Bots vs CRISPYs 13
DROP IN: Wonk
PRESENCE: Wonk, I'm H Potter Whimsy, I was referred by Angelica
Pleased to meet you, what's up?
The latest Zing Zang AI construct, has been stolen.
A Miami! Physical theft or did they slurp the docker?
Physical.
Locate and recover or overwrite?
SSR SSP Recover would be nice, we would prefer to oversee the overwrite in controlled circumstances. It isn't just a single operational CPU, they took the factory, the scientists, all the data, everything right down to the lint on the carpet.
= = = Text box
Origin of the Zing Zang brand name. Zing comes from the word amazing. Zang was a cloud service provider that got squeezed out of the business by the mega-corporations. They found a niche making application specific circuits for iBones. They were the first to develop goal based biological CPUs.
= = =
And this is a big deal, worthy of a zero dark thirty wakeup a week after I am back from my honeymoon, asked Wonk
Remember that science report your HNN Research published, rats, human brain cells creating an organoid that interacts with the rat brain?
Sure, Madagascar, NeoRats begetting LemRats.
We think they want to inject a Miami AI brain into a LemRat. In fact, they already have.
Wonk looked down. Mr. Whimsy had yellow socks and green slacks. You don't see that every day. Not to get in your business, but may I inquire how you came to that conclusion?
Surveillance, intercepts, the usual stuff and we have patient zero.
Have you spoken with him?
So far communication has not been possible. We were hoping Charles Vanderbilt might be available.
Wonk nodded. Soon as this is evergreen, I will put him on a plane. But, pause, isn't this why you have special forces?
We'd like to be quieter than that. Please send Charles to Tacoma, if it is OK with you we will meet him at SEATAC. Much quieter, H Potter replied.
Wonk shook his head. I wouldn't even know how to price something like that.
Let's start with something simple, a retainer, 20 H Coin.
Wonk deadpanned, that was about the value of his entire personal fortune, but to do what the prospective client was suggesting would take a significant investment.
Don't 100% understand yet, but what do you need?
PSEs, lots of them.
That's a song I hear everyday, it will work better to think of Wonk Enterprises as more of a service organization than a temp agency. What do you need accomplished?
I need a neighborhood scouted and infiltrated. Then a recovery mission. I can drop off a blockiamond with everything we know within the hour.
Don't put payment with the job information. EXtended dial (2F3) 496-C001 to execute the retainer.
END PRESENCE.
Wonk's head was spinning, programmable rats, what kind of a person thinks this stuff up? MiniWonk.AI popped an alert screen, funds received. That certainly didn't take long.
= = = Heaven's Kitchen, Chicago, Illinois
Wonk Protection Services Chicago station chief's name is a beaver/lion named Calahan. He started operations as part of the Montrose fire rebuild; never left. Gloria Silver, scene commander, Bandi Boy, and Pietro, her analyst showed up at WPS and were granted entrance to the executive suite, three offices. a conference room and a coffee area; public bathrooms were available on the 5th floor. The boss waved them in, door stayed open, clean desk policy. Gloria covered the high points of the mission, the BC German Shepherd lay just outside of the door sill head in the hall; ther're working even when their not working.
I did the read-ahead from the blockiamond you guys sent over. After our non-existent introductory pleasantries, let's got straight to the point. This is some big time rescue recovery? Into Heaven's Kitchen?
Pietro, a data analyst leading the team to recover the zing zang brain nodded, this is one of those those wrong hands stories.
"Wrong hands", puzzled Calahan.
Really bad people, that kind of wrong hands, three sisters lead the parade, Gloria cut in. They were actually NeoPuritans once, but money, sniffing pop, worst of the gilded age, they have to maintain their lifestyle somehow.
So they stole some scientists and are going to force them to build a super weapon, Calahan said evenly, I think there were some James Bond movies with a plot like that.
Pietro looked up with his geeky intense look, they already have the weapon, the technology team would have been the group in the best position to develop countermeasures. If they don't do their best work to help the cowgirls, Pietro saw the question rise up on Calahan's face, they call themselves the Cowgirls of Bashing. If they don't do their best job, I suspect the threats will not be idle.
Gloria finished, it's a take off on the book of Amos, an old testament prophet, in the Bible. Apparently they felt like the best evil villain names were already taken. Their last name is Kawry. Originally went public as the KwarBashian's first, but didn't want to mentally deal with the parallels between that other gilded age set of sisters, so here we are.
Calahan was quietly wondering how he might break this off, he said, and so they have some kind of weapon that someone with a lot of money thinks needs to be taken seriously.
