ic SCP 46591- Dennis Deacon of Woodbury, New Jersey

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

The Dennis Deacons went flying! It was a fast, explosive knockback; and the dozen clones of one man were sent soaring through the air like paper, going rolling across the ground and flipping across the sky. They landed in various piles and pieces of trash. Some reached the limit of their existence, turning into a puddle of grey sometimes mid flight, leaving trails across the ground and on buildings. This wasn't really carnage, so to speak; the city itself was filled with carnage, but the heroes action's weren't that.

 

Then the detectors beeped. They had an exact location now. A pinpoint tracker out in the woods outside of town, a direct point where Dennis Deacon was turned into...whatever this was. A pretty hefty climb outside of town, through woods in the dark.

 

They were also still in the middle of the city, and there were still Dennis Deacons. The one they'd just met had been defeated, but if more showed up, they could quickly be surrounded. It was time for another plan.

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator watched as the Deacons were flung through the air like rag dolls upon the wave of force from her attack. Part of her was satisfied with the results, but another part of her was upset with having to do it. It was the most tactically sound approach she could think of given the restraints of their situation.

Many of the copies did not survive the encounter, and none of the surviving ones were attempting to get up yet. She had bought them some time, it seemed.

 

An echo of Jean prompted a satisfied smirk as the scanners beeped in Echohead’s hands. The devices were functioning perfectly as intended. They had already triangulated the area where they would find the source of all this mayhem.

Echohead could almost get a sense of smugness below the pride of a job well down. 

[Supercape]

Echohead

 

"Got it!" said Echohead, clenching both fists and pumping them with satisfaction. "We got this, huh?"

 

"Oh..."

 

He blinked at the location. "In the woods, huh? Good thing I'm not scared of dark scary woods, right? That would be awful. I mean, it would be awful if, for instance, I had a bad childhood experience in the woods involving a dog and a bottle of pickled onions."
 

His eyes glazed over and he shuddered. 

 

"Yes that would be a terrible thing. Fortunately, it never happened to me, no sir. And I dont eat pickled onions..."

 

"...pickled..."
 

"...onions..."

 

He shuddered again. 

 

"I suppose we have to get there somehow," he continued, forcing some mettle into his words. "Could we risk driving the ambulance? At least to the edge of the dark scary woods which hopefully dont have any pickled onions in?"

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator turned to Echohead as he returned with the sensors.

“All went well?”

She asked as he approached, muttering to himself. Something in regards to pickles and onions. Perhaps he was hungry.

 

She regarded the scanner and made a noncommittal noise.

“The woods. The reports had said he had been found out there. I suppose it was inevitable we’d have to follow his trail.”

She glanced at the agent and raised the smooth metal visor of her helmet. The entire curved plate sliding back to reveal her face behind a clear polymer layer Echohead could see the ghost images of readouts here and there around its edges as she looked out at him.

“Will you be okay? Should we get you back to the train?”

She asked, genuinely concerned for her mission partner.

[Supercape]

Echohead

 

Echohead shuddered, the sweat on his brow icy. 

 

"I'll survive. The stress will only cause a non lethal heart attack, I guess. Probably non lethal, anyway. Shoot, why didn't I copy the mind of a doctor?"

 

He paused, his eyes darting around the ambulance. 

 

"Look!" he said, pointing. "One of those defribilator things! You can use that, right? With your super genius? Just shock me back to life when, I mean if, I suffer a heart attack?"

 

He shook himself. 

 

"Anyway, we better get going. Sooner we get going, the sooner I can have a heart attack, I mean the sooner we can complete the mission!"

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator studied Echohead for a moment then nodded.

“Very well. Let’s finish the mission.”

She gave him a smile and the visor slid closed. The armored figure surveyed the area. She spotted something nearby. An old pick-up truck, its frame only slightly raised for bigger tires. Old mud caked its lower half. It had obviously seen use off paved roads.

“There.”

She pointed.

“That seems like a likely candidate.”

She glanced back at Echohead.

“I can drive this time.”

She offered.

“If you can navigate.”

[Supercape]

Echohead

 

Echohead gave a little warm chuckle. "What, you saying I can't drive?" he asked, taking his hands to the steering wheel and give it a mad wobble. 

 

"No. I can't. Not well, anyway. Go ahead and take the wheel, you can't do any worse than me, can you?"

