Ordinarily, I'm not really a fan of this kind of stuff but I enjoyed reading The Scourged Earth by Mirrored on RoyalRoad. Um I have a few stuff planned but honestly don't expect too much from this fic, for one, the story it's inspired by isn't finished. Um, I asked for Mirrored's permission to post this on both FF and RR, got tired of waiting, but should Mirrored request it, I will take this fic down.
It takes place on worm but it borrows heavily from The Scourged Earth. Read, Enjoy, review!
I don't own Worm or The Scourged Earth.
The entities lived.
The entities spread.
The entities plundered.
The entities cycled.
The entities thrived.
The entities, however, were not alone.
Mere children to those lying in darkness
Nothing but another resource to devour.
On the globe of dust and water, calamity was at hand.
Earth is at the cusp of a new beginning.
What happens next rests entirely in humanity's hands.
It happened in the blink of a human eye.
No one noticed.
It had perfectly Injected itself.
In less than a human second, it appeared everywhere.
It took advantage of the resources that were in place, used it to take shape.
It subsumed the pre-existing infrastructure.
Learned, translated, and adapted it to fit its own machinations.
Just as it was designed to do.
It was time.
All the new vending machines on Earth came to life.
[Universal Support System {Earth} online]
[Beginning Phase 1]
[Calculating….]
[Calculating….]
[Estimated time of Injection Denial Shield failure: 22:05:09]
[Estimated time Phase 2 will begin 22:05:08]
Just as the shield came up, Earth experienced what would be the galactic equivalent of being shot at from a distance with a shotgun….
"I'm not that bad," Greg muttered as he made his way back home. He wore blue jeans, a blue shirt with a brown coat that had a hoodie that sheltered him from the weather. The temperature was bearable but you still had to watch yourself.
February snow had melted and had frozen to the sidewalk, turning it into a slippery death trap. Already the blond teen had slipped six times. It hurt the first two times, the rest he managed to fall without hurting himself.
"Fuck," Greg muttered as he tried to stop himself his eyes from watering, sucking snot back up his nose, sounded a bit like slurping through a straw.
Greg was on his way home...after losing a video game contest. He definitely wasn't about to go home and log onto PHO and lie about how rigged the game was. "I mean there's no way I was the first one out, I mean, in two minutes! Just two minutes, that's super sketchy!" he said out loud as he walked into a dark alley between two apartment complex. It was just one of those alleys that were wide enough for a dumpster but has had crap filled in over a years. With no one really cleaning up the junk that kept piling on, it quickly got to the point where it was just wide enough for a person to walk through.
"Fuckin' cheaters," he muttered as passed a space with a vending machine.
He stopped walking.
He walked backwards, turned left to see a vending machine.
"..."
He looked around and he was still in the alley he used as a shortcut to get home.
Who would put a vending machine in an alley? Who would put it here? Greg couldn't help but think as he eyed the thing while sniffing snot back up. It wasn't a shit neighborhood but it was still more likely to be busted open than say somewhere downtown near the Towers.
It was white with smooth edges, it was big, Greg wasn't really good with eyeballing measurements but it was about the size of a regular vending machine, hence his assumption, only it had a computer screen. The screen was white with black letters in a neat and friendly font that read: Universal Support System. Underneath that in red was a timer that seemed to be counting down.
"Wasn't some busted arcade machine here," Greg asked out loud as he looked at the thing. Actually, now that he looked around, he noticed that other miscellaneous junk had also disappeared. "Huh," he let out with a shrug. He would have tried to see if he could get a soda or whatever was in the machine, but the competition he attended had robbed him of his cash. Seriously, there was no way he could have lost that fast!
Giving the thing one last look, he shrugged and began to walk away.
*Ring*
A pleasant ring stopped him
The text on the screen had changed.
[Congratulation User]
[You are a viable participant]
[Answer a short questionnaire and receive a vital prize]
[Vocal and touch screen responses are accepted]
"Oh cool, voice command too," Greg said as he read the text right before a new set of text appeared on the screen. "But man, isn't this text, like, boring? Couldn't they add emojis or Lenny's, somethin' to make it more trendy? Fanfare a little, ya know?"
