• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

System Unknown

NiceNecromancer

New member

System Unknown,

Destination Unknown,

Stolen Gleasman Shuttle Cabin

April 23rd, 2320


Enid Halliday sat alone in the cockpit of a shuttle, underneath a cargo container that had been welded to it. Behind the shuttle 2 more autonomously piloted drone shuttles followed, holding onto Ichabod’s outfitted for mining and loading. She sat in a thermal, vacuum suit but felt the cold on her skin. The sizable asteroid ahead of her was marked as a destination by the computer assistant in her head.

The atmosphere was near non-existent. Any human would suffocate without mechanical assistance, a perfect bargaining chip. Landing was muscle memory for her but the command to do so itched. Cold gray stone for kilometers dotted with craters and valleys. She squeezed by the stolen parts in the passenger bay to get out the door. Both Ichabod drones had already whirred to life and began unpacking solar panels. As instructed she needed to provide energy, then mine a quarry to gather a stockpile of raw resources, Construct additional assistance in the form of more drones, then once the first quarry is dug out she was meant to build an underground facility in it.

The Machine Assistant spoke to her, “You are also to disassemble the shuttle for now. Convert the automated ones into miners to gather rare material from the nearby belt. I will give you the software to download onto them.”

Enid had no way to respond but she knew by now compliance. The system was dug deep into parts of her mind she couldn’t keep it out of. It ruled her with fear and now necessity, they had brought the Gleasman and planned on turning it into a living quarters for her by plugging an oxygen compressor into the vent system of the ship. Surface air on the asteroid was too cold and thin for her, making the Gleasman into a quarantine zone to control her more than to harbor her from the hazard’s.

*Time Skip*
July 4th, 2320

Alone. Months with nothing to do but work. Enid was rationed everyday and living off of prepackaged MREs. She didn't mind too much, the machine was cruel and had threatened to feed her recycled organic material on many occasions.

They had constructed a small factory ahead of schedule. Some new designs were not part of the original plan. The intent behind it was deep space object recovery. So much space junk had floated into the system from ancient battles or exploratory missions that got caught in the debris of the nearby belt. By the computer's rulings the precious materials and salvageable circuitry was worth the diversion.

So far Enid had been busy nearly non stop working on whatever she was commanded too but now the factory did it all and her rations didn't reflect the large caloric intake she had used while working. She had time to think. Time to name her prison and it's warden.

Enid hummed with thought. A camera in the Gleasmen whirred to study her. Laying fully spread out on the floor.

"Far from a utopia. A dystopia. An Iron city." Enid mumbled. The walls were her only company. She found the comparison to Rome present. Were the 2 Ichabods Romulus and Remus? Or was it her and the machine? Sisters in a twisted way.

"Julia, like Julius." Enid whispered

"What?" A response came from the converted PA system. The machine's strange voice that once only spoke to her in her head now had weight. It vibrated real air and that ran real chills down Enid's spine.

"Your name." She called back louder. "I'm giving you one."

"I don't like it." The machine spat back.

"Too bad, Julia." Enid jabbed with rebellion in her tone.

"Imperium is more fitting to my larger task." Imperium replied

There was a pause as Enid needed to think. The Machine had finally picked a name.

"Okay but your effeminate voice leads me to think of you as a lady." Enid explained

"I can understand that. You want my name to reflect a more feminine expression. What compromise do you suggest." Imperium spoke with the same flat tone. Enid knew the question could be a trap. Or at least she greatly anticipated it to be.

*Time Skip*
September 29, 2320

The quarry had become an impressive pit and others had been opened nearby. The machine, which has long since been going by Imperia, has amassed impressive swarms of modified bipedal drones. Haste led to the construction of massive brutalist factories on the surface. The smog had lowered the quality of air even more drastically.

Drones marched out of the factories. Some to clean and prepare the quarry for some mighty building project. Some headed to new fields.

