#that is the state of italian bureaucracy fellas | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

glopratchet · 4 years

Text

only you can decide Year 60 "Remember, according to his former students, what Tarkin lacked in empathy he made up ten times over with strategic vision Well, Sixous? Are you seeing the analogues here amongst the contestants? Surely someone as obviously intelligent as yourself can make the connection well enough to tell us which systems to attack first By the way, would you prefer I address to call you Mads or professor?" "I honestly don't give a rat's tail at this point count I am merely humoring you because my colleagues insist on maintaining at least some autonomy in our dying days as a free nation It's like a cachectic patient who has been given a few weeks to live, we've seen what the future holds as far as the caliphate is concerned Ever since that Cow assassinated our former dear Ms Warnovitch we've had to endure wave after wave of these blood-crazed fanatics carrying out horrifying suicide attacks by day and then being executed by those muscular mustached men by night And to think I was actually impressed by their ideological purity during my trip to Kalhu Huang when we attempted to stay in the good graces of our allied nation If only we could've made peace with those monsters *snort* and survived under joint fascism as intended perhaps we wouldn't be in the crumbling situation were in right now *sniff* or maybe aha! Yes! I spoke to soon it seems! By attacking us they have run out of time and the greedy hand of capitalism has destroyed them as it's done before and it will do again!" "If you're finished by posing a rightwinger speech, I'm afraid we don't have time for a diagnostic, your former queen has completely ruined her nation through state control and managed to anger every one around her it's time guys Be on your guard, I've taken down the stealth system for now but they'll probably get it back online soon Just keep alert and do not head to the surface unless yourselves or someone else comes under direct attack, travel to the planet is still not safe No promises though, their high-tech protective fields are making things difficult They may have noticed us already and are just sitting back observing before striking Well, let's begin today's atrocities Discordians, Scientologists worship of the unholy lottery you call "trickle down" will not lead them to victory over the oppressed masses! Long live the revolution! Praise Cthulhu! I'm cutting out now " "What a mad man! I always thought he was evil but reading that he's actually gone mental Poor old Count Grey was right I'm surprised they've bought into such superstition " Count grey is explaining to the rest of the council room "I imagine they're desperate for hope and peace my good friend " Replies Elizabeth "Well you can tell them that *Snort* hope and *snort* peace won't be *Hic!* happening any time soon (hic!) Anyway I guess we *hic*! should get this *hic*! started before I'm too drunk to care! Too *hic*! late anyway fine You lot! Yes you! The big fella, smart one, ugly one and woman what the hell are you doing here still!? get out there and show those cthul Mongols why they shouldn't threaten airships! Except you *hic*! you lovely woman come here and give this old man a kiss!" Elizabeth tries to walk away in disgust but Grey holds out an arm and prevents her Ardanovich, Stravinsky and Tavenier laugh "You won't be laughing when society falls into anarchy because your high and mighty ideals didn't allow you to compromise for the greater good because you wanted to hang out with fat drunk greedy old men who can't control their vices! You're supposed to be a professional! You, the intellectual mind guiding the royal society of learned individuals! What ever happened to the pursuit of knowledge!? The research to better mankind? *Sigh* I give up " "Wait! Where are you going?" they ask as you abruptly stand up to leave This is a waste of time and your purpose here no longer matters now that Calvin has abandoned the research platform "We're not finished here!" "No, but you are I'm leaving and I'm sure if Count Grey was fit he would likely do the same I've got more important matters to concern myself with now Thank you for your time Good day You walk away from the open-mouthed 'leaders' of Centopoulos' last arcology His body may be dead, but the information you received from Calvin should keep you occupied for a while Let Count Grey and his Societies worry about the coming Mongolian hordes There is one thing that annoys you about Calvins note There are more important matters The bit where he tells you to meet him at his arcology It just seems like too much of a risk and you doubt if you'd be able to withstand an entire assault team from the Spetsnaz if they provoked such a visit You decide to just use his research and take none of his advice on this occasion He is no longer here, and he won't be here in the future He exists only in the past now --- Praise cool water for quenching thirst and quick relief from the intense sunlight as you cross the sun baked sands in search of your next potential customer You look around again Nothing but sand, sky, cactii and your hoverbike for as far as the eye can see At least you won't have to worry about highway tolls It's desolate out here You hope you bump into someone soon You have food and water for a few days, but you'd rather find your next mark in much less time Catalina's wandering seemed to be paying off Her idea of leaving a major city without telling anyone and travelling out into the vast nothingness of the world outside it's boundaries had proven itself to be correct Afterall, how could you expect to find people if you never left the city walls? Most people travelling by hoverbike preferred sticking to the major roads that could take them anywhere their hearts desired