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Strixes Alaric I
New York Times May 17th, 2024 As of the beginning of 2020, coming out of a glob health crisis the likes of which haven't been seen since the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1919, the world reached an estimated population of 30 billion people. The population increase began in 1989, when an alien ship broke apart over the United States of America and the Soviet Union, splintering into two parts. The result of a failed colonization effort on behalf of a species that we do not even know the name of. Every one of them perished in the crash. From what we have recovered and translated, this species believed the Earth was uninhabited and was planning a settlement operation. The alien ship was over 200 years more advanced than any nation on Earth.. Not only did it jump-start the economy of the two superpowers, medical and agricultural science jumped forwards by leaps and bounds. However, a population of 30 billion people is simply unsustainable for the Earth. In response to this global crisis, th
Strixes Alaric II
The maid gave me a pair of blue jeans, a white tee shirt, and some tennis shoes. When I tried to ask her what was going on, she promised Mireille or Yayoi would explain everything. I should just wait patiently for them to arrive. In the meantime, she let me get dressed, which was nice. She turned on the room's holoscreen with her linker, the device around her wrist. It was a multipurpose tool, phone, GPS, banking, and everything else you could want all in one. Mine had apparently been destroyed in the ambush, so they were in the process of getting me a new one. Which was no easy feat, since they were government issued, normally handed out by the Ministry of the Interior when a kid started schools. Replacements could be issued for a fee. They had to go through less reputable channels. Which the maid assured them wouldn't be a problem from them. She did tell me that, officially, I was born on August 13th, 2696. Today's date was January 1st, 2713. Had I been isekaied to the future? A l
Strixes Alaric III
Nanase stuck me in a room with a great view of the tropical forest and the surrounding area. It was the kind of view someone born and raised in the desert would die for, and I might have enjoyed it if I weren't locked up. Nanase had dragged me back with one hand, effortlessly carrying me like I weighed nothing. Then she plopped me in this room, which was locked from the outside. It had all the creature comforts a guy could ask for. Everything from the holoscreen that I couldn't use, to a huge pod with the name Phantom Edge written across it in English, French, and Japanese. According to my captors, it was a virtual reality machine. Not the primitive augmented reality that was just becoming a thing on Earth, but true, realized virtual reality. That's not to say there wasn't augmented reality in Aquroya, but I was more interested in VR than AR. Of course, most people couldn't afford a Phantom Edge, which cost twenty-thousand credits to buy, so the public at large made do with Virtual
Strixes Evelyn I
I couldn't imagine anything worse than growing old. I had spent my life fighting the monsters in the dark. The monsters this planet made some of us. Growing old was terrible. It was a loss of control. My body didn't move the way it used to. My bladder was small, like a bean, and I was going to the bathroom 20 times a day. My vision was getting so bad that I might need to forgo the glasses and contacts and get implants. Sword would pay for them... Provided I still worked for them.For a seventy-year-old, I was in great shape. Despite my advanced years, I could still perform my duties as a hunter. The question was for how long that would remain. Even in a hardsuit, I was slower than I once was. I was weaker. I was falling behind. My body was failing me and there was nothing I could do to stop it. This wasn't like a strix, lycan, or a titan. This wasn't something I could battle. This was my body, turning against me.The inspector I worked with and a few of my old team members were alread
Strixes Evelyn II
The machine looked like something you might have found on earth, in the late nineteenth century. Big, large, and primitive, something out of Doctor Frankenstein's laboratory."This," Toshiro said, patting the black metal. "That is how we will transfer your consciousness into the homunculus body.""What is it called? The Frankenstein machine?"Toshiro laughed, but none of the other scientists followed his lead. I was getting dirty looks from them, looks I returned with interest. I had stared down Soviet soldiers, strixes, lycans, and leviathans. These kids in lab coats were about as threatening as a weiner dog. None of them could meet my eyes for long. I might be a decrepit old crone, but I'd be damned if I let these snot-nosed brats glare at me like that. These gnats in this oppressively sterile facility would piss themselves if they came face to face with a titan."We don't have a name for it. Perhaps if it works we might come up with one. In the future... Well, I'm getting ahead of
Strixes Evelyn III
