She gloried in the scent of the meadows, dew on the grass tickling between her toes. The sun warmed her face as she closed her eyes and turned full towards it, chin uplifted.
Luxuriating in its glow for a moment she cleared part of her mind for work-space. There were chores that needed attending, and she was mistress of this domain in His name. It fell to her to ensure that everything happened in accordance with His plans.
Shaking her platinum blond hair so it cascaded over the simple white blouse, she opened her eyes and stooped to pick up her boots. As she straightened, she observed the Duke of Wellington sitting at his camp table under the tree, poring over maps of the terrain for the upcoming conflict. He absent-mindedly stroked the bridge of his hooked nose as he studied. Close by his lieutenant, Baast, the feline headed goddess, languished on the grass, smiling indulgently as the big cat Aurora wiggled her hind quarters and pounced on a light bee.She wandered down the slope towards the corrals, the dew soaking into the bottom cuffs of her faded jeans. Not to worry, the sensation was not unpleasant and she would have time to change before she had to make her report to Him.
Along the pathway she could see the Bifrost connection. At present they were in unfamiliar territory, so the firewall Heimdall was on full alert, dispatching the odd stray intruder that got past the outer defences while allowing passage for the multitude of legitimate messengers that crossed the bridge. If the worst happened, as it had when AM had attempted to invade this place, it was Heimdall's task to blow the bridge and keep them safe.
Her route took her past the large fenced paddock where the little ones played and she paused to observe Red Adair riding Red Rum at a breakneck gallop past the Red Light District. In the centre of the enclosure Captain Ramius stood in his black uniform, hands clasped behind his back and the light glinting from his silver hair and close cropped beard. He was the calm in the midst of a storm of chickens that ran around in a panicked flurry.
"Hey, Marko!" she called to him, leaning against a fence post. He pursed his lips as he turned in her direction.
"Yesh?""Everythin' alright with y'all sugar?" she queried in her musical voice.
He glanced around as he regarded the small avians running amok. "They have leveled up. One level m'lady. One level only." He smiled then, gesturing to the flurry of feathers surrounding him. "The shenshashion they're feeling..." he paused, "ish the quickening!"
She nodded in understanding, then in a mild tone admonished, "Well just y'all make sure you don't get dehydrated out here under all this sun, y'hear me?"
He nodded once in acknowledgement. "I shall take refreshment shortly... preferably shomething shaken, not shtirred..."
She laughed her tinkling laugh and made towards the training pens. The handsome winged youth Zephyrus was coming along well, brushing aside the darts thrown by his jackal headed opponent Ynepu and countering with a blast of hot wind.
But it was the last two pens that were of more import today. The furthermost larger enclosure was crammed with machines ranging from lowly Nerios all the way up to a monstrous Apatotron. They shifted uneasily, their rudimentary A.I.s having just enough power to provide safe movement and little else. These would wait, mindlessly patient until such time as He decided to activate them fully and incorporate them into His ranks.
The closer one however contained only four machines. In the centre of the pen a Notos and Boreas
mirrored each others movements, performing slow drill weapons kata in order to fine tune their muscle memory while a Novum slalomed between their legs, practicing its own high speed movement and avoidance while providing the larger machines with a distraction they needed to learn to ignore during the heat of combat.
But off to one side was a solitary machine, howling like a wounded enraged animal, chained in place lest it's madness spilled over and there was an accident. It looked tortured, plating buckled as insidious organics had ruptured through at the joints and overgrown in places. She did not care for the look of it one bit.
Oh, she could advance it in strength yet had so far been unable to exert her will over it as she had with all the rest of His machines. She feared that soon it would be strong enough to break its bonds and if that happened....
If anyone could tame it, He could. Just as He had imprinted on everyone else here, releasing their avatar to integrate fully into the command net.
It was time.
She raised her head and held her arms wide.
"Backslash!"
Shimmering light engulfed her and her clothing transformed. Gone were the jeans and blouse to be replaced by a shimmering blue dress that outlined her ample curves. Rhinestones held the light and reflected it, framed by tassels and fringes. Even the knee length cowboy boots had tassels.
<Morning Dolly> His voice boomed around her, sending a shiver up her spine.