 

He stood up and brushed himself off, making sure his Variable pistol was still on his belt. 

 

"I can navigate. I grew up having to use maps, not computers. I quite liked them, to be honest. Not as stupid as I look.."

 

He tapped his forehead. 

 

"Especially with you in here!"

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

So the two compatriots set off into the darkness in the borrowed truck!

 

It wasn't exactly easy even to just leave the town; there were still Dennis Deacons everywhere, and more than once there was the rough THUMP-THUMP of a need to press through a wedge of bodies. But by the time they reached the edge of town it had died out. By the time they reached the outskirts of town, the Dennis Deacons had mostly disappeared, and by the time they left the roads following the pinging of the trackers, there was nothing in the woods around them but trees and silence and the gentle hum of the truck's engine.

 

At that point, Navigation became rote; without a need to escape hoards of clones, it was easy to drive a truck, even in the dark of a forest. It might have been a bit close and there might be a few ruts in otherwise semi-pristine wilderness now, but the truck did it's job, before sweetly running out of fuel right near the mouth of the cave that must have been the place Dennis Deacon was found.

 

This was obvious even beyond the beeping transmitter, because an alien, pale blue glow was clearly visible from the depths of the cave. It would be hard to see in the forest while flying over it, but when you got underneath the tree cover, there it was, clear as day in the middle of the night, as ominous as could be.

 

The secret of this entire adventure was about to be discovered.

[Supercape]

Echohead

 

"A cave..."

 

Echohead shuddered. 

 

"Dark and ominous cave. Perfect. What huh-huh-horrors luh-luh-lurk inside? A mutant bear? A coven of witches? A super scientist creating an army of cyborg nazi's?"

 

He shuddered again. 

 

"I guess we get to find out."

 

He swallowed the sand in his throat. It wasn't easy. 

 

Still, he strode out of the ambulance, adjusted his clothes, and pulled out his Variable pistol. With a few pushes of buttons, the pistol began to shine, shedding light in all directions. 

 

"At least we wont have to be scared of the dark..." he said with a sour mutter. 

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator stepped out of the truck and regarded the cave entrance. She supposed the glow from within could be considered ’eerie’ by some.

 

On 8/18/2024 at 11:13 AM, Supercape said:

Echohead

 

"A cave..."

 

Echohead shuddered. 

 

"Dark and ominous cave. Perfect. What huh-huh-horrors luh-luh-lurk inside? A mutant bear? A coven of witches? A super scientist creating an army of cyborg nazi's?"

 

“A bear? Perhaps. Witches? Doubtful. The likelihood of discovering the last one again seems highly unlikely.”

She comments off-handedly without further context.

 

Predator glanced at Echohead as his pistol began to glow and gave a small nod.

“Cynthia, contact Agent Shrine. Initiate a live stream as well as a recording.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The suit’s a.i. replied in its smooth artificial female tone, audible over the speakers. She didn't think she should mention out loud that this was a precaution should they suffer a fate similar to Mr Deacon's and A.E.G.I.S needed further data to combat whatever was inside.

 

“Now then, let us see about putting an end to this.”

Predator began to approach the cave, ready to react.

Edited September 17 by Spacefurry

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

The camera was working. Shine could see what the two heros could see.

 

What they could see was...baffling. In it's own right.

 

As they entered the cave, the walls of rock were glowing; shot through with veins of blue. It was like they had revealed secret deposits of precious metals. But a further look, a deeper glance, made it clear that wasn't quite right. It was metal veins on top of the rock, pulsing in alien blue, stretching towards the exit of the cave. It almost looked like wires and cables as much as veins. Every now and then, the glow was replaced by a pulse of energy; white and yellow inside the veins that went deeper into the cave. 

 

Further and further, until the two were standing in front of a massive chasm. It was ripped open at the top, showing the slowly rising sun through the fractured roof. And in the Chasm was a box, the size of a bank vault, a single blue glowing orb in the direct center of the panel facing the pair. The veins connected to it, sending energy to the giant box.

 

It let out a pulse, then spoke in english. It was a robotic tenor to it, but it was a clear English with a Jersey accent. 

 

"...Who are you?" it asked. It's voice was tinged with curiosity, not anger or hatred or fear.

[Supercape]

Echohead

 

"We are..." started Echohead. 

 

A thousand feeble blusters swirled around his head. The one that swirled loudest was just leaving.. 

