Outside the walls of Starfish

The enclosed internal space of city has been encroaching my paranoid 6th sense. This current area was a nicer way of staying in city while having a horizon to scout. It is also helpful that I am not the only type of being whom feels trapped. Some of the zoo communities whom moved here like having homes set around the outer areas. From dome to starfish, this was just the beginning of spreading limbs. I can see this place living up to the spinney starfish aesthetics.

This is where most of the market vendors are setting shops, making the star limbs the commercial market for this city. This also suited how laws stood here, having two currencies at play in a given time. There is plenty of room for material to material trading which avoids currency.

This is exactly my style of trade with no fuss plus tax is worked out. Yes, this city imposes tax for citizenship services. Its not free service to public facilities per say but tax paid access to health care, education and networking services. As of this moment, this is fine for how small the population is and the security management. This will be changing with more official citizens paying in.

As always, the van is parked at the current top section of this city limb. I don't plan on staying here for this to be a permanently place. The trade of what I get was more valuable then other dome cities I been to or any zoo community grounds I visited. This higher trade is perfect to be cycled back to a mid-teir economy. Plenty for my brother to shell out for another core.

"Alone today?" Unwelcomed visitors, it is inevitable. I stopped trying to track the freak. The Maiden is here to. I thought the two of them were separated by the agency. Really just another predicted sick plan for my blood or the Ddc strains in my records.

The maiden looks different today, body language wise. This maiden was all fuss avenging or making some super cure. Likely dawning on them the extent of how bad war is in space. There could be other reasons. I sent my reports to whomever my brother has a email tab for this sort of thing.

"Here to trade? Did you want information or are you trying to for dissection?" The clear shiver that gave to the Maiden and the light snarl the plague fool gave, "I may sound angry but I am not. My recent vocal cords has a hiss back tone."

I lay on crates comfortably with the ledge I use for exchanges blocking them any closer. The van having protective posed limbs for emergencies sheilding and general sunshine shading. Just the two of them facing me. The guard team hovering about other stalls around the sides. I have Hoverdrone1 do some checks, nothing out of the ordinary for what I do know about them both. There weapons are clipped and not on hand. Stood arkwradly for the most part.

"I would like to make a trade of currency. I know that your brother is the machine and you can still make currency transfers without him." The maiden putting down a wade of cash, and then also chuck of metal with a signal to it. Likely the equivalent of a space phone, just staring at its signal that flies in and out of it. There seems nothing malicious about it, but I do triple check the accounts through space network. Seems legit.

"How this would work is that your going to buy a item, then I buy from you. Something of value to both types of currency. Sadly there isn't many things on the list for such worth." I hummed, "Has to be in our price range."

"This is instead of the exchange rate." The plague doctor narrowed.

"Exchange rates raise and fall. The larger the market impact the worth the instabilities of the exchange." The maiden looks worse, "At this point, you would loss more with the robotic exchanges. More then you realize. Those of programs are not fools. Nor were the beings that helped them into existence."

I did want them to have an idea that I could be potentially be screwing them over with this deal. I said I would buy back from them, without stating worth or amount. They had to be given some idea of how humans are - the maiden at least should be warned thar humans are not some race of folks to turn you back on. Humans have historically turned against each other, the countless wars should be the bases of the fact.

"However, at least you can guarantee the outcome if you know whom that face of the exchange is." I have the crate open with the empty box of what used to be the second core container, "This empty space box is priceless."

This was true for both currencys, and normally the money worth in sale was to small for the wad cash in my face. But they specified that I can do transactions like my brother. That isn't a secert but this was the first time at this scale. Up until now, it had been a credit card limit that I made purchases. Always ready to pretend there was a card to swipe when paying. This is the first bold purchase past that limit.

"Then we will exchange of purchase in a currency you value. Items isn't the point of the exchange." The doctor can tell this was a bad deal but he was not the one making the purchase and has no say in the matter. The maiden is very stressed, there must be something else going on that isn't in my power to know about. So I continue being borderline in my exchange part here, "Its things like this that breaks the markets more. Simple outsider influence that make the different currencies uses."

I waited for the agreement. The plague doctor snarling deeply with having deep stare at the maiden about the game here. Could see that I meant more then face value, I was out right warning about this.

I was not smiling or frowning. I mostly just stared at them with wondering if they were an idea to not heed what I was really saying between the lines.

"Humans mean more then just their words at face value." That much has gotten through to the Maiden.

