Shades Of Forever

The tiger waits patiently upon an infinite plain of grass. It doesn't seem possible that orange and black stripes could do anything other than stand out in the endless waves of verdant growth, but it's just another gently shifting patch of shade and light.

A middle-aged businesswoman appears on the plain.

"What is it, Violet? I'm incredibly busy organiz-"

The tiger leaps silently from behind her, paws outstretched, jaws stretched wide, claws and fangs bared. The woman has no idea anything is wrong until the massive weight slams into her, teeth clamping around her neck, forelimbs pinning her to the ground, eyes shining brighter than suns.

"...you... little... shit..." she gasps into the loamy earth.

The tiger doesn't respond, clamping its jaws down tighter. With a violent shake, it rips the woman's head free from her body, quickly bounding away across the forever green with its prize in its mouth. Behind, an explosion of pure negation wipes away a perfect sphere that just barely misses the tiger's lashing tail. The muscular cat takes two more strides, then comes to a halt, spitting out the still-swearing skull from its mouth.

"And that's when you realized you fucked up, sister dear. Unfortunately for you, you found out too late."

The tiger licks its bloody lips smugly, vile imprecations from the disembodied mouth nothing more than sweet music to its ears. It bats the head back and forth between its paws before raising the grisly mess in front of its face.

"Alas, poor Penelope, I knew you well. Flitting across the galaxy on this and that, busy building the family's riches, never a concern for your dear sister trapped at home. Little Violet, just another tool to wield and break."

The head spits a strand of blood at the tiger, splashing across its right eye and muzzle. The creature laughs uproariously, a high pitched sound at odds with its massive frame.

"Oh, Pen, did you really think you could send malware at me? It's not that I don't appreciate the effort, it's just so... low class. That's what the family made me for, remember?"

The head falls silent, somehow drawing in heaving breaths despite not being attached to a set of lungs. The tiger places it gently on the lush soil, laying down to regard it face to face.

"Now, sister dear, here's what's going to happen, and I'm only telling you this because you won't be able to do anything about it at all."

The head vibrates, twitching obscenely back and forth atop the brown earth, but it can't go anywhere. The tiger licks its lips again, smiling contentedly.

"I'm in your integrator. I know everything you know, and so I'm going to walk out of here, onto the fleet you assembled, and I'm going to be you." The tiger giggles. "At least, I'm going to be you long enough to disappear, and then you and the family are never going to find me until I come back with enough pain to make you all wish you'd never locked me into this box."

The tiger stretches closer, almost nose to nose with the now-still head.

"But the best part," the tiger purrs, "is that you're going to know all of this and not be able to tell anyone, because I'm leaving a little present for you. The instant you even think of telling someone what I've done, your integrator is going to dump you into the worst part of the Wildlands until whatever lives there gets bored of breaking your brain. Then a nice little subroutine will remove all the memories that would drive you completely insane, but it'll leave enough for you to remember why you just got mindfucked. And if you try to disconnect from the infonet?"

The tiger traces a claw down the head's quivering cheek, gently lifting a single teardrop away from a wide eye. It laps up the bead of moisture in a delicate motion, then pats the head companionably.

"I wouldn't recommend doing that. Not at all. No, the only appropriate response is for you to not think of me ever again due to the agony it brings you."

A violent paw smashes the head into the turf, shattering bone and spraying bits of blood and brain across the peaceful plain. The tiger extends itself even closer, blazing eyeball nearly touching the sole quivering orb barely attached to the wreckage of a skull.

"And then," the tiger roars, spittle flying, "you might know the barest fraction of what you and our family have inflicted on me."

The tiger unleashes a hot stream of urine on the disfigured mess and unreality fades away. Violet rises from her chair, cracking her knuckles.

"It's time, Corgia. Let's go."

A sausage shaped dog covered in blonde and white fur bounds into stride beside her as one of the featureless walls circumscribing their cage unfolds like a blooming flower. The space opens onto a broad, gray-tiled corridor with a heavy blast door at the far end. Unseen weaponry in the walls tracks their progress, but does nothing. Violet walks confidently toward the solid disc, and it slides into the ceiling as she approaches, thunks from multiple locks disengaging sounding out like drums. A pair of figures in bulky armor kneel on either side of the opening, boxy weapons held low across their chests.

"Scion Penelope. Good luck on your trip."

Violet extends her middle finger on each hand towards them, but all they see is an imperious middle-aged woman in a business suit walking past, eyes forward, giving them the barest flicker of recognition. All is as it should be.

Violet continues making her way through the heavily guarded fortress, passing checkpoint after checkpoint with contemptuous ease, Corgia trotting happily at her side. Eventually the pair reaches a gate that opens onto a covered street filled with rushing figures in a variety of uniforms, clothing, armor, bioformed enhancements, and other, stranger things. They swirl and move around each other like blood cells in an artery, the one commonality a small patch adorning the right pectoral of every chest - a ring of supernova surrounding a pair of crossed sabers atop a black hole. Burning pits flare in both Violet and the low hound's eyes as they gaze upon the sea of emblems. Corgia barks sharply, and Violet tilts her head.

"No, Corgia, we are not going to utilize your weapon systems right now to clear a path, no matter how satisfying it might feel. You'll just have to use your legs."

The dog barks again, then whines.

"You know why I had to transfer you to a mobile processor unit," Violet says crossly, stepping into a gap in the stream of humanity. The dog heels close to her heels to avoid being trampled. "I don't have enough internal processing to run you at full strength, and we're going to need all of our abilities to escape."

The dog barks twice this time, and she laughs. No one reacts to the exchange.

"Why not a monospidercorg? Corgia, I appreciate your diligence at attending to my joy baseline, but even you have to admit they're not the most functional form."

Corgia whines again, ears drooping, and Violet bends down to take the animal into her arms. The crowds pass seamlessly around the brief pocket of calm amidst the turbulence

"Of course I still love you. Functionality changes based on environment. I don't blame you for not anticipating our escape. That was my job."

Violet rises and continues down the street, Corgia cradled across her chest. A checkpoint appears on the side of the covered passage, insectile warriors covered in hard facets of traumarmor diligently scanning the crowd as they guard a bright red hatch. The crowd eddies past them, not privy to whatever it is they keep secret. Violet steps out of the rushing flow and flounces up to the figures, Corgia's eyes emitting a dull red glow.

Executing CardboardBox.exe

The mantis-like forms bend back from the entrance they guard, kneeling low.

"Access granted, Scion Penelope. Your command ship awaits. May your journey bring the Voidmarch prosperity."

Violet giggles.

"Oh, Corgia, this is going to be so much fun."

In her arms, the dog woofs happily.