"Mornin' suger. How y'all doin' today?" she inquired, blushing slightly as she always did when addressing Him.
<Busy as ever, but curious enough about our new addition to take some time out to give it the once over. Ready for a test run?>
"Ready when y'all are, hon. Just watch out, y'hear? This one's a might ornery"
<Will do. Now let's power up and see what it can do>
She watched intently as the green and purple mech shuddered to a halt and stood stock still, then took a sharp intake of breath as it went mental, straining and thrashing against the chains that held it.
<Whoa! Controls are very temperamental. I'd hate to think what they did to this thing. Either that or I'm out of practice on something this light. Let's turn the power settings down and try that again, eh?>
The beast shuddered once more, but its movements were becoming weaker, rattling the chains rather than tearing at them, winding down until it just stood, heaving and quivering.
<There. That's better. Nobody's going to hurt you, eh girl? Let's just both relax and see what each other is made of, hm?>
She marveled as His voice seemed to penetrate the beasts awareness, cajoling it into submission.
<That's good... now, let's see what you can do. Power on!>
The mech threw its head back and screamed a final scream as light engulfed it, its form becoming indistinct, softening into gossamer wisps that framed a lady so brilliantly radiant and terribly beautiful. Her gown billowed as her form became translucent, the chains dropping away as she drifted towards the edge of the corral and her insubstantial form moved though the fence as if it didn't exist.
The form entered the training pen in the same manner and the pair currently occupying it paused in their sparring to weigh up the new opponent.
"Y'all sure 'bout this?" she asked with a hint of concern creeping into her voice. "Them boys are both three times your size an' ol' Zephyrus is almost line ready to boot."
<Relax Dolly> Was He laughing at her? <It's just training, and besides those boys are at more of a disadvantage without their equipment than I am.>
Zephyrus flapped his wings sharply and a hot blast of air sped toward the newcomer, but the lady wafted to the side and smiled a terrible smile. Then her eyes grew hard as she opened her mouth and shrieked, the sound waves pummeling the winged youth and buffeting his compatriot.
Recovering, Ynepu shook his head and let loose a fist full of darts but again the lady was simply not there, off now and circling the pair, gliding around the perimeter of the pen, looking for an opening.
Zephyrus remained on guard, more experienced. He wanted to observe and gain insight into this new enemy before engaging again for a hopefully decisive blow. Ynepu was more impetuous, and drew back his arm for another cast.
It was all the opening that the lady needed and she screamed once more, the wave catching Ynepu square in the chest and blowing him backwards. It was not the only effect, as Zephyrus was caught unexpectedly by an identically powered blast from the side that forced him to his knees.Both raised a single hand, two fingers extended. The lady swooped over them, nodding and accepting their surrender.
<Impressive turn of speed there... and it looks like it can use fork fire as well as give a splash effect. That double shot is a nice touch. The name seems to fit as well. Save recognition code 'Banshee' and drop her into the net please Dolly>
"Sure thing sugar," she grinned, then holding out a palm toward the incandescent lady she intoned, "Backslash Lock Avatar... Backslash Integrate..."
The figure rippled and froze in place momentarily, then continued in its slow glide, coming around towards her and tilting its head to regard her new mistress.
<Tell you what Dolly, I'm interested to see what kind of speed this thing has flat out. How do you fancy downloading yourself in here... see what its like to be the 'Shee riding the wind?>
Her eyes light up and her breath caught. These were the times an A.I. lived for, to be integrated with their master, even if only by proxy through a cockpit interface. There was no hesitation.
"Backslash Transfer!" she squeaked as she stepped forward and merged into the glowing figure in front of her.
The Banshee soared into the air and she could feel the wind whipping through her hair as she
regarded her domain from on high, feeling the sun on her back and watching the faces of everyone looking up towards her. She shivered as his touch took them through a barrel roll in her virtual world as he tested the maneuverability of the mech in his real world.
One of these days, she mused, she really was going to have to hack into one of those pleasure synths and surprise him... maybe on his birthday?<You do realise I can hear your thoughts when you're integrated in the cockpit?> he chuckled.
This time she blushed very hard indeed.
Submitted by David McCallum #701548