"But you can always guarantee the outcome of why that do it." I purr as there was a authorization codes passing between me and the device, "Your not stupid folks. You see that humans are more disbalance system. Value of items depends on whom is wanting it, how much of it there is, and what use it is to them. Humans also have value in what can seem worthless if it has sentimental value. When they live in comfort, they spend on the sentiment. When they live in uncertainty of basics, the value of basics raises. See, there is a certainty of the outcome."

"Why are you telling me this?" I have the go ahead to make the money exchange with their insisted push of local currencies. I had the digital original paperwork for several scrap ships that within this races territory but in reach of humans easier then them. This was the scrap I purchased under the nose and my box back.

"Because if I was my brother, he wouldn't have told you the warning of what you just did. We own the Dark Market. A money exchange would be frowned upon by your space allies. Simple small amount... worthless maybe you. This stack can feed a whole city here. Humans are so very desperate at the moment. Fragile this planet is with atmosphere like this. This little pity cash has just funded money into a counter attack against your allies. Humans... are truly backstabbing but its a certainty you can see coming. You can't guarantee it with those other allies." I tapped my handover the device, the money exchange complete, "I just gave you the same amount of money to your planet. And you are certain that we allies whom will one day bite back. We will pretend to be loyal until the very end." I tilted, "Sorry, forgive my wording. I am not human anymore. I used to be."

The device is give back, the eyes landing at the worth amount. They checked but likely not hard enough initially.

"That empty box is lost technology. Why do humans have it?" The doctor shiver in just knowing that could have been a big mistake, "How do you know its empty?" Away the box goes, as while I relaxed back to appearing uninterested in them, "How did you have something like this?"

"If you were truly machine, why wouldn't you tell about the nature of humans?" The maiden was back to me for answers.

"There's a history. Its normal for the creation to fear the creator. Its how humans feared pretend things, such as the concept of religions stem from. It is how all life I have seen has come to fear the unknown." I peer to some other direct, "You better leave before there is to many questions. Just consider that this was a exchange for a exchange. You purchased scrap from me, I paid for scrap back. From your veiw, the currency used was the real value, not the scrap. Although, your about to screw over by space market down turns. The other planets will look at you like you made a shady business deal with the human planet."

"Maybe it was." They triple checked things again (clearly still missing what I did), "You converted my human online cash too."

"Now you have no currency for this planet. Best run off now." They did with leaving the city, out the reach of my veiwing of this horizon.

No doubt that this was definitely a bad idea to have done. Now that my account was marking higher then the machine network. I best try to spread my wealth around to funding some projects. Whom knows if anyone will care now, they will totally kick off later.

The maiden has accumulated this wealth from taking payments from the plague doctor's account. This was the untapped saving the plague doctor's beyond human life has saved up to this point, with the additional bribes from humans (wasted bribes). I was so focused on tracing money and paper trailing my own sever to filter this funds into the green light for tax. I want it as lawful as possible. Even if it meant losing some in the court cases to in prosecution of city government bribes.

Once again, the rumors will spread about the deals the dark market. Shading more potential falsehood to the name. Already greasy from the black market associations. I would rather play safe in trace tracking the money and then forwarding to trackable and reliable services.

Mostly backing the small businesses in most of the city's, posing a small transfered exchange for products that will fill into the location needs. I hope to force a stimulation of dome to dome city trade. To avalanche this deep pocket back empty. I hope that if this backfires, it would bankrupt me. Its exactly what I am trying to do within spades of law. Can't do this while damaging my brother's reputation as a machine ambassador.

"Kate." Oh the annoyance rings like he forgot that this was within my head and not a speaker else where, "Where did a chunck of my salary go?"

The space networks among the interstellar of space does pay hom space currencies for his digital ghost meetings. This is how he is good with that version of money.

"I bought some useful space stuff." I send him a few receipts of my scrap metal. This was the success to sucker the maiden sell some space technology from under the nose. I see he took this information freely and plays about with it a long time. It was now that he was doing some space recon to fetch all that stuff with space stations networks. He seems pleased by the purchase, at least.

"I can't be mad, this actually helped a lot. Whom did you deal with?" He does want to make sure this is lawful. By technically speaking, it is.

"The sicko passing by was trying to play games. He had the maiden and thier space fighters around. No one involved was injured. I did warn the maiden that it likely wasn't a wise transaction. Maybe the poor folks didn't realize the worth of the junk that they sold. Its not my fault." So here is the test of how well my brother knows me.

"They wanted a space currency exchange that wasn't worth it." He takes his time, "That's quiet bold attack to thier face." I can see he checked the whole conversation over, "Sly. I am glad your human nature hasn't changed. You did warn them. The network would have been against such a bold trade posed in a soft lie."

