Zeo Genesis Travelogues
Greetings, star-nomads! You can call me Trev. (You can also call me Trevallion Franklin-Ridgeway III, but I’d rather you didn’t). I’ve left behind my shallow executive existence to explore the Hundred Suns, to re-connect with insignificant voiders just like you. These are my travels. You’re welcome.
“Yesterday shall live in infamy in Aegina arco-sphere. The Vakarchuk Navy’s state-of-the-art battleship, Braznov, attacked the city. Its Morozhenko Autonomous Combat System went berserk, identifying home as an enemy port, killing over a hundred, wounding hundreds more, destroying every harbored boat and demolishing neighborhoods.”
“Pursuing libertarianism, Aegina’s hospital system was privatized, then stripped of every costly redundancy. Thus, it couldn’t cope with more than a smidge over the norm.”
“My dedication to reportage took me down to Sillis Sports Hall, converted into a makeshift triage center, staffed by volunteers with medical know-how. I’m aware Pizzinger Prize panelists love some cheeky footage of disaster victims in civic buildings, so if any of you are watching: hello!”
“After scoping some tragics, I met a grumpy fellow busy with a patient. His unusual look told me there was a story lurking. Asking how he got his unwonted, militaristic leg-chair seemed like a good opener, but when he finally found the manners to pause and shake my hand, the real story happened. My z-link, forever stuck around my forearm, suddenly heated up before my mind was transported into his body, his past. It felt like I was in control, yet my decisions were railroaded. I knew I was me...but I knew I was him, Rex Clavis. It was something like vivid dreaming.”
“I was piloting my fighter zeo—‘flying gorillas,’ I…he…we called them. Lady Scrambler and I had flown seventy missions together. She was more than my zeo, she was my second skin, my friend, even. My squadron had been sent to intercept hive-minded metallophagic monsters heading for Aegina.”
“The swarm was vastly bigger than expected, though, and engagement soon collapsed into carnage. The bullet jumpers were dragging us down or spearing straight through us. Our guns couldn’t possibly thin them enough, and there was no majorbrain visible. Then, I remembered how my brother accidentally killed our fish as a child. Couldn’t eject. Needed power to eject. I forced crash-bag deployment before finding my throttle was jammed and dumped Scrambler’s heart battery into the ocean anyway.”
“Everything went black.”
“I don’t remember the impact, but I saw the recordings…and victory, from my hospital bed.”
“‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ Rex’s words pulled me back into the present. A second had passed.”
“‘No, no,’ I replied, ‘I quite understand.’”
“Stay zippy, star-nomads…”
- Species: Bullet jumper majorbrain
- Endemic to Colodsia (Ceto’s northwestern quadrant)
- Species function: A distinct variant of bullet jumper, majorbrains are the only “true” individuals in their shoal. All other bullet jumpers in their shoal are directly controlled by the majorbrain and function as extensions of its body.
- Method of bullet jumper control: Unknown. Leading theory suggests minute, low-frequency sounds. Research inconclusive so far.
- Intelligence: Highly intelligent. Rare, anecdotal reports of majorbrain-human communication, demonstrating reasoning, understanding, and rapid learning of human concepts.
- Behavior: Extremely aggressive and territorial. Proven acts of malicious intent, including torture of prey, sabotage of perceived rivals’ habitants, “making examples” of individual animals in view of perceived rivals, and months-long actions widely regarded to be motivated by revenge.
These journals were recorded via Tymphony Aural Augmetics… TAA: Listen Up!
.webp)
