Shattered Souls
by: Draconic Skysong and Moreta Potter
A.N: pyrians are a race of bipedal lizard like creatures with various abilities. first played in a MUD called cosmos. but you don't need any knowledge of that mud to read this. we just had fun and thought pyrians would make good creatures to write about.
Chapter 1
the Celebration of Fertility had just ended, and Anara Golden Designation, Chief of Pyrian Law Enforcement, thought that it had gone awfully well. She was also the coordinator of events on Navu, and it had really taken a lot for her to get events scheduled and everything to go as she and the rest of the Planning Committee had wanted it to. She went to her domicile, which was built directly out of the rock face. It had the best of both worlds for her: an equivalent to the skylights humans were so fond of putting in their own domiciles, and a large rock right underneath for sunning herself. It also had that ever-so convenient hollow log that came from a kameh tree, which she could fold herself into whenever she needed a little solitude. But despite all of this, human accoutrements made themselves known too, like the turquoise sectional sofa and love-seat, which took up opposite corners of the huge room. Also, the place was packed to the gills with technology, and lots of it. A monitor took up half of the wall space, which showed all of the planet Navu, and a control board with sophisticated touch screens was directly under that. there was also the collection of weapons not only from her own world but from others that she took pride in, and kept well-maintained. there was a missile blaster from Anurai, as well as a formidable-looking energy bolt wand from some place or other. tactical Commander Buron Golden Designation was always impressed with her collection, and her knowledge about, and skill in wielding each weapon. Besides all that, the domicile was very complex, having about four main parts to it a couple sleeping chambers and the main area where everyone lived, loved, congregated and ate. And sometimes disagreed. There was one sleeping chamber for her and Buron, and the one for her and Sutar, and then there was the rooms for the nestlings.
Anara was very tall, standing on all fours, and had bright golden scales. She was bald but also had a crown of golden scales. Her medal of rank hung alongside her pouch on her weapons belt, which has a few of her best weapons on it, just in case they were needed.
Anara checked over her to-do list, and finding that all items had been crossed out, she planned to go for a swim in the pool before she went into a somnulation cycle for the rest of the nocturnal period.
She had just touched her front forepaws into the water when her communication relay chirped, and Buron's raspy chitter was heard over the overhead loudspeaker. "All personnel, please congregate at the Entertainment square. An emergency has arisen with our people, and the use of force is needed in this instance, and Anara, please bring your best weaponry and have it available on your person."
After the click of the com unit turning off, she only took a second to wonder what was going on, and why there was some kind of incident on the Entertainment square. the Shalka, she thought bitterly. It had to be the Shalka mucking about with Pyrian affairs, but that just didn't fit in since the Pyrian Defense Force had taken out one of their key bases just in the previous sevenday. As she was thinking of the incongruity of this disruption in the natural order of things on Navu, she was loping to the square with the missile blaster, the bolt wand and a Pyrian long-range energy pulse disrupter tucked away in loops in her utility belt. Sutar followed behind, with her own weapons belt bristling with weapons of her own, in holsters of her own design. Anara couldn't have been prepared for the scene that met her eyes.
She would describe it later as "undoubtedly one of the worst incidents of carnage in Pyrian history. Anara and Sutar were both shocked at the scene before her. The rectangular square was filled with Pyrians in a state she had never seen them in before. they were breathing fire at each other, and fighting with claws and teeth. there were a number of dead Pyrians in the area as it was. she pulled a secret compartment in her utility belt open and lifted out an antenna-shaped device, which was filled with a clear liquid, tranquilizing solution. She sprayed this all over the area with seemingly no effect. All it did was to cause them to become more frenzied. Some of them were Pyrians she had worked with while others were in the education Building for the Intermediately Young. At the same time, Sutar, with a dark expression of face, kept trying to discharge her own bolt wand on stun, which didn't work either. There's something wrong, Sutar thought, Oh sweet Goddess, there was something wrong with this. Buron rushed in behind Anara. That won't work," he said briskly, and aimed the energy disruption device in just the right area to temporarily disable the brains of those in the square.
"Page all medical squads immediately! We need to ascertain what has occurred on these premises" Buron chittered. Anara was already halfway across the Administrative compound where the medical studies department and healing bays were. She had already pathed Valoda Orange Designation with the details of the strange attack and what had been temporarily done to stop it and to discover its cause.
"Suspicious Attacks Lead to Many Unanswered Questions
At the seventh revolution on the preceding diurnal period, an event occurred whose cause is unknown: Many Pyrians were seen to be attacking each other. voloda Orange Designation and her medical staff counted at least 30 dead Pyrians and many more injured. She told this reporter that the Pyrians involved had part of their brains disabled temporarily so her staff could receive thought waves of what transpired the preceding evening while they had been subdued. Preliminary studies perceive no motive for the last nocturnal period's bizarre attack, which Voloda called "disturbing on such a large scale." She hopes that autopsies and medical research will unearth the cause of this tragedy so that events of this magnitude will not occur at any time in the future."
Anara turned off the viewscreen which displayed the most recent copy of the Galactic Informer. She only wished she could turn off the disturbing memories of those events. She opened her private com link with Voloda, who confirmed everything the newsgathering agency had said, and more.
"I apologize for not divulging to you the information earlier, but our people need to be informed of the gravity of the events of the previous nocturnal period. From the entirety of what I am able to discover, this was not the fault of any resident on our homeworld, so far as we can determine. My preliminary findings detect a psychoactive virus called Omegachron V. It hasn't been seen on our homeworld for many revolutions. Have your audio sensors encountered that moniker for this psychoactive virus before?"
"they have, only in passing. I have researched that name only to find that no records of this virus exist in the Pyrian science database."
"And do you know why they don't exist in the database? they have been tampered with by a sentient, living being who has somehow gained access to our classified information," said Voloda darkly. , "I have already commed the best of our computer technicians, who can inhibit access to the database until a totally new security scheme can be chosen. Until then, please observe this data-receiving device.
Anara received the small data pad, and looked at the tersely-written commentary on it.
Name of virus: Omegachron or Omegachron V
Other names: Tristanizine or, rarely, Theruszine
Medium of transmission: Airborne or liquid form, usually sprayed in an open area. Amount depends on the number of subjects to be infected.
Symptoms: Very erratic behavior that does not appear to bee controllable by the subject, unpredictable thought patterns, extreme violence, extreme strength that is not present at any other time, may attack anyone or anything present in the area in which tristanozine is administered.
warnings: this virus is an experimental virus which should not be administered under any circumstances. It may also result in death after the preliminary stage terminates, and an antidote must be given if a life form has contracted this virus as soon as possible. Extreme care, a brain disruption ray and a decontamination garment are mandatory in this case.
History: this virus was discovered and perfected by one known as simply Tristanius, who is still a master virologist/bacteriologist, and who engages in high crime and espionage in his spare time. He is also a hired gun for a few radical factions, including the Shalka.
"I perceived it," said Anara, fury filling in every line of her facial features, "I just knew it. It is my apprehension that things as they are now will progress in a very unappealing manner."