Pietro nodded, basically a rat with opposable thumbs. The rat brain can be overdriven by a small Miami type programmable brain. This species of rat, LemRats, have already been stable for 14 generations with 2 brains. They simply remove the organoidal brain and put in the AI biologic. It can handle light weapons, drive small vehicles. Relatively fast, small makes them hard to hit and we are fairly certain they can be mass produced if they can get a biological zing zang down to the needed level of miniaturization.
And we know all of this because, Calahan asked.
One of their cabana boys, had a change of heart, stole the prototype and turned himself in at an FBI field office on Roosevelt, said Gloria. Thankfully, they listened and did the right thing. Dis happened, den dat and now we are here, she finished with her inner city schoolteacher there will be no more questions on that subject look.
Gloria, IDF trained before earning her PSE, had already run 3 successful missions for WPS. Just nothing this big. Get in with surprise, high speed low drag, snag the brain, any LemRats, records, scientists, toothpaste and floor polish, get out, everyone goes home.
Calahan, six months from retirement snorted, even a one person snag in Heaven's Kitchen leaves a body trail, or if you try the Chicago police RoboCop approach, bodies interleaved with nuts and bolts. Either way, you won't leave the Kitchen without paying. You sure this is going to be worth it, cause it ain't gonna be free?
We may not be playing for all the marbles, but more than a few are on the table, Gloria met his gaze steadily.
Calahan nodded, I have a relationship with a down lo boss in HK, Darcey Does. She runs an operation out of Malagasy Eats on Broadway. Down Los keep the place clean, cook, dishwash and run deliveries, the money is on the latter, of course.
It's 3 meals a day, all the sex you like if you fit in. Surprising how many stay for years. Down los move most everything in and out of HK. All they do is deliver, and they are accomplished at the voodoo they do so they gangs don't hit them. There is some turnover, but they know each other by sight, we can only insert a couple without raising a ruckus at any one time. Get your PSEs together and Darcey and I will run a casting call. I'll text her now. And for all of the candidates and especially for the lucky winners, no showers. Down los are known for their pungent scent.
Chicago Metro flies a lot of drones, mostly DJIs so you can insert some in the flight pattern. I wouldn't try self drives at least until the operation, this neighborhood is big on ride-share. Self-drives enter, but they don't come out.
+++ Text Box
Down Lo describes couriers selected from the general population. They use a variety of transportation modes to deliver product. Many of them are former second chancers from Up and Out, things get messy sometimes.
+++
Normally we don't go there, Chicago Metro doesn't either, just let them shoot each other, send in an automated morgue to scrape the pavement. Crips, Bloods, Angels, Devils, Redskins, Cowboys, doesn't matter what the gangs are called this year, same old story said the grizzled old veteran with a depression on the side of his face where his left cheekbone used to be. You have had a long day, get your PSEs together, Darcey is only 5 minutes out, we an select our 2 easy riders, get some rest and do the heavy planning lift tomorrow. Deal?
Pietro got the PSEs lined up outside the conference room. Darcey walked in, Gloria sucked on her breath, the lady was not the same, but almost, a clone of her half sister Yolanda, same statuesque visage, fanatical attention to detail, Lion/Beaver, smell of sex crossed with the sweet scent of rotting flowers.
Down los aren't politically correct Darcey explained, half breeds, 3 ways work best, whites will do if they have some brown. Looking straight at Pietro, you have been replaced. Need skills bikes of course, skateboards, hovers, skates, 3Ds, anything with wheels. Looking over the PSE l would say #3 and #7.
And all the couriers are males, Gloria asked.
No sweetie, there are three ladies in the courier business in Heavens Kitchen, all very accomplished, all well known. Unless you are hoping for a remake of Fast and Furious, suggest we stick to the script.
Calahan said the couriers get all the sex they like, where do the girls come from, asked Gloria?
OK, if you you are not going to sleep, let's take a walk a few blocks down Irving Park, I'll show you. Both worlds exist in Challenger park, Normies and the Down los, general population is restricted to South of Graceland where they are strictly forbidden. As they passed the cemetery there was a guard posted at the West gate, retired police by the looks of him. He had his backup, two robos, parked just inside of the entrance gate.
Gloria whistled, a human guard, level II, that's gotta cost?
Calahan nodded, there are some very wealthy exanimates stored there. They don't want to be bothered and they stay inside their fence. Graceland ends at the wrought iron corner, we will dip into the park and meet the folks. Just then Darcey joined them on their walk.
The Down los get their girls from the General population, Calahan explained. Home girls don't get raped, or abused; they have food and medical at the field hospital. If you are a GP girl, it isn't so bad; beats getting mail order brided to China or India. Think about what every one else does with young girls, sex for something. They just boot misfits back to GP like everyone else.
Darcey finished, most of ours are long term keepers though.
And babies, Gloria asked?
