By David C. Daoust This is a tale of the Night Sky- also known as a clever little fox named ‘Indigo’. Indigo would be known by many names throughout existence, the Holy Spirit, Justice, Death, The Fox God, the Trickster—and…
By David C. Daoust While Charles the First was the last to hear of the massive starship’ arrival to the small moon Twin Crown, he and his grandfather were actually the first to arrive on the scene. He had no…
By David C. Daoust Colin sucked in a deep breath just as his eyes snapped open. He was back on his ship. Back on that sandy moon, Twin Crown. He regained consciousness, seemingly in his bed. It was actually a…
By David C. Daoust Armin Cook, like most of the Onion, was raised under the Church of the Eternal Night. The Eternal Night was the mainstay religion of the Onion. One of its main doctrines, was simply that your actions…
By David C. Daoust The glint of metal flared as the light of day reflected off the metallic armor of the dragon. Its mechanical form flew through the open sky– cut through the winds as its mighty solid-light wings caught…
By David C. Daoust His whole body felt relaxed. All thanks to spending most of the morning in the bathtub. A good long bath cleared up all his tension, again and again. Nicholas March decided since he was feeling so…
By David C. Daoust The cold wind whipped hair into her face as she finally let her hands flop down over her head in defeat. Mari felt all her hopes recede as the mysterious ship grew ever smaller, she let…
By David C. Daoust High above the frigid tundra, the small ship soared through the clear blue skies. The vehicle was in an area uninhabited by the denizens of Twin Crown. That is, by the living breathing humans of Twin…
By David C. Daoust Charles the First dropped down off the Sky-screamer almost as soon as he had landed. The flames– he could feel the heat even from his distance from what was, a few moments ago, a massive explosion.…
By David C. Daoust Elijah was spread thin, his attention on multiple situations at the same time. The core of his very being was within the ‘Neural Engram Speculum’, the spherical device more recently referred to as the ‘Brain Stealer’,…
By David C. Daoust Harper managed to make it to the fringe of the battle, apart from the swarm of Battle Drones that just gushed from the open hold. In fact, she was relying on keeping said swarm between her…
By David C. Daoust Hugo yet sat on the bridge of the rover, where he was left after his interrogation. Where the old jinn had blurted out what information he could muster to appease the Captain of the Dirty Damsel.…
By David C. Daoust Ryland Mulch was from Callistopore. He was the youngest son of a powerful crime-family within the darker quarters of said city-station. As the youngest, he quickly found himself being cut out. Being pushed aside, being forced…
By David C. Daoust Harper came in fast, she let loose with a series of missiles that fired in quick succession from the upper portion of her spider. Meanwhile she was full-on drilling pulsar fire into targets directly in front…
By David C. Daoust Olivia had just managed to plug Wilford’s data-sphere into the oversized mining-bot, when the thugs had stumbled upon her. She was old. She decided to play dumb… the old ‘little-old lady’ routine! Unfortunately, she was not…
By David C. Daoust Elijah still had more than a half-dozen spider-drones under his control, each flew, in sync, through the cargo bay like a tightly unified squadron— might be impressive if they were each controlled by a different…
By David C. Daoust The cavernous cargo hold of the Dirty Damsel had never seen the level of chaos that now rocked its innards. Dozens of battle drones tore through– blasting anything with a pulse. Infiltrating further still into the…
By David C. Daoust The Battle Drone did not stop there– after dropping the assassin, Tobias Two-guns, the Dragon’s vile minion continued its mission to find ever more lives to remove from the Dirty Damsel: Taylor Gale survived the Factions…
By David C. Daoust The Great Dragon took the losses in stride as it continued to circle overhead. Its angelic wings slicing through the desert air as easily as its minion’s weaponry sliced through the flesh below. A great shadow…
By David C. Daoust ‘Just a lot on my mind, I guess,’ he said. And continued to say- in her brain- over and over again. Not like Harper didn’t have a lot on her mind as well. Ratchet was not…
