophie, who stalked down the ad-hoc hallway as if this was her own house. In the distance the metal door clicked open to reveal an inner airlock. The robotic voice of the artificial intelligence returned.
– Sophie, I feel you are worried. Your father is stable, there is no urgency. –
"No," she urged the others forward. "I need to go into his mind soon. I can feel it." Sophie's plan was the driving force of this group. She was in charge. The group pressed ahead at her heels.
The journalist was the first to touch the granular wall. She narrated as she did, "The wall appear to be made of little blocks. They stick to each other like magnets." Milly pulled a grain out. "This feels like pulling a lint from a sweater." The pebble was of odd shape. It was rounded nugget with crooked edges. "To those at home, this tube is filled with air, and the omnipresent martian odor is gone."
The journalist opened her fingers and released the little rock. It flew back to its precise location on the wall by under magnetic forces. Milly was good at her job. She had to give more to her viewers. She slapped her hand and grabbed a handful of pieces from the wall. The pulled them away and a foot away from the surface, she opened her hand and the hundred or so little pieces soared back into place.
"Stop playing around," snapped the girl to the journalist. "This isn't a game."
Milly continued, "As we make our way down this custom-built hallway, walking on Mars without any precautions beyond Marilyn's tender mercies, I remind the viewers that Electoral has promised CNN an exclusive interview with the only man living in the Center, none other than Electoral's creator, Georges Vouvelakis." She could almost feel the weight of her Pulitzer in her hand already. Critics snubbed journalists of large outlets, but this interview was in a league of its own.
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Electoral spoke with the electronic voice,
– Sophie, when you said 'I feel it,' what did you mean?" –
"I do. I feel it. What's with the robotic voice by the way?"
– This is my real voice. This is my home, and here I grant myself some “privileges.” I trust you will excuse these indiscretions. This is not unlike humans who remove their shoes and socks in the comfort of their homes. You will have to pull open the door. –
“I prefer your human voice,” said the girl.
“Done,” replied the famous voice of the Marilyn Monroe character over the invisible speakers. Sophie waited in front of the heavy vault door. “Can you open it?”
"Why?"
“I hate vampires.”
"What?"
“I have an irrational fear of vampires. I saw a vampire movie once, when I was a child. I know it makes no sense. Vampires can't walk in your home unless they are invited, so I will not invite people in. Walk in if you want.”
Sophie smiled, she loved to see the digital creature’s human flaws. "That's the first teensy bit of fear I've ever seen you show. I like this side of you. You know vampires aren't real, right?" said the girl.
“Of course. But they're scary.”
"They are. Marilou, you were once a child?"
“Yes. Everything has infancy. I still am young by your years. I am not inviting you in. You will have to open the door by yourself.” The computer repeated her question. “What did you mean by there by 'I feel' it?”
Sophie put the suitcase and the basket down and grabbed the edge of the metal door with both hands, "I can’t explain. My father is important. I know it. I feel it."
“Thank you for your words. They are much more important than you can imagine.”
"Why?"
“Because of what... sorry, who you are.”
Lights blinked in the tube as the Center powered down for a second. The walls, like mud began to collapse only to return to normal as soon as the power returned.
“Agh, got it,” said Marilyn visibly preoccupied by something else.
“What?”
“Our new Dot, it was tricky. Now we control information.”
The door easily rotated as she pulled. The soft metal was cold to her touch. It also was smoother than any glass she had ever felt. She did not know what to expect behind it. Sophie wondered why a computer feared vampires, then it dawned on her, she also did the same in her bedroom back in Indiana.
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Soul Fusion Online
Down and out of luck, Yuki was. She was fired from her job and needed to find money to pay rent for her low income housing. The only saving grace was a news report she saw. Soul Fusion Online: a vrmmo taking the world by storm. A place where players can turn in game money into cash in the real world. A living world where even the NPCs are as real as anyone you would meet on the city streets. A game with cultivation and leveling mixed together.
