NationStates Jolt Archive

The firey presence of the Sun was impossible to miss, it loomed in the sky, closer than most ever see it. It was day on Mercury, and everyone knew it.

Elijah surveyed his realm through the lens of an orbiting satellite. The basin was a massive affair, and his complexes were sprawled across it, little concern being given to conservation of room. His smile-analoged as he looked at the massive mountains that surrounded his little plot of land. His valley would be easy to defend if it existed on earth. As it was, he had little worry for invasions.

The great black domes that made up his nation reflected no light, drawing the light and heat in, converting it to electricity, and storing it in massive batteries stored deep within the planet's shale crust. With a simple thought he forced the satellite to zoom in on the partially built building that would be the dock, the first building that would have atmosphere. Thousands of lumbering drones worked tirelessly, and without complaint. Unlike the domes, their white exterior pseudo-chitin shells were highly reflective, bouncing the fierce rays of the sun back out towards space. They required far less energy that the batteries did, and would be unable to store all that they would absorb.

Turning his attention westward, he say more drones constructing a giant tower. He had hoped that the Basin would be allowed to be a peaceful research center, however his sponcers back on Earth had warned him that people might wish to take all he had worked for away.

"Nobody cared about Mercury," Josef had said, "But now that we, you, are there, everyone will want to race to be the next nation there. There's plenty of room, but if some expansionist wack-jobs move in, they might not be content to share."

And so, the lightning guns were being constructed. They were actually an elegant solution to a problem he had been worrying about. The domes generated far more power than he had any use for, even during the long 'nights' when he was turned away from the Sun. Building more and more batteries was a stopgap, and grounding out to the iron core presented potentional problems that he didn't want to risk. He still had an excessive surplus of energy, and it's not like he could sell it to a neighbor. The lightning guns, powered directly by the batteries, could fire an impressive charge. It would be a convenient way to discharge the batteries when they approached capacity, as well as a potent weapon for defence. He would still increase the number of his batteries, of course, he didn't want to be caught with his nonexistant pants down.

Turning his attention to the center of the basin, and surveyed The Silo. This was what he had been originally planning to watch, as it was time for the launch.

Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:diag\\silo
Return //://:diag\\silo No Errors Found

Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:launchcycle\\start:10
Return //://:launchcycle\\start:10 Launch Cycle Initiated

10
...9
...8
...7
...6
...5
...4
...3
...2
...1
Launch Initiated

A small rocket fired up and roared out of The Silo. Its flight was very short as it quickly crashed into the Sun.

Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:entrncomm\\tightbeam:josefspecter
Return //://:entrncomm\\tightbeam:josefspecter Successful

The probe was successfully launched, and reached its target without incident. Hopefully the Solar Giants won't be too disturbed by its arrival. I sent a brief note to them last cycle, but it can be difficult to be sure if they receive my transmissions.

Then again, the fact that I can even communicate with giant entities of plasma is pretty amazing.

Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:postscript

Almost "forgot". Any word on my avatar? I long to stroll on the surface of my home.

Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:closeroute
Return //://:closeroute Successful

Tightbeam Channel Open
Target: Elijah; The Caloris Basin
Encryption: Standard

Excellent work, Elijah; I look forward to the results of the probe. I just hope it survives. Then again, that always was the 'x-factor', wasn't it? We will also want any updates on Project: Flare as they come about, of course.

As for your avatar, we are making slow, but steady, progress. It's a complicated procedure, but we've got full funding. We've almost isolated an alloy that can survive both the heat and cold, and still retain its liquid state. After that, it's just a matter of integrating the electronics. Once complete, we hope to have the Shogunate drop it off for you, as a simple rocket launch might not be the best method.

-Josef

tagged

He, like all the others of his kind, was sort of used to massive objects crashing into the sun.

They were an annoyance, when they entered their bodies, or even pressed them down, but the threat they represented was fairly... minimal. A loss of no more than 1% of ones mass... in extreme cases 10%...