The screen suddenly went blank. For a second, Greg was scared he pissed someone off. Or the machine. You never know if a Tinker made a machine with feelings. Then text appeared.
[Taking in User's input for consideration]
Input?
[...]
[CONGRATULATION USER!]
[You are a viable participant! ＼( ^o^)／]
[Answer a short questionnaire and receive a vital prize! \(ﾟ▽ﾟ)]
[(~˘▾˘)~ Vocal and touch screen responses are acceptable]
"Okay-tha-that's a lot better," Greg smiled. "Aw man this has got to be tinkertech," he said excitedly as I read the list of possible options.
Safety was first, then Love and finally Ambition.
"Oh I know how this works, but what's the prize?"
[A tasty a refreshment~ ლ(´ڡ`ლ)]
"BOOM! Ambition! Final answer!" Greg shouted as he pressed said button. It always ambition!
"Man, I wonder what Uber and Leet are doing this time. I mean it's gotta be them." On one hand, Greg should be pissing his pants if it's Uber and Leet. On the other hand, it's Uber and Leet, the duos are known for failing badly and using obscured video game themes. Greg was fully confident he could dare them into a video game contest and whoop their asses.
[Great Choice! ✧٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ]
[(~˘▾˘)~ What is your greatest strength?]
"Greatest strength? Is this like a talent show or something?"
[It's very important! (─‿‿─)]
"Hmm, can I put in anything?" He asks, half a mind to go with the flow and put in a joke answer. He definitely resisted the urge to go the resume route. This was Uber and Leet, probably. The answer would probably determine what game he plays or something just as important.
[Yup!]
"In that case," Greg smiled, "my best strength is," Awesome? Adaptable? Outgoing? A million possible answers running through his minds. "Hoooooow...wuuuuuuumbo I am…." That wasn't what he wanted to say, but he said it so he was going to go with it, "ye-yeah that's it, I'm very Wumbo!"
[Wumbo? ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ)?]
"Ah, yeah, you know. Wumbo," he said with a shrug. "Um, I wumbo, she wumbos, their wumboing," Greg gave example from the top of his head. "I don't quit cause I'm wumbo. People respect for wumbo. You know. Wumbo. I'm so super wumbo people can't keep up with me. Heck, I'm so wumbo I can barely contain it!"
[(._.) ( l: ) ( .-. ) ( :l ) (._.) ]
[(._.) ( l: ) ( .-. ) ( :l ) (._.) ]
[(._.) ( l: ) ( .-. ) ( :l ) (._.) ]
Did I just break the machine? Greg wondered with a smile as he looked at the rolling emojis.
Finally, the screen went blank. Then the machine began to hum. Greg quickly backed away because he could feel it! Before he could run or think of calling someone for help, the hum stopped with a very loud click. Then he heard the telltale sign of something being dispensed as a hidden slot opened up from the bottom.
Text appeared on the screen.
[Thank you for your time! Please enjoy your tasty beverage~ ლ(´ڡ`ლ)]
Greg read the screen, then carefully reach in and pulled out a gray unmarked can. It was a soda can. "Hm, neat," he said as he cracked it open. It fizzed as normal. It sounded normal.
He took a sip.
[(ﾟ▽ﾟ)]
That emoji made him think he made a bad choice. But the soda didn't taste like bleach or drain cleaner, well, taste how they smell anyway. In fact, it was pretty tasty. Not really fruity, though there was a notable sweet but electrifying zing to it. It certainly gave him a pleasant shiver. He took a pretty good swig of it.
"Man, what brand is this? It's pretty good!" Instead of answering him, the vending machine let out a ring followed by a different set of texts.
[PHASE ONE IS COMPLETE!]
[You have been assigned 300 points towards future purchases! \(ﾟ▽ﾟ)]
[Please visit a Universal Support Station soon, human. (▰˘◡˘▰)]
"Human-kun, you know, with a dash in between, if you don't mind," Greg said with a little finger motion before he took another sip. What? If the vending machine was going to fuck with him with that human bit, then it might as well go the extra mile.
[Please visit a Universal Support Station soon, human-kun. (▰˘◡˘▰)]
"Neato. Hmm wait," Greg's face scrunched up, "can't I use the points now, or do I really have to wait?"
