ARC excerpt from grydscaen: tribute featuring the Psi Faction clandestine psychic operative Julian “Blue” Iskafiin. Copyright Natsuya Uesugi
After the briefing Blue went back to his room at the Psi Faction. He changed out of his uniform and looked at the meter on his arm, which said it was mid afternoon. He started to hurry. He had to meet someone from the iNAX game at a bar in the Echelons in Haven 15. He was excited. The person was going to be talking to him about one of his avatars and supposedly he had a gift for him since the side game Blue was playing was written by this man. Blue was wearing his black Psi Faction jumpsuit which worked with the Shie Falcon motorcycle a state of the art mobile frame.
Blue came out of his room with his black clothes on and a helmet. He had the handheld craftily hidden in the pocket. He walked down the hall to the garage.
Jai, the lead guard intercepted him. “You only have two hours. Then I need you back here for a meeting. Do not be late. I should not let you out al all but you have privileges. Just be on time.”
“Sure, Jai. I should be back shortly,” said Blue happily and continued on.
Blue got on his motorcycle in the garage and zoomed away to Haven 15. He had a ways to go before he got to where he was meeting his iNAX contact. He stopped at one point and took out a pill case and took an extra iodine pill to fend of the radiation sickness since as he followed the GPS from his motorcycle he was going closer to the Zone where the fallout was higher.
The outfit Blue was wearing had sensors in it. The sensors and armour linked into the Shie motorcycle transformation function. Blue put the pill case back in his pocket and continued on after checking his gloves. A warning came up on the GPS screen. He was going into an area known for Jannai infiltration, the psychic warriors that the Atlantea Federation used as hired mercenaries that would kill anything in their path. Blue stopped again and brought up the tracking mechanism on the bike’s systems. It scanned the area for IFF mobile frame responses. There were three located on the screen. One of them was in close proximity to him. Blue continued on and hit the pre-synch switch on the motorcycle which keyed into the jumpsuit . The neck of the suit came up and synched with the helmet and attached. The gloves linked in to the sleeves of the jumpsuit and registered. Blue felt a tingling in his fingers as the gloves synched with the inline mask of the bike’s systems.
The GPS display continued to show the map and the destination but also showed the proximity of the frame. It took the system a moment and the mobile frame in Blue’s proximity came up with a stat window. It was an Atlantea Federation mobile frame and it had hooked into Blue’s signal. It was was moving towards him. He was about to get busy.
Blue sped up on the motorcycle moving closer to the frame. He hit the comm button and called into the Psi Faction. He started talking and the helmet comm relayed the message to the guard desk.
“About to get into it. Shizuoko ghetto. One Atlantea Federation frame. Engagement about three minutes out,” said Blue and it came over the guard desk system.
The guard radioed into Jai in the Training Room who hit the comm button in the center table and put in a call to Gailen. Blue’s helmet cam came up in the Training Room. Jai could see his vicinity, the frame was coming down the street and flew low over the rubble of a destroyed building.
The proximity alert came over Blue’s view and brought up an engage warning. Blue hit the synch button and called back for permission to engage.
“In it. Do I have permission to engage?”
Jai looked over at Gailen who had come into the Training Room. “He is in it. I can give him the go ahead.”
“Sure, he is good to engage,” said Gailen.
“Go ahead Blue, engage hot.”
“Engaging.” Blue hit the synch button again. The motorcycle flew into the air and then the bike started the transformation process. Blue hovered in the air held suspended by the bike’s systems. The jumpsuit Blue was wearing brought up armour plates that surrounded his chest and torso and his arms and legs and the motorcycle burst apart and started to reconfigure around the armour. The pieces of the motorcycle attached to the intake points on the jumpsuit and surrounded Blue as the battle armour engaged. Blue put his right hand behind his back and touched the small platform gennen rifle and disengaged it from the body of the motorcycle. A message ‘synch set’ came up on the helmet and the helmet display changes so he could see his speed, his altitude, the targeting sight for the rifle and additional stats on the energy in his view.