Not many dared riding out into the untamed wilderness, and those that did certainly sought freedom from the rigid rules and bureaucracies of the city-state they came from Farmers sitting on untapped oil fields also went out to the wild parts of the world, but that wasn't your concern and you steered clear of such individuals for fear of being mistaken for a oil prospector The wasteland of untamed wilderness was a haven for desperate types, loners and those trying to escape the law Some were good people, some you figured were bad Most were probably somewhere in between your general average Anywho, it didn't matter You were in need of assistance of some kind, just like them In fact, struggling folks might go out of their way to help someone in need due to their own humble origins as opposed to some fat cat city slicker Whether or not this proved to be the case didn't matter to you What DID matter was finding people who required your assistance and getting a steady supply of creds in your account at the end of each month You hoped that you actually found these types out here because while you had a two month supply of food and water, that wasn't really the sort of thing you wanted to be carrying around while you looked for potential marks That was a quick way to contract all sorts of diseases and not really merchant like at all Fortunately, you'd found a few potential marks within the first week of your travels through the desert and were on your way to meet with them today No reason to waste time though, so you took off early Who knows what sort of ghosts or demons from the past you'd encounter if you left things to chance by staying around the campfire too late! First potential customer was an older but strong Terran woman who ran a little farm on the corner of her husband's family property They were Terra-born and had been living on this planet for several generations You found them via asking around town and following your HUD map to their marker According to records, they owned quite a bit of fertile land with good soil Their earnings from the local cooperative weren't too bad either, so you figured you'd at least meet with them The second encounter was more exciting While trudging through sand dunes to find the path to their property in this big circle around town, you ran into a group traveling by SUV Four younger people were in it and they seemed excited to commandeer your help! Seems their vehicle had broken down and they needed to get it back to a garage in town Scanning it with your eyes and using your special vision as an EQ gave you an idea of what was wrong immediately Of course, using your magic to animate the machine's components and getting it to rights wasn't really a simple process You could tell the four were shocked by your ability to heal their broken down ride just by twiddling your fingers When it was fixed, they were all smiles and flirted with you on the way back By the time you made it back to the inn where you were staying for the night, they'd invited you out for a drink and to celebrate their new-found operational vehicle You turned them down of course, but it goes to show that there are some nice folks out here Especially when they have the ability to acquire free transportation without much effort at all! That only leaves part of a day before your meeting with the Terran family for possibilities of work Maybe you'll see if the SUV gang wants to hang out and drink tonight They seem like an upbeat bunch Not much else to do so you scan the shipyard and surrounding areas again with your x-ray vision and secret identity protocols in place Seeing nothing out of the ordinary sets your mind at ease and allows you to concentrate on vamping yourself up for the night ahead Oh yeah, and don't forget, you need to get the gate code from those workers! Making use of your affluence, you go out and buy the fanciest, most Italian leather wallet you can find to hold the three IDs you have made thus far Later when you're in costume, no one will ever know you're packing around fake-ID in a wallet Then it's off to get a suit! Of course, while you were busy pumping iron and perfecting your abilities, everyone else was working and earning so suits aren't cheap anymore! You have to spend a small fortune to outfit yourself in order to fit in With all that out of the way, you take a second to focus on the spell you're going to use for your physical transformation tonight before bundling yourself into an overcoat and heading out the door Ah well, maybe Chris can spot you the cost later The last thing you want is to have people see you without clothes on! The walk to the shipyards is a short one and when you get there, you see several ships fitting the description given to you They're large seacrafts capable of carrying at least a half-dozen vehicles each so you have no doubt that the Terran Republic sent a decent part of their fleet to this planet Re-policing the downtrodden is a thankless job, but you suppose they need to do it Grabbing a piece of metal lying around, you skim over to one ship in particular that seems to be in charge of the fleet Poking your head in the open doorway, your x-ray gaze immediately locates the captain lounging in a desk on the other side of the room "Hey!" He snaps to attention when he sees you "Who are you? This is a restricted area!" Putting on your best smile, you make your way to the man "Greetings sir! I apologize for the intrusion, I am Agent G603C of the Inter-Global Meet and Greet association I was just wondering if you needed a tour guide while you're here " The man seems confused at first, but seemed to understand when he took a good look at your clothing and then back to your grinning face He scratches his chin a bit before speaking again I'll bite Why should I hire your services?" " " okay because we're the best!" Comes a shout from without You hadn't noticed the shill outside, but you can hear his voice perfectly!