[Cyberia] Re: Cyberia: Spirits in the Material World

[Cyberia GM]

In the dead of space far above the Fallen Plaza, the screams of the tapestry
had increased to the point where only a break in the threads of reality woke
the Guardian from it's sleep.  Overtaxed by the level of taint in the weave,
the Guardian's tolerance for disorder rose proportionately to the
signal-to-noise ratio it experienced.  But even with its systems taxed,
the ancient being's purpose remained true- its vigilance, while dimmed,
still continued.

One point of reality shrieked on a small point on the earthen orb, drawing
the Guardian's attention.  What had started as a numb ache now screamed for
action.  The tapestry must be preserved- the weave was all that held back
the chaos of the Umbra.  Once more, the tender ministrations of the Guardian
had been called to action.

The consciousness came to full awareness, shivering with the ignition of
ancient engines, as its chemical jets fired, moving it over the disturbance,
its ancient targetting systems coming on-line.  Once it made such movements
out of a sense of conformation to the local paradigms- it's existence was
outside of spatial relations.  Now, they were imperative- with the dimming
of its resources, it could not put anything to chance.

Again, the disturbance was located in region K87, subsector T124 of the
Tatters dominion.  It confirmed that an unauthorized Shadow-Manipulation was
in progress, but the perpetrator appeared to exist only partially in the
protectorate.  This was of little concern compared to the damage being done
to the weave, so, once a proper lock had been achieved and permission to
fire sanctioned, the airless space around the creature dimmed as the very
essence of creation was altered to remove an infestation from its domain.  A
second after that, the spear streaked toward the world below.

A brief scan confirmed that the paradigm-anomaly had been nullified.  Its
task completed, the Guardian returned eternal vigilance, always on the
lookout for threats to its charge.

+++++

There was the sound of the air screaming in protest, then
anti-climatically... silence.

But only for a brief moment.  Then the light touched this sun-deprived area-
so brilliant in it's display, that if they didn't know they were facing away
from the point of impact, they would have doubted their direction.  Suhuy
and Mandor were far enough away that when the laser actually touched the
ground, they were spared any effects, other than the overpressure as the
kinetic energy rushed into the building.  Grey and Dot were not so lucky.
Lifted from their feet, they were
caught like twigs in a hurricane, except the blazing winds gave them an
exposure to UV light a hurricane would not have.  The heat sucked the breath
from their lungs as they were carried deeper into the building, tumbling
uncontrollably through the air.

Then just as suddenly, silence returned.  And only at that moment did Dot
realize that she was covered in a thick layer of ash and soot- and she
realized why this level of the building had no glass- it had been touched by
this phenomena before.  It was thus that she was spared the storm of lethal
glass that would surely have accompanied such a display.

Movement only a few yards from her caught her attention, as Grey shook off a
layer of ash, rising to his knees.  "You okay, girl?" he asked gruffly,
making his way stiffly towards her.  She could tell that he had injuries,
though the extent of them were hard to see under the layers of dust and ash
that caked his form.