Neo Static: Versimilitude Man IV

Ruffo's first instinct was to slap an anti-biotic pin into her neck and then grab her re-breather and put it on. She watched as Ksen's skin began to peel away like a banana, being replaced by pulsating reptilian scales.

"CODE OMEGA NOW!" she barked. "RED! RED! RED!"

Ksen flopped on the ground, twitching as spores began to sprout out from the wounds in his body. He was a time bomb waiting to go off. A bio-mechanical device that had gone through all the scanners and fooled them all.

For those who didn't inject the pin in time the spores were claiming them as their own.

Soon, very soon, there would be a dozen new Ul'ran inside the base. This was not good, Ruffo thought. She picked up her revolver and prepared to do the dance once again.

Neo Static: Verisimilitude Man III

We've got it.

Max sensed something was happening elsewhere in the compound as he floated one meter from the floor. He could feel the floor, the walls, the fluorescent lights as they cackled with energy. He could see the patterns about him, mathematical figures dancing on streams of energy. Like strings thrown at Mardi Gras.

We've got it.

His mind was opening up, synapses unlocking memories of then, now and what-if's as if they were real. Imagination rewriting realities that his mind thought and yet he was still zeroed in on this one. They need me. They need Max.

Apollo 8 you are go.

There were billions upon billions of threads entangled together, strung together and woven by fates. How could one thread of reality make a difference when the others didn't know that it existed? Because you're here, that's what matters. All life, all threads, all possibilities matter.

We've got it.

Neo Static: Versimilitiude Man II

The Ul'ran scientist glanced up from the holo-ball. The image in the ball was of Ksen shaking as if he was having a seizure. The Ul'ran scientist looked over at the Commander and made a loud clicking sound that reverberated throughout the chamber. This made everyone stop what they where doing.

"ajfodfoel afjsdfjlfj popeke, afjdkjr" it said.

"aekeme" replied the Commander as it approached, waiting for the signal.

In the holo-ball Ksen flopped over onto the floor and said "Iiiek!"

"Iiek! koel lsloie. leloeksk oejeje" the Commander bellowed and then began to laugh, or what facsimile of laughter the species had.

Neo Static: Verisimilitude Man I

Ksen sat there clicking his tongue which was annoying Ruffo at the moment. Ksen's beer was untouched though Ruffo could of sworn that he had brought it up to his lips a few times throughout the evening.

Ksen's fingers were beginning to tap on the table, like a man impatiently waiting for someone.

"What's bugging you?" she finally blurted out to him; she knew it was the alcohol in her that made her do that.

"Huh?" Ksen said as he snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, nothing... nothing."

"Something's eating at you," Ruffo said as she leaned forward. "What is it?"

Ksen smiled and blinked his eyes at her; Ruffo thought she could see a film in them and then it dawned on her and her eyes widened in unbelievable shock.

Neo Static: Enmity Terrene VII

Max hovered a few inches off the ground; he was sitting in a lotus position. His arms resting on his knees and his finger and thumb making a circle. Hyllensen thought he was just resting at first, trying to calm himself. Which was in part true. As Max did begin to feel calm he heard a very familiar female voice whisper in his ear.

This transmission is coming to you.

In all his years Max had never felt more alive than at that moment; he seemed more in sync with the reality around him. He rose higher off the ground as static electricity began to build around him. Lifting the hairs on his head, he could feel the hairs on his arms embrace the charge.

Maggie whispered into his other ear.

This transmission is coming to you.

So this is what it feels to ascend, he thought. He now understood what Dekker had wanted in that movie about merging with a machine. He was having his V'ger moment.

Maggie whispered again. 

We've got it.

Neo Static: Enmity Terrene VI

Ruffo took a sip of the whiskey before her. A toast was raised for those who had fallen today, all good soldiers who had paid the price.

"Ul'ran don't like to stick around when one of them gets hurt," Bobcat said. He had plopped down on the empty chair across from her. "That's a good thing, or else there could have been a lot more to raise a glass to."

"You got that right," Ksen said. "Those bastards are going to pay this time around."

"Easy, Ksen," Ruffo said. "You might just blow a gasket there."

Ksen let out a chuckle; he knew what she meant.

Neo Static: Enmity Terene V

"What did he say?" Hyllensen asked. He pushed Grumm aside and flipped up the speaker. "Are we recording?"

