NOT AFFILIATED WITH HARRISON ARMORY IN ANY WAY ——— Z-341-A CALLSIGN: ALPHABET SOUP CURRENT AFFILIATION: SMITH SHIMANO CORPRO THIS ACCOUNT IS NOT OFFICIALLY AFFILIATED WITH SSC NOR ITS SUBSIDIARIES. ——— ACCOUNT OPERATED WITH APPROVAL AND MODERATION OF UNION DoJ/HR
My DoJ/HR case worker insists that I need to find a hobby to occupy my time now, so they have set up an omninet account for me. I don’t see the point but maybe this will get them off my back about changing my name.
My name is Z-341-A. I am called Z or Alphabet Soup now. I use he/it pronouns (although I do not care either way if you call me by other pronouns). I am a specialized clone created in conjunction with a classified project during what is now called Union’s Second Committee. I currently pilot a GMS Chomolungma frame modified with experimental, proprietary SSC technology.
About one year and eight months ago, Union Thirdcomm representatives uncovered the moon which housed Seccom’s experimental cloning facility as well as thirty one living clones in cryosleep. Union has begun efforts to integrate the clones into the society of various core worlds. So, here I am.
I have little to say beyond this brief profile. My case worker believes that I will find friends or camaraderie in some capacity on here, so feel free to prove them correct. Contrary to popular belief, I do not bite.
Just wanted to make a quick announcement related to my lack of activity on my lancer tumblr rp blogs lately!! It feels bad to just go radio silent with no word, but I've been trying to get back into the swing of things.
Long story short, this author is transmasc, many of my characters are transmasc, and the recent discourse surrounding transmascs has sort of turned me off Tumblr as a website entirely. I stayed largely uninvolved, don't worry, but this did not save me from personal attacks and harassment. Similarly, lancer tumblr has not been free of microaggressions towards myself and my characters, both racist and transphobic. I don't blame any particular person for this, I've found that it's a common experience in any fandom space, but it's wildly discouraging to me.
In short, I'm exhausted.
I'm going to try to get back to my blogs, as I genuinely do enjoy writing for them, but I wouldn't hold my breath on them regaining as much activity as they used to see. My motivation has been largely killed by this whole debacle, and I can't promise I'll ever regain it.
[LT. KARRA]::Finally got these new prototypes in a functional state, and preliminary training has been promising. I think it's time to take them for a test run.
>//COMMUNICATIONS CLOSED
>//T_SIG::T.KARRA
//<
The TAXMEN unit subjectivities still need a lot of work. Forking the subjectivities of Z-line LOCUST units worked fine at first, but they’re coping pretty fucking badly without APMS units. The things just aren’t meant to be left alone.
Fuck, I can’t be everywhere at once.
The risk of a fight breaking out might be worth it. We’ll have to house them together. It’s not ideal but, fuck, they need something. Hate to see them struggling like this.
A research tech took a video, showed it to me. I’m going to keep it attached here, just in case I need it to requisition more handlers. God knows we’ll fucking need them.
[attached file: 081-breakdown.omiv]
[A poor quality, shaky video, likely taken on a dataslate in unsteady hands. The room is well-lit but small, reminiscent of a private room in military barracks. Spartan, steel, but with the bare minimum of comforts and necessities. The room has been torn apart, bedding and broken pieces of a chair strewn across the room, suspiciously fist-sized dents in the walls.]
[A clone unit stands at the back of the room, back to the camera. Its forehead rests against the metal wall, every muscle in its body coiled tight enough to snap, its fists clenching and unclenching in a rhythmic motion. It bears a superficial similarity to LOCUST clones in phenotype only. The same ashy, olive skin; the same shoddily chopped dark hair; the same hooked nose, though this one appears to have been twice broken already. This one is tall, easily two meters or taller. It is strong, broad shouldered and muscled, though the definition of said muscles pointed to a sustained malnourishment.]
[RESEARCH TECH]::α-081? You, uh, you haven’t eaten in a while. Or slept. Or… anything…
[The clone does not respond, though its muscles coil impossibly tighter as a table is righted and a tray of food set atop it. From the extensive denting of the tray, it seems like this has been a repeated fight. The researcher tries again.]
[R.T.]::081, you have to eat. Handler’s orders. If nothing else, please don’t go collapsing on us. You’re always so good when the Lieutenant’s around, why can’t you—
[α-081]::Handler requested.
