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LucByard

[M - F04] Upsilon

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Location: F04 - Illustria.

Tags: Military Building.

Previous chapters can be accessed from the AG player list here.


Chapter 16: Upsilon.

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“It was dangerous…” the fuzzy holo-image of the hairy man said, his words only just discernable above the crackle and static of a signal that was being bounced and routed through countless locations and servers to avoid detection. “… Aiding the return of an Octan operative when you could have eliminated him… Treasonous, even.” It was a suggestion Riddaeon had contemplated himself ever since leaving Vyken Tyros at the spaceport with his false identities and his tickets back to Octan. But in that time, he had also reasoned his answer. “If you’re right…” He responded. “… And we cannot tackle this alone, MANTIS may not be enough, we need contacts in the other corporations and we need the measure of them.”

“And what is the measure of this one?” The holo-image asked.

Riddaeon thought for a moment, recalling the Octan agent he had picked up in the clearing on Donwarr. Tyros had been careful about what he had said in their conversation. Riddaeon had gleamed no secrets, but he hadn’t tried to. He wanted to know the man, not the corporation. “He’s loyal…” He answered. “… But principled. It will be where those two separate that we will have leverage…” Riddaeon paused for a moment, considering. “His time on Donwarr has affected him. He’s seen what The Quarrel did to the civilians. The kind of things employees don’t get told.” The holo-imaged crackled as the signal re-routed. It couldn’t stay connected the same way for too long. “Do you think he will be able to convince her?” the hairy visage asked. Riddaeon thought for a moment. That would be a feat. She was not easy to convince of anything. She was an idealist, a believer. But so was Tyros. “Maybe” he finally replied. “But he wouldn’t do it alone. He’d convince someone else first.”

“Who?” The image asked.

Riddaeon’s eyes gleamed with the knowing of a plan not yet fully formed. “Someone who trusts him.” He said. “His student… and her aide”. The hairy visage contemplated the revelation and the disapproval turned to near excitement. “Then we are ready?” it asked. Riddaeon nodded. “Good.” The image continued. “I will send you the information retrieved with the cypher Yseult acquired… She will find Upsilon for us. And then… So many questions will be answered.”

 

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An hour later, Yseult entered the small makeshift office that Riddaeon had made for himself somewhere deep within Sentinel, a surveillance outpost that had been built at the end of The Quarrel on the edge of MANTIS territory to observe and analyse Octan activity, of which there had been too much lately to ignore.  She sat down in a seat at the end of his desk, a sheen glass black desk with a built-in keyboard and transparent 3D holoscreen display.

“So.” Riddaeon opened with. “I hear you managed to crash another ship into yet another one and lose the new engine we built for it all in one mission.” He let it hang there for a moment. Yseult wasn’t sure if he was being humorous or if she should floor him for the criticism. She just sat in silence which she immediately realised probably made her come across as cold. I hate when people aren’t clear. She thought. I never know how to respond. Riddaeon sat back in his seat raising his hands to concede that his quip probably hadn’t been as successful as he had hoped. “You're a good pilot" he added to try and ease the unintentional tension. "You make it back when others wouldn't, and I think you’re ready for your real mission here.”

That caught her attention. “Real mission?” She asked.

“You probably figured out that you joining MANTIS wasn’t a coincidence… You were marked for recruitment, by me, to a specific task. A covert operation that no-one else, even in MANTIS knows about. Except for Big Sal, of course.” Yseult recalled her uneasy conversation with Riddaeon in the depths below Uplink the day she nearly rode away from it all. He tried to tease her with information then too. He wanted her to want to know. She had a feeling he was just as eager to tell her anyway. “Lucky for you I chose to stay this long.” She proposed.

 

“Well… Quite.” Riddaeon conceded.

 

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“A number of Big Sal’s recent experiments have...” He looked for the right words. “... Not yielded the results we expected. When Big Sal reviewed the data, he found that the experiments didn’t fail, they were never, even on paper, going to achieve what he was trying to do.”

“Why even do them?” Yseult asked.