--Well no duh, you magically increased your lung capacity when you raised on your coat after all! "Ten-percent off if you sign up now!" Who said advertising doesn't work? The man seems more than a little interested by this You can see dollar signs in his eyes already "Okay then, if he's the best then I'll take him!" He calls to the shill without looking Guess he trusts that you won't try anything in front of his employee but don't think I won't report you if you cause any trouble! We're here on business after all " He finishes with a frown You nod--well as much of a nod as you can with your new found physique that is "Come on, I'll take you to meet the engineers--they're always looking for human contact " He finishes You shoot him a cheeky grin in response He takes you through several hallways and up (and down) a few ladders until you finally come to what appears to be some sort of machine housing "These are the engineers He says simply before turning to leave and head back up "Remember, you break stuff, you buy it!" You hear before the elevator lifts him from view You turn to look at two men staring at their computer screens with intense concentration One notices you first "Who the hell are you?" He grunts not looking away from his screen The other man takes more interest and looks you up and down critically--More like physically--before talking "Huh, not bad for a bureaucrat " You don't take his low-brow comment too much to heart, the only criterion for being in the engineering department is an Ego greater than 0 Still, you'd rather be complimented on your outfit so you ignore his statement and go straight to the point "You were recommended to me as the ones to talk to about fixing the ship " You say with practiced politeness "Well then Time to turn on the water works, bullies are easy to tame when they think you're weak You know enough of their personality type that you can get away with murdering them if need be, but ideally you won't have to Easier to get away with things if there aren't too many witnesses after all "B-b-but I don't know what I'm doing!" You protest stuttering "One of you could get hurt!" You quickly try a different tactic when you see the sadistic grins on their faces, new bullies are easy to tame when they think you're a fragile flower Just act timid and meek and most likely they'll take pity They probably ran out of servants to harass long ago maybe you've found your real talent? "Don't worry so much my little bureaucratic friend, just try not to hit any important gauges or anything " He laughs pushing you towards the ship "You start on the right side and make your way around, and be careful with the power tools, don't want an accident now do we?" And without waiting for an answer he shoves you inside Meekly accepting your role you head inside and begin searching for the things that will make the perfect gemstones It takes a few hours, but you make one full lap of the machine housing and find one single gem in the rubble It must not have been important to the machine for it to be abandoned like that, though the engineers didn't seem to notice--or care Clink A small piece of metal lands on the off-colored tile flooring and bounces a few times before settling down You pick it up and examine the small bit that held so much potential If you'd had this from the start, you might have been given a real purpose Well no use crying over spilled milk, or abandoned gemstones in this case But what now? You have a small pendant with an uncut ruby the size of a marble This lonely gem has little to no value alone, and you've just spent the past several hours dismantling the cooling machine that was housing it for you If you were a betting man, you'd say that the engineers are probably going to notice their handy work is missing a part before too long So if you were a betting man, you'd say to get out while you still can Though perhaps there's another option? You think to yourself Once more back on the streets, you ponder the options before you With a closer eye this time, you notice there's even a store that sells some of the equipment you saw in Escaperym science fiction movies There's no uniforms like in the movie, but nowadays clothing is so standardized it's practically a uniform anyway Though you suppose that these would stand out and draw attention What if the bad guys find out you stole from them? Just an added bonus of taking the gems, though you suppose this does bring up an important question: Just who are the bad guys here anyway? You're just pondering your shadow problems when you burst into Hospitality Suite 206B Tanya looks up f rom her desk and raises an eyebrow "When did your facial recognition software update?" She jests "Technology that doesn't rely on stupid wristbands works every time, unlike some people I could mention," you respond You rummage through your pockets before pulling out a small wine glass with the gems sitting in a red powder She gasps in surprise "And I thought I was the last one " She walks over to you, dodging stray notebooks on the floor, and sniffs the contents of the glass vial "Have you considered what we spoke about?" She asks confidently "Yes " You respond in a morose voice Her cheeks flush red in response as the sclera of her eyes begin to show more white A side effect of not enough oxygen reaching her brain, she's infuriated by your response "Why do you insist on being difficult? Must I spoon feed all my plans to you?" "Probably," You respond bitterly with a smirk You know how much she hates that But something's different this time Her anger seems almost Playful? She grabs you by the collar and pulls close to her face, staring into your eyes You can smell the prawns she had for lunch And hers are gorgeous "Right then," Her voice has suddenly dropped an octave sending a chill down your