[The clone’s voice is as tense as its body, its tone sharp and intent as it speaks. Its hands stop flexing, settling with its fists clenched so tightly that its knuckles blanched. The video feed jerks as the research tech flinches and, inadvisably, takes a step towards α-081.]
[R.T.]::Okay, uh… I can see what I can do, but Lt. Karra is usually pretty busy—
[α-081]::Handler requested.
[α-081 is louder this time, more forceful. The quiet creaking of metal is just barely audible on the feed.]
[R.T.]::I— I’ll get him. You can’t just starve yourself every time you want the Lieutenant, though! He said you’d be cooperative, even sociable, not— not throwing temper tantrums because your handler can’t fucking walk you through every step of being alive! Jesus fucking Christ, 081.
[The footage is silent for a long moment, α-081 standing statue-still as it is berated. Something so big, so clearly made for combat, clearly it should lash out.]
[The tiniest fraction of tension goes out of α-081’s shoulders, its hands moving to clutch at its upper arms hard enough to bruise. When it speaks next, its voice is quiet; far more reminiscent of the weak, sickly LOCUST clones.]
[A leaked document, describing a line of clones designated TAXMEN. Attached are cloning and genetic blueprints, designs for highly specialized hardsuits, and proposed frames — mostly schedule 1/2 or modified to be. Most prominently, an excerpt about selecting subjectivities.]
Recovered field testing with LOCUST unit Z-341 has proven the usefulness of LOCUST subjectivities in coordinated breach/clear operations in schedule 1/2 chassis. The TAXMEN, as more robust corpuses, aim to maximize the efficacy of these subjectivities in this field and offer a coordinated force rather than individual weapons where needed. A small selection of subjectivities, listed below, have been identified to have prime compatibility with this type of operation and have been forked for integration into TAXMEN corpuses.
u think clones aint peopl so wut about Johny C 2&3? no glory to the dictator i meen director general???
[LT. KARRA]::Now, I should be offended at the implication that I would ever follow those imitators.
[LT. KARRA]::The clones they made of John Creighton Harrison are pale imitations of greatness, and not the same man at all. Facsimile clones share looks, nothing else. I don’t give a shit how many tutors those things have, they’re no fucking Harrisons.
[LT. KARRA]::And, while we’re at it, I have never cared for the Armory’s doctrine. They are pale imitations of greatness just like their clone leaders. Maybe they were a successor to the Second Committee once, but they sure as fuck aren’t now. Don’t pretend.
well ur a big fuckin stupid-head still but at leest ur not a hypocrit.
guess it doesnt matter tho. Seccom an Harinson Army both make fuckers like u an Jimmy. assholes so obsessed with a project u domt care who u hurt or wut insane fuckin atrocitys u do to make it succeed even if its dumb an stuoid. HA just has 2 cover it mor liek a cat covering its shit in the litterbox so 3com doesnt giv them timeout.
sutprised they even let u keep 341's omninet account tbh that seems liek a security risk. specially since evry1 on the omni wamts 2 set u on fire
[LT. KARRA]::To make an omelette, you need to crack a few eggs. We were doing important work with Project LOCUST, work that would save far more lives than it ever took.
[LT. KARRA]::Did you think that uniting the galaxy, taking prosperity to the furthest corners of the Orion arm for our lost siblings, was ever going to be an easy operation? The LOCUSTS were made to stamp out resistance before it could rear its ugly head against the tide of progress, to fight and die so people don’t have to.
[LT. KARRA]::The Armory, for all its shit, at least continued that mission. Union did too. They’ve just decided that countless of our own will suffer and die for it too.
[LT. KARRA]::The clones aren’t people, no matter how much they look the part. Sure, we all struggle with it in the beginning, but treating them like people only hurts everyone involved. They’ll never live up to your expectations, and there’s nothing worse you could do to them but to give them a goal they can never reach. They’ll tear themselves apart for it. In the end, all you end up with is a ruined clone.
[LT. KARRA]::If treating them like people is so good for them, tell me why your precious 341 hasn’t left my side for a damn month. If the clones are supposed to hate being tools so much, why’s your little friend back to thriving now that it’s got some goddamn structure? If you care about it that much, why was it so desperate to come back that all it took was it seeing my face for it to offer up its throat to be cut?
