[M][N]The Void Mafia

Endgame

Thyzgin I
September 1 2358. In my 700 cycles of service I have never encountered nor heard about anything like this. A large, gaping void in the middle of space. Nothing like the black holes previously mapped, its size and pull are much stronger, yet the process in which beings are pulled in is much slower, almost methodical. Occasionally, energy matter is picked up by robots which have arrived here two cycles ago, and thrown into the darkness. It is currently unknown why this is done, though they appear to emit light from their cameras before executing their commands. Supervision suggests that the void doesn't provide it with anything, yet the pull seems to have no effect on it.

The robots have a length of about 3 meters, with glowing, white cameras that emit some form of energy in a position where you would expect human eyes given its design. It is currently unknown if the robots are in communication with one another, or what their purpose with the giant void is. Their process had accelerated in the last half a cycle as if they were in a hurry to scour the area of energy patterns they disapproved of. It is a most remarkable process to behold, but hopefully our understanding will increase by time.

End Audio Log.

“Do you have any ideas what these Robots want with these energy patterns Professor?”

If I did, I would've recorded them in my log, now wouldn't I, cadet Rhatqin?

“Yes ma'am. Of course ma'am.” the squire said. I had never encountered such a worthless trainee in my existence, and I have had many. Simple questions were his hallmark, and no matter what I tried, he wouldn't stop asking them. He always struck up this annoying tone that emphasized certain syllables as if he learned words through pronouncing individual letters. It made him difficult to understand, and given what he was saying, I often regretted trying to understand him.

I had wondered if the institute sent him to me to torture me, or whether it was because no one actually cares about space exploration anymore. It was probably the latter. In recent cycles, the attention of our civilization turned from the outside to the inside. Archeology has become the most practiced profession. Lots of people are also studying up on the old cultures, learning our old languages again and attempting to live in the old ways, which didn't include space travel. Some of our Kun are a bit too xenophobic, claiming that all non-Kun lifeforms are not to be trusted. Honestly, I'd rather have just about anyone from any species as a trainee, as long as it wasn't Rhatqin.

I got up from the desk of our small, cloaked vessel and decided to head in for an early night. Trying to understand Rhatqin was a full time job, and I had a real job on top of it that felt a little more important. I turned in for the night. What felt like mere minutes later, I heard Rhatqin's incessant jabbering once more.

“Professor look! There's something on the sensors!”

Is it a rock?

“No! It's something else I'm sure!”

I'll be there in a moment.

The last ten times I heard these line from him, it was a rock, so I didn't pay much heed. I got up, took the longest hygene session I could possibly do, got dressed, did my hair, made a hot drink and a sandwich, and slowly made my way to the scanner. The object had traversed about 90% of the maximum scanner range already, and it was heading straight towards us.

WHY DIDN'T YOU MENTION THAT IT WAS TRAVELING AT THIS SPEED?!

“I told you it wasn't a rock!”

YOU TOLD ME IT WASN'T A ROCK THE LAST 20 TIMES, WHY DID YOU NOT MAKE SURE I ACTUALLY BELIEVED YOU THIS TIME?!

I didn't want to hear an answer. I grabbed him by his hand and pulled him out of the scanner room, then locked the door. I had no time for distractions right now. I had to start the engines immediately. I tried booting them up.

No effect.

I tried again.

“Are you trying to start the engines?”

OF COURSE, WHAT DO YOU THINK?!

“I took some parts out to fix that drive plate issue we've been having a while back. Don't you remember? You wondered why it suddenly worked! Now you know!”

WHAAAAAAAT?!

If there was a lethal firearm in the room, he would've been dead before we'd both be dead. I would not get that privilege today, but perhaps I could still delay my own fate. I tried rerouting all the available power we had to the shields. The computer started making noises, realizing the imminent threat but finding it impossible to thwart it.

“Impact in ten seconds.”