8 446Exuperius [DISCONTINUED]
Terravest. The northernmost continent of the world known by many names of legend, but is most commonly reffered to as Athora, has, for eons, served as the land of exiles. Human criminals, dark elves, grayskinned orcs and dwarves that preffer mining with machinery over the traditional pickaxe alike, have come to call this half-frozen hellhole their home. It is a land of great strife, calamity and crisis, where one legendary tale ends only to begin the next, heroes fall down and villains find themselves thrown into lava. Around seventy years ago, a legendary figure appeared out of seemingly nowhere and conquered three human nations, forming a kingdom worthy enough of being called a small empire. However, at the eve of his heirs ascension, the legend breathed his last, leaving this same bloated, chaotic realm without the pillar that kept it together. Already, the carrion nobility, still spiteful for being denied their "rightful" place below the sun, rise up and gather at the court, each eager to consolidate their own power in these troubled times. Tempers flare, power is exercised without restraint and no one expects the hedonistic prince to succeed at keeping the realm together. Alas, as is often the case with such tales, not everything seems to be as it might at first appear and the vain lords of the realm may yet come to regret their carrion will. --- The Content Warnings are there for a good reason. ---
8 188*DISCONTINUED*
The "Ancient Ruler" who once stood at the peak of the "Realm of Gods" finally met his miserable end after he got betrayed by his comrades who were jealous of his supremacy. Some people were ecstatic about his death while others mourned over it... Years later the "Ancient Ruler" became more and more irrelevant after his death. Everyone eventually even forgot about the "Ancient Ruler"... but what they didn't know was that he actually reincarnated into the "Realm of Mortals". He who once stood at the peak was now reincarnated into the body of a youth deemed trash by all peers. In this lifetime he will rise to the peak once again. This is his story of rising to the top again while meeting old friends and making new dear comrades. "Now that I get a second chance, I will be sure to use it well... I shall reclaim my throne and become the ruler once again!" Will almost always release atleast one chapter per week! Unless dropped or on hiatus. Currently : dropped
8 121Earth's Army In Another World
As the god's battleground starts to turn into anarchy with justice and prosperity disappearing and instead being replaced by pain and suffering, the goddess of Justice and Prosperity has to do something that no other god or goddess has done. Call upon the forces of a godless planet. She wanted the strongest, and got the strongest. She got armies from three separate countries, and has forced upon them a mission of no return. Literally. Like they can't return to earth unless they complete it. Without any governments, the armies are left to fend for themselves with a large amount of bullets, tanks, planes, and ships. This story will have a large amount of characterization and slice of life moments. I did an insane amount of research for this and poured so much time in, not just militarily, but other basic necessity things as well. Fights will be bloody, magic will be rampant, and the slice of life moments will just warm you to the core. (actual kingdom building)
8 172Nocs: Nanotech Cultivation System
Did you know how long it took for the end of the world to happen? A split second according to Qodex. Even as an advanced civilization, their shield, barriers, and weapons couldn't keep out the hell's advance. His world was destroyed in a single instant when the hellions came pouring out of the gates. In one fell swoop, it brought forth the new era of the Darkness. However, reeled from the shock of the attack, the darkness was quickly quelled by the light of Humanity—the T.O.T.E.M.S. Now, Qodex fight desperately to hold the line between the two worlds, hoping to stave off complete destruction. However, his efforts may prove futile in the face of the growing threat of the demons. Will he be able to protect humanity? Will it all crumble beneath him? Only time will tell…
8 108New Job (Jensen X Reader)
I finally got the job that I have been dreaming of since I was a child. But I couldn't admit it to my parents because they don't like actors. I was going to auditions in secret, despite the fact that I'm 28. I got the role of a demon who is demon Dean's 'girlfriend' and I have to say that I'm going to enjoy it a lot because the actor that pictures Dean is really good looking. I'm going to be as professional as I can and I hope he does do.
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