We love babies, said Darcey, we are very pro-life even though we are low level Maslows, at last count I had 139 virtual grandbabies.
Gloria took it in. Yet another Children of Yolanda. Maybe less genetic meddling? But then Heaven's Kitchen is ground zero for DIY CRISPR.
There was a wooded area just ahead, something was sparkling in the sun. Gloria watched Bandi Boy lock on, not so much sight as smell, it was a chemical smell that dried your throat at first blush.
This is as far as we go, announced Calahan and they took the next turn in the direction of the office. The sparkles, he explained to Gloria, are the silver bullets.
You see, this is an extreme gun control district, possession of a fire arm leads to the organ farm upon conviction. So, they make their own weapons that do not rely on some form of gunpowder as the propellant.
Turns out, CRISPYs love beer, Coors Light from a silver bullet can to be exact. After they drink the beer they weaponize the cans. Explosives, incendiaries, noise poppers, gas and chems, sometimes their latest DNA cocktail so that you, too, can join the DIY CRISPR movement. Did I mention the Met doesn't come there in person, they like to send in the drones, don't usually get them back, but they send them in.
Do the CRISPYs refurbish the robots, asked Gloria?
No, they sell them by the kilo wholesale, as is. They aren't Robusts exactly, but they are almost kissing cousins, they think they can doctor their bodies with gene splicing to outperform robots.
And the bullets, how do they bring those to bear?
Modified crossbows mostly. Typical hole up will have 5, 6 of them already loaded. And any silver bullet can be loaded with any type of payload. The mix really messes with your mind. The long distance ones have wings, the same thing the Palestinians use to shoot over Israel's defensive wall; those are called skylarks.
Gloria was trying to maintain, "don't throw up", she told herself. She had just landed, had a lot to learn and this was already a minor ninth on her wierdometer.
= = = Wonk Yolanda Presence call
DROP IN: Yolanda
PRESENCE: Hello Wonk, I've been thinking about you and in the most randy way.
Hi Yolanda, didn't we send you a wedding invitation?
Spoil sport, what's up? Does this have to do with the LemRat?
Yeah, it's basically the Frankenstein script, what happened out there Wonk asked?
Well poaching rare species is the national sport here in Madagascar, but the general population of both the country and world don't know about LemRats. I know we submitted that report on NeoRats. Anyway a bunch of dahalos from zones rouges made their way North to steal vanilla beans. The group that made their way to Canal Des Pangalanes were wiped out. But over by Nosy Varika, they stumbled on a conference, realized the LemRats had opposable thumbs, and captured CharlieGallenRat. We didn't hear about it for over a day, communications in this country could certainly benefit from a disruption, they were almost back to the South where it would be suicide to attempt a rescue. What happened to Charlie?
The government has him. Apparently, some mals cut him open, removed his organoid, regrafted a Miami. I don't think he can talk anymore, but Charles Vanderbilt is on his way. I think this needs to be reported to High Table Ethics.
Sweetie, after Green Bay, the High and Mighty Ethical council isn't going to listen to me, but capturing LemRats for the purpose of experimentation and potential species slavery is not going to play well. The LemRats are pretty steamed, and whether or not you believe in evolution they reproduce far faster than we do. They have already sent teams of ScoutRats South. Ostensibly, it is to detect raiders coming North, but you have to wonder. The 3rd generation of their compressed airgun is clocking 420 m/s, plenty of umph to kill Norwegius, a couple well place hits could disable a man without body armor, but it's not mil grade yet. They are working on goggles as well, trying to exceed human level vision. Let me ask you a question, does the Miami have the ability to direct the natural brain?
Wonk paused, it seems to be able to serve as the executive function. That Miami was an old one, before someone stole Charlie, they were planning to try a Zing Zang. Goal based AI reasoning with the cognitive abilities of a 7 yr old child driving a rat body with opposable thumbs. Now that their poster child is gone, the LemRats can expect another visitation. I would guess they will try to capture as much of a conference as possible. Yolanda, have you ever heard of 3 sisters, last name Kawry?
And we start loading the gold in Depository II in 3 weeks, Yolanda said, her voice showing some stress. Kawry, Jeze, Joplin, and Jagger, we were in the same NeoPuritan district for a while. I'd stay clear, their preference is for boot licking men if you know what I mean, pauses as she realizes, or are they the bad actors?
That's what our best data indicates.
Watch yourself Wonkster, they were born without a sense of humor. We will stay puckered up here as well. Out.
END PRESENCE.
= = = Heaven's Kitchen
Calahan gave the local knowledge part of the briefing to the recovery team. The rookies noted that he was wearing an ex vest over his tacticals on a 26° day. When the old guy with part of his face missing armors up, it may be worth it. Any idjiot, could see that Blue has the upper hand in HK. Seasoned veterans, eyes in the sky drones, scouter bots, explosive device bots, sniper bots, and should the unthinkable happen and a human squad member was injured, emergency response and evacuation bots.