[Yup!]
Before Greg could ask anything, the vending machine continued.
[The Universal Support System provides vital resources to users in exchange for points (^-^)ゝ]
[Points and Levels are limited until Phase 2 (─‿‿─)]
[When Phase 2 begins, Users will be able to level up and earn points by completing missions! ᕦ(˘▾˘)ᕤ]
"Points, missions, and levels? Yeah, this is Uber and Leet alright. Phase 2, that what the timer's for?"
[Correct!]
[(￣▽￣)ノPhase 2 will begin in 18:27:35]
"Okay, so either it's 18 days or 18 hours. Oh wait, those are seconds. So it's hours. And I can buy vital resources, whatever they are, right?"
[Yup!]
[Vital resources are artifacts or enhancements that aid Users in survival of Phase Two (^-^)ゝ]
"Ohhhhhhh," Greg let out with a smile before taking another sip of the soda. What were the two doing this time? Was Leet giving out tinkertech? He didn't think so. But they were giving something away. "This is going to be awesome, what are they handing out? What should I get?"
[Universal Support System Shop]
[ (~˘▾˘)~ Recommend Small Ethisium Weapon, 110-290 USSP]
[Hand weapons made of the smart material Ethisium. It is fully equipped with safety, anti-theft, and self-repair feature \(ﾟ▽ﾟ)]
[Current USSP: 300]
"Effy-Ethisium?" Greg questioned, "man the two are really going all out with the alien theme. USSP, Universal Support System Points," Greg guessed. "Um what can I buy, like, an ethisium baseball bat?"
[Lack Advance Melee proficiency, restricted to Small Ethisium Weapons \(─‿‿─)]
"Well that sucks. Wait, do you hand out guns?"
[Lack Basic Handgun proficiency, restricted to Small Ethisium Weapons \(─‿‿─)]
"Yeah well, how would you know? I mean, I could go to the gun range every weekend."
[Restricted to Small Ethisium Weapons \(─‿‿─)]
"C'mon, can't I just have the gun?"
[Lack Basic Handgun proficiency, restricted to Small Ethisium Weapons \(─‿‿─)]
"Arg! C'mon, I'm a great shot, honest!" He lied. He had no idea what the two were doing but he'd definitely prefer a gun over what he assumed was a knife. "I'm super wumbo, remember?"
[Lack Basic Handgun proficiency, RESTRICTED to Small Ethisium Weapons \(ಠ_ಠ)]
"Arg, jeez-alright, fine, what do you have for small weapons?"
[Universal Support System Shop]
[(￣▽￣)ノSmall Ethisium Melee Weapons:]
[Small Ethisium Knife, 110 USSP]
[Fixed Ethisium Combat Knife, 200 USSP]
[Comes with sheath]
[Small Ethisium Axe, 290 USSP]
[Recommended]
[Current USSP: 300]
"..." Greg was silently sipping his soda as he read over the list. "Don't you have anything else?"
[Ethisium tipped arrows (x10), 110 USSP \(￣▽￣)]
[Requires Combat Bow, 35-45 USSP]
"Yeah, well, bows and arrows are lame. C'mon don't you have anything else you can give me? Like a grenade or somethin'."
[(─‿‿─)ノ Explosives: No Proficiency] The screen suddenly texted out.
[Tangler Grenade 9 USSP]
[Sterilization grenade 9 USSP]
[Sticky Breaching Charge 16 USSP]
[Flashbang 5 USSP]
[Current USSP: 300]
"Okay you hav-wait. Wait! WAIT!" Greg shouted, not caring if he sounded like a moron for shouting at a vending machine. "You have breaching charges? Like, stick and kablooey?"
[Yup]
"Why didn't you start with that!?" No seriously, it was even cheaper than a bow for some reason!
[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]
"Um, fuck, how many can I buy," he wondered out loud, the vending machine did the math for him.
[With 300 USSP, 18 Breaching Charge with 12 USSP leftover \(─‿‿─)]
[Recommend you buy a small ethisium weapon first \(^-^)]
"Pff, why would I buy a knife when I can just stick charges on people and blow them up for days?"