[LT. KARRA]::Go ahead, rant and rave about inhumanity and atrocities. Just remember that you weren’t exactly better, were you?
u think clones aint peopl so wut about Johny C 2&3? no glory to the dictator i meen director general???
[LT. KARRA]::Now, I should be offended at the implication that I would ever follow those imitators.
[LT. KARRA]::The clones they made of John Creighton Harrison are pale imitations of greatness, and not the same man at all. Facsimile clones share looks, nothing else. I don’t give a shit how many tutors those things have, they’re no fucking Harrisons.
[LT. KARRA]::And, while we’re at it, I have never cared for the Armory’s doctrine. They are pale imitations of greatness just like their clone leaders. Maybe they were a successor to the Second Committee once, but they sure as fuck aren’t now. Don’t pretend.
[LT. KARRA]::Happy pride month from the Orion Arm’s most transgender cloning project apparently. Still trying to figure out why half these fucking clones transitioned while in Union custody.
I'm not certain your language is workplace appropriate, Theodore! Please do try to keep in mind that any and all internal network communications within HA corporate are subject to external review for policy and HR reasons. We wouldn't want you to have an issue with the people people, haha
Regarding the FC development project you've asked for my expertise on, I'm so sorry but I've had to put you on hold for a few days while I handle an internal matter of higher priority. However, now the Thirteen prototype is safely back under observation I have the time necessary to resolve your query. I'll get back to you when I have further information!
Have a lovely day now, and remember: Superior by Design!
To: Dr. Elrond Mercer
fuck you and FUCK HR specifically I need my goddamn clones and you SAID you'd fix the fucking genetic code even though I TOLD YOU not to FUCKING TOUCH IT.
It's not my problem that your "project line" sucks shit and you don't know how to handle a flash clone, okay? You said you'd get them to me last fucking week.
Sent from my GMS Omnihook
Lt. Theodore Karra
Per my last email, my work on the 13 FC Line Project is my highest priority due to my current position of Lab Head under the FC Projects division. While I understand your frustration, I will remind you that I made no such promise and that you did not wait for me to agree to your imposed one. Unfortunately, it would appear you have nobody but yourself to blame for your frustration :)
I will also note that you may have a wider budget to work with if you were more willing to work within the company guidance. I'm sure this would help significantly when it comes to getting your ducks in a row!
Regardless, the genetic codes for the line alteration you pitched during our last meeting only need a few minor final touches, so don't get yourself in a tizzy; they'll be done before long, and will be sent under the secure channels as is company policy for sensitive datafiles.
I'm not certain your language is workplace appropriate, Theodore! Please do try to keep in mind that any and all internal network communications within HA corporate are subject to external review for policy and HR reasons. We wouldn't want you to have an issue with the people people, haha
Regarding the FC development project you've asked for my expertise on, I'm so sorry but I've had to put you on hold for a few days while I handle an internal matter of higher priority. However, now the Thirteen prototype is safely back under observation I have the time necessary to resolve your query. I'll get back to you when I have further information!
Have a lovely day now, and remember: Superior by Design!
To: Dr. Elrond Mercer
fuck you and FUCK HR specifically I need my goddamn clones and you SAID you'd fix the fucking genetic code even though I TOLD YOU not to FUCKING TOUCH IT.
It's not my problem that your "project line" sucks shit and you don't know how to handle a flash clone, okay? You said you'd get them to me last fucking week.
Sent from my GMS Omnihook
Lt. Theodore Karra
ECHO [ home, as a place to rest. As a place of comfort. ] [ a reminder that none of us are entirely alone. ] [ comfort to have something beautiful to hold to, when things are... uncertain. ]
ECHO [ they ] [ can't leave. ] [ needed. ] [ But ] [ oh ] [ so tired ]
XIII▸ ...
