Grognardsw wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 2:53 am
"No hangovers?" said Anderson. "
That is an interesting side effect..."At least the worm is helping you in one way," Anderson said.
R-1 made a face.
No, not that... It's the artificial liver in my shell. It can cycle that stuff right out. I get to be drunk when I want.
Pretty sweet...
Grognardsw wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 2:53 am
Ranger knew the worm was having some kind of unknown effect on him, as exhibited most recently during the harrowing halluciations on Spectre IV.
Ranger-1 thought about that one.
Uhhh... well, come to think of it when we were on SpecterV there was kind of a weird... well all that stuff you just said happened. I assumed it was the gas. To be honest I thought I died.
Grognardsw wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 2:53 amThe machine hummed around him. Ranger closed his eyes against the light show inside the head chamber. He felt a tingle and... a
squirm inside his brain?
Hey! Stop moving around in there!
Grognardsw wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 2:53 am"Neurocysticercosis occurs when cysts formed by the parasite take hold within the brain, causing neurologic syndromes such as epileptic seizures. Common symptoms of neurocysticercosis include seizures, headaches, blindness, meningitis, and dementia. Any of that sound familiar?"
R-1 he paused and thought about that a moment.
Well... I... Don't think so? I mean headaches sure... but not dementia. That's for old me... Never mind... forget I said that last part.
Grognardsw wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 2:53 am"Here it is," Anderson said, passing a compu-tablet to Ranger. It had an image:
"I'll need time to analyze the data and consult with a neuro-specialist, as I'm many things but not a brain surgeon."
Ranger-1 climbed out of the machine and stood up. He looked over at the image and grunted a little.
So... that's what he looks like, huh? Is he doing anything in there or just hanging around slurping up memories?
Grognardsw wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 2:53 amRanger got back to Harrison, his mercenary friend, and contact who at the moment was on the planet Horatio Beta X.
"Yeah they'll give you a fucking tooth if that's what it takes," muttered Harrison.
"Take a ship to Horatio Beta X, where there's a bunch of us who will be transporting to a Blue Origin vessel for the briefing. Hey, it will be like old times!"
Ranger-1 grinned his creepy grin at the confirmation of getting a tooth as a trophy.
Nice. I'll do it. Now tell me who else "us" is.
You know I would rather work in small groups with familiar faces. Any of our old crew still alive? Whatever happened to Steve and Bosk? Bosk still owes me a stiff drink and a card game. Last I heard from Steve he was knee-deep in some kind of movie theatre stock living the high life. Bet you a round of shots he blew through it by now.
Later he would book passage on a transport over the com much to the spaceline's chagrin when he arrived and would clearly take up more room than they usually allotted for a single person, but he had prepaid and they were stuck. He wedged himself into a middle row, his mechanical legs folding into what seemed like impossible angles where he could sit comfortably since he had no nerves and servos didn't care if they were idle. He chewed on some gum to keep his ears popping to the irritation of those around him, but no one dared say anything to the menacing-looking cyborg who inadvertently made a nuisance of himself the whole flight due to talking to himself, smacking his gum, obstructing the view of those behind him from seeing the in-flight movie, taking up enough space to keep those in front of him from adjusting their seats, as well and those behind, he thoroughly disturbed an older lady to his right across the aisle when he took the bag of peanuts in his nutrition receptacle and ground it up, bag and all... (The cellophane broke down nicely as a lubricant for his artificial heart) and wound up spending almost 3 hours telling stories to a pair of young boys two rows up that steadily became more and more inappropriate.
By the time the flight was over and they had landed, everyone was happy to see him disembark, and even then someone got one of their bags caught on the mounted saber on his left arm which he sliced open while trying to get it off for them, only to knock over a rather rotund man when he bent over to help pick up the contraband the woman had been smuggling. He had jumped up and caused such a scene yelling at the fat man who he thought was trying to jump him that the space marshall came rushing down the isle in time to see the contraband all over the floor, leading to the woman's arrest much to Ranger-1's confusion. He simply shrugged and walked off the flight. When the space marshal tried to detain him for questioning, one hard look from the cyborg gave him just enough pause that R-1 walked off the ship to cause chaos later on while trying to hale a cab ride.
- Old-Tuk-Tuk-in-Isaan-Living-in-Rural-Thailand.jpg (305.14 KiB) Viewed 559 times
Luckily he is able to flag down an old Tuk Tuk... The old man driving it seems to get second thoughts but before he can speed away the old mercenary has already grabbed ahold of the still moving cab and brought it to a stop.
You need to get your breaks checked! You almost passed me! he chuckles raspily. The clunky-looking cyborg pours and folds himself into the equally looking clunky Tuk Tuk, making the shocks bottom out and the tires flatten noticeably.
Take me here. he points to the address on display on his arm-mounted GPS. The poor old man feels trapped and putters forward, his sorry state mirrored by the struggling motor of the cab that drug its frame more often than not as it struggled down the lanes. R-1 seemed oblivious. At some point, the old man couldn't avoid a bump in the road and Ranger-1's head wound up sticking up through a fresh hole ripped into the old canvas top.
$#!#@! oh... wait.... no, this is better. Keep going! he looked around more freely the rest of the trip to the rendezvous point.
This has been a lot of fun so far. I'm looking forward to the next part!