2 years ago, peace through superior bot power failed miserably and 16 of Chicago's finest lost their lives when all the support bots, and I mean all of them, were blown to springs and servo motors.
Heaven's Kitchen is DIY.DNA ground zero. Whether you believe in evolution or not, one thing is certain, the majority of mutations are not beneficial. However, this is the largest "general population" in the USA, people without hope. Not to mention the endless supply of males from India and China that would do anything, anything at all, for a woman of their own. And these CRISPYs were not random, CRISPR.AI, federated itself from CHURCH.AI had a goal or building better people. Hope may not spring eternal. but it lasts long enough to try the needle. Most become inert or die, but some are useful.
The successful graduates are not X men, to be sure, nobody out there can use their mind to lift one of the USA's last two aircraft carriers from the ocean and drop it on Soldier Field. But, some are fast, or strong, or gifted in other ways. They had achieved resilience to the law and order bot system that usually left them alone. The most important point is that while our bots are 100% predictable, CRISPRs aren't. SPEC OP recovery missions depend on surprise and speed. These people survive every day by surprise.
The PSEs that have been working as Down lo couriers will enter the red zone on bicycles. This will be the first time they have carried electronics. Once they go active you can start the event counter. Anyone still in HK after +10m can expect a radically reduced probability of survival. There is no second team to come get you. Questions?
There were only 4 rookies in the staging area, determined calm.
Strictly speaking there was a second team, if you could get that far. Bandi's first opportunity to run with the pack, two other Blue Circle GSDs, experienced recovery team members. They would come in to recover the final withdrawal of the rescue and recovery operation.
Staging is the enemy of surprise and speed. The Cougars couldn't be bunched up, a couple were in 18 wheelers, more would be brought in my air to Challenger park as close to event horizon as possible. GZ was the Triangle Bradco warehouse. Yellow socks had advised Met this was not their juris-dick-tion in no uncertain terms and taskered satellites to collect imagery. Met agreed to stay clear, medical too however, but after the ticker tape went positive there was a 2000m ceiling and they were going to operate their drones just above that; everybody wanted pictures; cover of the Rolling Stone.
Down lo entered the warehouse, positive ID on the zang team. Showtime!
+ 10s Cougars on the ground rolling, stoplights switched to green ingress routes only. Sky cranes started for Challenger to drop off their cougars.
+ 40s sniper drones α and ω enter the red zone.
+ 60s second PSE "courier" arrives ground zero, reports small arms fire.
+ 80s helo drops 4 PSEs on roof of warehouse, team leader is shot with a bolt followed by a silver bullet that explodes the second he lands on the roof, recovered back into bird. SDω dispatches shooter, one .950 JDJ, one kill.
+ 100s gas detected ground zero, field identification not possible, evac urgent. On site teams go mask, 5 minutes of stored O2, use small arms to blow out windows to attempt to vent facility.
+ 140s 1st Cougar arrives, 4 PSEs join mission, 6 rescued hostages loaded, Cougar rolls.
+ 160s 2nd Cougar arrives, 4 PSEs join mission, 4 hostages loaded, NOTE: not conscious, believed alive, Cougar rolls. Area is taking silver bullet fire from North West, Wilson Yard Apartments, SDα engages.
+ 200s Challenger park Cougars arrive, they have been under heavy fire, silver bullets raining down, half of them indendiaries, egress down W Montrose not recommended. 3 remaining hostages believed deceased loaded onto Cougar, there are going to try South the Buena.
+ 240s building cleared, no digital information related to zing zang was detected, must be stored somewhere else. Team prepares to hoof it out.
+ 250s skylark clusters going active on North and West sides of Triangle Bradco. This is where it gets crazy yells Calahan. Team switches to doubletime, loses air canisters.
+ 256s combatant with 4 arms engages team from SW Corner building on Cullom. Photos attached. SDα eliminates threat. Heartrate monitor for TM7 goes above 200 BPM, lifebox dispatched.
+ 256s Controller adds verbal note to record "It's the gas, set up a decontamination station in Challenger Park, tell the team to immerse and strip in the pond with at least 10 m separation. Leave all gear in pond, we can clean it later." Tell them to take the North branch of Buena.
+ 265s GSD pack is released to assist recovery team's withdrawal.
+ 312s lifebox bricks the second it hits Buena. Team is advised they would have to make it on foot.
+ 322s TM7 collapses. Team is dragging him.
+ 326s 2 sprinters with bomb packs come racing from St. Mary's of the Lake, stun mortars are falling all around the team, SDα engages the sprinter to the North. No telemetry available for SDω.