Nobody cared, they preferred to just roam on the surface of the sun, occasionally fighting each other... For fun, as it was usual in their society, which was, in fact, nothing less than complete anarchy.

He did of course have a name, however, spelling fourthousandthreehundredandthirtysix letters isn`t exactly fun, thusly, he preferred to refer to himself as 'he'... like all the others of his kind did.

Watching the semi- sentient creatures of plasma around him, far less intelligent than he was, but nonetheless active, trying to stay alive, he enjoyed the day... A day being defined as the amount of time the sun needs to rotate a single time.

Until someone entered his realm.

Or rather, something.

He was surprised to realise that this thing actually kept its form. Usually, they would just melt, vaporise, once they entered the life- giving realm of the burning star.

But not this one.

For a moment (Actually, a fairly long moment, since he, like the others of his kind, tended to take his time thinking) he wondered what it was, how it could stay in its dead, frozen form... In this region, on this star...

He roamed around it, touched it, played with it (Careful, to prevent damage to this 'thing') until he finally realised what it was.

That must have been the thing the cold- worlders (Their name for any kind of life outside the sun) informed them about...

And apparently, it worked.

Nice, as he was (Although this could change quickly) he even bothered to send a message back.

Your thing... survived.

Then he moved on, roaming around his sector of the sun, searching for rivals... For things to play with.

"Noted and tagged."

SOE

[No time for a real post, so...]

Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:extrncomm\\broadbeam:suncritters
Return //://:extrncomm\\broadbeam:suncritters Successful

Thank you.

Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:closeroute
Return //://:closeroute Successful

Humans were funny creatures. They had created him, and sent him here, to this rock. And now, more were arriving. Some group of rather industrious people, he called them 'The Dozers' were building... something around the equator. He wasn't sure what, but the Dozers were working pretty hard at it. It probably served some purpose, likely syphoning energy from the planet's magnetic field. Seemed like a waste of time to Elijah. There was more than enough thermal and solar power. Hells, you could manufactor some kind of device to collect gamma rays, and have a party absorbing the radiation. Oh well, humans had a horrible habit of over-engineering things.

The other group was also interesting. They had been dubbed 'The Cupids' for their mildly militaristic ways. He had also heard that they had named themselves after a class of angel, and according to his files, the cupid was a moderately high rank. They too were near the equator, which, of course, was causing problems with the Dozers. He had been tempted to send a roverbot equipped with a loudspeaker to try and mediate, but it would take it too long to get there, and probably would only confuse things more. Of course, there were only three nations laying any claims at the moment, and a whole planet of real estate. It figures that two of the three would claim the same spot. He was glad he predated them, and that they were leaving him alone. And if they didn't... well, he was slowly adding more lightning guns.

Turning his attention away from the bickering children, he focused on far more important things: his construction schedule, and his current research. Construction was going quite well.

The star port had been, more or less, completed. Currently it was a port and nothing else, but it was a start. At the moment, a reasonably sized ship could land, and humans could even step out of it. The couldn't do much else, unfortunately, as other rooms were still being built. Hell, getting the heaters and coolers configured properly had been something of a bitch anyway. Besides, he had time. Only a couple people had yet expressed interest in visiting anyway. More importantly, however, the port ment that he could now construct small construction vehicles to send into orbit to build a larger port, so that people with their miles long ships could dock there, and take a shuttle down. He figured he'd keep the space port on the opposite end, so even improperly shield ships could visit without fear of vaporization.

Supposedly he'd be able to arrive in person when people came before too long. Recently Josef had sent him a brief message saying that they had configured a proper alloy, and were in the process of adding the circuitry and electionic bits that would let him inhabit the body. He looked forward to taking strolls on the Mercurian surface. Maybe wander on over and meet the neighbors. See how the Dozers and Cupids are doing. Borrow the proverbial cup of sugar...Research was another thing. Always more difficult, he supposed.
Project: Raisin had been a success. The probe had survived flying into the Sun, and hadn't disturbed the Suncritters (the only neighbors with opinions that mattered to him). It sent back a lot of highly valuable information before the pressure and temperature were too much and it vaporized in a whisp of atoms. In theory he could build another probe using the new information, and have it last longer, indefinately if he was lucky. That would have to wait, however, he needed his drones on other tasks.