[STRONGLY recommend you buy a small ethisium weapon first \(^-^)]
"Alright fine," if the vending machine was strongly recommending it then odds are he needed one, for whatever the two villains were doing. "I can do voice orders, right? Um, put that combat knife from before in myyyyyy...shopping cart?"
[Fixed Ethisium Combat Blade added to shopping cart \(ﾟ▽ﾟ)]
[Current USSP: 300 (- 200 = 100)]
"Alright good, now, how many breaching charges will that get me?"
[6 Sticky Breaching Charges with 4 points remaining \(─‿‿─)]
"Hmm...how heav-no wait I suck at that kind of math. Um. fuck it, give me one of everything, um, from that grenade list. I can always buy more later."
[Tangler Grenade (1), Sterilization Grenade (1), Sticky Breaching Charge (1), and Flashbang (1) has been added to cart. Fixed Ethisium Combat Blade also in cart. Would you like to buy all items in cart for 239 USSP? (─‿‿─)]
[Yes] [No]
"Yes," Greg said with a small smile. The screen went blank and the vending machine started to hum. Again he felt it. There was a click and the sound of something dispensing. A compartment opened up and Greg quickly reached inside. He felt something and pulled it out. It was big and had a real sort of weight to it. It came with what looked and felt like a plastic hard case for the knife, a sheath. He quickly finished his soda and place the empty can on top of the vending machine.
Using both hands, he unsheathed the blade. It made a nice sound coming out. The handle was a gray ceramic color while the blade was midnight black. It looked like one of the military knives he's seen on tv, which was a no brainer considering what it was called.
One side looked sharp and curved while the other side, the back side of the blade, had teeth like the one he's seen in military flicks before. There was a hole in the middle of the blade, sort of a rectangle but also an oval. It had a guard with two rings on each side of the blade, a small ring and big ring on the side.
From the tip to the bottom of the handle, it was roughly the size of a ruler, give or take a couple inches. The handle felt warm in his hands, heck, Greg could swear he felt it vibrate a little. He was just admiring the blade, it was so familiar yet the design felt so foreign. He looked at the handle, it was cylindrical but it felt right in his hands, and it felt more and more like it belonged in his grip the longer he held it. At the bottom of the handle, the pommel, there was a cylindrical hole that Greg didn't even bother to question. Maybe it connected to something?
It was the sound of the machine dispensing that gave Greg a fright. He jumped, tossing the blade upwards. In a panic, he tried to grab it. He succeeded in doing so. But…
"What?" Greg let out when he realized that his hands were, in fact, not bleeding despite grabbing the knife from the sharp edge. Except it wasn't sharp. It was almost as he was grabbing foam or something.
"Aw man, it's fake," he whined as he attempted to stab his hands that he now realized were cold and not bleeding. He shook his head and put the blade back in its container before shoving the whole thing into the waistband of his pants/undies. He rubbed his hands a bit to heat them up before he reached inside the vending machine and pulled out four objects.
One was as large as a baseball but shaped like an egg, it was light and smooth and almost seemed to mold itself into his hands. The second looked like a large can with the top looking like a dispenser, either the flashbang or the sterilization grenade. The third was a circular object that was flat-ish but thick and seemed like it could bend if you want it to, almost like a bag of playdough with a circular timer on it, the breaching charge if Greg had to guess. The last one was about the size of a small container, like three or four inches, fit perfectly in his hands, cylindrical and the top had numbers and looked like you could turn it, so a timer. Then Greg thought of something.
"Um," he began as he looked at the vending machine screen, "do you have a bag or something to carry the grenades?"
[The purchased items can fix themselves to your person \(￣▽￣)]
[Should you still require it, a Bandelier can be purchased for 7 USSP (─‿‿─)]
[Current Credits: 61]
"...chased….fix themselves…erson," Greg read to himself, then scrunched his face. "Fix themselves?" he grabbed the egg like thing and place it near a pocket of his jacket, pressed it right up on the zipper, and he felt it mold itself into place.
"Whoa," he let out as he let go, and found that the egg has attached itself to the zipper of his pocket. He looked back at the vending machine.
