Collaborative fiction ~ Sci Fi ~ "Infestation"

[Quantum Quack]

An experiment.
For the flexing of creative muscles and having some literary fun I would like to propose an exercise for fora members to partake in if they feel inclined.

• Rules of engagement: None. Self.
  
• Intent: to collectively produce a story that might actually make sense.
  
• Process: Your contribution being indicated in an identifiable way that can be separated from your normal posting.
  

Example:
John stepped up to the ladder and climbed into the attic


This allows for the creative input to be collated later in the thread.
I shall start and we shall see where this may lead in a self organizing fashion. Could be fun...


Title:

INFESTATION

Sitting on his collapsible near a body of water yet to be named, near a mountain range yet to be climbed, on a planet yet to mapped and surveyed in a star system that needed a super computer to search for, he could only wonder on how life can lead to such extraordinary outcomes.
 

When Jarad signed up for the Galactic Colonization Quest (GCQ), he received Federation funding, a small star ship, and all the equipment necessary to set up a small outpost in a location of choosing. Promoting and facilitating galactic migration and development was the name of the game and Jarad with his new wife (?) had after passing all the rigorous tests and training, journeyed out of the human bubble near Sols to this exo rock they now called home.

The lakes surface was smooth with hardly a ripple when....

Ok... your turn....

[C C]

Franken-literature, eh? We each donate a mismatched body part and hope the cursed, stitched-together thing rises up from the electrode table -- staggering about and babbling in a semi-coherent way?

Well, before the 24 hours expires for a potential edit, somebody else had better send us down a better path. Or else I'll have to return here and scribble something about an aquabot named Matsya abruptly rising up from its submerged, solitary vigil. Propelling its way toward the shore to either greet or update ol' Jarad concerning what's brewing at the bottom of the lake.

Believe me, we don't want that. Guaranteed to detour us directly over a cliff at the very outset.

[Quantum Quack]

Franken-literature, eh? We each donate a mismatched body part and hope the cursed, stitched-together thing rises up from the electrode table -- staggering about and babbling in a semi-coherent way?

Well, before the 24 hours expires for a potential edit, somebody else had better send us down a better path. Or else I'll have to return here and scribble something about an aquabot named Matsya abruptly rising up from its submerged, solitary vigil. Propelling its way toward the shore to either greet or update ol' Jarad concerning what's brewing at the bottom of the lake.

Believe me, we don't want that. Guaranteed to detour us directly over a cliff at the very outset.

no.... that's really good... an aquabot named Matsya.... hee hee
so...
so far we have....

Sitting on his collapsible near a body of water yet to be named, near a mountain range yet to be climbed, on a planet yet to mapped and surveyed in a star system that needed a super computer to search for, he could only wonder on how life can lead to such extraordinary outcomes.
 
When Jarad signed up for the Galactic Colonization Quest (GCQ), he received Federation funding, a small star ship, and all the equipment necessary to set up a small outpost in a location of choosing. Promoting and facilitating galactic migration and development was the name of the game and Jarad with his new wife (?) had after passing all the rigorous tests and training, journeyed out of the human bubble near Sols to this exo rock they now called home.

The lakes surface was smooth with hardly a ripple when an aqua-bot named Matsya abruptly rising up from its submerged, solitary vigil. Propelling its way toward the shore to either greet or update ol' Jarad concerning what's brewing at the bottom of the lake.

Jarad pulled out the instruction manual to work out how to download the data onto his tablet. It was the strange yellow glow noticed after sunset that seemed to irradiate the lake that puzzled him and perhaps the bot had something for him to work with. Yellow colored Cheronkov Radiation is what it seemed like, but why yellow?

He could only ponder as the files downloaded and then from behind him he heard his wife [name?] cry out....

CC we have the makings of a netflix mega series here!!.... (chuckle)

there is no right or wrong... just a story for fun...

---

Aqua bot version#1
C/O Google images
   

[Zinjanthropos]

Oops, been ninja’d by CC. Oh well...

INFESTATION

Sitting on his collapsible near a body of water yet to be named, near a mountain range yet to be climbed, on a planet yet to mapped and surveyed in a star system that needed a super computer to search for, he could only wonder on how life can lead to such extraordinary outcomes.
 
When Jarad signed up for the Galactic Colonization Quest (GCQ), he received Federation funding, a small star ship, and all the equipment necessary to set up a small outpost in a location of choosing. Promoting and facilitating galactic migration and development was the name of the game and Jarad with his new wife (?) had after passing all the rigorous tests and training, journeyed out of the human bubble near Sols to this exo rock they now called home.

The lakes surface was smooth with hardly a ripple when....

..... I awoke, my dream interrupted, laptop still on the notebook page. There they were, the same words I’ve been staring at for the last 12 days. Goddam writer’s block. Not unusual but how much longer? Yet today feels different however, and I take a closer look. 

Don’t know why I’ve never noticed this but my hero has chosen his location despite the fact the planet hadn’t been mapped or surveyed. Plus why would a star system need a super computer? Man, brutal language on my part. Missing some punctuation too. 

My hero doesn’t know if he has a wife? Really, does it matter out here in the far reaches of space, especially with colonization the final goal? Are there others? Sounding a bit like Genesis here, good thing the Bible scribes can’t sue me for plagiarism. 

