Mortal Protection Services Chapter 40: X.DB: Displayed in Bronze

Read chapter 40 of Mortal Protection Services by B.T.Skull on NovelPedia.

X.DB: Displayed in Bronze Jimantha Jimsonson Aboard the Mighty V-giny "We should totally answer it." I told Ingamar over the captain's comm line. "If there's a chance we can talk it into submission somehow, I'd rather do that." "Jimmi, I'll bet you my left and right nut that the SCOURGE isn't gonna get talked into a peace agreement." He shot back. "I expect you'll get to keep your balls, brother, but I'm gonna answer the hail. Just in case." I turned to Jimtarng. "Open comm channels, let's see what the Scourge has to say... I guess." A static heavy mess appeared onscreen, and a moment later resolved into the shape of the woman that had had a metal peg leg, from the scourge trap. Like it had made a fresh, slightly better copy to talk with us. This one did not have a prosthetic leg, but she did have a big, uncanny smile on her face that didn't touch her eyes. Behind her was what looked like a wall of moist, pulsing, flesh. "Hello there." I went with a strong, general-esque, opener. "Hello." She looked... a little less Hapsburgish this time than the last time. "Why did you bomb the ship?" "What ship?" "The ship. Where you met me. Why bomb it?" She seemed to think for a moment, and followed up with, "Also how did you do that ?" "If you mean implode the planet? I'm not sure yet. Still trying to wrap my head around the physics of it myself." I replied. "Turns out that even with the blueprint, and one of the designers of that weapon to explain it, I still don't fully understand it. I'm Jimmi, who... are you?" "Marta. So learning is hard for you too?" "No, not normally, most people consider me pretty smart. And No. You aren't Marta. Maybe Marta was a woman you ate, and reproduced somehow... but you are not Marta." She cocked her head at me, and blinked, like she didn't understand. Behind her, a tentacle grew out of the wall and stuck onto the back of her neck. Her voice changed, grew deeper, scratchier, and overlaid with other voices, "We are not Marta, but Marta is of us, as are the others you met." "You got a name? Something you'd prefer to be called? Other than Marta?" "Your people call me the Scourge." The sclera of Marta's eyes started slowly turning black. "We sure do, but I'm asking if you have another name, your own name?" The tentacle from the wall started wrapping around the Marta body, "Hungry." "Your name is hungry, or you are hungry?" "Always Hungry." The tentacle started to dissolve the body with startling efficiency. "So, the Scourge it is. Why are you hailing Scourge?" "The machines that make the best food, we cannot make them work." Marta's head and neck was all that remained attached to the thick, wriggling tentacle. "We need to be more like you. Show us how to work them." "I see. One moment, please." I signaled Jimtarng to cut the audio to the scourge. "Ingamar, you've been listening, yes?" "Yes." "What the fuck does it mean machines that make the best food?" "I dunno dude, but keep it talking. Seems to take an awful lot of its focus to talk to us. Most of the large flesh ships we were tracking in the system have stop doing active stuff the whole time you're talking. Also, we tracked the location of the call to a large metallic structure on the meat wrapped 4th world. Normally it would have dissolved that into something else by now." I nodded and signaled Jimtarng to put us back on with the Scourge. "So, having trouble producing enough food huh? Well, we're pretty good at food." I tried to smile at the mostly gaian looking head on a tentacle I was talking to. "Maybe we can help?" "Yes, help." The tentacle only held the head still while it was talking, and I noticed she'd stopped blinking entirely. "Come to where this signal originates. Teach." "Why would we do that? You're just going to try to eat us again." "Hungry." "Yeah, we know." "Flesh, too hungry. Marta, not too hungry." "Well if it is just Marta, and no flesh, then maybe we would come teach you a thing or two." The sensor station lit up with alerts and flash