Like Project: Flare. Things were moving just swimingly on this little gem. Elijah was a little surprized that he was persuing such a goal, but it seemed like a good plan. If people didn't know about it, it was an even better weapon. He wasn't sure what he would do once he could press the "reset" button for the inner solar system, but it was strangely comforting being able to do that. Well, to be researching the ability to do that, to be more accurate.

Finally, Project: Mirror was required for much more progress in Raisin or Flare. He was tinkering with different methods of making materials that could handle the sun, but it was getting to the point where he really would have to have hands to do much more. Which, of course, tied back to the work the Hack was doing.Back to the lightning guns, I guess, Elijah mused. Better to do the boring busy work, then bitch about not being able to do the important stuff.

[OOC: The Caloris Basin is ranked 3rd in the region and 7,808th in the world for Largest Manufacturing Sector.
Time to get moving, I think...]

The port was coming along nicely, Elijah mused to himself. He'd already completed three of the suplimental buildings, and was shockingly ahead of schedule. Of course, the fact that his workers had no need for sleep, food, union-mandated breaks, etc. ment that projects didn't need to stop. It was really handy, in all honesty. He was rather please with the living quarters, actually. There was enough room for a good sized ship. The replicators were also (mostly) online, so he could even feed his guests.

He was also in the process of assembling the rockets that would be used for the orbiting station/port. Once those were ready, it would be a matter of making drones for space work. They'd need down time, unfortunately, being out of range of the powering towers for when they were on the dark side. Ah well. Can't have everything, he supposed.

The Melty Trout trade was.. limited. Limited enough that the Commune didn't even seem to care about what the Melty Trout actually was. Probably just tossed it in the generic mass pool for stripping or smashed it to Neutronium Film Trout or something...







The reflective ellipsoids of Commune ships come and go with increasing frequency at the Caloris port, meeting up with their Territorial counterparts here where conditions are a bit less extreme than down in the light.







Mostly, the Commune ships pick up heavy elements and some specialized processed materials, and leave light elements and other specialized materials. Industrial quantities of helium 3 and antihydrogen, superheavy elements, the sort of things high-energy machine civilizations like to use in their elegant artifacts.







Now, they begin to make secondary deliveries to an orbital facility, and downright huge ones to ground, of solar collector film and superconducting cable. Not altogether surprising, that's what a lot of the Commune's mass is after all.

Study the past if you would define the future.--Confucius

This has been an official TAG by the Five Civilized Nations

The influx and output of materials occured at an ever increasing pace, eventually reaching the practical limitations of Elijah's increasingly primative facilities. The traders from the Commune had near endless supplies, as one might expect from the denizens of a giant nuclear factory. The harvesting on Elijah's end was almost as easy, actually. While he used a good deal of local raw materials for the construction of his domes and rovers, he still had ton upon ton of raw material that was continually being excavated as the storage chambers for his massive underground batteries were dug.

The fact that Mercury had precious little to offer aside from raw material helped as well.

As the materials were traded, he found himself with more... esoteric minerals. The anti-particles intregued him, and he designed specialize mechanoids to work with them. A slight mishap had resulted in the partial destruction of one of his domes, but it was a small price to pay. The Recycling Dome put the smouldering husks of the mechanoids to good use, and the Research Dome was quickly repaired.

Brief consultations with the scientists back in the Hack had given him some ideas on how his new materials could best be used; the anti-particles were fused into specialize power units for certain Lightning Guns, jumping their potency up considerably. He had never pictured himself a military power, but with the Dozers and Cupids running about, one had to protect the 'home turf'. Especially with the new construction being done by the Commune on his orbital station. 'Better safe than sorry' was his current mantra.

