What does a Glyche artificial intelligence see when he or she dreams? Is it the same as what the bio-forms see while dreaming, or is there some slight difference? Some strange perception that is neither the Dream Realm nor the Mainstream? The was a question asked by many core units during their first few months after reaching their fourth evolution.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9kHtE0mQm 維尼
Bethany found herself as her young, cat-eared form, tiptoeing through a pond filled with brilliant green lilypads and hopping frogs. She bent down and picked up one of the frogs, curious at the bright orange markings. It ribbited at her a few times before hoping onto her head, then back into the pond, much to her amusement. When she bent down to pick up another, she found herself looking at a frog the size of a basketball.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡf695sr3ppF 維尼
“Whatcherdooin’ miss?” The frog asked, his voice not angry, but curious.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡGG438Mufhs 維尼
“Oh!” Bethany said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be taking you from your home.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡabrB7pSkQC 維尼
“Nothin’ doin’, miss. We frogs love adventure.” The frog paused to snap at a passing fly. “You too?”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡlda3mDHt5u 維尼
“I ...” Bethany paused before saying, “I miss home.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyIRpXZmlt 維尼
“That’s the good thing about home, innit? ‘S always there to go back too when your done with the adventurin’, jus’ like ya left it.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡIVVJaqFPHM 維尼
“Not always.” Bethany said.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iUtshe8Xh 維尼
“True, that.” The frog said. “But that’s jus’ life for ya. An’ the best parts of home never are really gone, not when you carry ‘em inside.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGa9WL6poD 維尼
“I don’t understand.” Bethany said.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡIO3s3dXXkf 維尼
“You might, Miss. Stand still in the water for a sec, and look at your reflection.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5D9goTcKW 維尼
She did so. After a few seconds, she realized her reflection showed not just her, but Jimmy and Terra as well. All her friends were there, standing by her side.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlqNIEs0xl 維尼
“The best part of the Saybaro.” She said, reaching out with a delicate hand to touch the surface of the water. The ripples caused by her touch blurred the image; when it stilled, she was sitting alone.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3dybNoSev 維尼
“Jus’ remember to go home sometime.” The frog said, voice sounding distant. “I mean, they won’t be there forever, eh?”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhVViPXEzW 維尼
Bethany opened her eyes. After a few moments of disorientation, she remembered that she was still in the resting pod. As she touched the glass cover of the pod, it tilted down so she could exit. Still clutching the blanket around her, she stepped out of the pod.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGpRl73loP 維尼
Her kimono was missing, though she wasn’t surprised; Uncle Ann had said she was going to have it properly cleaned, and even a second-hand kimono like hers required a very specific kind of cleaning.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hEAM1FouS 維尼
She walked through the floor of Uncle Ann’s workshop in search of her Rimstakken host. There was no sign of her, though Bigga was asleep in his pod. Bethany watched him sleep for a few moments, longing to hold him again for a moment before shaking her head and moving on. She continued to move through the workshop, more out of curiosity than anything. Construction in her facility had been an orderly, strictly conducted affair, but there was a strange fascination to the way Uncle Ann worked. There were inventions that showed weeks, even months worth of dust on every inch, some even more so, yet Bethany could see subtle signs that someone had in fact been tinkering: fingerprints in the dust, strangely clean parts, fresh grease and oil, and even new power supplies.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡttfIiWAg90 維尼
It was as though Uncle Ann simply left off projects until she thought of a way to proceed, moving on to other projects until that sudden bolt of inspiration struck. It was messy, yes, but it was progress; continual progress. As long as some work was being done, as long as there was some movement forward, everything was going just fine.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxkETES0Lg 維尼
“Oy! Beth! Over here!”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡDESMPF8uyp 維尼
“Cristlyn?” Beth called out.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTA2sPhXid 維尼
“Yeah. I’m over by the thing with the plungers and the ceiling fan.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8yEd50whw 維尼
