the Crew of the Automaton
Stories
4
Chapters
31
Words
95.3 K
Comments
31
Reading
7 h, 56 m
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Despite everything I feared as sleep finally took me, we wake in the very spaces we fell asleep in. Maybe Chaisee has the right of it in naming McCrae our hunter and pointing out that we might not need to worry anymore. I'm still unable to let down my guard even buffered by that very thought. Everything is easily explainable; there are neat little boxes of information that everything fits into and in which we are safe. …I do a visual sweep of the main room before I realize I'm doing it. Cataloguing…-
61.0 K • Ongoing
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Nobody moves. I haven't budged and so neither has my squad and there's a rush of relief at that fact. Mx. Jones can bare their teeth if they want, at the end of the day they hired us and we can still walk. I glance up at the hotel in a search for the name of this place. Looking it up is a good first step since Mx. Jones only gave us the location and I forgot to do that earlier. My plans to do that, however, are sidelined by the bombardment of ads my eye gets slammed by. Flashing text sears across my…
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61.0 K • Ongoing
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The last time I thought something along those lines I managed to jinx us. I shake my head sharply as if to clear that potential bad luck from us. Thinking like that isn't helpful to the mission either, and I need to be more mindful of it. Rehema leads us to a food stall that's a good distance away from where we'd stopped to rest. I wonder how they knew which one to pick or if they're picking one at random based on the distance. That seems less likely, considering the fact that they're giving the food at…
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61.0 K • Ongoing
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For a fraction of a second I feel three sets of eyes land on me with startled acknowledgement. And then all three of them are moving flawlessly into one of the stealth scout positions that the LAGOON drilled into us. They pack close while keeping their bodies adjusted enough to get multiple sightlines on whatever it is that was spotted; confirming the sighting is the goal more than anything else. There's a flash of pride in my chest at that, at the fact that they're so skilled and that they trust me…
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61.0 K • Ongoing
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So. Somebody you trust gave you a link and told you to click it. This is, perhaps, the one and only time that doing so is a good thing. Welcome, new friend, to the landing page of The Lodestar. You may or may not have heard of us - some folks talk about us pretty openly and our public pages do have a large spread of information. We're not going to make any assumptions, so if you know who we are and what we're about then you can skim the next few paragraphs. If not, then read away. Might save your…
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61.0 K • Ongoing
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Fiends. One of the first things you learn here at the LAGOONs is that you are always on fiend disposal duty and since this is Fiend Disposal 101 - it's my job to make sure that you understand what they are so it doesn't disarm you in the field. They're us. Or they were, at some point... after a fashion. You can see it and hear it in the younger fiends - when they scream, they still sound human. There's no turning them back. Get that bit in your heads - there. is. no. turning. them. back. See,…
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61.0 K • Ongoing
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The word hangs in the forest air like a settling fog. It nixes several possibilities from the list I had constructed in my head and highlights others. Just one word and I can adapt and change what I'm considering based on it. None of us respond immediately. I presume that Chaisee, Rehema, and Sara are coming up with their own thoughts to share with me later. And the socially polite thing is to wait for elaboration. Elaboration that never comes. The client repeats themself. "Assassination." Slower…
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61.0 K • Ongoing
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Kukali lets out this little huff of air that I've learned means she's swallowing a hiss at that shout. She doesn't seem all that surprised, an' that means I need to assess what's going down. The announcer talking about economic changes is less important than taking in how she's doing. I've never traveled with Kali before so I don't have a single damn thing to base my assumptions of her reactions on. …Well, that ain't entirely true. Hema is a big cat like Kali is… I glance around quick. Sara's…
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61.0 K • Ongoing
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The way in which I've jinxed us doesn't show up immediately. We have time to make decisions on what to eat and Sara fusses at Chaisee trying to make everyone food on her own. It's an opening that Rehema immediately takes advantage of and I slip in to make sure everyone has napkins and drinks while those three are playfully bickering. My stealth goes unnoticed until Sara is grabbing napkins and stops short with a confused croak. Rehema eyes me suspiciously and I put my hands up. In my defense, I…
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61.0 K • Ongoing
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I make it to my apartment without any further problems or running into anyone. A sigh of relief escapes me once I'm back on my own floor, back alone like I'm used to being. Putting away the food from Chaisee means seeing the single remaining pastry in the fridge from Yilmaz and I hiss as I close the door. There's no one here to hear it and still it's only a quiet noise. There's too many variables. Too many what ifs and maybes and three days is far too much time to waste. Three days could see him dead…
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61.0 K • Ongoing
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