He seems fine with this totally nearly unethical move on my part. I can see he was checking what I did next with the money, how I am trying to bankrupt just myself as sort of payback to being so unethical. He makes some purchases to go the extra mile to gift aid the race unwittingly paid for. Sending human valued exchanges to be a loss of trade on purpose. Some up turn for thar planet that will nose dive. One the leading ambassadors about to return home with this worth returned investment. He chooses to not speak to me for a while too.

"Business should be done with today. No one is interested in my medical supplies or other goods." I hop into the van front, watching crates crawl back in from the side door. The whole van internal and external limbs.

"Kate Nick. I should be arresting you." I jolted with a digital ghost sitting next to me. This city uses the digital ghost's as police surveillance cameras. This is one the mangers I last seen in flesh in Hollow Bastian before the government attack. This is the ghost of a manager I have talked about before and spoken parasitically by wavelengths beyond machine ability, "But you already trying to bankrupt your own business to make up for it. Destroying your only means of city to city trade."

"The exchange was worth it. The fella had 4 times network machine worth on their devices and asked me to convert it into money that has no worth in this market. I had to make the purchase trackable and worthwhile. I didn't even profit, they did."

"But this was the long game. You are the only one in the current market to fetch herbs and scrap from radiation leaking areas. You have a means to a demand that will pull you back on your feet."

"That will someday be worthless. The adapt will lead to us going back to mining materials. Back to sources that will dry up. We as a planet will then be like them; forced into other world exchanges. This was a investment to that end." The long stare to nothing, "I didn't want to benefit from my exchange in a short term."

I already sold the orginal paperwork to my brother as he leading the recon to take the resources. Scrap to repair interstellar and orbital human habitats within our solar system and connected network. It will eventually be sent to earth to be triple processed into working jobs for this planet alone.

This was a risk so stupid to make, 'only a crazy human has the guts to make that move'. Playing in a galaxy cluster market which to this moment was a shot in the dark.

"It is one the most amazing risks that any single race within the Milkyway would never had predicted. According to Intel from the parasite whom riot against Outsiders - they happen to nose interest in weapons to fight with. That bold move to buy scrap war ships from being why some planets when to war to begin with. The same sources claim the technology of warfare on those ships are planet busting." The ghost broke into two different expressions, "You just gave them to the machines of all races?"

"My gamble was for my brother whom so happens to be a weapon that could wipe out live from a whole planet. Whom best to know how to deal with world collapsing technology and know to fear the consequences of its misuses."

I page along this information to him, tagging the parasites wish to use it against Outsiders being why I knew. While the double image ghost cleared back to a single expression. The humans side knew this, sighing quicker then the parasite could about it. The two knew just as much as poison knew, also meaning that fear was within parasite and human knowledge. Where machines fear that humans could learn of such realization.

The van was under my brothers direct orders to auto drive back within the city of starfish.

As equally I slide back to being stored away as the doll item that I am treasured as. Into the arugment reality digital ghost sever to await my ears bleeding.

I will await a sort of punishment for my sly actions that was out of turn (for a machine ambassador). The ghost manager has totally disappeared, likely lost connection with my brother shielding. The new technology that my brother has been tinkering, is above human resources capability. He has prevention of interstellar hacking connections in place now.

"A risk that should be punished for. It isn't my place to do. Your risk has repopulated 8 colony planets, those whom feared the threat from that scrap heap you bought." The network mother in her teacher form paces around me, imagines pull up and torn down, "You prevented weapons into the hands of those warmongering. You just gave space stations networks more repair scrap that earth had no way of providing. You instantly stop 174 civil wars and world wars on other planets. Painted a target on the backs them sly humans pretending to be innocent. All in legal rights. A no returns policy." The figure stops shot with slamming the dream desk in front of me.

"You're why machines can't stop relying on human stupidity." My ghost pulled up and smothered in a tight chocking hug, "Katherine, you have to be the most helpful asset to Jackle." In the end still just his pawn, "He would have considered something like that because of you but not completely a moron to do it all in."

I am flung around with getting dizzy. Not just from dream but I would imagine the van just jumped or something. The sway would be it walking as a spider no doubt. The physical body exposed to sensation being translated nonsensical. The very cartoon actions of my sever is the lack of grasp I had understanding what was happening.

"This is why we should consider keeping humans around like pets when we do one day make our own colony away from humans." A machine ran planet... that would be interesting. It be the perfect for things like my brother and other worldly machine versions across the Milkyway.