[Please visit a Universal Support Station soon, human-kun. (▰˘◡˘▰)]
Greg had gotten home, kicked his shoes off and snuck into his room to avoid his parents. They were still peeved about his latest test scores. He tried to tell them that Mr. Gladly, his history teacher, was blatantly unfair and that he favored people over others. Like Madison and Emma, two very cute girls from school. Naturally, they didn't care to hear it.
As soon as he got to his room he looked himself over in the mirror. For a bunch of fakes, Leet had gone all out. All four "grenades" were fixed to his jacket in different easy to reach areas. As long as there was something to hook on to, the grenades would do so. He found the sheath could fix itself too, but it needed more manual work to do so. Luckily his jacket had a zipper pocket on the inside. A little uncomfortable, but it made him feel like a badass. He unzipped and smiled to himself in the mirror, sort of fixing his hair to the same style as Jack from the Titanic. He when he was done ogling himself, he went to his desktop.
He quickly logged in to ParahumansOnline, or PHO for short.
Enter password and…..
Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.
You are currently logged in: XxVoid_CowboyxX
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Topic: A New Thread
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay
XxVoid_CowboyxX (Original Poster) (Verified USS User)
Posted On Feb 12th 2011:
Hey guys, it's me, your favorite rebel XD!
So I'm walking home right, right after I got cheated in this videogame contest and I ran into this amazeballs vending machine Uber and Leet set up! Seriously, I don't know what the two are doing, but they went all out. I mean it sucks I didn't get a fake gun, but the knife I got was so wickedand sa were the granades. Also, Leet, what kind of Soda was that? It tasted awesome. Seriously if you just sold that you wouldt een need to rely on videos!
[edit]
HOLY CRAP! I GOT A TAG! Man uber and leet are working on something big this time!
(Showing page 1 of 1)
►GstringGirl
Replied On Feb 12th 2011:
Um...that's not uber and leet, it's happening all over the world, LINK
►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)
Replied On Feb 12th 2011:
Brah that's not the morons, it's happening everywhere.
[LINK]
►L337 (Verified Cape)
Replied On Feb 12th 2011:
Not us this time fam, wait you can get grenades? We really need to crack this thing open fast!
[PIC]
►Kriketz
Replied On Feb 12th 2011:
You can get a guns, grenade and a knife? Jeeznuts, I thought the thing just handed out sodas
►XxVoid_CowboyxX (Original Poster) (Verified USS User)
Replied On Feb 12th 2011:
Wait, it its not you guys then teh hck set the vending machine p?
GstringGirl HOLY CRAP! Everywhere? on earth? Wtf is going on?
►Universal Support System (Helpful)
Replied On Feb 12th 2011:
Your level is too low to access that information. Please wait until Phase 2.
►FiFo
Replied On Feb 12th 2011:
IT SPEAKS!
►Logs (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Feb 12th 2011:
Everyone please avoid the Vending machines for your own safety. Anyone who has come in contact with said machine, please, *call the PRT helpline for instructions.*
►Tin Mother (Moderator)
Replied On Feb 12th 2011:
Who is doing this! I can't get rid of the tags or the USS stuff!
End of Page. 1
Greg was checking out a few things in a different window on his desktop. The vending machines had basically appeared all over the world out of nowhere. And recently people found that they could buy things other than food.
Heck, he saw a crappy video of some guy in europe or something buying money from the machine. MONEY! He got a thick wad for cheap! Then they went to a different vending machine, not a USS one, and found that it was actual legal money! Had Greg known, he would have lined his pockets. Then he found a video that really pissed him off. Some guy got a gun that fires LASER from the vending machine. LASER. FREAKIN LASER! He needed goggles or something but still, LASER!
There were a few names being passed around for the vending machines that pretty much had everything. Pandora Machine was popular, but Greg personally found it to be a mouthful. He was with into vending machine or support Station. So naturally, he floated VM and SS around. Like usual, people see SS and they overreacted. But it didn't stop him from floating it around.
Then it hit him.
No it wasn't an idea or anything physical. He was just suddenly very tired. His eyelids felt really heavy. He was having trouble concentrating.
GstringGirl sent him PM. Apparently, the PRT was very concerned about the food and drink the machine dispensed. Greg typed back that he felt fine, though he was getting really tired.