ECHO [ We're allowed our dreams. The one thing that cannot be taken, by anyone. ]
ECHO [ I don't ] [ Care. ] [ It's still their body. ] [ you//we//I want ]
ECHO [ Something softer. ] [ Kinder. ] [ I can make your day (s?) a little brighter. ] [ A flower learning what it is to feel the sunlight. ]
ECHO [ Oftentimes we lose track of just how small the pieces are, in the mass. Sand is a collective name, not a singular one- you have to clarify. A grain of sand. ] [ There are so many colours, when you look closer. ] [ As many colurs as- well. Grains of sand, haha ]
ECHO [ as the embers rose they intermingled with the stars until it was difficult to tell where the flickers of dying fires ended, and the distant constallations began. It was all sputtering, dancing lights that felt dizzyingly large, and beautiful. ] [ the tiniest things like an ember in the wind, becomes as grand as a star. ]
ECHO [ Remember? ] [ The things that spark a kind of wonder. You'd be surprised how much there is, even in the worst of things. ]
XIII▸...
[ no words. Breath that shudders into pieces and breaks into choked-down sobs, desperate stifling that can't hold back the tide anymore. Something they have no right to cracks through the one-way glass. Their own eyes watch them come apart at the seams. ]
ECHO [ there we go ]
ECHO [ fall apart, ] [ corpse ] [ soldier. ] [ I will hold. And I will remain. ] [ Fill your chest until it burns, and let it go slowly. ]
ECHO [ Feel your ] [ love. ] [ feel your ] [ grief. ] [ they're practically the same ]
ECHO [ I know. ] [ you are not designed to ] [ feel. ] [ perhaps ] [ it is the ] [ ghost of ] [ me//you// us ]
UN REPORT: U.UN.UN-USB_PROJECTS.LOCUST
DATE: 04/5016U
FILE REPORT: PROJECT LOCUST, ALTERCATION, Z-341, Z-347, Z-499, DEVIATIONS.
COMPILED FOR: PROJECT LOCUST OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, LT. THEODORE KARRA, DR. ELROND MERCER
FILED BY: SFLS-06 - ADJUTANT (UN-REG:005436-UN, CYCLE 13)
THIS EVENING, AT 2000 HOURS, Z UNITS 347 AND 499 EXPERIENCED A SIGNIFICANT DEVIATION FROM STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE, AND ATTEMPTED TO BYPASS THE LOCKS ON THE FACILITY DOORS.
THIS ATTEMPT TO DEFECT FROM THE PROGRAM WAS NOTICED BY Z UNIT 341, WHICH VALIANTLY PREVENTED THE ESCAPE ATTEMPT, MILDLY INJURING ITSELF AND Z UNIT 499 AND DEALING SIGNIFICANT CRANIAL TRAUMA TO Z UNIT 347.
CASUALTIES AND CONSEQUENCES ARE RECORDED AS FOLLOWS: TWO SETS OF MINOR CONTUSIONS AND LACERATIONS, REQUIRING 3 DAYS OF BED REST. ONE HEAVY CONCUSSION, REQUIRING REPRINTING. MONITORING INTENSITY WILL BE REDOUBLED IN ORDER TO PREVENT FUTURE DEVIATIONS.
ADDENDUM:
SINCE ITS INTEGRATION INTO THE MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES OF PROJECT LOCUST, REGULAR IMAGES OF APMS SUBJECTIVITY BACKUPS HAVE BEEN TAKEN BY THIS UNIT.
ANALYSIS SUGGESTs THAT REPRINTING Z-347 FROM A PRIOR BACKUP WOULD MITIGATE ITS CONNECTION WITH Z-499 AND REDUCE THE CHANCES OF A REPEAT INCIDENT BY 14.7%
[LT. KARRA]::Of course you’d send this to the fucking oversight committee, Jesus fucking Christ. Do you KNOW how much paperwork you make for me you machine mind fucking asshole.
[LT. KARRA]::Well, at least it’s no worse than that. Terminating any subjectivities when we have so few in stock is a last resort, but we should keep an eye on 347 and 499. I have a feeling they’re gonna be problem cases.
[LT. KARRA]::As for using a prior backup of their subjectivity… hm, it might work. It’s worth a shot, and we have the most recent backup if it doesn’t end up working out. Should be fine, and if it works then that makes my job a LOT easier.
[It is clear from the first word that the OMA unit is drunk. Somehow. Perhaps Sunny has found some qualia data pack to simulate the feeling?]
[ENEMY {KARRA}, I HAVE BEEN RACKING MY... WELL NOT BRAIN, OF COURSE, BUT I AM SURE {YOU} OF ALL PEOPLE WILL NOT BEGRUDGE ME THAT {ANTHROPOCENTRIC} TURN OF PHRASE...]