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Evelyn. My name is Rumi Shiratori. Going forward, I will serve as both your handler and medical overseer while you remain in Neptune."I frowned. I had been told that I would continue to work with Project Phoenix, but when I brought this up to her, she shook her head. "They will be handling your remote monitoring, and every three months you'll return to Mayfield for an Integration Process Full Body scan, but otherwise I will be going over the normal fieldwork. Project Phoenix has also been assigned more work, though I'm not privy on the details.""I see." I looked her up and down. "Shiratori. Why do I know that name?""My husband is the Branch Director of Neptune, but I assure you that I have earned all of my qualifications."I believed her. Sword didn't tolerate nepotism."So I'm being assigned to Neptune. Any reason?"Rumi smiled. "We believe two or three of the progenitors have taken up residence in our city, and there's been confirmed that an unregist
Strixes Alaric IV
So this was true augmented reality? I touched one of the windows, feeling nothing but air, and it opened. The best way I could describe it was like a holo HUD, displayed in my vision. Dozens of apps were laid out for me, ranging from bank and credit union accounts to messaging services, to entertainment. It was like I had a portable computer with me, better and more flexible than any laptop."Linkers are connected to the Oracle System," Mireille explained. "You could say Oracle is the system that runs our society. Or the backbone of our it. That's why they're so hard to procure. Counterfeiting a linker and having it link to the Oracle System is nearly impossible. The few talented criminals that can do it charge top dollar.""What, are you rich?""Yes, we are. Richer than you can imagine. Our holdings and revenue sources are extremely diverse. They have to be, given our nature as strixes.""What does that mean?""According to the Leviathan Charter, we strixes aren't allowed to exist. W
Strixes Alaric V
When the chance came, I jumped on it. I wanted my second chance at life, I had wanted it for so long, but in the silence of my room, when I had nothing else to think about, it came back. I had irreversibly changed four girls and chemically altered their brains to make them fall in love with me.Mireille described it as love, but could it be called love? Really? Perhaps infatuation would be a better way to describe it, a powerful, unnatural infatuation. The kind that Jim Jones might have brought out in his most devoted followers.Did that make me like Jones? The leader of some kind of cult. It wasn't just Kaya, Mireille, Nanase, or Yayoi, but there were dozens of people in this compound. Because of my supernaturally good hearing, nothing in the compound was hidden from me. I could hear everyone. Why were all these people here? Was I really running some kind of cult?I wished I hadn't been distracted in the meeting. I had so many questions that I wanted to ask but I had let myself get d
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- Strixes
Wandering Wolves Preview
In the fullness of time, we would come to find that the bandits were the foolish ones. No one in their right mind would call that place home.There was something worse than bandits in those mountains and we were front and center to see it.We had just gotten near the bottom of the mountains after a week of walking. All around the mountain was what looked like an African savanna. There was one long dirt road that ran straight through the tall grass and scattered trees. I imagined a lion laying in wait for us in that tall grass. Yep, we would be taking the dirt path.Euphy was groaning about lunch, and Gwen was all smiles."How about we make camp here? We can cook those rabbits."I'm glad we had Gwen with us. She wasn't just a top-class magician, she could create magic traps. Traps designed for catching something to eat.I looked at the sky. The sun was still high. "I think we should keep moving. We want to find civilization, don't we.""We already have," Euphy reminded me."Civilization
- Strixes
Wandering Wolves Preview
The Girl with Auburn HairIn the early morning light, the valley was beautiful. As the sun got higher in the sky, mist rose from the trees and covered the mountains. It wasn't the color-changing fog of Attea's creation, but a common, white mist. As the sun climber further into the sky, the mist burned away. The lake shimmered in the sunlight as a breeze gently rocked through the valley.There was something ethereal about this place. It felt out of an anime or fantasy book, untouched by human hands. I lived my whole life in San Francisco. When I was younger, my parents took me to see the Redwoods, but that was the only time I left the city. It was a very long time ago. To me, the world had become a concrete jungle.Wind Port was a lot better to look at, but it was still a city. Where ever we were, there wasn't a single sign of civilization. And it was beautiful. This place looked like it was out of a dream.I couldn't get the boar out of my head. Through the night, it haunted me. A dum
- Strixes
Knight Three
When the wolves began to surround her, the Knight expected attack. Instead the wolves turned tail and sprinted up the stairs.In the direction of one of the evacuations. The Knight had started to regard the wolves as young. Gifted, talented, but young. Head strong. Not the kind of beasts that she would have to worry about being clever. At least, not yet. The Knight didn't have any intention of letting them live that long.She underestimated them. She she flew up the stairs after them, desperate to make sure the evacuation wasn't interrupted.The wolve nearest her, the male, turned on her like a dime. He jumped off the wall and tackled her, it's mouth ripping into her shoulder.He tour a chunk out of her skin.