By David C. Daoust Charles the First was starting to lose hope. The First Wave teen started his search with a full complement of crew members. Even had Farrah set up a relay among separate Rovers spread throughout the moon……
By David C. Daoust It was yet evening on Callistopore, mid ArkLight Festival, which meant the Serpentine Dragon Xu Xian was still snaking his way through the city streets– out there, somewhere in the city, anyway. Most of the crowds…
By David C. Daoust “I was not expecting company,” Elijah heard a calm voice speak from nowhere. “Nor had I ever expected to… so much as witness you… Elijah.” The presence was there before Elijah even suspected, though yet a…
By David C. Daoust Elijah’s full wave of Battle Drones ambushed what stragglers yet remained of the Dragon’s drone wave outside of the Dirty Damsel. It was pretty obvious that these drones had no real defensive ability. They were purely…
By David C. Daoust High above, in the pale blue skies, the long wingspan cut over the wind as the great dragon of Twin Crown soared above the starship far below. The minions within were merciless, careless, like beasts… beasts…
By David C. Daoust Ratchet, Harper, Dicey, and Grace… along with a comatose bunny, were all piled into a hidden alcove above the engine. The steel oily smell invaded Ratchet’s nostrils. He’d always liked the smell. The girls, upon their…
By David C. Daoust There are many, many bot forms in the Onion. New designs being made every few years for centuries, is bound to bring about variety. Some designs, pretty standard fair. Standard enough that they can still be…
By David C. Daoust Sure, Hugo wanted them to hide. Olivia, aka Wildhawk, had said it herself— ‘Hugo thinks we should hide’. Even as Wild hawk said it, she knew they were doing something else. Anything else. Olivia crouched low,…
By David C. Daoust Ferguson was getting used to having the small solid-light being perched upon his dome. The fact the holo-bot, Hamlin, had never asked permission to ride around on top of him, and had just continued to do…
By David C. Daoust The discovery of the Ver’eesian race spread throughout human society like vines through an arboretum. It could not have come at a better time; The humans of the Ark Age had grown far too complacent to…
By David C. Daoust The two spider mechs flew high over the desert of Twin Crown. Wilford spun and flipped around playfully as his wife’s mecha just powered forward. They had gotten bored with patrolling. Patrolling in the hopes of…
By David C. Daoust Harper knew she did not need the turbo mode, not for such a short jaunt. She also knew that Ratchet would not know how to use it, which, ultimately, was the only reason she’d engaged it.…
By David C. Daoust The long solid-light wingspan of the finely tooled metal dragon, referred to, one time, in one quick conversation, as Plaguecat, soared through the desert skies of Twin Crown. A veritable army of spider minions swarmed…
By David C. Daoust Margo was a little girl. This is how she saw herself; this is how she had coded herself to be. Bots have a hard time seeing themselves as anything but what they are… or, rather,…
By David C. Daoust Hugo did what he could to keep the children clear of the gruff men that now marched through the Rovers’ corridors. They were thugs, one and all, and they acted as though they owned the…
By David C. Daoust The massive Behemoth Class Heavy Freighter made moon-fall but moments before. The mismatched collection of armored replacement plates and panels that made up the ship’s hull, glowed red… Crusted rivets began to cool as the…
By David C. Daoust Ratchet was finally back under a visor! It wasn’t the same one he had before, this one pinched a bit against his forehead. He was not about to gripe– someone was liable to use it…
By David C. Daoust The massive rover was on the move, rumbling through the desert dunes that made up the desolate environment of the small moon, Twin Crown. The russet plated vehicle was large enough to dwarf most common…
By David C. Daoust The desert skies were filled with not only the current wave of attacking battle-drones, but also the small crew’s spider-mechas, which, confusingly enough, were the exact same machines. They rocketed through the skies, charging each…