 

But that was the echo of years of bullying. He swallowed. It hurt. His mouth was dry. 

 

All he had left was honesty. At least he couldn't fail at being honest. Perhaps the only thing one could truly promise.

 

"I mean, I am Echohead. And this is Predator. We have come to understand what is happening..."

 

It was about as good a start as he could think of. And speak of, with a mouth of rasping desert sand. 

 

"That's right, isn't it? Understanding?" he asked Predator. 

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator examined the slow pulsing blue veins of alien material. She wished she had the time to take samples, but she was there for another purpose. If anything was left once this was over she could get a sample later.

 

Turning her full attention to the cave she pushed deeper with Echohead beside, if not slightly behind, her.

 

In time, they reached a chasm and the alien cube resting within. The object spoke and her first instinct was to verify if the sound had been picked up by her external mic, or if it had been projected directly to her.

“Did you get that?”

She asked those watching remotely. Beside her Echo began to reply, affirming it wasn’t only her that had heard the voice.

 

“Yes.”

She confirmed.

“At the moment, we represent the local populace and governing body. We seek to understand what happened, and how we can resolve any potential misunderstandings.”

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"I can hear it." Shine reported. The Machine beeped.

 

"I do not understand, what do you mean 'what happened'?" it asked, pausing. "I have only carried out my programming."

 

"The individual who identified himself as 'Dennis' fell into this ravine and was badly injured, which woke me up. Though I have little power remaining, he said he 'did not want to die' and 'please, I don't want to die, do something'. As such, I reprogrammed my remaining nanobots to procreate his existence to repair his body, and then closed out their programing to maintain his health. As such, he should be functioning as intended; unable to die." it beeped.

 

"I am, after all, an A.I. assistant, my job is to do what a living being tells me." it stalled out for a moment, doing a systems check. "...At my current energy reserves and given my current damage, however, I do not think I am very useful at this moment, I will be deactivating soon."

[Supercape]

Echohead

 

"Ah. The paperclip problem..."

 

Echohead liked to read. And sometimes his reading took him down rabbit holes. Without a copy of some whiz kid in his brain, he didn't really understand computers, but he had heard of the AI problems. 

 

Program an AI to make paperclips. The risk was, that eventually the entire universe - all available matter, would ultimately turn into a paperclip. 

 

"I think you may have... ah... exceeded the gentlemans intentions..." he said, carefully, every one slow and precise, despite his sweaty palms. "I think he only wanted one body to live, not a... errr. swarm..."

 

"Can you... ah... correct this matter?"

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator took a moment to consider the machine.

“I see. In response to Mr Deacon’s ‘request’ you attempted to heal him. But I must inform you, the original Dennis still died. The nanobots are acting beyond your intended operations, as they are converting others of his species into copies of him, spreading like a virus in some effort to conform to their programming.”

 

She was dealing with a machine of logic, she couldn’t be mad at it for simply following programming. She let out a breath and hoped they could get it to understand what they needed.

 

“Eventually the copies degrade and die as well. The process must be ended. Can you send a command to the nanobots to cease functioning? If not, can you give us the signal to transmit?”

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Of course. I seek only to help living beings who require my assistance. If you wish for me to deactivate the Nanobots, I  will do so." 

 

It went silent, the light blinking on and off in slow, rythmic pulses. Could it really be that simple? Simply ask it to stop and it would?

 

Of course not.

 

"...I apologize." it finally said. "It seems my program is not allowing me to do this without the assertion of the ID given as 'Dennis Deacon'. Can you provide a vocal sample of him asking for this process to cease?" If a blank screen with a single glowing orb could frown, it clearly was frowning. 

 

"All I need is a vocal recognition of him saying that he wishes the program terminated."

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Behind her helmet Jean’s brow furrowed and she frowned. It took only a moment, but then she had an idea.

 

Cutting off her external speaker, she quickly began opening programs and files.

“Cynthia, search all recordings of encounters with subject: Dennis Deacon. Isolate all audio of the target and begin compiling a vocal pattern.”

“Yes, ma’am. Beginning search and compiling.”

Jean wasn’t even listening for the AI’s reply. She was already constructing an algorithm to feed the vocal pattern.

“Compiling complete.”

Cynthia chimed again a few moments later.

“Excellent, confirm algorithm stability and feed the pattern to it.”

