"Welcome to Sodium"
This friendly voice is heard when walking through the Hub. The voice is of VICKIE, the most well known icon in the Sodium Universe. But have you ever wondered, who or what is VICKIE? What is her purpose? Why is she here? And where did all this come from? Someone created it, but where did they all go?... These questions attacked our minds until recently when a few scientists of some sort landed on the planet. We dropped our glasses at Scorpios and missed the scorpions we almost stomped when we saw them walk up to VICKIE with a large amount of tools and tech and began detaching her from her computer. Supprisingly nobody tried to stop them, instead a few of us asked them what they were doing. One man plugs in a very shiny powerful looking computer and numbers fly down the screen. He then said only "Finally..."
"NO" This voice... The voice of VICKIE! A video plays on the screen, the video, is out of her eyes, her memories. Again the man speaks, "here's where her story begins"

The screen is black but you can hear several unidentified male voices. Many beeps and tapping like a keyboard is heard. Someone says "Alright, we are nearly finished. Now to activate her vision." There is a bright flash of light and the screen flickers and the view of a large tank and several men staring at VICKIE is seen. A tv screen on the wall behind the men turns on, the wireframe and data of her programming appear. Then it shows her body. They see she is moving and open the tank capsule. "Quickly!" one man exclaims, "Alert Vickors his creation is awake. You two, go start the engine. When you're finished with that and loading up the tools, I am going to need you to come back and help me carry VICKIE." The man hits a switch and the video goes black again. A brief moment later the vision is restored but it shows movement now. They are on a vehicle driving through the desert. Its a truck, no wait, a bus. VICKIE was being transported somewhere. Not much was to be noticed along the drive, mostly sand and a few rocks. There were the occasional large boulders until a few buildings were being passed, ones similar to the outskirts of the Sodium Hub today. The driver yells and swerves as an explosion nearly misses the bus. Out of the corner of the screen there was a large ground unit hovering towards them firing yellow plasma cannons. We recognized it as one of the fighters outside the salt tank base. And speak of the devil, there was the salt tank just in time to blow up the attacker. Just in time for more to come of all shapes and colors... One by one the salt tank eliminates the enemy. He ramps off the scrap of one ship and shoots 2 missles into the air where they homed a target, one barely missing and the other a direct hit to the side. The ship explodes into another causing it to explode as well. The driver swerves again causing everyone inside the bus to lose their balance.
VICKIE falls and we can only see the ground for a moment til she is picked up by the 2 men. VICKIE turns her head to the front of the vehicle. The driver is seen and he is looking nervous. "This is getting too far out of hand. The invaders know of VICKIE and want to destroy her before we can integrate her into the defense systems!" The man to VICKIEs left punches the wall of the bus and angerly shouted "We NEED this AI!! We can't afford to mess this up! She is the last hope of our race and our planet as of now!" The sounds of explosions and flaming metal fade into the background and the bus passes a few windmills.
"Well, we're finally here guys" the driver stated.
They stop the bus and open the back doors. The 3 men pick up VICKIE and carry her for a few minutes with her looking at the sky. Finally they set her down under a type of tent roof. What VICKIE was looking at was the Hub only with their people walking around instead of us. Several people approach the driver and his men. 3 scientists and a few technicians by the look of it. "Time is running low men! How is the project going in the fabricator?" A man in a white scientist type suit replys to the driver "You know that project is far out of your jursidiction, why do you persist on asking?" The driver throws down his helmet "We brought VICKIE and I know Vickors has something up his sleeve. I just need to know if we will have time."
Continuous arguing over the invaders captured being used against their own race and force fields and more salt tanks finally lead to an arguement over a new war. Several mechanics were hooking VICKIE up to a machine with a computer and a crane. Once she was mostly hooked up, she was able to view all the cameras on the planet. VICKIE began browsing around, watching racers and crowds enjoy the amazing sight. 3 racers zooming down the desert track, the one in the middle slams into the one on the right causing it to fly off course. The crowd screams in shock and cheers at the same time. VICKIE then begins watching a large party over a hexagon dance floor. Many teenagers were enjoying themselves, dancing, chatting, and some were fighting. Oddly though a large group we're not participating in the party, but were instead digging a giant moat for no apparent reason. Then VICKIE switched to what seemed to be an arena of ships like before. They flew around shooting at each other, but the mini salt tank was doing the most damage. It had destroyed ship after ship as large crowds in the stands cheered the pilot on. That was the last thing VICKIE viewed before deciding to watch adults at the bar in Scorpios have a good time. They joked around and harassed the robotic scorpions outside. One man got stung and 17 men poured out of the bar and began stomping the scorpions into the ground. VICKIE has switched back to watching the engineer on her left work on the computer she was wired up to. They began installing more programs into her until they stopped to see a blimp fall flaming out of the sky in the distance. VICKIE zooms in to see multiple pods landing in the horizon. "No... we are too late..." the scientist drops to his hands and knees.
One of the drivers assistants grabs the scientist be the shirt and pulls him up. "Get ahold of yourself, you know what we must do"
The scientist pulls out a device and presses the red button and lights and sirens go off. "Quickly, try to finish connecting VICKIE!" People began evacuating Scorpios and heading to the teleporters. "I have to get to my lab out at the oasis" the driver stares at the scientist and mocks "you mean your shack right?" Bemused, the scientist pushes the driver out of the way and heads toward his salt skimmer and takes off.
One of the other scientists gets a beeping noise and pulls out an octogonal object and a hologram lights up. The message was from several teen looking people trying to talk over the sirens and music. "Daddy!" a girl shouts "They're here too! The invaders! The ditch will keep them out of the lounge area but we are still waiting for the blimp to get here." "Good good. I am very proud of you and your team. I can't believe that the rest of these kids are just going to have their party." nods the 2nds scientist. "And release the lanterns into the sky so the blimp can find you, its getting dark." "Hey you men, are you done with VICKIE yet? Men? Men answer me!" VICKIE turns her head to see the engineers and mechanics standing still staring at the sky and the scientists to follow. In the sky several pods fall down to release electric towers and invader ships. "Oh no..." The scientist grabs VICKIEs head and faces her at him. "VICKIE, you will be our voice, you will tell any visitors of this invasion, and you will assist them. You will be their guide, you will/.../" The scientist was cut off by a laser that blew across the ground and hit the scientist and some of VICKIEs right leg. The scientist disintegrated into dust and VICKIEs leg somewhat as well but slower and less intense.
"They're going to destroy VICKIE!! Raise the sheilds! Get to the teleporters! We need to get off the planet!" shouted the last scientist. He turns to look at VICKIE with deep sorrow in his face. "I'm so sorry Vickors..."
They all vanish into the teleporter and VICKIE turns her head to watch outside the hub area. She then looks down at the small robotic creatures of the planet, all the scorpions, a few kangaroo mouses, and a snake. Nothing else really happens after that so the scientist here today shut off the video. "So that's VICKIEs story..."