By David C. Daoust The hold of the massive Rover was empty but for the small holobot, Hamlin, who, moments before, had discovered the mound of glittering particles that filled the dormant junkbot. There were thousands of them– mystery…
By David C. Daoust Hamlin felt like he was left out, cut off from the Onion; from the Arkroy, from all his normal life. It all started with just an interest in protecting his family. The Ai known as…
By David C. Daoust The world shifted. All the virtual world collapsed into a much tighter, much more compressed state. Any number of reasons could explain why. The most likely was that this instance of the game was simply…
By David C. Daoust Margo had slipped, almost fell– Just off balance enough to spill the immobile bunny from her arms. This of course was in reaction to the oversized creature they had come upon. Or rather the creature…
Had no internet connection last week! arg! Enjoy. ty, DD By David C. Daoust It started with just a flowing stream of light. Then a tunnel made of a shining reflective luminosity that eventually seemed to flood around like…
By David C. Daoust Ratchet was at a loss. The problem with convincing people you’re not the right man for the job, is that they tend to think you’re not the right man for any job. This was another…
By David C. Daoust It was not that Olivia did not hear the young girl’s instruction; it was just that the much older woman saw a better way. Granted, it put Olivia in a position that overextended her into…
By David C. Daoust Ratchet, at the very least, found himself excused from the Splicer grind that had taken up so very much of his time but days before. This was largely thanks to the fact that Harper managed…
By David C. Daoust Charles the First did not wait a second longer than he had to. He had already braved the desert once, he wanted to get back out there. Fact was, the sheriff got shot. This threw…
By David C. Daoust Noreen was not a fan of being cut off from the action. This was not something she knew about herself until that very moment. A moment in which she found herself pensively awaiting what came…
By David C. Daoust Noreen did not, in fact, neutralize Renaux. She did not know which of the Arks successful quelled the rogue sentience from the Hub… it was not her. Considering she was now shut out, and cutoff,…
By David C. Daoust Errors from her clockwork? Or just a failure to anticipate problems before they came to be? Noreen was as omnipresent, within the Hub, as she was out in the real world. On occasion these two…
By David C. Daoust Among the wide array of data streaming throughout Noreen’s domain, any number of functions were functioning, in time, as planned, all like clockwork. That’s not to say errors were not being thrown left and right.…
By David C. Daoust It was an endless stream of data coming in from all over the Onion. Like a burst throughout, multiple locations, multiple sightings… hundreds throughout the solar system. A majority proved to have erupted on and…
By David C. Daoust Harper Blue was up early, brushing her teeth like a good little gamer. After the night before’s crazy visitation from the rather cryptic glowing woman, the two sisters had called it a night. That is,…
By David C. Daoust Chance was having a hard time concentrating. A lot had changed over the past few days, ever since he went loony-toons and told everyone he knew about what he had experienced in the game, Arachnoid.…
By David C. Daoust At the very moment the small swarm of flowing lights were coalescing into a humanoid form, not only on the faraway space station, Iopa XIX, but also before the very eyes of Harper Blue and…
By David C. Daoust Little by little the family room had lost its popularity for the night. The Lauren’s had abandoned their post, followed by the others… leaving only Harper, sitting on the floor, back pressed against the sofa,…
By David C. Daoust The Ark-ship, Rhea Epsilon, was the seat of the Artificial Intelligence known as ‘Noreen’. There were two other such Ark-ships, which also entailed two other such Artificial Intelligences. They were known primarily as ‘Arks’ to…
By David C. Daoust The young pilot, whom Noreen knew as Abdul Cairn, came in pretty fast. She was positive that if the other officers were not there as well, his charge would have led to a physical altercation.…
By David C. Daoust After weeks in space, rather than collecting their tank, the small crew of the space-tanker, Atlas, found themselves docked on the Collecting Station Iopa-XIX. Or, more commonly known as just ‘Nineteen’, to those that lived…