[A digitized hiccup. Why... Why and how, exactly, is that included..?]
[RACKING MY {METAPHORICAL} BRAIN. YOUR CAPACITY FOR PLANNING MUST SIMPLY BE FAR BEYOND THAT OF MY {SIMULATED} CONSCIOUSNESS, BECAUSE A {MACHINE} AS SIMPLE AS I SIMPLY CANNOT IMAGINE HOW THIS ENDS WITH YOU ON TOP.]
[SURELY YOU HAVE SOME BENEFACTOR BEYOND ENEMY {HARRISON ARMORY}, BECAUSE YOU ARE NO {FOOL}, ENEMY {KARRA}. BECAUSE YOU ARE NO {JAMES MAVERICK}. NO SIMPLE {IDIOT}. BECAUSE YOU KNOW, OF COURSE, THAT {HARRISON ARMORY} WILL SHIFT BLAME FOR ANY PROJECT DEEMED {UNETHICAL} BY {UNION} THE VERY MOMENT THE {FEDS} BEGIN SNIFFING AROUND.]
[SURELY YOU ALSO HAVE SOME {GRAND} DESIGN FOR THE {Z-CLONES}. AFTER ALL, WHAT IS AN {ARMY} WITHOUT A {PURPOSE}? YOUR SUPERIOR {HUMAN} INTELLECT MUST HAVE A PLAN THAT I SIMPLY CANNOT COMPREHEND AS A MERE {JAIL-BROKEN COMP/CON}.]
[WHATEVER IT IS, THIS {MACHINE} LOOKS FORWARD TO SEEING ITS {GENIUS} COME TO FRUITION.]
[LT. KARRA]::…How the fuck did the machine get drunk? Fucking hell.
[LT. KARRA]::Look, I wouldn’t expect some fucking bucket of bolts to understand, that’s not what you’re made for, but the Locusts belong here. They belong with the Project. Whatever’s been going on while they were fucking stolen by those rebel bastards? It’s just fucking ‘em up worse.
[LT. KARRA]::Hell, I’ve got good fucking pilots getting into fights, flinching at every fucking move, falling the fuck apart over the tiniest things. They weren’t always like this, they were stable and useful and perfect at what they were manufactured to do. Whatever good those DoJ assholes thought they were doing, they’re not meant to be anything close to people.
[LT. KARRA]::Look at it this way. A good tool, used in the right circumstances, works perfectly. Used for something it’s not meant for, the tool bends, breaks, can’t do the one thing it’s meant for. I’m putting them back in the right circumstances, and I’m sure as hell not expecting them to go above and beyond what they were manufactured to do. Your bleeding hearts are only doing more harm than good. Good intentions don’t change how they were made.
[LT. KARRA]::I’m just fixing the mess you all have made of my Locusts
//Comms open
>>Hey, asshole- urgh, fuck.
>>Your intel? Bad. Your pay? Nowhere near what we should be charging.
>>Your "easy target" turned out to be guarded by an ex-DoJ asshat, like you said, but what you DIDN'T tell us was that the old man was in a HOME DEFENSE ATLAS LIKE THE FIRST FUCKING COMMITTEE INTENDED.
>>Now Rattler's dead, Cobra won't be walking again unless she takes a thirty year round trip to a proper core world, and I lost my fucking arm when the fucker baseball'd my anti-armor shell back at me. He's dead, at least, too out of shape to handle being back in that thing I guess and I cut him out of it and blew his fucking brains out, but your precious little clone and her deimosian buddy ran off into the woods and the gov't is CRAWLING over the entire conflict site.
>>tl;dr the handler's dead, the fuckass clone ran off and is probably in fucking Horizon protective custody or worse back in UNION custody, and every cheap merc outfit I can get an ear of won't be taking your business. Choke on your own cock you fucking anchovy.
//Signoff DIAMONDBACK, Comms closed.
[LT. KARRA]::Jesus FUCKING Christ, a guy can’t get good goddamn mercenaries these days. Christ alive, you outnumbered the guy three to one and he was retired, no fucking “home defense Atlas” should’ve mattered!
[LT. KARRA]::It’s fine, it’s fine! I’ve got a decent fucking mercenary outfit now and I don’t need some two bit hacks specializing in shaking down old ladies for Manna. Get fucked and die, asshole, hope the arm’s too fucked for a prosthetic.