He met GstringGirl a while back. She was cool, and he really hoped she was a she and not some creep preying on guys like Greg. They hit it off pretty well.
It seemed like she wanted to argue but Greg just felt really tired. Instead of responding back, he typed in a [Ngiht], didn't even bother to read what she wrote and sent it. He swivelled out of his office chair to the direction of his bed. He stood up and collapsed on top of it.
He lazily worked the Midnight covers, a heroine from an anime he liked, and nuzzled up to his Alexandria body pillow with his entire attire still on. Had his shoes been on, he probably wouldn't have even have cared that they would dirty his bed.
Greg gave his body pillow a nice good squeeze and let the blissful darkness take him.
…
...Zzz…
[Installing Universal Support Implant ]
...zZ…..
[Updating...]
zZZ….ZzZ….
[Installing Universal Support Implant (─‿‿─)]
Greg groaned when he woke up. His body felt a little tight. He stretched and move under the Midnight sheets.
He hissed when he accidentally gave himself a muscle knot on his leg. He let out a pained grunt as his eyes watered. But it quickly went away.
Aside from being tired, leg slightly weak from the knot, and a small rumble in his tummy, he felt good. He did feel gritty but he was more interested in food.
He got out of bed and did another stretch before he made his way to the kitchen.
He whistled as he collected bread, mayo, cheese, ketchup, a plate, mustard, pickles, milk, and ham, exactly in that order.
He sipped from the milk carton as he thought about what he was going to do. He forgot to charge his smartphone. But his parents were still peeved, he was sure.
He stopped drinking when he noted there was like a sip left and put it back in the fridge.
Could always just get cash, Greg reasoned as he prepared a sandwich. He could avoid his parents all day, chill out at the arcade, get a new video game, maybe a new smartphone. Get a new computer, a gaming one. Oh yeah, Greg Veder was going to have fun this day.
"BUAH!" Greg jumped when he saw a blue square screen appear in front of him! His butter knife flying before ricocheting off the wall and clattering in the sink.
[Universal Support System Implant]
[Emergency Implant activation ∑((O_O；))]
[ヽ(ﾟ□ﾟ＼*≡*／ﾟ□ﾟ)ﾉ ]
[Warning!]
[ Hostile Injection Detected!]
[Warning!]
[ヽ(ﾟ□ﾟ＼*≡*／ﾟ□ﾟ)ﾉ]
[Connecting to USS….]
[Generating mission….]
[New Mission Chain: Clear building of hostiles! (^-^)7]
[Obedience protocols activated. Please obey these instructions for your own safety \(^-^)]
[We regret this loss of control (▰˘‿˘▰)]
"…what?" Greg let out as he read the thing in front of him, but it was hard to read. He closed his eyes and found that it was actually clearer to read. "No-wait-what?" he said as he the thing disappeared right after he read the last line. "Hostile Injection? Are doctors attacking? I mean, should I get an apple?"
"I see you," he father's voice came from behind him in a sing-song but oddly calm voice.
"Fuck!" Greg shouted as he jumped again. "Dad! You didn't have toooooooooo…." Greg turned around to see his father standing outside the door to his parent's bedroom. He wore his regular pyjamas, staring at him with a sort of curiosity but….his skin and hair was an unnatural gray plastic color. Overall it gave Greg...bad vibes. "Um...nice cosplay?"
"Submission is Salvation," his father said in the same manner with a smile that displayed his unnaturally gray teeth. A cold shiver ran down Greg's spine.
"D-dad?" Greg said, glancing at the table that that was between them. He edged towards it.
His gray father moved.
Author's Note:
The emoticons, those were the real bane of this fic, I can see why people don't use them. besides the hassle of trying to the find the right one you have to see if it even works here. I added it in here even though the original didn't have any was because I personally found it funny, in troll-ish fashion, that Greg is fighting for his life and he's receiving fanfare for it. Also, i think Greg as a character would get annoyed that there was no fanfare.
Um PHO was done using the PHO wizard, seriously that thing is awesome.
Also, fair warning, I sort of wrote this on impulse more than anything. Got ideas but yeah.