Shields were as strong as they were going to get. It was now or never. The two forces collided, creating a massive burst of flames. I felt my flesh being ripped from my bones before my bones gave way themselves. The speed of the impact shattered every single piece of the ship, yet somehow I never lost consciousness. My vision had been altered, seeing light rather than colour. Vague shapes rather than precise vision. I could also feel the presence of Rhatqin as well as a few other people I had not encountered before. I wondered if I could feel the robots as well. I looked around, and saw the void with three energy signatures floating nearby. I presumed they were the robots. I suddenly came to the realization that the energy signatures these robots had been gathering were.. souls, and that I would soon follow. I passed out.

Rupert III
I was all alone now. All the other spirits had passed on. Adam, Juliana, Hyriel, Oswald, Donovan, Marry and Laura were gone, picked off one by one by these unexplained anomalies. The robots had a sinister energy in them, as if they were programmed to enjoy their work. I wondered if they were sentient, if they could understand that they were terminating the existence of living beings. But can synthetic life actually understand organic life? Hell, I can barely understand most organic life myself. I'd probably make a good machine.

For a moment, I wasn't really sure what to feel. There was no hope or despair for what was to come. I had gone beyond sadness over the events that transpired, I had already lost everything there was to lose. My life, my youth, my work, my colleagues and anything I could ever hope to be had been stripped from me in an instant. I wondered as to the why. Why was all of this happening?

I remember Marry ranting about how bad the Blyesians were. They were known to be ruthless and unforgiving, taking great pride in providing a safe enviorment for anyone that contracts their services. With how much safer the universe had become since, their expensive tariffs had fallen out of favour. Could they have created this void? Was this an elaborate trap to make sure everyone disappears?

If so, did they really need the void? The object that smashed the ship already blew all the fragments into a million pieces. Even with 24th century technology that still won't provide any researchers with anything useful, so why is it there? Is it actually a natural phenomenon, or perhaps even supernatural? Could it be that there's some big guy somewhere in a mighty place that doesn't want people probing into his hole?

He'd have to be a pretty big chupazi for that, creating an interesting event and then punishing those that actually want to find out what it's about. I should probably put the supernatural on the back burner for a bit.

Okay, Security Service. I heard Marry rambling about something like dying to get out of the service. I can't imagine she meant it literally, but it does suggest that they were after her. That establishes motive, but would they go through this much trouble to establish a point that no one would hear?

Suddenly, it struck me. The Blyesian service wasn't getting hired anymore. For the past five years, they've slowly been getting kicked out of every major operation following budget cuts on security. Having brawl didn't really mean much when there were no wars anymore, where accidents were prevented by scanning for signals rather than killing the other guy before they killed you. The organization had become redundant, serving a function that no longer existed. A service known for taking extreme measures would have no problem eliminating a few scientists and technicians to establish the need for security.

But if this was their goal, that still didn't explain the big threshold where everything seems to end over here. I wondered if it was just coincidence, or if it was something all spirits saw. Earlier, I presumed it would probably end me given I was a ball of energy and all the balls of energy heading that way ceased to be, but what if it was a portal of some sort? I wasn't sure if despair had caught up with me after all, or if my theories actually made sense. Either way, I was going to find out soon as the two robots approached me. They began scanning me for what felt like an eternity. They stopped and spoke to me.

“Rupert. Your time has come. You will join your colleagues on the other side, courtesy of the Blyesians.”

That was awfully cryptic. Does the other side simply mean death, or is there hope for another existence? Perhaps the ancient Buddhists were correct and we go through cycles of existence, with my next cycle about to start. I still didn't understand exactly what it was or why I was getting pulled into it. Clearly these Blyesians knew something I didn't, but my hope began to manifest. The robots began their ritual and grabbed hold of my energy. I realized my own fate was sealed, but felt uncertain about what it actually entailed. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Rather than launching me, the robots took hold of me and dragged me near the horizon. With a soft thrust, they launched me into the void.

Alakaslam (Rhatqin) has been swallowed by the void.
batsnacks (Thyzgin) has been swallowed by the void.
Vivax (Rupert) has been swallowed by the void.
Wile E. Coyote and sicklucker, the Blyesian Security Service Robots have completed their mission.

Game has ended. Mafia victory.

Obs QT: here
Mafia QT: here

[M][N]The Void Mafia - Page 167

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