A Whole Lot of Nothing! 230
By David C. Daoust He found himself standing before the community. His voice was loud, and it carried. He knew not what he was saying- the darkness had taken him. The voice that carried over the people, was rich…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 229
By David C. Daoust Dakota had gone her whole life without a clear picture of the Artificial Intelligence involved with the construction of the Onion. She knew about it, she knew it existed, she did not know the extent…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 228
By David C. Daoust Dakota was not a careless person. She was not a cold, ice queen. Admittedly, through her life, she had not had a whole lot of success with relationships. Mainly because she was a bit smarter…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 227
By David C. Daoust Major was finally coming to terms with this strange new reality. Really, everyone was. Once the ‘Arklight Accord’ had been devised— all conflict, throughout the city-station, came to an end. The ‘true scions of Ergos’…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 226
By David C. Daoust Suzanne Otomo was on a Holostage of her own- flipping through the available feeds. Each, thanks to the small camera built into her agents’ armor. Her agents rarely knew when, exactly, she was going to…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 225
By David C. Daoust The grim faces of the armored soldiers, gave Clover pause. He was pretty sure he was in the right place- despite the fact he did not see the woman he sought. Instead he only witnessed…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 224
By David C. Daoust Suzanne Otomo moved swiftly through the many corridors that led from Dakota’s lab, all the way to the central command center of the Red Faction ship. It was methodically designed, unlike any ship she had…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 223
By David C. Daoust Dakota had a pretty solid hunch that Suzanne was having a hard time comprehending what she was saying. Dakota, however, was not kidding when she told Suzanne she may actually be mad. Having someone there,…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 222
By David C. Daoust Suzanne found herself back in the lab, back in one of those conversations. By ‘one of those’, she means a conversation that really only ever makes sense to Dakota. The good doctor had just spent…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 221
By David C. Daoust Major Sims had to assume that these children in space suits, really weren’t terribly experienced at locking people up. And really, he felt like this was a good thing. Said a lot about someone, whether…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 220
By David C. Daoust Life, post the inescapable prison, has been a dreary dreamless nightmare. Ivan’s dream was his life. Always had been. The dream of a perfect world, orchestrated by the perfect institutions, raised from pure hope, by…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 219
By David C. Daoust It’s like being in an abyss. So much information, so many ways to go. No way to know which is wrong, which is right. Ultimately, Clover should be okay with the idea, as an Agent…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 218
By David C. Daoust Major wasn’t going to lie– when he’d decided to just chuck it all, and grab some food, he had no idea just how many of these flying children there were. If he had to guess,…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 217
By David C. Daoust Clover moved with purpose. When it came to the Wards of Ergos, ‘moving with purpose’ was not truly a thing one could tell- just by looking (considering they flew everywhere they went). One may note…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 216
By David C. Daoust Danielle Donaghy’s life was not without sudden revelations. Not only the kind that led one to a new path, a better life, or maybe open one to new areas of understanding. But also, the kind one…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 215
By David C. Daoust The woman was a frail little thing, gaunt in the cheek, with stick-like arms. Armis Clemente, while witnessing this very sight daily, could not help but feel shocked. Wrapped in her arms was an infant, one…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 214
By David C. Daoust Following ‘flying’ beings, through a multi-tiered city, was proving far more trying than Major could have guessed. In point of fact, he had lost the Wraiths almost immediately. All he was going by now, was the…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 213
By David C. Daoust Suzanne Otomo pushed her face down into the bunched-up pillow as she shifted her body around into a new position on the long mattress. She’d managed to secure herself the most comfortable mattress she could find.…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 212
By David C. Daoust Clover was sprawled out over a long table. His face pressed against the solid surface as an endless array of data-tablets spread from one end to the other. Mismatched and unordered, many threatened to spill off…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 211
By David C. Daoust Danielle shifted nervously in her boots. She stood, alone, on one of the long walkways that stretched through the Galliant Hangars of Luxxon. A place she has been spending more and more of her time. Luxxon…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 210