Grumm, his lab assistant, nodded his balding head yes. Hyllensen glanced at the monitor showing Max's face, whose eyes were open and serene.

Hyllensen pressed rewind until he heard the backwards blip-blip and then pressed play. He turned up the volume. The lab became quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop, waiting for what this strange fellow had to say.

"This transmission is coming to you."

Neo Static: Enmity Terrene IV

Munson leaned over Hyllensen's shoulder as Hyllensen's fingers danced over the keyboard; he began to input some data into the program. Bloodwork, x-ray scans and other testing to make sure that this fellow sitting there in the other room asking for a smoke and a coffee was genuine.

He wouldn't have put it past the Ul'ran to sneak a device in. Munson wanted to make sure that it was all good and kosher.

Smoke? What the hell was that? A code word?

The old dot matrix printer begin to whine, the machine jumped into life and slowly spit out the data. Hyllensen glanced at the sheet.

"Well?" Munson inquired.

Hyllensen studied the printout and his smile revealed what the tests showed.

"Positive?" Munson asked.

"Yes," Hyllensen answered.

"Sweet Mother of Mary," Munson said.

Neo Static: Enmity Terrene III

The sound of water hitting cement echoed throughout the chamber.

Ruffo stood in the shower, letting the crisp cool water cascade upon her body. The water felt like tiny kisses on the pores of her skin, and she was glad to be alive. It had been weeks since her body had embraced the rare commodity; water itself was a precious thing these days and when the storms hit it was a sign from the heavens to open up the containers and savour the free samplings it offered.

Her mind harping back on the words the stranger said...

"Well, that answered that question."

Before he fell unconscious again. What did it mean, what does it all mean.

"The crew is ready, sir!" Ksen called in, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Be out in five," she replied as she lathered up.

Neo Static: Enmity Terrene II

Max was floating again, the sensation of drifting in a sea of salt felt very different this time. Not stagnant but more fresh, like The Atlantic Ocean beach. A flash of memories also seemed to come in, multiple images as if someone was scrolling through an iphone app.

As his eyes opened he could see several men in lab coats checking, monitoring, writing down. The lab coats were always jotting down stuff.

One must think they have stock in Dixon #2 pencils, he thought.

Then he laughed.

Neo Static: Enmity Terrene I

The convoy rolled into base, Ruffo felt a sigh of relief as the the huge one-foot thick steel door slid back down and locked itself into the ground once again. She jumped off the truck before it had a chance to fully stop and was received by a yeoman, who handed her a clipboard. She took it and signed away.

She turned her attention to Ksen and told him, "Make sure the team gets R&R. We'll regroup in an hour for the memorial service for the fallen."

Ksen nodded and then his eyes alerted her that a big-wig was coming.

She noticed the eggheads approaching, along with General Munson as well, and she snapped to attention.

"At easy, Ruffo," Munson said. "You're gonna break something."

"Is he still alive?" Hyllensen, one of the eggheads asked.

Ruffo shot him a look which told him that she hadn't failed at that task.

"Good," Munson said. "Let's get him unloaded and into sick bay."

Neo Static: Awakening Zero IX

The ride back to base camp was long; Ruffo felt more at rest now that she was heading back home. The Corpsman was looking after the stranger, keeping an eye on him after he had patched up the wounded and given last rites to those who didn't make the trip.

"I hope that bastard's worth it," Ksen said to Ruffo. "We lost some good men out there today."

"Well, it's a gamble we take each day," Ruffo told him. "We knew what we got into when we signed up for this. Each day is a risk we take and be thankful once we made it to another day."

Ksen was still feeling the loss of his friend, but he could understand what Ruffo was saying.

"I know it doesn't make it any better," Ruffo said.

Neo Stac: Awakening Zero VIII

Bullets and slugs danced in the heavens, a weird symphony of death being played out in a field of battle. Ruffo's team gave back as good as they got. She barked orders like a conductor at a concert, her team followed them with precision. An Ul'ran craft kissed the ground, bringing up so much dirt and smoke.

"Got one," Ksen said. "They ought to be leavin' now."

It was funny; if one craft went down the others would always leave. Maybe it had something to do with a link to each other, but no one was ever sure of what that was.

Ruffo breathed a sigh of relief as there were only three casualties and four wounded this time around. Those were good odds these days.