spine, "It's time to bring you into the fold Will you join me or not?" "Are those my only options?" You test She pulls away from you and begins tapping on her desk's computer After a few moments the tapping stops She looks up at you and says, "It would appear you only have two options: Death and service " She then stares at you expectantly You look into her eyes as a multitude of thoughts run through your head Three years ago You read the ransom note for what must be the hundredth time: "We have your brother Retrieve the gem in our possession and return it to us, and he shall be released unharmed The Red Scales rarely extend such generous offers, so do not disappoint — Lord Vladi That name is vaguely familiar, but you know you've heard it before "Argh! When word of this gets out he's posthumously pissing off the entire Thieves Guild Not that he needs more motivation to do so already You have a lot to contemplate and your throbbing head is getting in the way of doing so Besides, sleep is your friend right now " Does Dad's name mean anything to you? Should it? You're so tired Several days later You slowly wake up from an uneasy sleep Just as you're about to get up, the taste in your mouth reminds you why you needed to sleep in the first place Sighing, you sit up and see exactly what caused you to sleep in so late An oxygen tank sits on the floor next to your nightstand, empty, discarded tubing hanging uselessly That explains why you've woken up feeling refreshed even after sleeping this long Speaking of sleep, Mom's asleep in the recliner in the corner, snoring softly The newest model iPad sits closed on her lap and you don't have to guess whose it is Looking around, you see that the fire in the living room has long since died out Your tongue realizes this before your mind does A dry mouth results in shallow, rapid pupils—all a side effect of mild Sherlockcoholism You cough as a tickle in your throat forces you to grab your inhaler, take it with the taste of ramenthol With newfound deep breaths of air through your lungs, you go to survey the damage done last night The mini liquor bottles strewn about the floor and nearby coffee table all confirm your guesswork You examine the mess as you try to recall what happened last night Long ago, a woman gave you a mysterious manila envelope Within it were clippings of negative reviews that Dad's organization or one of it's subordinates had written for Glip Magazine, in which she wrote for Getting drunk off your own supply, you confronted Mom about it At some point after that, the both of you and Sister were arguing in the back room when you started throwing wild accusations at each other—you don't remember what exactly, though Eventually, things got too intense and someone—you have no idea who—set the fire Why not use the front door? The hell if you know The family adheres to strict rules about "ganging up" on another, but you don't think anyone's going to give the matter a second thought in light of the fact that someone died Let's see who died? Death then Your lazy eyes scan the living room, spotting a pair of half-finished dice and some playing cards mixed in among the mess on the floor The game must not have been going well since as you continue to look for other signs of it, you don't see any lying about Is this the way greed goes? Hardly fun when it results in dead bodies; or only one in this case Not counting the one upstairs, obviously—his soul has already moved on as far as you're concerned In any case, Dad should be up by now You'd all but forgotten about it since you avoided home and he never left the place You half wonder if he undid it just to come see you in private, but either way He catches his breath as you move towards him, hanging back and giving a little smile He returns it with a sad one before speaking Dad: I guess you saw everything, huh? You: Yeah, how could I not? Dad: I suppose you have a point I think it's best if you heard it directly from me that, I'm no longer part of the family but, that's pretty much it Dad'll still take care of you all I should be mad since this all started with such a lie but, in all honesty, I'm happy he's free of Mom if only because Melancholia will follow Well, soon anyway Of course, you can't say that I mean, you didn't like Glip and home anymore You: Well It's probably for the best So, I'm really happy for you, Dad Wish we could have celebrated this together when it happened Dad: It's okay, Junior Your sister seemed to jump to conclusions about what I told you She just lied to all of you about the details because she didn't want you all mad at me I didn't even need to speak about anything when you got here, really A simple nod would have been fine You: Wait She knew you lied? Dad: Yeah, and apparently there were others at home that knew as well Oh, you know how feelings get hurt easily around the holidays Anyway, your Mom was really upset about It all Truth be told, so was I I didn't want to continue the feud, but if I thought it would make your mom even mildly happy, I would have done a lot more You: What? You were willing to bend backwards for Mom but not us?! Dad: No!! Not like that! Look The feud didn't make anybody happy and I was always willing to put a stop to all of it But your mother? She thought stopping meant everything went back to exactly the way it had been before He lets out a dry chuckle before scratching at his unkept beard He looks into the distance as he recalls all of this Dad: Unfortunately I couldn't do that Or, maybe I just didn't want to The feud was dumb, yeah But the times leading up to it, and everything involving it Made me the man I am today And I wouldn't take any of it back if it meant losing your mother Dad: Oh, she would deny it up and down if you asked her right now Even got so far to claim that I was the bad one in our relationship! Which is complete and utter bunk Though, another