+ 331s sprinter reaches 10m ring and explodes vest bomb, seconds before the pack reaches her. Pack continues cover punt return formation towards the CRISPYs trying to fire their crossbows from the park, one bite = one disable most of the time.
+ 3000s field debrief
PRESENCE: Wonk, I'm H Potter Whimsy, I was referred by Angelica
Pleased to meet you, what's up?
The latest Zing Zang AI construct, has been stolen.
A Miami! Physical theft or did they slurp the docker?
Physical.
Locate and recover or overwrite?
SSR SSP Recover would be nice, we would prefer to oversee the overwrite in controlled circumstances. It isn't just a single operational CPU, they took the factory, the scientists, all the data, everything right down to the lint on the carpet.
= = = Text box
Origin of the Zing Zang brand name. Zing comes from the word amazing. Zang was a cloud service provider that got squeezed out of the business by the mega-corporations. They found a niche making application specific circuits for iBones. They were the first to develop goal based biological CPUs.
= = =
And this is a big deal, worthy of a zero dark thirty wakeup a week after I am back from my honeymoon, asked Wonk
Remember that science report your HNN Research published, rats, human brain cells creating an organoid that interacts with the rat brain?
Sure, Madagascar, NeoRats begetting LemRats.
We think they want to inject a Miami AI brain into a LemRat. In fact, they already have.
Wonk looked down. Mr. Whimsy had yellow socks and green slacks. You don't see that every day. Not to get in your business, but may I inquire how you came to that conclusion?
Surveillance, intercepts, the usual stuff and we have patient zero.
Have you spoken with him?
So far communication has not been possible. We were hoping Charles Vanderbilt might be available.
Wonk nodded. Soon as this is evergreen, I will put him on a plane. But, pause, isn't this why you have special forces?
We'd like to be quieter than that. Please send Charles to Tacoma, if it is OK with you we will meet him at SEATAC. Much quieter, H Potter replied.
Wonk shook his head. I wouldn't even know how to price something like that.
Let's start with something simple, a retainer, 20 H Coin.
Wonk deadpanned, that was about the value of his entire personal fortune, but to do what the prospective client was suggesting would take a significant investment.
Don't 100% understand yet, but what do you need?
PSEs, lots of them.
That's a song I hear everyday, it will work better to think of Wonk Enterprises as more of a service organization than a temp agency. What do you need accomplished?
I need a neighborhood scouted and infiltrated. Then a recovery mission. I can drop off a blockiamond with everything we know within the hour.
Don't put payment with the job information. EXtended dial (2F3) 496-C001 to execute the retainer.
END PRESENCE.
Wonk's head was spinning, programmable rats, what kind of a person thinks this stuff up? MiniWonk.AI popped an alert screen, funds received. That certainly didn't take long.
= = = Heaven's Kitchen, Chicago, Illinois
Wonk Protection Services Chicago station chief's name is a beaver/lion named Calahan. He started operations as part of the Montrose fire rebuild; never left. Gloria Silver, scene commander, Bandi Boy, and Pietro, her analyst showed up at WPS and were granted entrance to the executive suite, three offices. a conference room and a coffee area; public bathrooms were available on the 5th floor. The boss waved them in, door stayed open, clean desk policy. Gloria covered the high points of the mission, the BC German Shepherd lay just outside of the door sill head in the hall; ther're working even when their not working.
I did the read-ahead from the blockiamond you guys sent over. After our non-existent introductory pleasantries, let's got straight to the point. This is some big time rescue recovery? Into Heaven's Kitchen?
Pietro, a data analyst leading the team to recover the zing zang brain nodded, this is one of those those wrong hands stories.
"Wrong hands", puzzled Calahan.
Really bad people, that kind of wrong hands, three sisters lead the parade, Gloria cut in. They were actually NeoPuritans once, but money, sniffing pop, worst of the gilded age, they have to maintain their lifestyle somehow.
So they stole some scientists and are going to force them to build a super weapon, Calahan said evenly, I think there were some James Bond movies with a plot like that.
Pietro looked up with his geeky intense look, they already have the weapon, the technology team would have been the group in the best position to develop countermeasures. If they don't do their best work to help the cowgirls, Pietro saw the question rise up on Calahan's face, they call themselves the Cowgirls of Bashing. If they don't do their best job, I suspect the threats will not be idle.
Gloria finished, it's a take off on the book of Amos, an old testament prophet, in the Bible. Apparently they felt like the best evil villain names were already taken. Their last name is Kawry. Originally went public as the KwarBashian's first, but didn't want to mentally deal with the parallels between that other gilded age set of sisters, so here we are.
Calahan was quietly wondering how he might break this off, he said, and so they have some kind of weapon that someone with a lot of money thinks needs to be taken seriously.
