Microstory 551: Defense System Test Reveals Dangerous Flaws

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Before our new solar system that we’ve literally built from scratch can be officially declared completed, we need to put on some of the final touches. Though we’ve created a sort of paradise for ourselves, our leadership recognizes that not everyone in the universe shares our vision. The Exiles have made it clear they want nothing to do with us, though that could change in just a few generations. The Anarcho-capitalists ran off to a new galaxy, we’re still not sure where. We know that scattered sects of Amadesis followers remain alive, but inactive. We have no idea where they’ve gone. And finally, there could be other threats out there of which we are simply not cognizant. As much as we would like to be open and carefree, we must remain cautious and vigilant. We must protect ourselves from all known threats, and all unknown threats too. A special department has been tasked with doing this for us. They’ve come up with hundreds of ideas; some good, others not. They’ve whittled them down to things that we can effectively implement, with the right amount of redundancy, but it is still a work in progress. This much has been brought to light.

The Core Defense Strategy is no perfect system, but engineers, and other professionals, are working hard at shoring up flaws. One such of these flaws presented itself during a test yesterday. A fleet of “enemy” ships were built all the way on Montisaltom, which means the CDS system had never encountered it before, and could not perceive it as non-hostile. One by one, and sometimes in groups, these ships were sent to The Core, and programmed to attempt to break our defenses. Most of them failed, but one managed to get through, and could have caused a heavy amount of destruction had it been a real threat. It would seem that there is a small region that lies just before the decided upon system borders, and interstellar space. If a ship exits a simplex dimension in this perfect zone, but then immediately transports itself deeper inside using one of the lower dimensions, it can bypass all alerts, at least long enough to establish a stranglehold. The blue simplex dimension, for instance, is so slow that only an incredibly patient crew would be willing to take the time to travel here from another star system. It could take years. It is for this reason that lower dimensions have, up to this point, remained unmonitored. Basically, we’ve never been worried about global or interplanetary travel within the system. Rest assured, however, that these flaws are currently being removed through some extra programming. Other weaknesses have recently been found as well. For instance, we’ve decided to eliminate onslaughts coming from all stars in the immediate vicinity that a threat might chose to utilize as staging post. The system leadership would like to remind every citizen of The Core that we’re all in this together. If anyone has any ideas for how to improve our society, or protect us from danger, they are encouraged to voice their concerns.

Microstory 153: Vivian Polzin

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Like Molly Bloom, Vivian Polzin’s ability was not able to present itself until a very particular set of circumstances arose. She grew up with her father in St. Petersburg, Russia, but things were growing dangerous in that part of the world. Fearing these dangers, Vivian’s mother demanded that she move in with her in Stockholm, Sweden instead. And so she packed her things, and set off on a submarine, along with a number of other refugees. Somewhere near the boundary of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic sea, the submarine began to suffer from a cataclysm. Water flooded in, and the deeper they sank, the higher the pressure, and the faster they sank. There was no way for anyone to survive, except for Vivian. She was transforming as fast as the dangers were coming upon them. Parts of her body became engorged and compressed in order to prevent gas bubbles from forming. Her lungs collapsed to halt gas exchange that would otherwise cause a buildup of nitrogen, and she created stores of oxygen in her blood and muscles so that she would no longer need to breathe. But Vivian was still stuck under the twisted metal of the former submarine, unable to escape. She would soon run out of oxygen, so her body transformed again. Before her reserves had been completely exhausted, she developed two sets of gills on her neck. She remained trapped there alone for days until she developed the ability to summon a group mermen. No, seriously. They freed her from her tomb, and contacted Adam Nicks who brought her into Bellevue, but she never had the chance to find a responsibility. Following an accident involving Fiona Mill, she would quickly find herself in the solitude of intergalactic space, and stayed there for years. When she was finally found, she was proven to have done what she does best: survive.

Microstory 152: Drummond Breckenridge

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There was only one survivor of an extremely famous plane crash. It was famous for having crashed on The Day of No Death, and also because a second plane fell at the exact same spot a year later, for a somewhat related reason. It was Drummond Breckenridge’s ability that kept him alive. Just before the plane started falling, he noticed that every single other passenger fell asleep all at once. He had assumed this to be the cause of the crash, but chose to tell no one of his suspicions. Drummond’s body has an enhanced survival extinct, capable of neutralizing a threat in four separate ways. He was always known to have a silver tongue, and could convince anyone of just about anything reasonably believable, but there were three defense mechanisms that he did not yet know about. While the plane was tumbling from the sky, a protective shell formed around his entire body, freezing him in place until the danger had passed. This cocoon is virtually impenetrable, and will only reopen once it has completed its job. Fortunately, it reopened before medical responders had arrived on the scene of the crash. Drummond discovered his third defense at a moment when he was overwhelmed by the media. They were hounding him, and trying to figure out why he and he alone survived, and why on that day. His body reacted and sent him nearly a kilometer away at superspeed. He could never run as fast as Luka Drake, but no other human could match his land speed. The final defense was the absolute most dangerous one. The government department that had been protecting the mutants on an island uncovered evidence of Drummond’s ability, and attempted to read him into the situation. He felt too vulnerable and trapped to respond using his first three defenses. There was no talking his way out of this one. If he formed his cocoon, they would just be able to wait him out. There were too many agents for him to run from. His body reacted with its only choice: fight. Drummond transformed mentally, but not physically, into a wild beast. He tore through the team one by one, killing most of them, and injuring what was left only because he wasn’t in control enough to realize that they were still alive. He eventually recovered, and a smaller team went in using a different tactic. They urged him to control his abilities, especially the violent one. His flight response kicked in after the conversation, however, and the government never caught up with him. He made his way to Bellevue before they revealed themselves to the world, despite not being contacted by them. But it was a dark time for them, and he immediately felt just as alone as he had for the last several months. It was not until later that he found his place as a physical education teacher.