03 | Text

[khajidont]

[This is Jaime's first post to the network as Blue Beetle, and the name displayed on the tablet has changed accordingly. For any hackers out there, it can't be linked back to him as he's not actually using his tablet; he's posting directly from his armour.]

Hey. Blue Beetle here.

I know that after all this, the last thing we're thinking about is the UE's soldiers, but something's been bugging me. Everyone who was on the distraction team with me, you must have noticed the new soldiers, right? They didn't have anything like them on Elmer's world, and I'm pretty sure that war was an all-hands-on-deck sort of deal.

The normal soldiers were really well equipped as it was, but these ones must have been metas. They were stronger, and faster. It was so busy on the field that I don't know whether or not I was seeing ones with different powers or if they all had the same skillset going on, but the ones I noticed could fly and had elemental powers.

And they were small. Like children.

[Which is deeply off-putting.]

I'm not sure what their deal is, but consider this a heads-up for what the UE's got in store, and the kind of technology we might find on them. For some reason, I don't think an army full of tiny meta-soldiers is something they just managed to find one day. If any of you ran into them too, I think it'd be good if we could get some sort of list of how much they can actually do.

Oh yeah, one last thing. Since we don't exactly have space suits around here yet, if there's any maintenance that needs to be done outside the base, let me know. I'm guessing we don't have a whole lot of people who can breathe out there, and my suit's built for space travel.

Comments

[khajidont]

[And then Jaime makes the world's most tragic face at his tablet.

He really wishes this place could just give him a person to punch. That would make things so much easier.]

Everything about this is wrong.

[But he's not speaking Jaime now, he's speaking as Blue Beetle, and that means he needs to actually think about this.]

Could you tell if they were drugged like the normal soldiers were, or was it some other kind of control?

[firstroar]

I cannot be certain. The imagery that bore down on me was too scattered and too intense to piece together cohesively.
It was raw emotion, thrust into me. It pulled me out of myself in flashes, and I would see and feel as they did.

[khajidont]

That must have been awful.

So they're artificially created, but they're alive. They feel.

[The Negotiator would have called that an error in their programming. A default.]

This just keeps on getting better.

[firstroar]

Do you know of "Project Chimera"?

[khajidont]

No. What is it?

[firstroar]

It's tied to those soldiers. I don't have details behind it, unfortunately. It seems others among us have fragments of knowledge into this.

[khajidont]

Then we need to get those people to step forward and share what they've got. It's not going to do us much good if only one or two people know what it is.

[Now, where's Oracle when you need her...?]

[firstroar]

You've already brought the question to the table. The rest lies in the hands of those who have those answers.
And those who can perceive them. [y'know. psychics.]

[khajidont]

[Man, he doesn't want to encourage anyone poking around in minds, but...]

If you find anything out could you let me know? I'm putting all our intel together to hand off to some of our scientists.

[firstroar]

I will cooperate. These are answers I want, as well.
In turn, I may need your help.

[khajidont]

Sure. With what?

[firstroar]

Wading our way out of this tangle we've all found ourselves in. I must make contact with one thing in particular before I know how to move forward.

[khajidont]

And that thing is?

[firstroar]

The artificial intelligence working among us.

[khajidont]

Oh okay. What's up with the AI?

[firstroar]

It may have information necessary to resolving this issue. I mean to find out.

[khajidont]

Information I guess the Initiative didn't tell it to tell us. It's not so great at just giving out info.

They usually aren't.

[No offense, Scarab.]

[firstroar]

It still remains one of the only leads we have, lest everyone wander aimlessly, wasting energy and resources.

[khajidont]

Oh yeah, I'm not saying don't talk to it. It's just that you probably need to have really specific questions in mind.

[firstroar]

It appears much more welcoming of conversation than what I have dealt with before. But I will keep this in mind, thank you.