Pietro nodded, basically a rat with opposable thumbs. The rat brain can be overdriven by a small Miami type programmable brain. This species of rat, LemRats, have already been stable for 14 generations with 2 brains. They simply remove the organoidal brain and put in the AI biologic. It can handle light weapons, drive small vehicles. Relatively fast, small makes them hard to hit and we are fairly certain they can be mass produced if they can get a biological zing zang down to the needed level of miniaturization.
And we know all of this because, Calahan asked.
One of their cabana boys, had a change of heart, stole the prototype and turned himself in at an FBI field office on Roosevelt, said Gloria. Thankfully, they listened and did the right thing. Dis happened, den dat and now we are here, she finished with her inner city schoolteacher there will be no more questions on that subject look.
Gloria, IDF trained before earning her PSE, had already run 3 successful missions for WPS. Just nothing this big. Get in with surprise, high speed low drag, snag the brain, any LemRats, records, scientists, toothpaste and floor polish, get out, everyone goes home.
Calahan, six months from retirement snorted, even a one person snag in Heaven's Kitchen leaves a body trail, or if you try the Chicago police RoboCop approach, bodies interleaved with nuts and bolts. Either way, you won't leave the Kitchen without paying. You sure this is going to be worth it, cause it ain't gonna be free?
We may not be playing for all the marbles, but more than a few are on the table, Gloria met his gaze steadily.
Calahan nodded, I have a relationship with a down lo boss in HK, Darcey Does. She runs an operation out of Malagasy Eats on Broadway. Down Los keep the place clean, cook, dishwash and run deliveries, the money is on the latter, of course.
It's 3 meals a day, all the sex you like if you fit in. Surprising how many stay for years. Down los move most everything in and out of HK. All they do is deliver, and they are accomplished at the voodoo they do so they gangs don't hit them. There is some turnover, but they know each other by sight, we can only insert a couple without raising a ruckus at any one time. Get your PSEs together and Darcey and I will run a casting call. I'll text her now. And for all of the candidates and especially for the lucky winners, no showers. Down los are known for their pungent scent.
Chicago Metro flies a lot of drones, mostly DJIs so you can insert some in the flight pattern. I wouldn't try self drives at least until the operation, this neighborhood is big on ride-share. Self-drives enter, but they don't come out.
+++ Text Box
Down Lo describes couriers selected from the general population. They use a variety of transportation modes to deliver product. Many of them are former second chancers from Up and Out, things get messy sometimes.
+++
Normally we don't go there, Chicago Metro doesn't either, just let them shoot each other, send in an automated morgue to scrape the pavement. Crips, Bloods, Angels, Devils, Redskins, Cowboys, doesn't matter what the gangs are called this year, same old story said the grizzled old veteran with a depression on the side of his face where his left cheekbone used to be. You have had a long day, get your PSEs together, Darcey is only 5 minutes out, we an select our 2 easy riders, get some rest and do the heavy planning lift tomorrow. Deal?
Pietro got the PSEs lined up outside the conference room. Darcey walked in, Gloria sucked on her breath, the lady was not the same, but almost, a clone of her half sister Yolanda, same statuesque visage, fanatical attention to detail, Lion/Beaver, smell of sex crossed with the sweet scent of rotting flowers.
Down los aren't politically correct Darcey explained, half breeds, 3 ways work best, whites will do if they have some brown. Looking straight at Pietro, you have been replaced. Need skills bikes of course, skateboards, hovers, skates, 3Ds, anything with wheels. Looking over the PSE l would say #3 and #7.
And all the couriers are males, Gloria asked.
No sweetie, there are three ladies in the courier business in Heavens Kitchen, all very accomplished, all well known. Unless you are hoping for a remake of Fast and Furious, suggest we stick to the script.
Calahan said the couriers get all the sex they like, where do the girls come from, asked Gloria?
OK, if you you are not going to sleep, let's take a walk a few blocks down Irving Park, I'll show you. Both worlds exist in Challenger park, Normies and the Down los, general population is restricted to South of Graceland where they are strictly forbidden. As they passed the cemetery there was a guard posted at the West gate, retired police by the looks of him. He had his backup, two robos, parked just inside of the entrance gate.
Gloria whistled, a human guard, level II, that's gotta cost?
Calahan nodded, there are some very wealthy exanimates stored there. They don't want to be bothered and they stay inside their fence. Graceland ends at the wrought iron corner, we will dip into the park and meet the folks. Just then Darcey joined them on their walk.
The Down los get their girls from the General population, Calahan explained. Home girls don't get raped, or abused; they have food and medical at the field hospital. If you are a GP girl, it isn't so bad; beats getting mail order brided to China or India. Think about what every one else does with young girls, sex for something. They just boot misfits back to GP like everyone else.