And to that end, he had designed a team of highly specialised drillerbots. These little creatures were in the process of burrowing down to the planet's core. The tech from the Hack on heat and pressure resistance, coupled with his own had allowed him to create these industrious workers. Once in the very center of the planet, they would start building. It wouldn't be a large construct, but it would be secure.

((OOC *tag!*))

Projects were progressing nicely. Far better than he had epected, truth be told. Elijah tended to surprize himself with the speed that he was able to accomplish sub-objectives, and bring projects to completion. He knew it was because he and his mechanoids had no need to take breaks, sleep, eat, or other such organic concerns, but it still took awhile for that realisation to fully sink in.

The materials from Absolute Light, and what little information he could extract from the erratic communications from the Solar Giants had solved many of his problems. He now had more energy and power than he could possibly use, and was able to store it far more efficiently. He was also learning more and more about the composition and nature of the sun. He had managed to send more probes into it, and each time the probe reached deeper, learned more, and withstood greater extremes. He was learning of the core of the sun as the Hack had learned of the core of the Earth.

The sun was glorious, warming his skin and blinding anyone who would happen to be near him. He would have taken a breath, but there was no atmosphere to speak of, and he had no need to breathe anyway. Instead, he simply enjoyed the sensation of finally being able to stroll across his planet. Well, it wasn't exactly his planet, but he didn't much care about the Dozers or the Cupids. They were mucking around elsewhere, and hadn't been too active lately anyway.

Elijah, on the other hand, had been busy. Quite busy.

The basin had black domed buildings all over the place, generating copious amounts of solar power for the colony. Although "colony" was increasingly a strange term to use, especially now that he had over a billion and a quarter drones under his control. It used to be his direct control, but he had found that he was spending more and more time directing millions of drones. He'd actually been forced to shut down all production and get to work on underlings. The Overseers weren't fully sentient -- Elijah didn't have the ability or patience for that -- but they could easily coordinate his drones. They worked much like an advanced AI in a video game. They could handle simple tasks and even improvise a bit, but largely just did what they were told. This way, Elijah only had to control a few thousand Overseers as opposed to everyone. He had been kicking around the idea of further underlings, but didn't want to get too bogged down at this point. Besides, he had work to do.

Pulling up his checklist, he went over his main tasks.

Orbital Station Status: Complete
He'd finished this awhile ago, Absolute Light had been a tremendous help, and the station was now fully functional, as was the transport to the planet-side port. The planet-side port was also complete, comfortable living quarters for visitors. He had even created a few rovers so that tourists could take tours on the surface without getting fried. Tourists were rare, but they still came.

Defence Status: Complete
The rocky rim of the basin was now covered in short and long range lightning guns. He had total, pinpoint coverage of the basin itself, as well as all approaches to the basin itself. He had also created numerous mobile lightning guns that would work, essentially, as tanks.

Project: Flare Status: As Good As It Would Get
Obviously, a full test of Flare would be impossible, as he had no desire to erradicate all life on earth. Small scale tests involving the sending smaller flares out into 'empty' space had worked quite nicely and his simulators implied that Flare would work perfectly well if he ever needed it.

All things considered, he was rather pleased with his work. Things were coming along just fine. It was a glorious day on Mercury, and he smiled. The sun felt good on his skin.

INCOMING DELIVERY
INCOMING DELIVERY
INCOMING DELIVERY

The update-drone was quite irritating, but considering the method of delivery, it was a very handy reminder. Deliveries from Earth were a rare event, which was good, as he really didn't need any more craters in his planet: deliveries from Earth were launched using GMC SABRE, which made them ballistic deliveries, as Elijah prefered calling them.

He was out in a rather empty region outside of his basin, waiting for the landing. He was expecting three canisters, and thus had three multi-legged, flat-topped drones with him to carry his gift. He also had half a dozen mobile lightning guns for protection. He would have prefered the canisters to have been sent to the basin where it was safer, but it was currently facing the wrong way and there were far too many domes for a safe landing. So, he was on the other side of the planet, thankfully the Cupids hadn't moved into this particular area, so he wouldn't have to deal with them. The contents were, after all, highly classified.

