Ætherglow #151

2254-08-02 18:10:36 Aydan > sure, maybe we can hack someone and cause some chaos

2254-08-02 18:10:42 Électricité > I like the way you think

You get up to make a circle through the hallway between the corporate displays. Across the room you find the main stage, hard to miss with the overly loud speakers making everyone aware of the current presentation. You reduce the volume by 90% through your neural interface.

The presentation is on some sort of autonomous missile, from what you gleaned from being bombarded with it. You think they’re an arms contractor for Redshift. It’s hard to keep all the names straight.

“With this degree of autonomous guidance correction, your SySpecs can forget it once launched and focus on their own battlegroup positions. It’ll even send an automated warning if it suspects it’s been hacked...” Whatever the rep is talking about, their investment numbers are going up on the main display the more they talk.

2254-08-02 18:18:54 Électricité > yeah right, like any SySpec would entrust their life to some algorithm that’s not even their own familiar. these normies will buy anything if you make it sound fancy

2254-08-02 18:19:03 Aydan > did they even ask a technopath?

2254-08-02 18:19:09 Électricité > not likely

“If you’ll direct your eyes skyward...” the presenter says, looking up at the stars through the skylights and the water and glass above. He points to a star moving across the sky. “Our demonstration starfighter has launched one of the prototypes now. Observe as even an amateur like me can guide its trajectory...” He looks down at the terminal in his hand. “Complex orbital calculations, that troublesome Korolev mascon, it’s no problem, it practically flies itself even at this distance.”

The numbers on the large display keep going up.

2254-08-02 18:21:12 Aydan > they’ll find anything impressive

2254-08-02 18:21:22 Électricité > hey, watch this

Looking into the near-æther, a faint glow of the ripples of their actions crosses your vision. They’ve done something that touches the presenter’s terminal.

The moving star above them slows, then grows brighter, flashing with a red navigation light. A bright plume blows in front of it as it slows rapidly to a stop, then the light surrounds it like a halo as the red flashing grows brighter.

“Uhh...” The presenter scrambles with his terminal. “This is all part of...”

You find the object’s trajectory in the spaceport’s public navigation data stream. The missile burns straight down toward Korolev, straight toward this dome, this building.

Around the room, others are starting to notice, looking and pointing others to their terminals, and pointing at the bright burning star. Whispers start to turn to panic. Corpo-types look around for the exits. The investment numbers on the monitor freeze in place.

Next to you, Tricia watches the sky, staring straight up at the scene, calm.