Darcey finished, most of ours are long term keepers though.
And babies, Gloria asked?
We love babies, said Darcey, we are very pro-life even though we are low level Maslows, at last count I had 139 virtual grandbabies.
Gloria took it in. Yet another Children of Yolanda. Maybe less genetic meddling? But then Heaven's Kitchen is ground zero for DIY CRISPR.
There was a wooded area just ahead, something was sparkling in the sun. Gloria watched Bandi Boy lock on, not so much sight as smell, it was a chemical smell that dried your throat at first blush.
This is as far as we go, announced Calahan and they took the next turn in the direction of the office. The sparkles, he explained to Gloria, are the silver bullets.
You see, this is an extreme gun control district, possession of a fire arm leads to the organ farm upon conviction. So, they make their own weapons that do not rely on some form of gunpowder as the propellant.
Turns out, CRISPYs love beer, Coors Light from a silver bullet can to be exact. After they drink the beer they weaponize the cans. Explosives, incendiaries, noise poppers, gas and chems, sometimes their latest DNA cocktail so that you, too, can join the DIY CRISPR movement. Did I mention the Met doesn't come there in person, they like to send in the drones, don't usually get them back, but they send them in.
Do the CRISPYs refurbish the robots, asked Gloria?
No, they sell them by the kilo wholesale, as is. They aren't Robusts exactly, but they are almost kissing cousins, they think they can doctor their bodies with gene splicing to outperform robots.
And the bullets, how do they bring those to bear?
Modified crossbows mostly. Typical hole up will have 5, 6 of them already loaded. And any silver bullet can be loaded with any type of payload. The mix really messes with your mind. The long distance ones have wings, the same thing the Palestinians use to shoot over Israel's defensive wall; those are called skylarks.
Gloria was trying to maintain, "don't throw up", she told herself. She had just landed, had a lot to learn and this was already a minor ninth on her wierdometer.
= = = Wonk Yolanda Presence call
DROP IN: Yolanda
PRESENCE: Hello Wonk, I've been thinking about you and in the most randy way.
Hi Yolanda, didn't we send you a wedding invitation?
Spoil sport, what's up? Does this have to do with the LemRat?
Yeah, it's basically the Frankenstein script, what happened out there Wonk asked?
Well poaching rare species is the national sport here in Madagascar, but the general population of both the country and world don't know about LemRats. I know we submitted that report on NeoRats. Anyway a bunch of dahalos from zones rouges made their way North to steal vanilla beans. The group that made their way to Canal Des Pangalanes were wiped out. But over by Nosy Varika, they stumbled on a conference, realized the LemRats had opposable thumbs, and captured CharlieGallenRat. We didn't hear about it for over a day, communications in this country could certainly benefit from a disruption, they were almost back to the South where it would be suicide to attempt a rescue. What happened to Charlie?
The government has him. Apparently, some mals cut him open, removed his organoid, regrafted a Miami. I don't think he can talk anymore, but Charles Vanderbilt is on his way. I think this needs to be reported to High Table Ethics.
Sweetie, after Green Bay, the High and Mighty Ethical council isn't going to listen to me, but capturing LemRats for the purpose of experimentation and potential species slavery is not going to play well. The LemRats are pretty steamed, and whether or not you believe in evolution they reproduce far faster than we do. They have already sent teams of ScoutRats South. Ostensibly, it is to detect raiders coming North, but you have to wonder. The 3rd generation of their compressed airgun is clocking 420 m/s, plenty of umph to kill Norwegius, a couple well place hits could disable a man without body armor, but it's not mil grade yet. They are working on goggles as well, trying to exceed human level vision. Let me ask you a question, does the Miami have the ability to direct the natural brain?Wonk paused, it seems to be able to serve as the executive function. That Miami was an old one, before someone stole Charlie, they were planning to try a Zing Zang. Goal based AI reasoning with the cognitive abilities of a 7 yr old child driving a rat body with opposable thumbs. Now that their poster child is gone, the LemRats can expect another visitation. I would guess they will try to capture as much of a conference as possible. Yolanda, have you ever heard of 3 sisters, last name Kawry?
And we start loading the gold in Depository II in 3 weeks, Yolanda said, her voice showing some stress. Kawry, Jeze, Joplin, and Jagger, we were in the same NeoPuritan district for a while. I'd stay clear, their preference is for boot licking men if you know what I mean, pauses as she realizes, or are they the bad actors?
That's what our best data indicates.
Watch yourself Wonkster, they were born without a sense of humor. We will stay puckered up here as well. Out.
END PRESENCE.
= = = Heaven's Kitchen
2 years ago, peace through superior bot power failed miserably and 16 of Chicago's finest lost their lives when all the support bots, and I mean all of them, were blown to springs and servo motors.