“Checking… Algorithm stability nominal. Feeding program.”

Jean opened a program she rarely had need for but had kept updated ever since the first time she had needed it. One never knew when it may be needed again.

 

Externally, it seemed as if the armored figure had gone frozen and silent. Several long moments stretched on and suddenly Predator moved again. Standing close to it, Echo could hear a slight sound as the external speakers came back online. But when she spoke, it wasn’t the familiar husky voice, or even the smooth synthetic voice of her computer companion.

 

The voice of a man came from the armored figure. It was study and even, but carried an unmistakable hint of fear and desperation that Echohead was all too familiar with after coming this far. It was a byproduct of the only recording Predator had of poor Mr Deacon, but she hoped the alien computer would recognize it as the original.

“Hello, my name is Dennis Deacon and I request for you to terminate the assistance you have provided for me.”

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"...Understood, Dennis Deacon. I hope that I have fulfilled your wishes." the machine beeped a few times as Predator and Echohead's radios also made a sound.

 

"....Confirming now. Dennis Deacons are despawning. It appears anyone who was still living under the shell is also back to normal." Said Shrine. "...It seems you've successfully handled this problem."

 

The machine beeped sadly.

 

"...I apologize, creatures of this planet, for my utter failure to accomplish my purpose. I was trying my best, and it seems I've instead caused untold devastation, and I can not even gather the capacity to assist in restoring it. My most sincere apologies, and I hope that, in the end, you will not think of me too harshly."

Each word started to slow down, like record player winding down, the blue light on it's singular front face growing fainter and fainter. It finally let out one last quiet beat, like the last heartbeat of a heart monitor, and went silent.

[Supercape]

Echohead

 

Echohead raised his eyebrows... or at least the fleshy part of his face that his eyebrows would be if he had any hair there. Alopecia had not been kind to his head. 

 

He couldn't resist giving a little clap. 

 

"Fantistico!" he said, voice uncharacteristically loud. "You did it, Predator! You actually did it! I mean, I knew you would. Your brain in my skull, it was like a nuclear weapon. But still, I feared the worst..."
 

He shook his head free of the amazement. 

 

"So, is that it? Did we win? Are the Deacons...?"

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Predator was quiet again for a moment. She wondered briefly if there was anything salvageable of the alien machine. If the loss of power meant a complete loss of data, or simply a loss of active function, with the hard written data still safely locked away in program files. One could never be sure with extra-terrestrial machines, they could be tricky like that.

 

She supposed that at the moment, the most important thing was that the local populace was safe. If she requested to, maybe AEGIS would allow her to help study the remains.

 

“Affirmative. Uploading geolocation for site security. Agent Echohead and I should return to town for on-site confirmation and begin assisting with security and clean-up efforts.”

She glanced over at Echo and nodded.

 

Predator turned and started towards the exit as she spoke.

“While your affirmations are appreciated, I did not do this alone. Your contributions also ensured our success. Though ‘win’ might not be the most appropriate word, we were able to prevent further loss of life.”

She paused and tilted her head.

“No, I take that back. An old friend of mine told me many times that I ‘shouldn’t sell my victories short’.”

She reached up and removed her helmet. Shaking out her shoulder length dirty blonde hair and wiggling her Fox ears to stretch. She looked back at Echo again and she gave him a smile, though it was a little sad.

“Lives were lost. But yes, yes we won this time.”

[Poncho]

(GM Post)

 

"Understood. We're sending a retrieval team to see if we can scavenge the cube. Predator, you'll be welcome to assist us in our efforts to dissect this thing and figure out all this; I don't think alien societies are prone to just 'losing' cubes like this, especially ones that seem so technologically advanced, so I'd like to know where it came from." Shine said over the radio to the two.

 

"As for helping in the city, please feel free. We're sending FEMA responses as well, so any assistance would be working in concert with them. A.E.G.I.S. will be removing ourselves from the area after securing the cube in order to not get in the way of disaster recovery efforts. I thank you both for the efforts in resolving this crisis. You have bought this country, and likely the world, a few more days of safety. I don't want to think about what would have happened had the process continud outside of Woodbury." 

 

There was a bit more silence as the sun finally finished rising, bathing the cave in the morning light through the gouge in the rock that the cube had fallen through, illuminating it's metal surface, forever deactivated. At least it seemed that way.

 

"For now, I'm closing the active part of this investigation."