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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 151
By David C. Daoust “…so, I’m happy you feel like talking, Dakota,” Suzanne began sharply, partially to try and snap Dakota back into reality, partially at the sheer frustration of listening to nonsense for the past half hour, “but how am I supposed to make sense of any of that?” “Hmm?” Dakota asked as she…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 150
By David C. Daoust The remaining population of Grandeur II was stranded within the nothingness, within the vastness of space- light years from any planet or sun. While all communication had been severed, the technology designed to keep the humans alive and well, still functioned. They still had some hope to maintain life. At every…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 149
By David C. Daoust Dakota was no longer able to trust her mind. At least, that’s what her mind told her. Before, while her body resided within that pod, technology fused her to an entire population of minds; fused all of them into a greater mind. A mind that could answer Dakota’s questions before she…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 144
By David C. Daoust Hamlin found himself plastered to the top of the ancient device known, most recently, as the ‘Brain Stealer’. They charged through the endless corridors of Twin Crown’s Starport, his solid light boots gripped the curvature of the device as his mitts clutched at the rather fortuitous rope wrapped around its center….
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 141
By David C. Daoust “You still won’t see,” the hollowed empty voice filled Dakota’s mind, an intrusive thought into her studies. “I have made it clear– I do not wish to see,” she shot back shortly, then clarified, “Not with your eyes.” “And yet how long have you spent in study… searching,” The Grandoxa posed…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 139
By David C. Daoust Restricted. That’s all Ivan could comprehend, all he could feel. Restricted. It was an endless nightmare, his mind was active, yet… restricted. He had no eyes, no ears, nor a mouth to make a noise with; to protest, to scream, nor cry out or plead. Restricted. It was that word. No,…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 138
By David C. Daoust The four men fell away, lost, but not forgotten; they had left their mark, each in turn. Civilization had enlightenment after enlightenment. Yet by the end of the twentieth century, the third man’s followers were building pyramids, echoing ‘never again’, and the fourth’s- were hording wealth. This carried true through the…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 135
By David C. Daoust There was ‘bout a second longer of confusion than would be normal, before Grandpa Haul found himself truly confused. He wasn’t sure where his grandson came from- just out of nowhere, there he was. Standing between him, and what he had named the ‘Brain Stealer’. “Please, don’t destroy me!” Ratchet pleaded….
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 131
I added a disclaimer at the bottom of the site, cuz well, narcissists are real! ty, DD By David C. Daoust Sheriff Montgomery Dunn, aka Monty, stood off to the side as the small holopad device he’d just finished setting up, suddenly began to flicker with light as it quickly wove together a hologram. This…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 130
By David C. Daoust Between waking up in a pod of nutrient enriched chemicals, regaining his mental faculties, and getting everything in order that needed to be in order, Colin Vice really did not have much chance to react. He’d steadfastly dealt with the nurses, took a shower, got some real food; all of which…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 128
By David C. Daoust No one was more surprised than Montgomery Dunn, that his life had landed him here- as a sheriff on the small distant moon of Twin Crown. Monty was born and raised on New Runnymede, the entertainment epicenter of the Onion. He was, at one time, a writer. He started out, struggling…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 127
By David C. Daoust Colin wasn’t sure what his plan was. He’d pried himself within a narrow crevice that ran the depth of the canyon. His legs held his back pressed against the opposing rock wall, as he recklessly descended lower into the canyon. He actually just let himself slide, his back and boots scraping…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 122
By David C. Daoust Craiden was buried in the darkness, he couldn’t think. He saw the light finally break the shadows, but he wasn’t himself. He was a scared trapped animal, frothing at the mouth; a scared trapped animal that was suddenly released. He tore into the silhouette of a figure that appeared first. The…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 121
By David C. Daoust Raymond Haul sat deep in his chair, one hand shadowing his brow. The permanent scowl on his face was a bit deeper than most days, though given the developing situation it was clearly warranted. He was still sitting in that same room, from the day before, along with the other representatives…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 119
I made a slight change to last weeks post, concerning what was mined from Iopa. I was alluding to Metal Hydrogen when I mentioned ‘superconductive metals’ last week, yet I’d alrdy modeled Iopa after Neptune which means its an Ice Giant. Metal Hydrogen is thought to be found in the bigger planets like Jupiter and…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 118
By David C. Daoust The Planet, Delphine. The highest structure built throughout the surrounding base-city of the domes, was known as the ‘Central Cathedral’. It represented the Arks ‘house’. The Arkroy were all welcome to visit. To view past records and histories, with the Ark’s themselves there to explain what they were looking at; to…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 117
By David C. Daoust Constable Joe Axel did not begin his life among the Royal Alliance. No. He started out as ‘Alfred Zhou’ with the Trade Consortium. If it wasn’t for his mother’s failure, he’d probably still be policing the ‘Industrial Stations’ that made up the bulk of Consortium holdings. He wasn’t like his mother,…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 116
By David C. Daoust The Planet, Delphine. The skies above were a kind of putrid green, thanks to the poisonous gasses that erupted from the now broiling inner core. Gasses that bled into a newly forming atmosphere, which had not yet been purified by the filtering ships that still toured the planets skies; such ships…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 113
By David C. Daoust “I can’t believe you’re a little girl too!” Dicey’s muffled voice said from within Margo- The little girl still comfortably hanging out within the massive bucket that someone had decided to use to house Margo’s Data-Sphere. “We have so much in common!” “Yep, once my friend Colin shows up with my…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 108
By David C. Daoust Sweet Honey Zhou entered the ship’s bridge with a flourish, the sharp heel of her thigh-high boots clacked strongly against the grated flooring of the Swiftblade-class Starship, known as ‘the Black Bruise’. The urgency could be felt in her posture and the grim look on her face, enough to keep the…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 104
