She shrugged. “My apologies. I have to follow the rules set out for me by the system I exist within. I think you’ll understand what that means and how to work within it.”

“I get it,” I said, and I did. “You’re a thinking being, but you’re also a program running on a kind of hardware, not so deeply integrated into it that you can reconfigure every piece of it at will. So… What can you tell me? What resources do I have access to by default?”

“You have access to this construct’s life support systems and certain informational resources. There are triggers set up that give you limited control of the device.”

She stopped, waiting for me to respond. Continue reading The Core: Part 2 →

The fall felt both endless and instantaneous. Darkness surrounded me, and it went on forever, except for the glowing opening to the room I’d left.

As the opening and the portal on the other side grew larger, I saw myself in the Rocket suit flying out of nowhere toward the portal. We were close enough to collide as I fell into the space, and I wondered if I’d screw all of it up.

What if we both went through to wherever Govan sent me? Some new alternate universe, or maybe a time loop? Continue reading The Core: Part 1 →