- Strixes
Knight 2
The Knight was starting to feel a little bad about it. It was like taking candy fro. a baby. These wolves were the babies and she was the mean and she was the frightening old hag in this children's story. It wasn't that the wolves were bad. In fact, for being so young (and they were young, if their scents told her anything), they fought extremely well. They had trained to fight as a pack anf there was nothing to critique.It was just a shame they ran into her, a monster so old. One who had feed on so much blood it might as well fill an ocean.Still, she wouldn't underestimate them. As the three wolves positioned themselves around her, she prepared to end their lives.
- Strixes
Knight
Her office was in ruins and now she was pissed. She shouldn't be. She would have to abandon the office regardless, because the wolves decided to come.It all looped back again to the wolves. The Knight was going to have to destroy her office before Sword got here, so she was going to take her agression out on the mutts that caused all of this.The two wolves divided, coming at her from different sides. The Knight kept her eyes on the female, listening intently to the male behind her.When he moved, she heard it and he jumped over the charging beast.The Knight raked her claws across its back, drawing blood.
- Strixes
The Knight
The office was a clean and polished white. It looked even more professional than than the government offices she used to work in. From the office, you had a great view of the arra called the quad. There was a creepy bronze statue of Nathaniel Gilbert, the founder of the city. The Gilbert family were apparently rich as all hell and still contributed so much to the school. And now her office was in pieces. Granted, she was the one who propelled the wolf through, but she wasn't about to admit that.At least she heard a resounding CRACK!The other two hesitated. "Well? Come at me, mutts."
- Strixes
Bianca Continued
When she saw the woman on the stairs, Bianca growled. The scene of the dead radiated off of her. Not the blood of her victims, no. The deep, decaying scent of death that a rotting body produces.There were only two thinga that made that scent: the aforementioned rotting bodies and the strix.Not a strigo ot a striges, but a true creature of the night. Either a knight or a progenitor. The woman smirked as her fingernails extended into claws. She leaped down the stairs and attacked them head on, despite being out numbered.Bianca barked, the sign to scatter, but it was too late. The strix jump tackled her.
- Strixes
The Commander
"Where are the wolves?" she asked."They have entered the tunnels, commander," one of her officers replied."When will they breach the lower levels?""Less than five minutes.""Very well. It's been a long time since I've skinned a mutt. Maybe I'll make a pelt. Continue the evacuation. I want everything out by lunch time.""You think the mutts will make it down here?""I'm not worried about the animals, but Sword is coming. For us and the mutts. This facility is compromised. We're leaving.""Understood, commander.""Alert security. I don't want any of them up there with us. Have them on guard while we evacuate."
- Strixes
Chaos Finale
It came to an end when The Guard was cornered by one of the wolf mutts. In that moment, he thought his life was over.He had chased the female to one of the old board rooms the humans used. The room was small and he was sure it would restrict her movements. With his strength and the pistol, he'd be able to overpower her.That was his original plan. And it semed to work, for a second. He ran straight in after the female bitch in the leg.The only problem was how close to the door she was. She rammed him through the room. She sank her teeth in his skin and ripped off his arm. She would have taken his head off if he hadn't fallen through a window.