The Atlantea Federation frame fired on him. Blue fired back. The Shie Falcon body armour was smaller than the frame Blue was after but the body armour packed a wild punch. If his aim was good he could take down the frame and Blue was an ace in this medium.
The body armour systems synched with the suit and also enabled Blue to think his movements and the suit would react inline with his psychic power. It had taken considerable training to learn how to use the suit.
Blue touched down on the ground and bent his knees then jumped and the thrusters engaged on the body armour lifting him 16 meters into the air. Blue swung around and fired the gennen rifle and it hit the mobile frame straight in the cockpit, the shot going through the armour plate. The mobile frame hesitated and then continued attacking. The frame got brutal firing over and over again.
Blue touched back down and ran away, his strides bounding as the thrusters of the body armour enhanced his movements. The frame followed. Blue rounded the corner and then jumped up on top a destroyed building and lay in wait for the frame to come around.
Blue ducked down. The frame passed Blue who let it go past. Every frame had a vulnerability at the back of the body below the head attachment. The wiring there was next to the kedek coupler. From the front this vulnerability was impenetrable but from the back it was exposed if you could get the shot just right.
The frame took another step and stopped. Blue leveled the gennen rifle and hesitated as the sight lined up in the helmet. The frame scanned the vicinity but had not caught Blue yet.
Blue took the shot. It hit the frame right in the vulnerability and exploded the kedek cell. Energy radiated out and the frame exploded raining down metal into the street.
Blue lowered the gennen rifle and jumped off the building. He lowered down slowly to the ground and came to stand next to the burned and charred body of the Atlantea Federation pilot. Blue kicked a piece of rubble away from the pilot and leaned down turning the Jannai pilot over. The helmet registered that the pilot was still alive.
“Be careful, Blue, the Jannai fight to the death,” came Jai over the comm.
Suddenly the Jannai got up and started attacking Blue who backed up and leveled the gennen rifle taking the shot vaporizing the Jannai.
Blue took a deep breath looking out on the destruction.
“Log the encounter when you get back in. Okay to disengage,” said Jai over Blue’s comm.
“Blue out.” The comm line disengaged. Blue scanned the vicinity. There were no more mobile frames in the area.
Blue brought up his right arm in the armour. There was a button on his forearm.
“Disengage synch frame,” spoke Blue and hit the button standing perfectly still. The armour disengaged from the suit and hovered in the air. Blue took a step away from the body armour and gave the order into the arm band.
“Reconfigure.” The body armour quickly reconfigured. He watched as it reset and the pieces of the armour reassembled into a motorcycle. He waited until the motorcycle made a chiming sound signaling that it was done with the configuration. The body suit responded to the motorcycle and reset as well.
Blue got back on the motorcycle and put his hands on the handle bars and a foot up on the peddle and disengaged the parking brake. He brought his other foot up and zoomed down the street. The GPS came up and showed the route to his previous destination. Blue continued on. He drove through the devastation that was the Shizuoko ghetto until he got to the Maze.
The streets became narrow with walls close as the buildings jutted up against each other. A warning came up on the bike’s systems saying that the radiation levels were higher here. Blue had taken an extra iodine pill, he would be good for a little while but he couldn’t stay here long. He continued on.
The bike made a chiming sound, he had reached his destination. To his left there was a door with a neon sign over it that said ‘Hell’s Hearth.’ Blue parked the bike and got off.
Blue was in the Shizuoko ghetto. He didn’t really want to go in but he needed to get this gift for the iNAX Simulation game. He was obsessed with the game. He needed it. He walked up to the building and down the dark staircase ad knocked on the door of the club at the bottom of the stairs. A rough guy in black leather with bulging muscles and a gun down the front of his pants opened the door confronting Blue.
“Who are you here to see?” asked the bouncer.
“Some hacker named Jester,” responded Blue.
“Jester isn’t here.”
“Yes, he is. I can see his avatar on my handheld. His signature registers as being here.”
The bouncer held up for a moment. “What is your name?”