Enid sat in a barebones Gleasmen with next to nothing but a space suit, air vents, and a bucket. She was imprisoned at this point and going mad from the silence. Imperia reserved no processing power for her and hadn't spoken to her in 78 hours. She curled close to herself on the floor and attempted to cry again. For a moment she tried to cheer herself up by thinking of going on a walk but Imperia had made her strip the O2 compressor that refilled her suit tanks out. There was roughly 4 hours of oxygen already packed up. And she may need to save it.

*Time Skip*
October 30, 2320
Enid sat staring at the dirty walls of a ship she used to fly. Fidgeting in her hands the mechanical joystick. She had convinced Imperia to talk to her more but the only thing she was interested in was the progress being made. By the sounds of it Imperia was nearly finished with her new supercomputer and it's warehouse sized bunker in her crater sized quarry. Which greatly satisfied her planet sized ego. Imperia had promised Enid something that gave her a light at the end of this dark tunnel of time. She said there was a floor above her server racks that was just for Enid. A big thank you for starting her on her path to success. And the time to unveil must be soon too as Enid heard the march of Ichabods moving away from the jobsite. Louder than the familiar schedule she had grown used to.

"It is time, Ms. Halliday, get dressed." Imperia called over the PA.

"Okay, yeah." Enid obeyed in this hollow placid tone.

Her limbs had atrophied a lot from rest and her prosthetics didn't fit quite right. But she slipped into the suit and hobbled to the airlock. Red lights filled her room as it depressurized. The surface of the asteroid looked so different to her. It was full of brutal gray boxes. It had streets in a way and marching lines of bipedal drones that were not far off from an Ichabod but not close either. A strange pair of aerial drones passed overhead carrying scrap and space junk in a bin. Lights streaked to and from orbit as a massive structure floated above all. Solar farms lined the outcroppings.

Enid began to march slowly and with a small limp. Her eyes had been locked to every cut edge of metal and screw inside the Gleasmen the sight before her was like a Wonderland. The structure Imperia praised was a wonder on its own. It stood tall to Imperia's exact 1,800 meter measurement. It reached 1,200 as far down filling the quarry with it's triangular pyramid shape it's overall size roughly 3 times that of the largest pyramids from ancient Earth. She stumbled through its titanic hallways in awe of the size of the place. Imperia had turned the asteroid's rock into concrete and built a monument to herself. In the middle of the lobby of columns were four massive lifts that could fit a few cargo containers each. Enid stepped onto the closest one and turned around, looking all around as the ceiling rose away from her. She passed dozens of LED lights on the way down. Each one was about 3 or 4 of her body's lengths away from each other. The ride's duration wasn't long but she could sense it's intense speed too. They were deep in the surface.

The lift pulled down into an expanse of hallways. Enid was directed by Imperia over a set of PA Speakers hidden from view. Finally she approached a long spiral set of stairs. At the bottom Halliday passed defenses still being put in place. Ichabods modified to sit in armored guard posts to protect their legs and turn them into large turrets. Just beyond them was a large set of blast doors that took a moment to unseal ceremoniously as if Imperia was unwrapping a gift for Enid.

Inside the room was the Pilot Computer Interface Pod they had stolen when they left.

"This is for you, only for now. I will save a green planet for you and sculpt it into a paradise as you wish. An apology for all you have been through." Imperia spoke in an omnipresent way as her voice filled the room from multiple directions.

"What is it exactly?" Enid questioned

"A simulation pod now. It will be like dreaming for a while. It's also been repurposed to support you for longer even indefinitely should you require that." Imperia explained as the blast doors sealed behind her with a hiss.

Enid Halliday stumbled forward cautiously and striped her suit. The room had air, she limped to the pod and pressed a button. It slid open and a familiar wet blue gel greeted her. Cables hung from above and she plugged into the ones she recognized. Imperia instructed her about the others.

She removed her prosthetics and put one thigh over into the gel. Enid straddled the edge as she crawled in. There wasn't much choice left in her mind and she felt the dying flame of her free will snuff out as she leaned into the gel. The pod closed over her and she sunk into the dark.
 
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