“My God” I gasped. That last sentence in the second paragraph has the word ‘and’ no less than 4 times. 

Ouch, that next paragraph’s lead line, am I talking about one surface for multiple lakes?

This brain implant isn’t working like I hoped it would

[Quantum Quack]

Oops, been ninja’d by CC. Oh well...

INFESTATION

Sitting on his collapsible near a body of water yet to be named, near a mountain range yet to be climbed, on a planet yet to mapped and surveyed in a star system that needed a super computer to search for, he could only wonder on how life can lead to such extraordinary outcomes.
 
When Jarad signed up for the Galactic Colonization Quest (GCQ), he received Federation funding, a small star ship, and all the equipment necessary to set up a small outpost in a location of choosing. Promoting and facilitating galactic migration and development was the name of the game and Jarad with his new wife (?) had after passing all the rigorous tests and training, journeyed out of the human bubble near Sols to this exo rock they now called home.

The lakes surface was smooth with hardly a ripple when....

..... I awoke, my dream interrupted, laptop still on the notebook page. There they were, the same words I’ve been staring at for the last 12 days. Goddam writer’s block. Not unusual but how much longer? Yet today feels different however, and I take a closer look. 

Don’t know why I’ve never noticed this but my hero has chosen his location despite the fact the planet hadn’t been mapped or surveyed. Plus why would a star system need a super computer? Man, brutal language on my part. Missing some punctuation too. 

My hero doesn’t know if he has a wife? Really, does it matter out here in the far reaches of space, especially with colonization the final goal? Are there others? Sounding a bit like Genesis here, good thing the Bible scribes can’t sue me for plagiarism. 

“My God” I gasped. That last sentence in the second paragraph has the word ‘and’ no less than 4 times. 

Ouch, that next paragraph’s lead line, am I talking about one surface for multiple lakes?

This brain implant isn’t working.

Excellent... a second theme/plot already...
btw I think he has a wife but I have left the name up to others. Maybe Mateeha ( hence the drones name Matsya) but I dunno her name could be anything...

[Secular Sanity]

Title:

INFESTATION
 

When Jarad signed up for the Galactic Colonization Quest (GCQ), he received Federation funding, a small star ship, and all the equipment necessary to set up a small outpost in a location of choosing. Promoting and facilitating galactic migration and development was the name of the game and Jarad with his new wife (?) had after passing all the rigorous tests and training, journeyed out of the human bubble near Sols to this exo rock they now called home.

The lakes surface was smooth with hardly a ripple when....

when he noticed the unusual light fluctuations on the lake’s surface, he scrambled for his equipment. This was the closest that anyone had ever been to Tabby. He recalled his Grandfather’s stories of his father’s hypothesis of the Bubbleworld. His grandfather, George, had dedicated his entire life to Project Orion. As he reached for his luminance meter, he noticed that the scar on his right hand was no longer visible, but he dropped it when he heard Celeste scream.

[Quantum Quack]

Title:

INFESTATION
 

When Jarad signed up for the Galactic Colonization Quest (GCQ), he received Federation funding, a small star ship, and all the equipment necessary to set up a small outpost in a location of choosing. Promoting and facilitating galactic migration and development was the name of the game and Jarad with his new wife (?) had after passing all the rigorous tests and training, journeyed out of the human bubble near Sols to this exo rock they now called home.

The lakes surface was smooth with hardly a ripple when....

when he noticed the unusual light fluctuations on the lake’s surface, he scrambled for his equipment. This was the closest that anyone had ever been to Tabby. He recalled his Grandfather’s stories of his father’s hypothesis of the Bubbleworld. His grandfather, George, had dedicated his entire life to Project Orion. As he reached for his luminance meter, he noticed that the scar on his right hand was no longer visible, but he dropped it when he heard Celeste scream.

Ah! we have a name for the missus.... Celeste! Nice....

---

As he reached for his luminance meter, he noticed that the scar on his right hand was no longer visible, but he dropped it when he heard Celeste scream.
"Jarad, put your hand back on and come here. Those bugs are back in the kitchen...."

[Zinjanthropos]

A

As he reached for his luminance meter, he noticed that the scar on his right hand was no longer visible, but he dropped it when he heard Celeste scream.

No one, not even Celeste had ever seen an invisible scar dropped before. Did it make any sense? Or had the whole hand fallen off? George was in trouble.....

[Secular Sanity]

Jeez! Critics; can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. 

Those bugs are back in the kitchen...."

What year is it and why in the hell are we still in the kitchen. 

Okay-okay.

Correction:

He dropped the meter when he heard Celeste scream.

At first glance, it looked like insects but then her Aunt Jennifer’s haunting words flooded her mind. "Why nothing changes, until it does." Was it a collective organism? Oh, hell no! It was coffee grounds. They were coalescing. The coffee grounds that Jarad had spilled earlier were coalescing and they were moving towards the container.

[Leigha]

The scene seemed confusing and a bit unnerving at first, but the aroma of Scarlet City coffee made it seem less...daunting. And Celeste's scream, less annoying. All that adrenaline wasted, though.

Ah, Scarlet City. It was a place in their past now, but one that brought both fretful and fulfilling memories.

Shaking his head clear of daydreaming, Jarad....