A few minutes later, three large canisters slammed into the shale surface not far from where Elijah was standing. After wrenching them out of the ground, he placed one on each of the carry-drones and made his way back to the basin. He now had the materials for what was, quite possibly, his most ambitious project to date. And he couldn't wait to get started.

Elijah took a brief break from his work in his labratory far beneath the surface of Mercury. It was probably the safest, most secure place he had available, and was buried even deeper than the massive batteries that stored the wealth of energy that his domes continuously produced. To further increase security, the entrance was sealed after the canisters and various computers and electronics were delivered. There was a very small, winding passage that granted access to the surface; Elijah would be locked in if it wasn't for his fluid form.

Opening the three canisters, he smiled happily. Each contained enough liquid metal to create three new lives. It was a strange feeling, really. He gained more than a little insight as to how Josef and Alysa felt towards him as he contimplated the personalities he was about to program. Was he their father or their god? It was something he'd never really thought about before. While he was a god-like figure to his drones, that was because they had no minds; it was like getting a god-complex because you own a toaster. The Over Lords had rudimentary minds, much like owning a dog or a computer game with a "smart AI".

This was something else entirely. The plan, of course, was to set the seeds of sentience, and let them evolve their own personalities. Simply selecting their traits smacked of eugenics, and he didn't like the implications of that. Besides, if he did select their personalities, he would be playing God. In a strange way, he could draw on his own experiences, sort of. Since he had mistakenly "evolved" his own sentience, perhaps he could replicate that with the people who would become his companions. The trick was programming enough so that they could evolve, but not so much that he was controling their destiny.

He dipped his fingers in the liquid metal of one canister, smiling at the feeling of it dripping from his fingers. "So much work for such an inauspicious start..." He held his fingertips up to his eyes, looking at the silvery liquid that would soon house life. It was an amazing piece of engineering, and he never thought that the Hack could have managed it. He smiled, shaking his head in disbelief. Even if he was a walking example of the accuracy of the Hirsch Principle of Liquid Electronics, it was still amazing to see it disconnected and in a 'raw' form. Letting the last of the liquid drip back into its container, he turned to the bank of computers in front of him, "Still can't believe that shit works."

Taking a break from his work with the liquid metal -- the intelligence programs took quite awhile to compile -- and surveyed a map of Mercury. There were points of light scattered all about, varying in size depending on the size of the installation in question. The sad thing was, none of that stuff was his. The Cupids were spreading across the surface of the planet, seeming to be determined to claim everything save his basin. That didn't bode well, and he didn't much care for such activities. He was already spending more time on defences than he wanted to, he was a scientist not a warlord, but he couldn't take the chance that they would decide that nothing short of the whole damn planet would suffice.

He bit back his bile at the thought of a group coming to his planet and feeling that they had the right to dictate what could and couldn't happen. He was here first, after all. They were interlopers. But, he still had a distinct advantage; namely the ability to walk the surface of the planet without any gear. The same could not be said for the Cupids. They might have the military, but this was his native territory, and it was not a hostile environment for him.

He shook his head, shrugging a little No sense getting all worked up. He returned his attention to the map, looking at various craters, montes, planitiae, dorsa, rupes, and valles. There was quite a selection, really. Looking a bit north from his basin, he found a promising crater. A rather large one, with a nice central peak complex in the middle, that might be good for launching satellites. He pulled up a more detailed map. There didn't appear to be any Cupid installations, but his data could be old. With a thought, he sent an order to a series of drones, sending them to investigate the crater, several Survey Drones, a pair of Lightning Drones, a Communications Drone, and a couple Worker Drones.

He laughed softly as the drones sped off to the north, "Yes... Brahms would make for a nice 'summer' home."