lie she told was that all this happened because I wanted kids and she didn't Which contradicts the original starting point of this mess You: Wait You didn't want kids? Dad: Well, no Not really I mean, I like you to some extent and I'm sure that if I had my choice our family would be getting a new addition rather than the conflict that started all this You: But Why didn't you tell her then? Dad: I did! I told her multiple times! She knew from the very beginning that I wasn't interested in being a father Honestly, why she wanted so bad to have a kid with me is beyond me I just chalked it up to her being young and adventurous, as well as idealistic Your mother always had these brilliant dreams I wasn't exactly against them I was just content of where I was and knew I wouldn't achieve anything greater by playing some army wife or work in an office job Of course, that's only my opinion I suppose this was one of those moments for her Your mother holds equally high ideals but has always managed to take bigger risks than I have Eventually your father falls silent and the two of you enter the house He grabs his things and bids you goodbye As he makes his way to the exit he stops for a moment and looks behind him to see you by the doorway Dad: Just don't be like me or her son Be better than both of us You have so much potential Whatever you do in life, be motivated for it Don't just exist He suggests the school since his parents are making him take his little sister to her kindergarten class He's already there when you arrive, standing in the middle of the playground equipment grid You try to start a conversation You: Sooo What's going on? You wanted to see me? Alan: Yeah, I'm bored of thinking about the game we're going to make I think we should make an online massive multiplayer shooter instead! That'd be way cooler there isn't a lot you can do in that genre alone I'd be fine with it if we made a turn based strategy game You could be doing something like that right now, why haven't you started already? Alan: I'll get to it later Anyways, you should know that Chris and Owen blabbed to the rest of the school about what we were going to do Everyone is super hyped about it They're all saying how they wouldn't mind a newschool shutting down if it was shut down because our game was better than any public school You: Did they really have to say all that? Now I'm really nervous about doing this now! They expect so much now Alan: It's ok You'll be fine And those two are an exception, trust me The jocks are always loud in the first place, but deep down they're really nice, supportive guys The popular girls are a little awkward at times but they're cute and cool so that makes up for it Everyone is eager on this project, so it isn't really a problem finding help Alan tells you that it will take several meetings before you can actually start fine tuning the idea you'll want to go on with He recommends going out somewhere to just talk more there instead of doing it all on Facebook chat You decide that The Corner Cafe would probably be good for this sort of talk If not there, then maybe you could go rent a hotel room or something if it really comes down to needing privacy You: Actually for now, just pick somewhere quiet that we can speak privately Alan: Ooo! How about the school? It's empty now seeing as it's summertime and most students are gone We could sneak into the digital art building once they leave and get to work! Just gotta hide out until nightfall You in? After about 15 minutes the school is in sight The entire drive you also noticed Alan WAS texting, mostly to Allison and random google searches about green screens and other things, a few times he showed you the results on his phone You really didn't want to know what he was up to Still not sure "Alan!" you yell over the music while nearing the school He takes it down a few notches coincidentally when you wanted it to be quieter "Why the heck are we going to the school?" Alan: "Hm? You said to pick a private place to speak, where better than my school? As my Gamer I trust you realize how this will help our upcoming project " You: "You realize if we get caught it could hurt thatproject don't you?" Alan: "Nah Don't worry about that If we get caught problems solved " You mull his words over in your mind for a while Makes sense, you ARE his problem after all "Alright Fine " You answer with a frown Alan's face lights up and he turns the music up before beckoning you to follow him out of the car; he seems pretty happy with himself Which makes you feel a bit creeped out tbh Either way you follow him to a back door into the school where he pulls out his phone and unlocks it You think you see him use an app of some sort before the door clicks open He tosses the phone to you and you catch it in reflex, then he pulls you inside a lit hallway He immediately starts jabbering on about the precautions he took and how there is no way that anyone can pin anything on him for sneaking you in or whatever You just nod at everything which causes him to do a double take before shrugging and returning to his ramblings tbqh The walk to the Digital Arts Building is uneventful Along the way you read some comments on his post, a few persecute him for bringing in a 'Renegade' but he just downs them with a couple of insults followed by a taunt for them to try reading the basics of grammer Others seem pretty chill about the whole thing and just talk about things The discussions are pretty interesting for the most part, you make a mental note destroy Alan if he turns into some weird cultist surrounded by troll accounts Really though it does confirm what you thought, Derris-Kharlan has some serious mind control going on You can either put up with it and live a slightly different life or overcome that by yourself and live happy but alone Maybe you could have something in between?

0 notes