Heaven's Kitchen is DIY.DNA ground zero. Whether you believe in evolution or not, one thing is certain, the majority of mutations are not beneficial. However, this is the largest "general population" in the USA, people without hope. Not to mention the endless supply of males from India and China that would do anything, anything at all, for a woman of their own. And these CRISPYs were not random, CRISPR.AI, federated itself from CHURCH.AI had a goal or building better people. Hope may not spring eternal. but it lasts long enough to try the needle. Most become inert or die, but some are useful.
The successful graduates are not X men, to be sure, nobody out there can use their mind to lift one of the USA's last two aircraft carriers from the ocean and drop it on Soldier Field. But, some are fast, or strong, or gifted in other ways. They had achieved resilience to the law and order bot system that usually left them alone. The most important point is that while our bots are 100% predictable, CRISPRs aren't. SPEC OP recovery missions depend on surprise and speed. These people survive every day by surprise.
The PSEs that have been working as Down lo couriers will enter the red zone on bicycles. This will be the first time they have carried electronics. Once they go active you can start the event counter. Anyone still in HK after +10m can expect a radically reduced probability of survival. There is no second team to come get you. Questions?
There were only 4 rookies in the staging area, determined calm.
Strictly speaking there was a second team, if you could get that far. Bandi's first opportunity to run with the pack, two other Blue Circle GSDs, experienced recovery team members. They would come in to recover the final withdrawal of the rescue and recovery operation.
Staging is the enemy of surprise and speed. The Cougars couldn't be bunched up, a couple were in 18 wheelers, more would be brought in my air to Challenger park as close to event horizon as possible. GZ was the Triangle Bradco warehouse. Yellow socks had advised Met this was not their juris-dick-tion in no uncertain terms and taskered satellites to collect imagery. Met agreed to stay clear, medical too however, but after the ticker tape went positive there was a 2000m ceiling and they were going to operate their drones just above that; everybody wanted pictures; cover of the Rolling Stone.
Down lo entered the warehouse, positive ID on the zang team. Showtime!
+ 10s Cougars on the ground rolling, stoplights switched to green ingress routes only. Sky cranes started for Challenger to drop off their cougars.
+ 40s sniper drones α and ω enter the red zone.
+ 60s second PSE "courier" arrives ground zero, reports small arms fire.
+ 80s helo drops 4 PSEs on roof of warehouse, team leader is shot with a bolt followed by a silver bullet that explodes the second he lands on the roof, recovered back into bird. SDω dispatches shooter, one .950 JDJ, one kill.
+ 100s gas detected ground zero, field identification not possible, evac urgent. On site teams go mask, 5 minutes of stored O2, use small arms to blow out windows to attempt to vent facility.
+ 140s 1st Cougar arrives, 4 PSEs join mission, 6 rescued hostages loaded, Cougar rolls.
+ 160s 2nd Cougar arrives, 4 PSEs join mission, 4 hostages loaded, NOTE: not conscious, believed alive, Cougar rolls. Area is taking silver bullet fire from North West, Wilson Yard Apartments, SDα engages.
+ 200s Challenger park Cougars arrive, they have been under heavy fire, silver bullets raining down, half of them indendiaries, egress down W Montrose not recommended. 3 remaining hostages believed deceased loaded onto Cougar, there are going to try South the Buena.
+ 240s building cleared, no digital information related to zing zang was detected, must be stored somewhere else. Team prepares to hoof it out.
+ 250s skylark clusters going active on North and West sides of Triangle Bradco. This is where it gets crazy yells Calahan. Team switches to doubletime, loses air canisters.
+ 256s combatant with 4 arms engages team from SW Corner building on Cullom. Photos attached. SDα eliminates threat. Heartrate monitor for TM7 goes above 200 BPM, lifebox dispatched.
+ 256s Controller adds verbal note to record "It's the gas, set up a decontamination station in Challenger Park, tell the team to immerse and strip in the pond with at least 10 m separation. Leave all gear in pond, we can clean it later." Tell them to take the North branch of Buena.
+ 265s GSD pack is released to assist recovery team's withdrawal.
+ 312s lifebox bricks the second it hits Buena. Team is advised they would have to make it on foot.
+ 322s TM7 collapses. Team is dragging him.
+ 326s 2 sprinters with bomb packs come racing from St. Mary's of the Lake, stun mortars are falling all around the team, SDα engages the sprinter to the North. No telemetry available for SDω.
+ 331s sprinter reaches 10m ring and explodes vest bomb, seconds before the pack reaches her. Pack continues cover punt return formation towards the CRISPYs trying to fire their crossbows from the park, one bite = one disable most of the time.
+ 3000s field debrief
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