A Wretched Hub of Scum and Villainy

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It's a simple enough plan: go to a system the Guardians haven't taken control of yet, explain the situation to its citizenry, and recruit volunteers to aid in the fight against Daemon.

The tricky part is finding a system with a decent-sized population that hasn't attracted the Guardians' attention yet.

Fortunately, the Crimson Binome believes he may know of just such a place.

"Can ye open a portal to these coordinates, lass?"

Comments

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"Stop poking me," YT snaps and one of the hench-binomes when he prods her with his gun. "I know how to follow okay." She trails after Capacitor, who's trailing after Babbage, wondering where this will take them next.

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* * *

The inside of the building is dark and cluttered; it looks like the owners have been confiscating random items from the cargos of ships passing through. Capacitor and YT are ushered into an open space lit by a dingy skylight. The two hench-nomes step back to stand guard by the doorway, while Babbage stands just to the side of a darker space at the far end of the room.

"There you are," says a distinctly feminine voice from the shadows near Babbage.

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

YT peers in the direction of the voice, but even her surfer-keen eyes can't make out much more than a silhouette.

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The silhouette she picks out is rather small. And blockly.

A female One binome steps forward, arms folded. She looks old but spry, and very, very angry. "Gavin Capacitor," she says, "where in the seven servers have you been??"

Capacitor opens his mouth to answer, but she's not through talking yet. "Ye drop off the face o' the 'Net, not so much as an e-card all this time, and then ye come waltzin' back inta town without so much as a 'how d'ye do'? Are ye tryin' ta worry yer poor mother ta death?"

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

YT's jaw actually drops. That rarely happens. That never happens. "Dude...lady," she amends, "I totally get it, but did you have to get us to visit at gunpoint?" Her eyes flick to Capacitor, then back to the old binome woman. "Okay, then again, maybe you did."

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Now she turns toward Babbage. "You brought him here at gunpoint?!"

"Y' said ta get 'im 'ere, y' didn't say how!" Babbage protests, squirming under the old woman's glare.

"Ye could have tried asking him! I've told you a thousand and twenty-four times, politeness first, then firearms." She turns back to YT. "You'll have to excuse him. Mister Babbage is a bit too fond of his little toys. I think he might be compensatin', if ye know what I mean."

"Oi!" yelps Babbage, his grayish face turning red.

Capacitor clears his throat loudly. "Ah, I believe introductions are in order. Mum, this is Miss YT. YT, this is my mother, Ms. Lucinda Capacitor."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

YT's already grinning at the dressing-down Capacitor's mother just delivered to Babbage. She likes the old lady already. "Hi," she says. "Now we got that all cleared up, I'm glad to meet you."

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"Likewise, I'm sure," says Lucinda with a graceful curtsy. "So what brings the two of ye here ta Fanning? I know my son, an' he wouldn't risk comin' here unless it was very important."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"It is," YT says. "It's about the Guardians and why they're acting weird. Some User came up with a supervirus that can get to 'em," she sums up.

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"A virus that infects Guardians?" Lucinda's eye goes wide. "By the code... is such a thing even possible?"

"It is," says Capacitor with a solemn nod. "I've friends who have seen it firsthand. We came to ask for your aid..."

* * *

One lengthy explanation later...


Lucinda folds her hands in front of her. "So. You and your friends are forming a resistance movement against this 'Daemon' woman, and ye want us to come along with it?"

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

YT suspects that Lucinda Capacitor is not too keen on the idea. But YT and the Captain came to get help, and nobody's going to accuse YT of not trying to do just that. "Yeah. You and anyone else who wants to join the party," she says. "'Cause as you may have grokked by now, we need all the help we can get."

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Lucinda lets out a low whistle. "That's a lot ye're askin' of us, lass. We've no great love for the Guardians here, but to take them on directly?"

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"I know," YT admits, "But it's better than the alternative. We're not sure what Daemon's angle is, but I can guarantee that it's not gonna stop with choking off 'Net travel. And hey, if you can help us get the word out, we can get enough people and firepower to take on the Guardians for sure. That'll be the only way to stop Daemon and get the 'Net open again."

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"I hope you're right, child. I truly do."

After a long moment of thought, Lucinda turns to Babbage. "Get our people together. Spread the word however you can. Get Vectori to send an announcement from the Principal Office if ye have to. He'll do it, I know some things he wouldn't like told..." She pulls a datapad from somewhere and starts typing furiously. "We'd best move quickly. If what ye say is true, they could be here at any nano--"

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And as if on cue, there's a loud commotion from outside. It sounds like the beginnings of a riot, or people running away from a fire...

And then, suddenly, over the top of it, there's a loud, mechanically distorted voice of someone talking over a P.A. system:

"Attention. In accordance with special directive seven point zero five, this system is now under the direct control of the Guardians. Resistance will be met with lethal force."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

Evidently, Murphy's Law applies in cyberspace too.

"Aw, shit," YT grumbles. Then she looks at Capacitor. "What do we do? Fight, hide or vamoose?"

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Capacitor draws his sword. "Ye can do as ye like, lass. But I'm through with runnin' away."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"'S what I thought," YT says, her eyes twinkling. She looks at Capacitor's mother, Babbage, and the assorted goon-types. "How about you? Sounds like someone needs to show these folks what time it is."

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"You even need to ask?" responds Lucinda. "This is our home, child, and we won't stand idly by while some virus takes it away!"

She's drawn a pistol from her hip as she's talking. Everyone else has their weapons at the ready, with looks of grim determination on their faces.

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"All right. Let's go fight some Guardians," YT says. She throws her plank on the ground and hops on it. "Don't worry 'bout me. I've got a secret weapon." She winks at the assembled binomes.

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* * *

Outside, the situation, as one might expect, is total chaos. A dozen white, oblong-ish Guardian transport ships are raining down fire on the docks and the surrounding area. Some of the citizenry is firing back, but not many.

"We'll need to get our defenses prepared," says Lucinda. "Babbage, get up to the Principal Office. I'll head to port control."

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

"Can we tag along?" YT asks, jerking a thumb at Capacitor. "It's not like we've got the firepower to deal with those...whoa!" YT ducks as one of the Guardian fighters buzzes them.

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At the moment, Capacitor's attention is elsewhere. His eye is fixed on a somewhat larger transport that has broken away from the fleet.

"What in blazes is that?"

[feminine-menace.livejournal.com]

YT looks up at the ship, being escorted by a wing of Guardian fighters. "Whatever it is, I think it's headed the same way we are," YT observes.

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"Aye." Capacitor looks grim. "And that's not a good sign at all."

"Well?" shouts Lucinda. "Don't just stand there gaping! Do something!"