After a few moments, Bethany spotted her sister’s waving arm above the junk. She hurried over and found her sister looking over a strange contraption that did indeed look like a plumber attacked a ceiling fixture. There were three separate fixtures, each with five blades each all tipped with rubberized plunger cups. The purpose of the device was a complete mystery, though on closer inspection, the plunger cups were military-grade plunger hand grips, designed to hold an entire person in the air. Bethany wasn’t sure, but she suspected the device had enough combined suction power to support it on any surface.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Rjj3wSowc 維尼
Again, the purpose was unclear; there was no seat, no handle, not even a proper control panel. The only activator Bethany could see was the simple flip switch on on the the fixtures, and she knew better than to flip it.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjttCYWdUF 維尼
Cristlyn, on the other hand, stared at the switch with unabashed curiosity. She was also completely unclothed.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLuCsAJn1A 維尼
“Glad you’re finally up.” Cristlyn said, turning away from the machine. She glanced at Bethany’s towel, her expression falling. “Bethany, we don’t have to cover up yet. We don’t get the parts that need covering up until our sixth evolution.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡPERHWT3WAI 維尼
“I know.” Bethany said, blushing as she tightened her grip on the edges of her blanket. “I just ... don’t feel comfortable wearing nothing.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMJFZ6f619 維尼
“Why?” Cristlyn asked, seemingly irritated by her sister’s sense of modesty. “There’s no point to it. Our body temperature is self-regulating. Is it a style thing? ‘Cause you know the kimono thing died out a long time ago on another planet altogether.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UsRzSOHda 維尼
“I just don’t like being naked, that’s all.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OWmIZ7yuz 維尼
Cristlyn’s eyes widened. “Wait just a minute ... are you bashful?”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GGpGPi83v 維尼
“What?” Bethany said, a little alarmed at the amusement in her sister’s eyes.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMxSSggVSR 維尼
“You are.” Cristlyn said, “You’re embarressed to be seen without any coverings. The idea of people seeing your female body. You’re embarressed for me to see you without clothes, but our bodies should be pretty much identical, unless ... unless you’ve been doing some work.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDEJAZDUlL 維尼
Cristlyn made a grab for Bethany’s blanket, but she quickly stepped back.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sTfP9BN6J 維尼
“Stop it, Cristlyn.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3Fk7ssz1k 維尼
“Ooh, Beth’s got a secret.” She lunged at her sister, reaching not for the blanket but for Bethany’s sides. Her fingers tickled her sister’s waist, sending Bethany into gales of laughter.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡptWjivG8ns 維尼
“Been redecorating your core, huh?” Cristlyn said, not ceasing her assault. “Tell me!”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpY53CdezA 維尼
“No!” Bethany said, still laughing. She struggled against Cristlyn’s tickling assault until Cristlyn was able to grab the edge of her blanket and whip it away.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡRav5Vvtsaz 維尼
“Cristlyn!” Bethany said, covering her chest with one hand while snatching at the blanket with her othe. Unfortunately, her hand couldn’t cover the ‘modifications’ she’d made.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4c6VtXsG5 維尼
“Oh!” Cristlyn said, a grin on her face as she held the blanket out of reach. “Now those are definitely bigger than the default size.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLBaEH02tK 維尼
Golden tint spreading from her face to her shoulders. Bethany abandoned her modesty and tackled her sister to the ground, her fingers now tickling her sister’s sides.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡU99v888fgG 維尼
“Stop it!” Cristlyn giggled. “I’m not ticklish!”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZy8u1UjKb 維尼
“Then stop laughing!” Bethany said, giggling as well. Bethany managed to grasp one side of her blanket, though she couldn’t completely tug it out of her sister’s grasp. They both struggled to their feet, tugging on opposite sides of the blanket until Bethany managed to pull the blanket from her sister’s hands. Cristlyn slipped backwards and fell against the strange fan/plunger device ... right into the switch.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡheVxYU2oTM 維尼
The entire assembly shuddered, the fans beginning to spin as Bethany watched, still holding the blanket in her hands.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19kAVbmR4V 維尼
“Switch it off!” She said.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQ7Uf9TDNR 維尼
“Yeah!” Cristlyn flipped the switch, only for the flimsy thing to snap off instantly.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVtKDmccfI 維尼
“Uh, Bethany?” Cristlyn said, backing away, “Maybe we should be somewhere else.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KV9zCruJe 維尼
“Y-yeah.” They quickly hurried away, Bethany quickly wrapping the blanket around her body with some difficulty.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡEufEl0XKCo 維尼