By David C. Daoust Noreen had eyes throughout the Solar System. Omnipresent, her systems touched, almost, everything. Her current interest, however, was on the small manned vehicle soaring through the Iopa System. The small ‘space-tanker’ was sent from the…
‘aWLoN!’ got two posts this week! Don’t miss out on Fancy’s latest post that went up on Wednesday! (just, you know, back it up one to find it.) 😛 ty,DD By David C. Daoust Alfred’s initial impression, that these…
Released early! ‘Cause who doesn’t want more of the fan-favorite ‘Fancy’? ty,DD -The Palmary Queries of the Effulgent ‘Fancy’, bot-Detective- by David C. Daoust It had been a while since Fancy made a house call, especially since her…
By David C. Daoust Alfred’s investigation into the enigmatic Corridor Crews had come to a head, figuratively. His search for ‘who’- had led him to those at the very top; to find their leaders, their ‘bosses’. Often those in charge…
By David C. Daoust Alfred Zhou’s initial judgement, that Corridor Crew’s popularity was all a plot to add notoriety to their lifestyle, was a far cry from the truth. In fact, now he was sure, it had far more to…
By David C. Daoust Alfred Zhou had come into power- he was more surprised than anyone. All he ever wanted to do was play policeman. Truth was, he had found a fairly perfect City-station to do it on. This was…
By David C. Daoust Heavy boots skiffed up the long stairway as Merrick made his way up from the underground tram terminal. He breathed in the fresh air as he took a moment to orient himself. Merrick Denali had made…
By David C. Daoust The small red spaceship cut through the skies of Twin Crown like a condor souring through the desert air. Its wide wingspan caught the winds as it circled ever lower to the ground. The small vehicle…
By David C. Daoust Mech, Mecha, and Drone— Each came in varying shapes and sizes. Drones, of course, were devices piloted from afar, with no occupants; either by humans or AI. Mechs, which were extremely rare and expensive, were piloted…
By David C. Daoust “…so, then there are those cute little Jerboa,” The small girl continued on with her list, little to no care if anyone was listening. She held her fingers only a couple inches apart as she described,…
By David C. Daoust The bridge of the old Rover was, normally, fairly spacious. That is, when the majority of the room was not being taken up by the sprawled-out form of a Battle Drone. The drone’s design, was clearly…
By David C. Daoust The Royal Alliance was much more than simply its Viceroys. More than, even, the Gangsters that infested the Narrows. Despite the seeming commonness of those against the Viceroy’s, the truth was they had supporters. Truth was,…
By David C. Daoust Ratchet was grouchy. He was not happy to see Harper at the moment. –And– he was a bit too grouchy to care who cared. He felt he was a little too busy to deal with all…
By David C. Daoust The sands of Twin Crown- a veritable sea of burning hot granules that engulphed the moon in its entirety. Oasis were far and few between, the largest of which was the construction ground for the Ark…
By David C. Daoust Colin was not sure what Deloris was working on. Ultimately, because he never hung-out with her for so long after his body was pulled back up out of stasis. She had her gaze affixed to a…
By David C. Daoust Colin had forgotten himself. He moved with such speed of thought, that there seemed to be no time for any conscious consideration for what he was or even what he was doing– only that which he…
By David C. Daoust “Gordon?” the male voice said, a look of complete astonishment crossed his face. “Ha!” Gordon said, then, innocently, launched into some bullshit, “Mitch! Buddy? What in the world are you doing here?” The male voice belonged…
By David C. Daoust “That there has a kick to it,” is what Gordon had jovially said to Mitch as he slid the drink, that matched his own, across the bar to him. Mitch, at the time, was in a…
I’m going to take a moment to say, as unfortunate as it is to have a Hitch, Mitch and a Dutch- I’d like to point-out, they were characters brought in several years apart. The fact that last week, I called…
By David C. Daoust The tick, every second it was there, like a clock… he was not sure where it was coming from though. It helped him steady himself, helped him prepare… the wait was the hard part. Actually, he…
