[Cyberia] Cyberia: The Undiscovered Country

[Cyberia GM]

"90 minutes," Asha echoed.  "Did you have any other questions?  If not,
we'll jack in locally, so I can transfer some  utilities to you.  We can
stage from there- I'll tether you as you make your way into the Deep Ether."

Dot shook her head, "no questions."  She quietly jacked in, thinking vaguely
as she did, "Lillith?  Odd name."

The disorientation as she jacked in was more intense that in her trial run-
she was completely cut off from the real as the plug blocked input from her
more mundane senses in exchange for the input from her UI.  But in exchange,
her HUD was more intuitive and less obtrusive, responding immediately to her
thoughts.

The room that she found herself in was featureless grey, only shadows from
some unseen light source delineating the corners of the chamber.
Momentarily, Asha appeared on the landscape next to Dot.  Her avatar was
only slightly different from her form in the real- the notable exception
being that she did not bother to hide her wings.  She sketched her hand in
the air, and unlike in Dot's inaugural trip, she could see the exact
commands that Asha invoked, rezzing in a subjective table and chairs.  "My
apologies about the accomodations," Asha said.  "We are trying to keep our
signature low as we fly in, so no unnecessary processor usage."

As they sat, the screen flared to life.  "Serenity Towers.  Built by Crown
over 50 years ago, it is the home of much of what makes Cyberia what it is-
for good and bad.  What we are concerned with," she said flicking her hand
over the screen, "is the broadcast tower- here."  At her command, the screen
zoomed in on an almost unimaginably tall tower, that terminated in
what appeared to be a fine strand extending into orbit.

"The ether is ... An overlay of the 'real' world... For lack of a better
word, it comprises the superstructure of the real.  Noone knows how it was
formed," she stopped, tching.  "Let me say that noone will _admit_ to
knowing how it was formed- but it is unique in shadow.  Extending past the
surface of the planet, it actually traverses space, though much of the 'Deep
Ether' as it is known, is unexplored.  Dara directed Morgan towards an
entity that exists there- one that she 'thought' was the representation of
the Logrus."  The screen showed a panoply of images that had been taken in
the Deep Ether, and none of it particularly pleasant.

"For a while, some expatriates of Chaos had assumed that since it was still
useable in a limited form, it must not be destroyed, but merely supressed-
or imprisoned."  She leaned back in her chair, observing Dot as she
continued.  "They were wrong, but desperate people will cling to improbable
ideas, even when faced with irrefutable proof of the fallibility of their
stance."  She seemed to be quoting someone, and had a faraway look in her
eye.  Shaking her head, she continued.  "Dara found a perfect pawn in an
Alpha- Morgan- who had the qualities they had been attempting to breed for
this purpose.  He succeeded past their wildest imaginings, releasing this -
thing - from the Deep Ether.  Fortunately, it has not been able to
completely manifest in the Ether- but has been slowly infecting it, in
preparation for manifestation in the real.  In order to get a pure sample of
the being, you'll have to encounter it in the Deep Ether.  Fortunately,
travel times in the Deep are a fraction of what they are in even the Ether,
and you should be able to find it with a minimum of trouble."  She sighed.
"Unfortunately, it will be much more powerful in it's home desmene."

Calling up her own internal interface, Asha motioned, and Dot could see a
request for a transfer appear in her own HUD.  "Nothing will allow you to
defeat the creature, but all you have to do is wound it with this."  The
program that streamed across was labeled 'Suffusion Ivx'.  "All you have to
do," she shook her head.  "I've been hanging around the wrong company."  She
transferred a complete intrusion and detection suite to Dot.  "It has
limited range, so you'll have to
get very close.  Hopefully you can cloak yourself until that point, attack
it, and I can pull you back.  But I'm not optimistic of how close you can
actually get before it's aware of you.  Just remember- you don't have to
defeat it.  In fact, you probably can't defeat it.  Just get your sample,
and get out of there."

"It looks like we're coming into broadcast range- do you have any
questions?"