“When he re-did the equations, they all came out different, yet familiar. He believes he did them right the first time, but someone... or something was changing them”.

“Sabotage?” Yseult proposed.

“We thought so.” Riddaeon responded. “But that possibility has been eliminated. No, either Big Sal is actually the worst scientist in the Galxy, or some... thing has somehow been changing the equations and forcing his experiments to fail.”

The revelation seemed lost on Yseult who’s face told him on which option should would put her money. Riddaeon knew why; from the outside, could you blame anyone for not taking Big Sal seriously? If he was to convince Yseult, he would have to let his guard down a little. “He may look like a crazy wild-eyed mad scientist from some comic book.” He said. “But I’ve been through more with Big Sal than anyone knows. I wouldn’t be here if it were not for him.” Riddaeon looked pensive. What he said next, he said with complete conviction, complete belief. “If Big Sal says the equations were altered... Then they were altered.”

“I am just a pilot.” Yseult responded.

“You’re unpredictable.” Riddaeon quickly interjected. “Big Sal ran new equations... traps. He believes that to bring whatever is doing this out into the open, we need something he called ‘Upsilon’. He doesn’t think the corporations can find it, they’re too organised... Too predictable. He believes that to find Upsilon, we need something...”

“Unpredictable.” Yseult finished.

Riddaeon opened his arms, palms out and gestured. And here we are. Yseult was considering the proposition. “What is this Usilon?” She asked. Riddaeon was hesitant in his admission. “We don’t know.” He replied. “We don’t know what it is or where it might be. Big Sal is working on a way of detecting it. He’s using the cypher you extracted to access Octan’s sensor network. If he picks anything up in MANTIS or Octan space, he’ll tell us where to go. That’s why we need you. Everyone else is too... Corporate.”

Yseult considered the plan. It didn’t make much sense to her; it sounded full of things she wasn’t being told. “And if I walk?” she asked. Riddaeon grimaced. Any other employee would’ve saluted and been half way across the Galaxy by now. Why did she have to be so difficult? “Then we may not find out ‘who’, ‘what’ or most importantly ‘why’ until it’s too late.”

 

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Yseult recalled the dreams she had on Donwarr, the creature kneeling over her, speaking to her. You must find Upsilon. Coincidence? It didn’t seem likely. It felt like Riddaeon wasn’t the only one wanting her to do this. She looked Riddaeon in the eye, a confidence had appeared on her face, and was that even a small smile. “I need a ship.” She said.

“No problem.” Riddaeon responded.  “This is MANTIS. Take your pick”.

Yseult was shaking her head and the smile had grown. She’s got a plan. He thought. “Not one of your ridiculous flying advertisements.” She said. “A real ship... A proper ship... A box-runner”. Her face changed. She’s remembered something. Riddaeon thought. Nostalgia. Something from her past. “And I know who we must see to get one” She said. Her personality had changed. There was something in her eyes that Riddaeon had not seen before. Life. He leaned forward. The tables had turned; now she was the one in the know. He was the curious one... And he had to know...

 

“Who?”

 

Spoiler

Judges: Chair design has been seen previously and should not be judged.

Here is a full build shot. I've finally joined the 'exposed turntables' club :grin:

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Production notes: I reversed the table position to get the shot with Yseult facing the camera so it's actually the same wall that you see behind Riddaeon in the other shots. New 'casual' costume for Yseult: Finn's jacket from force Awakens with Lego Movie Super Secret Police trousers.

Writing notes: Well, it's really all exposition this week but I've kind of revealed a lot of what's been happening around Yseult's story so far. But what is Upsilon?, Who has it? Will Riddaeon ever get an office with a decent view? And who is the mysterious character Yseult wants to meet? Find out, next time, on The Hitchhiker's Guide to Andromeda...

Thank you for reading. All comments welcome.

Edited by LucByard

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Excellent Story! The office looks great. The dark green works well. I like the use of a similar air systems as in Big Sal's builds.

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You've done an amazing job of making that small build feel a lot bigger, thanks to excellent photography and scene directing. The photo editing in the first shot is remarkable too.

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