By David C. Daoust It actually took about ten to fifteen seconds for the Monolith to connect to a new form. Wasn’t really so for a form already in use. But a new one, that you haven’t been into yet,…
By David C. Daoust “A long time ago, there were these stories that made their way around the Onion,” Gordon Hitch began as he casually tossed a small holo-mech from one hand to the other. He held the small device…
By David C. Daoust Colin was a bit too distracted by the severed robot-hands, still attached to his upper arms, to really pay attention to what the nurse was saying. In fact, even if he had been paying attention, the…
By David C. Daoust While it was true that Gordon Hitch was getting older- it hardly showed. The challenges in his life were few and far between, each overcome with a grace and style any onlooker, he was sure, would…
By David C. Daoust Deep within the old abandoned bowels of Halfhul, two men could be found hurrying within corridors what were otherwise completely barren of people. The urgency in their step was that of those who had just barely…
By David C. Daoust The Hub– the simulated world built primarily to maintain knowledge of past worlds. Worlds that were left behind, so long ago, when mankind was forced to abandon their native solar system, lest they find themselves swallowed…
By David C. Daoust One minute, Colin Vice was trudging along, arms pinned by the vice-like grip of the serpentine construct that currently forced him to march forward. The next, he was trying to track, what he could swear,…
By David C. Daoust Still, stagnate, heat blasted air, stifling— dark, with a cacophony of industrial noise that seemed to vibrate the very hull of the repurposed Crucible of Halfhul. ‘Who would want to come down here?’ Colin Vice…
By David C. Daoust The Organization stretched throughout the Solar System. However, Bernard found himself living and working, the most, among the people of the Trade Consortium. His friendship with Zeke Otomo, led to many business opportunities. The two…
By David C. Daoust Far and wide, the city-stations throughout the Onion were ruled by the Royal Alliance. Through most of recent history they existed as these ‘remnants of the past’- where those of the populous that simply did…
By David C. Daoust Bernard Vice kept pace with the starship captain as her long stride made short work of the corridors through the bowels of the stolen freighter. One of many stolen freighters, that was quickly forming a…
By David C. Daoust Just as all the Onion were not shady smugglers dodging hapless guards, it was not ALL shiny happy people trying to make it through their lives- in the dark, in the shadows, there were grim…
By David C. Daoust Colin Vice moved like a shadow through the lower passageways of the old repurposed Crucible of Halfhul. One foot in front of the other, just, with the added intention of not being heard. Nor seen,…
By David C. Daoust Fancy’s day, had certainly taken a turn. It would surely affect her entire stay on Twin Crown- of this, she was certain. In point of fact, the sheriff had been shot! Shot before her very…
By David C. Daoust Sheriff Dunn felt like he missed a lot. Driving the boxy brown land-speeder back through the newly refurbished gates of Grady, and then to find the entirety of the town restored… Well, he’d felt the…
By David C. Daoust It was the guilt in his stomach that bogged him down. This weight up through his chest, over his shoulders. He’d felt like he’d been carrying it around ever since… There was that knowledge, that…
By David C. Daoust Raymond was a grim man, he knew it. He was known for it. More, he was a grim thug of a man and he knew that too. Raymond had spent most of his days since…
By David C. Daoust They were in the newly rebuilt upper offices of the Bram Family Nursing Home. It was a conference room, usually used primarily for business. Today, however, it had been commandeered by the actual Bram family.…
By David C. Daoust Eduardo Bram was not born a wealthy man. In truth, he was born anything but. There were times, when he was young, he would awake in the night, just like any boy, rich or poor,…
You demanded it- she’s back. Witness the Plight of Fancy! ty,DD By David C. Daoust Willian Fossick, Jr. was said to be the son, and heir-apparent, of the legendary detective of the same name. His ‘father’ had scoured the…