Ok, due to lack of having any kinda program that would count my words or check my spelling, I'm just gonna throw this out there. If it's too short, well sorry. But Terra and Gid made very good points when they said most people wouldn't wanna read too much anyway, so I've kept it nice n' small. Hope you like it...

 The steam vapors danced around her face carving daydreams into her static vision, in fragmented flashes she could see someone through the mist of zeros and ones starring back at her, looking for a response. Unsure if she even knew how, she tried to feel her hands, tried to feel them move, but the flashes were too frequent and disorientating to allow her to concentrate on them long enough. Suddenly a new experience began, like a punctuation of light but blind to it, she became even more confused. The piercing that seemed to drill into her mind scoured and scratched at something within her, a revelation was happening, she could feel pain. Then, just as sudden as the assault began, it ceased. The zeros and ones stopped, plunged into a darkness without weight, without body, almost, without mind. The emptiness became a deafening silence as the bleakness began to fold around her as another revelation encroached; loneliness, emptiness. She was lost.

An eternity seemed to pass. Then, the flash of light began again. A rush of zeros and ones came at her at such pace but this time something was different, they were new; She could read them. As if someone was talking to her she didn't even have to look at them to know what they meant, and she drank from this endless stream of information. As she did idea upon idea entered her mind, new thoughts and knowledge bombarded her every sense yet seemed to adhere themselves to unknown, unseen parts of herself. Then it stopped. A tingle, a fizz; she searched within herself to comprehend this new sensation; and there they were, she could feel her hands. The bumps and waves coursed up through her hands and began to form something else that seemed to be part of her. As the rush passed through her it seemed to manifest itself deep within, the notion of a body began, and she could feel her chest now, heavy, hard, breathing and now beating like a war drum in the fog. The light faded, the code stopped and again she was left in her limbo. Yet this time, she had company. This time she could hear the beat; a slow, steady, constant thud that could never be located and seemed to never tire.

DAY THREE: Project Vickie Report No.842543.02

We have isolated the rouge sub-atomic repair robots that have been the cause of Vickie's data loss and extracted them accordingly. There is still substantial damage to inner sub-routine programs and some of her outer casings have been stolen in a salvage attack from desert marauders. At the time of this report we are working on bringing her lost memory files back online. Aesthetics must become our secondary prerogative. End report.