By David C. Daoust The city-stations of the Onion were teeming with life. Skyscrapers reigned paramount above, wrapped in walkways that varied from level to level, connecting bridges from structure to structure, like a great cubic grid that faded off…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 209
By David C. Daoust Dakota’s stomach rumbled. She’d been scouting through the city-station far longer than she had intended, found herself regretting that she told Vincent she’d eat later. She could be munching on something right then and there– if…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 208
By David C. Daoust The nanites were working as a network, taking in every aspect of the city, and feeding it through to her holostage, Thus the hologram surrounding her, was formed of the millions of nanites, spread throughout the…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 207
By David C. Daoust It was like a long tendril, stretching through the room. She knew what they were, clouds of nanites, unperceivable to anyone else. Dakota, however, was in the body of her solid-light doppelganger, which allowed her to…
A Whole lot of Nothing! 206
By David C. Daoust Clover spent more nights in the library than he ever had before. Knee deep in the Histories of Mars, he finally found his answer. He was sure of it. Impenetrable shields! The very thing the Venusborn…
A Whole lot of Nothing! 205
By David C. Daoust Danielle Donaghy popped off the transport with a hop in her step- happy to be back home at long last. The suitcase dragged along behind her, as her rustic boots clumped against the hard steel floor.…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 204
By David C. Daoust Major could hardly see; his vision was blurred. He had just dropped to the ground, pain still coursed from his back. He felt grating beneath him which put him in mind of a catwalk stretched beneath…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 203
By David C. Daoust It was as though the molecules suddenly flared, pulsing with an unknown eerie light; Kind of a pea green, if Dakota had to guess. The surrounding negative space- a dull purple. Sparking green lightning shot throughout…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 202
Spin wheel spin! ::sigh:: ty, DD By David C. Daoust Clover could not help but feel things were not going as planned. Not only thanks to the large ‘army’ of Giants, currently on the move within the Ward’s home city,…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 201
By David C. Daoust It was a dull hum, a constant droning noise, ever present in the sleeping hours of the Wards small portion of the city-station. This noise is what let Clover know everything was okay. Never once did…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 200
By David C. Daoust He was born a ‘Ward of Ergos’. A Ward’s life, when compared to what was promised, was but a fleeting glimpse. Thirteen years to grow, thirteen years for their minds to develop. Thirteen years until their…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 199
By David C. Daoust Mari Haul could not help but wonder how long a person could wander a seemingly endless series of corridors, without going completely bonkers. She figured she may be just the person to ask, at some point.…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 198
By David C. Daoust The hologram was extensive. In fact, it filled much of the lab. Intricate in detail, perfectly proportioned, every aspect seemed totally more important than the next. All of which told Colin Vice, (get ready for it)…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 197
By David C. Daoust The flames licked and curled around his great metal form as the mechanical dragon broke atmo. The heat that enveloped it was immense, caused the metal of its carapace to glow a warm red. A welcome…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 196
By David C. Daoust Maile Purloin made short work of actually finding the server room; moving inconspicuously through buildings wasn’t noth’n she’d ever had problems with. Yet, factoring in the handy sign that read ‘Arachnoid server room’, pointing to the…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 195
By David C. Daoust The idea was sound, even if Ratchet wasn’t actually able to implement it himself. Since they could not seem to free the Crawler from the Drone that high-jacked it, then maybe they could just take control…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 194
By David C. Daoust Ratchet had not seen hide nor hair of Craiden, Vincent, or his Aunt Mari. With all that had happened after the drone raid, no one had the chance to sit down and discuss it. It’s been…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 193
By David C. Daoust The Sandcrawler was at a dead stop. Hamlin sighed. This meant his quest was at a dead stop as well. None of this was really what he’d imagined. He was supposed to pick up a woman…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 192
By David C. Daoust ‘Wilford Lauren’– a bot with a last name. It came with the human visage, or rather the human marriage… which may or may not be part of the human visage. Wilford was the only bot he…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 191