“You can call me Blue.”
“Wait here.” The bouncer off leaving Blue at the door. Blue looked inside the room covered in a haze of smoke. Blue waited for a few moments watching the female hosts inside and a bar. The place looked seedy which concerned Blue as the bouncer came back.
“Go in. Find him if you can.”
Blue walked inside. He looked down at his handheld at Jester’s avatar. He was in here. His avatar was dressed up gothic with a top hat and a walking stick. Blue stopped and engaged the game and sent a text message to Jester. A message came back stating that he was in the back. Blue walked to the back of the club. There were a few people around.
A man sat at the back and watched the kid with the blue hair wander around the club looking for him. The man stayed non descript and kept his walking stick under the table. Blue got to the back and turned around. He happened to catch the silver walking stick out of the corner of his eye. He went up to the table.
“If I may ask are you Jester?” Blue was skeptical but the person was wearing gothic aristocrat clothes that looked like they came from the City. It could be Jester in a black high end velvet blazer with elaborate embroidered designs. A shirt with a high collar and an ascot, sleeves with lace at the cuffs.
“Who wants to know?”
“I was playing iNAX. There is something here I want,” said Blue and raised his eyebrows. The guy was playing with him.
“iNAX is an addictive ware game. You sleeping?”
“Not really. I want my gift,” whined Blue sitting down annoyed at this charade. He figured this was Jester.
There was someone else in the back room hidden from view listening to the conversation between this person and Blue. The person in the back was actually Jester. He didn’t know this Blue. He wanted to make sure this was legit. Jester was wanted by the Zone Police. He ran a hacker guild. This gift that Blue was asking for was a game cheat, hard to come by. Jester’s hackers had stolen it from the SenseNet which had created the iNAX game.
“How much is the gift?” asked Blue.
“It is not how much, it is how worthy.”
“I am worthy.”
“Are you?”
Jester listened to Blue try to defend himself to his minion out front. Blue started to get irritated.
“Patience is a virtue,” said the minion.
“Stop screwing with me.”
“With an attitude like that this gift may just disappear.”
Blue was getting pissed.
“How about we have a little party in the back room? I will give you the gift after you entertain me.”
Blue squinted his eyes. He really wanted this gift. He was obsessed with the social media game and was willing to do just about anything to get his prize.
“Sure.”
The man stood up and walked with the cane to the back room. He opened the door onto another person and waved Blue in. The man handed the cane off and left.
“My name is Jester. Your name is Blue. Lets have a little party,” said Jester in his high end goth clothes who looked more like the avatar.
Blue didn’t like being toyed with. “So what, your minion was feeling me out?”
“I just needed to know that you were not the Zone Police.”
Jester set his walking stick down and started unbuttoning his shirt. Finally Blue realized what was happening. He stripped down to his underwear and stood in front of him.
Jester’s eyes opened wide. “What do we have here?”
Jester came over and touched Blue’s chest. He could see scars long horizontal scars as if he had been operated on. Then he put his hand in between Blue’s legs and was surprised by what he didn’t find.
“This is definitely interesting. I am excited, my non binary friend. I like eclectic things. Sit down on the couch.”
Blue sat down and Jester sat down next to him. Blue was a little scared and didn’t know what he was feeling. Jester leaned in and kissed Blue who turned his head away. Jester put his hand under Blue’s chin and turned his head around and looked into his eyes.
“Now my little pretty, you are all mine. You play my little game and the game cheat you want so bad is all yours,” Jester snickered and then leaned down and had his way with Blue who just took it going far away in his mind.
Fifteen minutes later after Jester fooled around with Blue, he stood up and pulled on his shirt pulling a pin drive out of his pocket. “One game cheat for your luxurious service, my little friend. You kept your end of the deal and I kept mine. This game cheat is not released on the market. My hackers created it specifically for players who understand the sophistication and military aspects of iNAX and its use in the war game Simulatrix. You my friend are a ware gaming legend. You are an elite player. I like Elite. I only play with the best…”