The blades of the fans spun about, slowly lifting the assembly from the floor and moving toward. The suction cups hold tight as the device spins about, the next fan hitting the ground. With a loud sucking sound, the first fan pulled itself free, allowing the entire mechanism to spin around so that the next set of fan blades hit the floor. The mechanism moved like this, slowly at first, but quite obviously gaining speed.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbhuzsDLiU 維尼
“Uncle Ann isn’t going to like this.” Bethany said, finally covered to her satisfaction.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡUM5CCqoCs8 維尼
“Uncle Ann should’ve built a better off-switch.” Shaking her head, Cristlyn said, “Man, that thing’s gonna wreck this place.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wvIMyDZQd 維尼
The Device was in full motion now. Worse, some of the plungers were apparently magnetic in nature; these grabbed any metal they touched and carried it along until the fan smashed into the floor, either breaking the object or simply slamming it into the floor. Worse yet, it’s path led straight to Uncle Ann’s prototype Zoomer.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmTP5z5TMY 維尼
“We have to stop it!” Bethany said.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HCY57zny9 維尼
Cristlyn looked at her as though she were insane. “Are you mental? I’m not going anywhere near that thing!”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡdPvFJpbVLq 維尼
“Ugh. Fine!” Bethany glanced around for a moment before spotting a large spanner. Tucking her blanket so that it wouldn’t come undone, she grabbed the spanner and approached the Device.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXgyXta248 維尼
She barely managed to duck aside before the fan blades came down, slamming a metal desk into the ground hard enough to buckle the legs.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNw1DmQpxw 維尼
With the Zoomer only a few feet away, Bethany grabbed one of the fan assemblies and shifted her wait, causing the fan to turn away from the Zoomer and continue to a different section of the workshop ... the part Bethany was horrified to realize contained the pods.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37wDU1zbUn 維尼
“Bigga!” Bethany cried out.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjWa5UBzc1 維尼
“What?” Cristlyn said.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYGZDC4eAa 維尼
“Bigga! He’s still in his pod!” Bethany tried to shift the Device in a different direction, but it had picked up several heavy-looking partially built devices, making it hard to control.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡUy1XLlmzMr 維尼
Bethany hammered the spanner against the switch repeatedly until the casing broke apart, revealing the inner wiring. Trying to ignore the world spinning around her, she tore out wiring by the handful while Cristlyn hurried ahead, presumably to get Bigga.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡU86449861E 維尼
One of the fans came loose, careening wildly into a stack of old parts before finally falling to the ground. That still left the other two, however; she tore into the remaining wiring with renewed gusto.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uflCk2TYW 維尼
“He’s not here!”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡFc24RZnub4 維尼
“What?!” Bethany turned her head; a mistake, given her position; a few seconds of watching the world spin around her was enough to disorient her. She did catch a glimpse of her sister near the baby’s pod, however; the glass window was open.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjqMBvgFNV 維尼
Something awoke deep inside her. She raised a fist and slammed it through the center of the fan fixture, separating the blades from the rest of the fixture. Without the additional support of the fan fixture, the weight of objects attached to the fan blades caused them to collapse in on themselves, Bethany leaping away just in time to avoid getting buried by the mound of metal and garbage.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqr9gOgWP8 維尼
Rising and approaching the baby pod, Bethany realized Bigga was indeed gone. The flashing toy lay inert and broken, the power cell laying against the shorted controls.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡizXQek4DVH 維尼
“Rimstakkens.” Cristlyn said. “Even as children, they’re trouble.”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFWhvL5SpL 維尼
“Where is he?” Bethany asked, looking around for some sign of the infant.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmA4BP8xJE 維尼
Cristlyn put a hand on Bethany’s shoulder, the other pointing to the piled cushioning lying beside the pod.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡ69GTdvz1Dk 維尼
“He used his pillows and blanket to break his fall ...”8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOVHMc0HUN 維尼
Her finger went to a baby’s bottle lying on a sheet of metal that formed a slight ramp to the top of a large set of coolers sandwiched between the floor and the raised portion that formed a second floor of sorts.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡafK7zyNtY5 維尼
Their eyes met as the sound of a baby’s gurgle could be heard. Slowly, they both looked up to see Bigga standing on the second floor. Seeing the two familiar faces below, he let out a laugh, reached out for them, and stepped forward.8964 copyright protection600ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMrFZ19ifu 維尼
ns3.238.94.194da2