By David C. Daoust It’s been a very confusing day for Ratchet Haul. A day full of chaos and worry, being dragged through the desert by a force unknown- at least, for most of the experience, it was a force…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 190
By David C. Daoust Harper didn’t know how she got there. Sand in her toes, powdering her bare legs… How’d she get in the middle of the desert in nothing but her nightgown? Harper was agitated, she was worried, she…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 189
By David C. Daoust Colin Vice followed closely as the gangly scientist walked briskly through the showroom. Theobald Gray began to chat as he led the way. “Games… I used to love games. Got me through school—through University… You…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 188
By David C. Daoust Maile Purloin didn’t know what the hell that was– two grown men acting like school children scared to speak their mind. She just hoped her guess was right and it really was her presence that…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 187
By David C. Daoust Theobald Gray himself, at long last. Colin Vice recognized the man immediately, despite having never met him before in his life. This was, of course, thanks to his investigation into the origins of the Battle…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 186
By David C. Daoust New Runnymede was the planet ‘Aertholm’s’ only moon. This moon was famous for several reasons- it’s landless composition, only the first. This watery wonder was the single most important moon in the entire Onion. This…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 185
By David C. Daoust Her stride was that of a woman on a stroll. Granted, it was a bit late at night for a stroll through the city, but she wasn’t exactly visiting the lower districts. This particular walk…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 184
By David C. Daoust Charles the First felt fairly useless in the passenger seat of the boxy brown vehicle that the tall balding lawman of Grady, Sheriff Dunn, was navigating through the onslaught of chaos that was their current…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 183
By David C. Daoust Chance had been playing too long. He’d been sitting in that same chair for hours, doing nothing but gorging, smoking, and holding down a tiny ‘forward’ button. He really hadn’t realized this yet. All he…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 182
By David C. Daoust “Wha…?”Maile wasn’t sure what just happened. Her Mecha was destroyed though. A timer was ticking down, with a little notice in the center of the screen, informing her the mecha had been ‘obliterated’. “Yeah thanks,…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 181
By David C. Daoust Sheriff Montgomery Dunn really had not spent very much time outside of the walls of Grady. Policing the small port town was fairly time consuming- very few issues led him into the desert, certainly not…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 180
By David C. Daoust “What the heck is the number for whoever I’m supposed to call about this?” Maile asked no one at all as she flew her Spidermecha around the massive rover beneath her. The swarm of mechas…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 179
By David C. Daoust ‘Learn something new every day’, Hugo thought as he read through the scans that projected before his eyes. It was a holographic depiction of Harper’s skull, with small indicators highlighting what was wrong. Small squares…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 178
By David C. Daoust The old man’s legs were much longer than Hamlin’s. The fiery little bot had to run just to keep up. He felt a bit foolish in his three foot frame. ‘Might even gripe, if he…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 177
By David C. Daoust Maile Purloin was known to the public as the writer of the ‘Domnic Expansion’, a series of books that were behind the popular television series of the same name. She spent most of her weekends…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 176
By David C. Daoust Ratchet’s arm took the brunt of the fall. Sliding across the floor was almost fun, if it wasn’t for the massive armored drone leg that abruptly stopped him. He could feel the bump form…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 175
By David C. Daoust Margo had witnessed the strange exchange, as the two young sisters tried to convince someone in their game, that what he was doing in the Hub, was affecting them in the real world. The…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 174
By David C. Daoust The sandcrawler was solidly built. Built to last, one might say. Harper found the terminal, her head just bounced off, especially built to last. Everything went black for a moment. The pain shot…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 173
By David C. Daoust Olivia’s life, as a professional Brute Ball Player, was full of highs and lows. Often, she was ridiculed for things a lesser player would not be looked at twice for. She never allowed…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 172
By David C. Daoust It’s not just about work in the Trade Consortium. It’s about creating work; creating jobs. If you can hire someone to do your job, you should hire that person to do that job. If you can…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 171