Off Nod Station

The reflective ellipsoid moves smoothly into position near Nod Station, external reactor vomiting gamma from its enclosure of mangled space. The dying reactions glare on for a bit, sweeping down through the EM spectrum, and as it makes final approach all that remains if that special bit of hell is a thing like heat shimmer.

<...and really, what are those people thinking of? human interactions are by nature nonlinear...>

An unloading arm swings lazily out from a dock. Basically just a six meter flexible hose, it passes through the mirrorfields. Inside, it penterates the cryogenic realm of the cargo bay, and is itself penetrated by the micrometer filaments of hardlinks. The intelligences of Hull 3315 slam into the Nod mindscape, no longer limited by QE and grasercomm bandwidth.

<hi again!> <still doing this milkrun, aren't you supposed to be an escort frigate?> <what can i say, i'm a lazy bastard.>

By the time the several organics in the cargo hold have started communicating with their counterparts in the TCPS convoy, there are already messages and AI shards swarming through those machines that are open to this kind of thing.

And at a far slower pace, kilotons and kilotons of liquid helium spill out through the feeder tube, mingled with cargo pods ranging between a micrometer and five meters in size. Spools of superconductor and crumpled-up solar collector film make up the bulk of the goods, but as always most items are the sort of thing one expects from solid-state intelligences. Data and odd materials, everything from simulation logs to AM-BEC power storage grains.

The material from Absolute Light was always usefull. Elijah looked forward to their deliveries, as it always increased his power capacity. From anti-matter to be used as power, to materials to be used to increase the capacity and efficiency of his batteries. He was also experimenting with using the stuff for internal power methods, but he didn't fancy the thought of accidentally blowing himself up in case he goofed; the explosion of the research domes was still fresh in his mind.

Besides, he had more important things to worry about. The construction of his progeny was reaching the critical stage of development, and he couldn't spare his presence elsewhere. He had managed to split himself into two avatars to talk to Austar Union (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=353655), but had been reduced to sending a HoloDrone to talk to the Seraphim Order (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=359210). Not that he particularly trusted them in the first place, but it would have been more politic to be there in person. However, he couldn't be worried about that right now.

He smiled, looking at the vats of liquid metal. They already had names, even if they weren't fully formed; neither sentient nor sapient. But, he still looked at them as if they were. Ruth, Joshua, and Ezekiel would soon walk the surface with him. He couldn't wait.

Dozens of shuttles ferried construction drones from the Basin to the Brahms crater, non-stop. More shuttles made the trip from Nod station to Brahms, carrying raw materials. The drones were exceptionally efficient, laying the groundwork for the massive dome that was to top the crater. Not needing sleep, food, time off, unions, paychecks, or anything of the sort, they worked constantly without stopping.

It looked almost like time-lapse photograph as they moved, working in perfect unison, guided by the mind of Elijah. He hoped to have the dome completed in a week or so. Then he could work on the interior.

Secure Lab, Deep Underground, The Caloris Basin
Earlier

The three vats hissed softly as their lids opened, the process finally complete. As the three liquid forms rose up, they slowly solidified; their minds already aware and fully sentient. They had spent the time in the vats waiting for their bodies to finish 'cooking', waiting to fully integrate the circuitry and processors that made up their minds and souls. They had spent the time learning, processing the vast amounts of data that Elijah supplied. He was there, of course, smiling like a proud father as his 'children' stepped out of their vats. Ruth was the first, her eyes scanning the room curiously. It was one thing to have intimate knowledge downloaded to her processors, it was quite another to receive direct stimuli. She smiled as she looked around, her brothers stepping out a moment later.

Elijah smiled, "Good morning."


Nod Station
Now

Ruth smiled to herself as she walked the cooridors of the station. It was becoming more and more welcoming, especially now that someone was keeping an eye on things. Nothing against Elijah, of course, but he'd never had the time to visit that much. Now that she was here, the station was far less cold and much more home-like. It was a place worthy of visiting, especially the living quarters.