As she listened to the now comforting steady beat of this thing inside her she felt its pace quicken abruptly. The flash of light and code began once more but this time, she was ready for it. Like lightning the zeros and ones blasted at her were absorbed, bit by bit she sorted through them at a speed she didn't know she was capable of and as she did so new ideas began to form somewhere inside her. She opened her eyes as wide as she could and there before her, a male face looking back. His lips were moving but she couldn't hear what he was saying, only in fragmented streams of shrill piercing could she determine any kind of language. The code ended. The light faded, and yet again she was dropped into a sea of blackness and loss.

DAY SIX: Project Vickie Report No.842543.03

Vickie's damage is more serious than first presumed. There is a virus within her code that deletes almost half of what we put in. We have uploaded a patch and removed most of what we can find of the virus. It seems to be some kind of new binary, one that can re-arrange its program at will. We're going to try to contain some of it in the hope we might learn something from it. Where it came from, who made it, how it seems to learn of its own accord. Reports will follow. End Report.

DAY ELEVEN: Project Vickie Report No.842543.08

After learning about the new virus within the Vicki Unit, we have discovered a form of code that can manifest itself within dead or offline circuitry. We've named it the Scorpion virus. We have successfully removed all traces of it from the remaining Vicki Unit and will bring her online soon. End Report.

The flash. The stream. She opened her eyes, before her she could see a blur of glowing neon and bright reflection. As her optics adjusted she noticed she couldn't feel her right leg component. She was stiff and her joints were filled with sand, she tried to stand up. As she did, she realized she was attached to something, a rig of sorts and a power source. Inside her mind, she called up her data stream. Warnings of something called the Scorpion Virus flashed madly at her, as she absorbed the information an objective evolved: Delete and destroy all traces of the Scorpion Virus. She looked around again, there in front of her was the same man, but this time she could hear him.

"Welcome back Vickie, this is your new home, Sodium One."