By David C. Daoust Craiden’s left eye was sealed shut, his nose was broken, blood and sweat were blurring his vision. The throng of cheering men, of the crowd that surrounded the make shift ring he found himself within, was deafening. He felt no pain, but this was not a thing that registered in his…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 103
By David C. Daoust The Hub was far more complete than most average users could ever guess. At its core was a program engine that recreated entire worlds, not just the visible illusions people enjoyed in their time within a holo-park. They were fully actuated simulations of old worlds and planets. From molten iron cores,…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 102
By David C. Daoust Mari Haul had never actually been to one of the Temple Reactors. In fact, she doubted any living person had, or, at least, not many. The Temple Reactors were the massive devices that helped give life to otherwise dead moons. ‘Temple’ was a slang term given to these structures. Mari could…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 99
By David C. Daoust Ratchet was not surprised to learn of the reaction to the tiny toy bunny that Harper used to try and communicate with the new data-sphere. He grew up with a bot, Vincent. Quality ports were important to high caliber Data-spheres. Vincent spent most of his time plugged into a small hover…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 98
By David C. Daoust Hugo’s roar was deafening, unlike anything he’d ever forced through his vocal cords. It had a steely piercing sound, like some massive movie monster climbing from the ocean to destroy some ancient city on some long lost world. The sky splitting roar got the attention of the group of men that…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 96
By David C. Daoust For Harper, Grady was weird from day one, the adults especially. They were all neatly dressed, neatly groomed. There seemed to be four or five acceptable styles. They liked to cycle through these styles, like, with the seasons or something? Harper didn’t get it. Not like her older sister Sadie, she…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 95
By David C. Daoust Genetic Alteration and ‘Upgrades’ had been around since before the Ark Age. The people of the Ark Age however, those barricaded within someone else’s reality, forced to march to the same drum, day in, day out, with very little to look forward to beyond petitioning to start a family, which was…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 94
By David C. Daoust Harper grew up a tomboy, flying through the skies on illegally modified vehicles just like all the First Wave youngsters. Like the rest, her family migrated from Royal Alliance City-Stations. Harper was not born yet, so she didn’t know, firsthand, what they’d left behind, though her mother would go on…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 91
By David C. Daoust Growing up, when Colin Vice looked at men, all he saw were rats. Rats were one of those species that could survive. Even if they were secluded from a flourishing ecosystem, like rats trapped in ghost ships or abandoned mines that had been sealed a bit too tight, these creatures had…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 90
By David C. Daoust “Rescue me? Rescue me from what?” Dakota asked in response to Ivan’s sudden declaration that they were there to rescue her. The Commissar stood in the middle of a stark white lab, Dr.Sun completely surrounded by his small squad of assault-bots that had infiltrated the Consortium Cruiser. The mass of snake-like…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 89
By David C. Daoust Dakota watched the monitors in disbelief, Consortium troopers were running every which way. She watched as dozens of Starfighters launched into the black abyss in answer to the Reds astral assault. She planted a hand to her forehead, a hand that then dropped down to her gaping mouth, as the Red…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 86
By David C. Daoust The clumsiness of the new form melted away; in fact Ivan started to have fun a while ago. His long cordlike arms could stretch a bit farther than he originally thought, and he was swinging from limb to limb throughout the corridors of the Consortium cruiser, which he had cleverly invaded,…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 85
By David C. Daoust Suzanne had begun her exercise regiment when she was very young. Younger even than her peers, that she would eventually train with. At least that’s what her father claimed. He joked often how many times she would mimic his movements, even as a toddler, as he practiced his own exercises. Exercises…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 84
By David C. Daoust The level of tech awareness was pretty low throughout the Onion. Technology, for the most part, was so user-friendly that any device could be scooped up and figured out in a matter of moments. Even complex vehicles like, for example, a transport ship, could be used by anyone without any specialized…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 81
By David C. Daoust Dakota could tell as soon as Suzanne entered the small cluster of rooms, that made up Dakota’s chambers, that it was the actual woman and not her holographic projection that Dakota had become accustomed to witnessing the past few days. The biggest giveaway was the strong smell of familiar perfume that…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 80
By David C. Daoust Despite an almost relentlessly bad day, Craiden was holding himself together. From waking up with a hangover, to not taking his meds, to having the APC he was in suddenly crushed by his own cohort Vincent… Then being dragged into the very belly of the ship of those he hated, just…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 79
By David C. Daoust Raymond found himself milling about the inside of the dark Starport- milling about with the people of Grady. The massive blue ion cloud managed to interrupt Raymond’s heist, mid-getaway, just as they were passing by the front entrance of the Starport. It was almost laughable, there wasn’t a single man…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 78
By David C. Daoust Grandpa Haul had never felt so focused as he did at that moment. Ratchet was clearly in trouble. He had witnessed him struggling in the debris but moments before the darkness enveloped them. The young mottled boy screaming at the hovering drone, he was too far away to hear what was…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 76
<<<<Ug! You know, I swore I wouldn’t just casually throw out political jargon without being real clear about each piece, but then last week I was like blah, blah, comie, blah, blah, fascist…It came out in a jumble, lets see if I can straighten it out without making a bigger mess. (1.) Dakota called the…
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A Whole Lot of Nothing! 74
<<<Next week, next month… what’s the diff?? ty, DD>>> aWLoN!prt.2 starts here! By David C. Daoust Elma awoke in a huge plush bed, pink blankets and silk sheets nestled her in their warm folds as her head sunk deep into the mound of excess pillows. The canopy above matched the piled blankets and pillows that…
















