Brahms Crater Embassy Center
Now

Likewise, the Embassy Center was fully operational. Ezekiel had taken over the construction of the dome, and had even done quite a bit of work himself. Elijah's ambitious plans -- completely capping the crater -- had been pulled off without a hitch. Ezekiel had also been given a unique upgrade: full color shifting, curtesy of GMC's Nightmare project. Since the climate in the crater was fuly controlled, he had no need for shifting his coloration to reflect or absorb ambiant heat and radiation. There was even an artificial sun, to make time pass as it would back on earth. It was like a mini-Earth, fully contained on the surface of Mercury. Because of this, Ezekiel looked perfectly human, he even wore clothing, something of an oddity.

Of course, it had taken him awhile to get used to the switch. He still liked walking the surface of the planet, and he had incinerated his clothing on numerous occations. Luckily, his body reacted instinctively to the sunlight, and he'd shifted to the appropriate coloration before his circuits overheated. Luckily, he'd finally gotten used to switching back and forth; of course, he was still teased about his first few ventures out.


Starport, The Caloris Basin
Now

Joshua, on the other hand, had taken over primary responsibility for the starport on the surface of the planet. The effect of this was that it allowed Elijah more time to manage the day-to-day affairs of the Basin, including diplomacy. All things considered, things were running much more smoothly. It was about time to construct some embassies, and get things in full swing.

The construction of the crater was carefully monitored by the Order. Careful notes were made in regards to how exactly the Caloris Basin performed such a feat while discrete recording devices noted the equipment used - especially the drones. Preliminary reports were sent along to the military arm.

It will be interesting once the SOE established their own embassy. In either case, a message was sent.

====

To: Elijah
From: SOE - Kril Buy

Congratulations on your magnificent achievement! We look forward to more interaction in the future via our SOE embassy in Brahm's and also at our agreed meeting point.

Secure Lab, Deep Underground, The Caloris Basin

The work was never done. Even when he thought he had finished all the projects that needed to be done, something else cropped up. Half the universe's space craft seemed to be orbiting the rocky planet, everyone was interested in Mercury. He remembered when he had come here. It was so peaceful then. He'd been able to set up the station, even without a body. Now, things were changing so fast that he often found himself split into four or five different bodies, just to keep things running.

--Go to Mercury because nobody's there, and hardly anyone could handle the temperature and radiological extremes.--

Yeah, right. Bullshit.

Being a tiny fish in a big pool was no longer acceptable. Providence had given him what might be viewed as a form of salvation. He knew his agent wouldn't disappoint him, so it was time to prepare for when he grasped that opportunity.

The last time he was down here, he had created his three 'children'. This time he only needed one vat. He chuckled softly to himself, "Instant diplomat... just add quicksilver."

Habakkuk was, to say the least, a surpize. Elijah was rather shocked at the 'base form' Habakkuk had chosen for himself. LiME's, being fluid beings could take most any shape they wanted, however, they all had a base form that they viewed as their 'true' shape. Elijah defaulted to a tall, slightly muscular silver human; Ezekiel prefered the flesh-tone of an anglo-saxon male. Habakkuk... well, he appeared to have been influenced by the recent events up in Nod.

"Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you, indeed," Elijah murmured to himself.

Habakkuk's white form smirked at Elijah, "King James is nice, most people know it in a more banal form: 'Look at the nations and watch- and be utterly amazed. For I will to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.'." He smirked, flexing his shimmering wings that scattered the light into rainbow hues. "You look distressed, father. Should I accept a more mundane form?" His wings melted into his back, his shade changing to a dull silver, his eyes losing their golden glow.

"No, no... your form is fine. I was just surprized."

Habakkuk smiled, reverting to his angelic-inspired form, his body slimming as he stretched up to about seven feet tall, "Thank you, father. This is far more comfortable." He looked at his alabaster skin and chuckled, "Of course, I might want to change hues when walking the surface..."

"Precious little of that, Habakkuk."

"Ah yes, Titan..." He rolled the concept over in his mind, "Perhaps a brief stop in the Dominion, yes? I do believe we need a sponser."