window for a long time. Then, having looked slowly up and down the street, he pointed a finger at the glass.
“You can’t see it at this resolution, but he’s just extended a glass cutting blade from his finger,” Athena explained.
Now able to reach inside to the display, the humanoid took out a model pulse rifle that had an extra-large barrel.
“Water pistol.”
The scout held the toy up and rotated it efficiently, until, apparently satisfied with its studies, it then twisted and pulled at parts until the gun was dissembled. The parts were placed in the creature’s large backpack, before the humanoid raised its flat gray face and once more looked slowly around the street.
“What do you make of that?” asked Harald.
“I think it is searching for weapons, but wasn’t able to distinguish a toy from a real one.” As Athena answered, she rewound the film and showed it again. It really did seem like the scout couldn’t tell the difference.
“Which one of you is on communications?” Athena switched off the recording and looked at the group.
“Me,” answered Inny, raising her hand.
“Here.” Athena handed her a device with a small screen. “This was tracking the last alien before it went back through the portal; perhaps you’ll pick up the signal once you go through to the other side. It’s pretty crude, a relatively powerful but short-range radio. There was no point making it satellite based because obviously we don’t have any satellites over there. But it was working well enough here.”
“All right.” Having examined it for a moment, Inny took the device and put it in a small bag at her waist.
“Do you have gear for the rest of us?” asked B.E.
“We certainly do. Follow me.” Ghost took the group across the warehouse to where tall racks of metal shelving had been bolted to the wall. The shelves were laden with weapons and high-tech equipment.
“For the troopers, we have the Atanski Two-Six-Six. Then, in case pulse weapons don’t work beyond the portal, a Higgs sidearm that fires these.” Ghost held up a small white plastic sphere. “They explode on impact. And finally, for hand-to-hand combat, a tooth-bladed dagger.” She pulled one partly from its sheath. “You all get one of these. Be really careful with them. Don’t even try to test the edge with your finger; they are incredibly sharp.” Rather proud of this equipment, Ghost must have sounded too enthusiastic, for she prompted Erik to speak up in a hesitant voice.
“Ghost, you know we agreed to explore for you. But we aren’t going to fight. We don’t believe in harming anyone.”
At this there were a few nods from the rest of the human group.
“I understand you have a philosophy of non-violence in your society, and I respect that,” replied Ghost, and she was sincere in her admiration for how humans seemed to be able to live together without harming one another, “but what about non-sentient opposition? Suppose you have to fight to avoid being killed by a bunch of these robot-type things?”
“I don’t know. If we could be sure they were non-intelligent. What do you think, Inny?”
“I agree; we could fight, but only if we are certain they are NPCs.”
“NPCs?” Ghost was unfamiliar with the term.
“Non-Player Characters. We had them in Epic. Killed them a million times over, but it didn’t matter; they were just game-generated creatures with no consciousness,” B.E. explained for them all.
“We thought you were all NPCs when we first logged into Saga,” added Erik. “That’s why I killed that policeman, but it was a terrible mistake and it’s one that I’m not going to repeat.”
“I see.” Ghost shrugged. “But anyway, take the weapons along. You don’t have to use them. Same with this, for you, B.E.” She hefted a large rifle with a long telescopic sight from its resting place and handed it over. “The IVB Pulsar One-Eight-Five: the most accurate pulse rifle in Saga, with an effective range
“You can’t see it at this resolution, but he’s just extended a glass cutting blade from his finger,” Athena explained.
Now able to reach inside to the display, the humanoid took out a model pulse rifle that had an extra-large barrel.
“Water pistol.”
The scout held the toy up and rotated it efficiently, until, apparently satisfied with its studies, it then twisted and pulled at parts until the gun was dissembled. The parts were placed in the creature’s large backpack, before the humanoid raised its flat gray face and once more looked slowly around the street.
“What do you make of that?” asked Harald.
“I think it is searching for weapons, but wasn’t able to distinguish a toy from a real one.” As Athena answered, she rewound the film and showed it again. It really did seem like the scout couldn’t tell the difference.
“Which one of you is on communications?” Athena switched off the recording and looked at the group.
“Me,” answered Inny, raising her hand.
“Here.” Athena handed her a device with a small screen. “This was tracking the last alien before it went back through the portal; perhaps you’ll pick up the signal once you go through to the other side. It’s pretty crude, a relatively powerful but short-range radio. There was no point making it satellite based because obviously we don’t have any satellites over there. But it was working well enough here.”
“All right.” Having examined it for a moment, Inny took the device and put it in a small bag at her waist.
“Do you have gear for the rest of us?” asked B.E.
“We certainly do. Follow me.” Ghost took the group across the warehouse to where tall racks of metal shelving had been bolted to the wall. The shelves were laden with weapons and high-tech equipment.
“For the troopers, we have the Atanski Two-Six-Six. Then, in case pulse weapons don’t work beyond the portal, a Higgs sidearm that fires these.” Ghost held up a small white plastic sphere. “They explode on impact. And finally, for hand-to-hand combat, a tooth-bladed dagger.” She pulled one partly from its sheath. “You all get one of these. Be really careful with them. Don’t even try to test the edge with your finger; they are incredibly sharp.” Rather proud of this equipment, Ghost must have sounded too enthusiastic, for she prompted Erik to speak up in a hesitant voice.
“Ghost, you know we agreed to explore for you. But we aren’t going to fight. We don’t believe in harming anyone.”
At this there were a few nods from the rest of the human group.
“I understand you have a philosophy of non-violence in your society, and I respect that,” replied Ghost, and she was sincere in her admiration for how humans seemed to be able to live together without harming one another, “but what about non-sentient opposition? Suppose you have to fight to avoid being killed by a bunch of these robot-type things?”
“I don’t know. If we could be sure they were non-intelligent. What do you think, Inny?”
“I agree; we could fight, but only if we are certain they are NPCs.”
“NPCs?” Ghost was unfamiliar with the term.
“Non-Player Characters. We had them in Epic. Killed them a million times over, but it didn’t matter; they were just game-generated creatures with no consciousness,” B.E. explained for them all.
“We thought you were all NPCs when we first logged into Saga,” added Erik. “That’s why I killed that policeman, but it was a terrible mistake and it’s one that I’m not going to repeat.”
“I see.” Ghost shrugged. “But anyway, take the weapons along. You don’t have to use them. Same with this, for you, B.E.” She hefted a large rifle with a long telescopic sight from its resting place and handed it over. “The IVB Pulsar One-Eight-Five: the most accurate pulse rifle in Saga, with an effective range
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