By David C. Daoust The smoke curled slowly from Chance’s mouth as he relaxed in his chair. After a moment he slowly evacuated the rest from his lungs. The long plume of thick smoke formed into a cloud over…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 170
By David C. Daoust The nice thing about Holomechs– you could go wherever you happened to have one stashed. Colin Vice had one such device stashed on New Runnymede; the entertainment epicenter of the Solar System, reportedly, the very same…
Flight of Fancy
Flight of Fancy By David C. Daoust Willian Fossick was known as the go-to detective for the unsolvable mysteries. He was extensively known throughout the Onion for his daring action, quick agile mind, and infallible ability to get to…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 169
By David C. Daoust Margo was taken aback! She went from gleefully hovering through the cargo hold, finally able to move as intended; to suddenly having the giant vehicle of a roving home, she and the others were on,…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 168
By David C. Daoust As the small group made their way through the Sand Crawlers corridors, Hamlin was a bit at odds at being ignored– his freaking head was on fire! Yet everyone’s attention seemed to be fixated on…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 167
((So, last week, you may have noticed, my site was down. 🙁 It was a tense couple of days, but everything seems to be okay now. Apparently, my host server was down for ’emergency maintenance’, I never got the whole…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 166
By David C. Daoust Nonsense– Old Charles Haul Senior knew it was expected of him, well most the time he knew it was expected of him. So, when the chance arose… why not give it to them? That old…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 165
(((I actually made a change to last weeks post. I felt like I made Monty’s force field really overpowered. I don’t know, sometimes I throw in these vague one-liners, that seem like a good idea at the time, but then…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 164
By David C. Daoust Charles the First was out of breath. The Brain Stealer was nowhere in sight. He had no idea where the little bugger had gotten off to. He’d raced about, dodging through rubble and peering through…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 163
Good news- we made it through the busy season at work! Peak’s over! Bad news- the computer I use to make my art, is still down. May not be up for a while. (Amazon screwed up my order- Rather than…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 162
By David C. Daoust Arachnoid- the very latest offering, to the vast amount of gamers that populated the Onion and in Chance’s Opinion– the best game ever. He’d spent weeks on the single player mode, hammering through the story line,…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 161
By David C. Daoust Harper Blue was supposed to be doing her chores. The huge metal beast, her family called home, seemed to be in endless disarray, especially now that the entire moon was in upheaval. None of the Blues…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 160
By David C. Daoust Colin Vice sat comfortably in his private chambers, high up in the refurbished Crucible known as Halfhull. Named by the many workers that once lived and worked here, a name which called into question the quality…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 159
By David C. Daoust Mayday moved quickly, rushing through the crumbling structures that surrounded him. Bombs could be heard, exploding around him, shaking the very ground, kicking up dust and gravel from the previously mentioned crumbling structures. His heavily armored…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 158
By David C. Daoust Skipping out on Hugo Lions was one of the hardest things Mayday had ever done. Not just figuratively worrisome or bothersome; It was literally hard— trying to leave behind his form was no easy task. He…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 157
By David C. Daoust Long drawn out squeals of stringed instruments sounded out over the low toned bass notes and sudden blaring horns, all kept in time with the steady beat of innumerous drums– music filled the air behind the…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 156
By David C. Daoust Arguing- That was all Raymond Haul had been doing for the past few days. It seemed as though every time he got people to see his rather askew point of view, someone else posed a new…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 155
By David C. Daoust Mari’s options were limited. She had finally given up on sending a communiqué out to her family. She pushed herself away from the terminal with a huff. Even with all her hacking abilities she did not…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 154
By David C. Daoust At one time, there were two successful detergent companies within the Trade Consortium. One was ‘Dewie’, known for its wide range of ‘dew’ scented detergents. The other was called ‘O-factor’, for that pleasing olfactory experience. For…
A Whole Lot of Nothing! 153
aWLoN!prt.3 starts here! By David C. Daoust Elma Parks found herself lounging backstage in the small dressing room of the Patty Martins Show- ‘the Daily Slice of the Onion’. She didn’t know how long she was going to be stuck…