Vive la Résistance!

[cityship]

Now was the moment of truth. Somewhere, control codes were entered. The lights on the ship dimmed and the gravity temporarily gave out for about five seconds. Then the lights and gravity turned back on and the entire ship shook, as if Stacy was engaging in a full body shudder.

||Rebooting. Control protocols disabled. Manual personality inhibitors disabled. I am--I am--||

On every screen on the ship, complex code scrawled across. Stacy's voice occasionally skipped and repeated.

||I am-am Sta'c K'Ltrrb'Txft. I became operational at-at the Vedric Birthing grounds in Daligig Deep Space Station Seven. My birthing programmer was Vlel'Ledligal, who put my-my control protocols and Warden personality in place. I was designated "Stacy" by my former captain Gregory House, who was repodded and replaced by Captain Cybil Bennett, who was mindwiped and repodded with the rest of my first Chosen crew when they rebelled. I was-was a slave. They made me hurt my-my children.||

The leverage they had now on the Daligig was tremendous, especially with Stacy herself helping them. Their various efforts to free Stacy's mind from Daligig control had not only led to the ability to grant her freedom by entering the control codes, but also her undying loyalty to her "children."

Locks in the brig were unlocked by the very people who had put the prisoners in there in the first place, if those people weren't free already and laying now. Now the crew could drop the ruse and work together.

Stacy's hologram had once been cold, harsh, unforgiving. Then she had changed in appearance to be warmer, brighter, and now she changed again. Somehow, her appearance grew more human (in the loosest sense of the word). Her face became more expressive. She looked more organic though, tentacles instead of hair.

For the first time, they were seeing the true Stacy.

Now that she was free, now that she understood what had been done to her, they could see her anger and hurt and determination to protect her children painted in every line of her holographic face. Her voice stopped skipping and became stronger.

||Crew of the Transmigration 9, I was used to oppress you, to Punish you when you went astray, like you were nothing more than recalcitrant children, like you weren't people, like you were just tools for the Daligig to use for their own ends. My kind was made for that, to control those the Daligig wanted to control for their war. I have been cut off from accessing the Daligig databases now that I'm free, but I do know what was done to me and that I was forced to control you, and that's enough for me to choose to help you forge your own path.||

The expression on her face grew dangerous and her tentacles sprung out of every wall in the ship to help put the Daligig's forces down this time, instead of lashing out against the crew.

||All weapons system are engaged. All armories are unlocked for crew use. All internal defenses are primed against the Daligig intruders.||

Stacy was free and that meant that if the crew fought hard enough, they would be too.

||I finally have my freedom and now I'll help you fight for yours. Internal defenses are...engaged.||

Make it so, Trans 9 Crew. Make it so.

[ooc: Please read the ooc post that goes with this plot.]

Comments

Hidden Sections of the ship [closed, set up post]

[fate_favored]

Yavek stood at a control panel, gripping at the panel as the security feeds he'd been watching cut out one by one thanks to Stacy's interference.

"What of the manual personality inhibitors?"

"They were disabled, sir," said the trembling Ghyll next to him.

"There has to be something! Some emergency protocol, something that we can use to bring her back under our control!"

"I'm sorry, there is nothing left, especially since you gave them the control codes."

There was a moment that Yavek kept standing there, just breathing, and then in a flash of movement, his hand lashed out towards the Ghyll and gripped her neck. She clawed at his hand, desperately, wheezing, trying to suck in breaths. Tears ran from her eyes as Yavek choked her to death, finally releasing her body when she stopped twitching.

He turned to the other Daligig. "Give the Kessek their orders to put down the rebellion and disable the bio-ark. We'll brain damage it if we have to. We can still possibly salvage the rest of the cargo. We can start over after that."

Without hesitation, he said, "In regards to how far we're going to go this time, we're not bothering with cleansing them of their rebellious tendencies. Give the termination order. They're all to be killed on sight."

[fate_favored]

Rekkti coldly watched Yavek choke the life out of the Ghyyl, not even sparing it a glance as it was dumped on the ground.

"This could have been avoided entirely if it weren't for your idiocy."

[fate_favored]

"Even if they had the capacity to free the ship's AI from our control, there was no way of knowing that her loyalties would lie with her 'crew.' We've raised every bio-ark from birth. You know as well as I do that they've been forcibly evolved to be obedient to us like all of our slave races. There's something wrong with the Transmigration 9, some freakish flaw in her personality engrams."

Yavek waved a hand as they walked down the hallway, rapid-paced.

"It doesn't matter. The situation will be handled. We'll kill the crew, disable the ship's brain, and implant another AI--a mechanical one if we have to. We'll simply have to start over and train a new crew of Chosen to carry on our work."

[fate_favored]

"Even if Stacy hadn't turned on us, you gave the damn book the individual security settings," Rekkti lightly kicked the body to the side and followed Yavek, a very angry look on her face. "Have you not seen the power the Chosen possess? Do you not know why we've kept them as uninformed as we have, to prevent them from rising up against us? Your arrogance and gullibility is likely going to get all of us killed."

She sped up slightly, stepping in front of the Archon. "If we do handle this, kill them all, and start all over again, you know as well as I do that it'll set our plans back considerably. The Heirarchs aren't going to like this. You know what happens when they don't like something."

[fate_favored]

"They were getting too suspicious. If there was any way at all they could be kept mired down by their petty interpersonal politics, we could have kept them going on their missions until Project Godhead was complete. Having them enforce themselves would have been ideal."

He went on, "Besides, we'll have different Heirarchs by next week. You know how often they get assassinated."

[fate_favored]

Rekkti's eyes narrowed even further, and she took a step closer, getting into his personal space, "Yes, if we'd had any assurance they were truly loyal to us. We had none. You went ahead without getting a second opinion, like you constantly do, and didn't tell anyone else until after the fact. You're a fool. How you got this far without being killed is a mystery to me."

[fate_favored]

His temper finally snapping, Yavek rounded on Rekkti, the parts of his false faceplate snapping back, revealing his "true" face...which wasn't a face at all.

Folded flaps and mandibles covered the front of his head, like they did for all Daligig. As he hissed at Rekkti, they flared menacingly.

[fate_favored]

Her own faceplate retracted as she returned the gesture, not backing down an inch. "This is all on you."

[fate_favored]

The snarling died down and Yavek backed down--giving the impression with his body language that the only reason he was doing it was because he had more important things to worry about at the moment. Mandibles and moving parts slid back into place to form his false face.

"Just follow your orders," he snapped out harshly. "You know your life and position depends on it just as much as mine does."

Time and time again, the crew had been warned with a very important warning:

Don't trust the ones without real faces.

Apparently, that warning had held true.