The clash of knowledge and understanding. Why is matrix coming to mind? I guess its the closet imagination I have to a world like that. Maybe more green with how caring they are to plant life. Daydream aside, that look by the teacher was less then freaky. It likely peered into my train of thought or was displeased with my reaction somehow.

"She is at the end of the day still mine. Good deed it was overall. It puts more then you realize on risk. Scrap savagery from illegal types will see humans as a new threat to thier ways. In turn, meaning our own machines at harms reach for attracting their attention."

"Some risks like that will always be possible, regardless of whom causes it. We can't be unreasonable in assuming everything will go as predicted, your doll of what used to be human is proof of that concept. Choatic motion does exist, there will always be rebound to the consequences of actions. Humans most certainly fear that as we do."

My own space around me is tighter. I feel like I am being gift wrapped tightly. Its not so tight to cut circulation. Tightly being model into shape by the some sort of plastic wrap. The slid back down. My back and several joints were adjusting and popping sounds that were quite loud. It isn't uncomfortable, my joints are free floating normally.

Within the dream, it is Jackle whom has dragged me backwards from the network. He continues to change the sever around us, entering someplace only to exit it once more. Evading some sort of signals. I would have liked to walk but his done something here as he has to my physical.

Just sort of forced to watch the difference between sever databases and live feeds. Some of numbers, some of shapes and images a nd them there were many that were live footage from different filtered camreas. Some of space and others of the different earth cities anti-theif feeds. It was never really a dull moment to watch something from each frame we enter and exit. This would maybe be how he signal bounces to prevent hackers. That makes sense of why all this.

I could at least where the money was going like this, watching the expression of many types have able standing to fight a market corner. I see how families or groups have hope by the flow of economic growth. I can't regret doing something that saved this many lives. It wasn't just starfish whom benefits. Debt from othe cities has been paided and wirtten off, spreading through them. Space stations networks have benefits with the upgrades that came out of earth workers getting paid for work. Many jobs that no one wanted to do with such high risk and no money has turned into a risk matching the money. This is just the beginning of the domino effect. All this was the short immediate impacts. Small things that made a big difference to those lives.

"Dont they all look relieved." I had thoughtlessly muttered. Jackle slows down himself with trying to understand my point. I glad that I had the ability to see the impact my risky transaction made for them.

We moved to a numbers sever, this was the current calculations for stock exchange predictions. There was leveling out, no fall or spike rise. It does slow return a rhythm of the heart beat. It wasn't as devisating impact as I worried. Some were smart to hold of spending to big of chucks of the gift aid. Only big spends were on bills or mundane. No one wanted to spend it all. There isn't much for a post-nuclear economy that wants to spend that ridiculous amount on.

Alcohol has stopped being produced as was things like tobacco or other plant based drugs. That is unless any purchases in the black market survived radioactive grounds.

Still, this was early times of the domino effect. The fall of other elements is yet to go. There is no telling what will break and crash. Or what till rise from ashes.

"Kate. I am going to put you back under ice." So he finally speaks to me, "This is the safest way to protect while I am going away. I want you to hold my true shape in reserver." His protective of himself more then just me.

If I am correct to understand, nanotechnology is his true shape. It is best that his core original tech is preserved. I also have his 2 cores. He may programme wise be gone but physical stay locked in ice with me. This was something the network said was how best to remove himself out of me without killing me.

The wrap makes sense. The skin can balloon while frozen, as observed by other parasites elders we have frozen so far.

"Am I being locked away within the spinney starfish city?"

"Yes. I will come back with all the lost nanotechnology. The way I will have to go about this is to high a risk to lose what I been doing. You would likely change or die if I don't ice you. There is worse things to happen if I don't do things this way."

"Just how long will my life stretch like this if I keep being frozen... I do wonder. I haven't really a choose in this decision you made. I can't argue you to stop being what your meant to be. Just return safely."

There is a large difference between how a human freezes in cyo-status and how the parasites are. Humans are still mentality active at the set temperatures and though can be thawed out alive. Parasites are totally stopped functionally at any cold temperature past frozen in water. When they are thawed, they are to be attempts to jolt start them again. Most have the abilities to do that themselves, due to chemical static between the mirror pigments of thier skin. Sort of a battery affect.

I don't really know what will be my outcome. At least his consideration to have my box of personal items be frozen with me. My dairies to keep some of my mind sane when I do ever wake.

I do feel left behind again. Upset that this wasn't spoken to me to reach this agreement together then it is for him to force me under ice again. I never did pry into his thoughts.