Welcome to Earth, the year is 2048. Era of post industrial neon-enlightenment , a land constantly ravaged by solar winds after the fall of Earth’s natural magnetosphere (2012.9) . Humanity delusional of whom to blame, points to the government and organised society. 2040 is the fall of the UN and the rise ‘neo primeval calling’. 3 factions form in the heated conflict: the neo earth alliance; formed by the former governments of the UN , the neon supremacy; formed by ancestors of the civil liberators, and the lunar exodus; cosmonauts whom later colonised the moons of Hades 1 (Alpha Centauri sol. system).
With all the violence heralded by the divide, NEA (Neo Earth Alliance)subsequently hired private scientists and psychologists to ‘soothe the relentless populace’ after the failure PMC’s (private military corporations). One of the many included the grieving Marcus Vickors whose wife was lost to the civil unrest at neo Austria-Hungary . Markus was a renowned scientist, psychologist and musician, was often titled ‘the neon alchemical god’. This was mostly due to his magnificent neon inspired machinery, memorising electronic music and ability to summon peace from such violence, such hatred and turmoil, it would seem he transformed poisonous lead into awe inspiring gold .
Knowing that he ,a man of sheer impossibility, could save humanity of its own inevitable undoing and instead give it perpetual salvation, he set out to do the impossible, unearth and recreate a long lost reality; virtual reality. He lay its foundations on the ashes of the Former United States of America. In a wasteland that was once known as the Nevada desert. There he named the post mythical land Sodium, for its volatile and exuberant past and possible future and as the key element of salt in which the plains of Sodium were soon to be predominantly famous for.
Markus was born 2009.9 in the sinking citadels of Britannia. It was once an industrial hub for the pre-industrial era and was becoming the centre of the new wealth and hope. All this industrialisation would in fact eventually revert humanity itself as if it had never existed. For Markus knew that and he would devote his life to attempt change it, change the inevitable and to illuminate where there is nothing but sheer darkness. Markus would not do it for fame or for power, for he would do it in reverence to those who have fallen in the wake of devastation, waiting for salvation and yearning for everlasting peace and nirvana. To him he was burdened with the legacy of all those before him and he was bound in duty to finish what his ancestors had began and died trying to complete.
Mankind’s lust for power and its greed for resources decimated the environment and mankind itself. The theorems on global warming were so very wrong. The planet was in a state of flux, countries were sinking on one side of the planet and on the other gulfs of molten lava gashed out slaughtering billions. It was Markus who eventually figured out what was happening; many wondered why Earth was indeed called Earth when it is in fact 70% water and now it seems so ironic that humanity, instead of correcting themselves, are inadvertently correcting the whole planet. His theory was titled Terra and that’s how he allowed himself to enter the ranks in which he himself would never dream into becoming. This in turn give him the ability to build the legendary plains Sodium.
There and then Markus , ‘the neon alchemist’, along with the hired scientists and psychologists embarked on a project that seemed so obscene and ridiculous that is would be nothing more than un matched beauty . Along with them legendary Tim Wright (aka CoLD SToRAGE), Subjex and The Future Funk Squad set out to create sonic pieces of art that would complement and complete this masterpiece known as Sodium.
2048.6 was when the second wave of the solar tsunamis, with that sections of the generators which powered the neon city becoming unearthed, it became evident that Paradoxical Hedron Colliders, which were initially used to power the area, had become far too dangerous in such a volatile scape. Ancient technology had to penultimately used, specifically wind turbines found in the sunken cities of Britannia. These took advantage of the solar winds that rip up the desolate wasteland and carve up the colossal mountains.
Not only had the Hedron colliders posed a risk to the integrity of Sodium itself, structurally and metaphorically, but also due to the tremors beneath the planet had leaked luminescent toxins into the sub terrainian fauna and flora. The sparse flora populations were obliterated within months but the fauna in contrast evolved. Though they were still controllable by incineration and through crushing they became impervious to pesticides and most toxins. Their aesthetics also mutated having a lucid exoskeleton in which bioluminescent toxins writhed and shifted. Toxicologists later classified the neo scorpion types and the populace contained them into two distinguishable zones which were later cordoned off. Anti-venom was later recreated to fend off the adverse effects and introduced into the beverages which were taken in by the occupants of Sodium.
With Sodium soon becoming reality, PMC grade ballistic tanks and automatic sentries were brought in to ‘ensure a sustainable amount of adrenaline and enjoyment were sustained’ though they were arguably there to decimate the population if an uprising. These craft were later modified according to the ideals and visions, that of Sodium and that of Markus .
After the arrival of the tanks and military calibre mechanicals it seemed a threat from within was not the only threat to the dream of Sodium. Forces beyond Sodium were seeing it as more of a threat than that of a Utopia, whilst Markus and his colleges constructed wondrous pieces of art, the N-USSR, Neo Germany and the new axis collaboratively constructed mass metallic hulks known as the SKULL HORDE. These varied from wheeled cathedral like domes to assassin-esq skimmers, all of whom could disintegrate a naive sodium tank pilot in a matter of bio seconds.
The founders of Sodium saw this as a problem, for the creators of the monstrosities could not anticipate this themselves, for they were unending, mechanically immortal and unstoppable. The founders had to construct monolithic fences to control the vermin. Even with the aid of PMCs, private citizens themselves had to take up arms to let the dream of Sodium live on.
Whilst the ‘beta’ populace along with its creators and dreamers where isolated in their work and in their play they became oblivious to the world around them. A storm was brewing, though it was heavily disputed if it was a storm, but whatever it was it could only be described through sight and spread by word.
According to NEA if was in fact a planet wide electromagnetic torrent that not only harms the likeness of machines but also the electromagnetic waves in our very own minds. Escape of the damned planet was futile for its densely poisonous atmosphere and satellite bombarded stratosphere would make it impossible to escape. To Markus this was no longer a race to complete a land of euphoria and splendour but to use Sodium itself as a emanating beacon to those out there in the dead of space and even those on Hades 1. The lunar colonists could be their salvation, their light at the end of the tunnel, hope. Despite the optimism Markus possessed greatly he knew realistically that Sodium would only echo his legacy, his dream and life’s work. He also knew who should, on behalf of him, do the act. His beloved wife Victoria Vickors.
Consciousness transfer was a technology still new to the era, so where bio mechanical limbs and beings. Markus knew after months of planning and designing that the transfer link would eventually deteriorate and the limbs would disintegrate. So all he could do was make the hive mind of Sodium to the likeness and image of his long deceased wife, and in her honour she became known as VICKIE Vickors Engine.
Not only did she have the power to maintain and sustain Sodium during and after the cataclysm, she also became the literal and metaphoric beacon of Markus and his scientists by-gone era, a magnificent beacon of glistening blue light, thriving in information and filled with meaning but saying only three words, three words that surpass planetary cataclysms, the dead vacuum of space, poison skies and the blinding light of stars; WELCOME TO SODIUM.
And after the dust has settled, the creators undone and the world anew, it will stand strong, resolute and vigilant. Sodium in all its neon splendour.
This is Marcus gift to you, his life’s work, his legacy bestowed upon you in such simplicity and hidden in plain sight that has become so complex, making populations so perplexed and becoming a legend, an enigma in its own right. So when I say to you, remember all the meaning in Sodium’s labyrinth of a story ; STAY VIGILANT for not everything seems truly magnificent until you truly know its meaning and its past.

VICKIE

She used to be human, once. Standing in the central Sodium Hub, waiting for the next customer to come by and purchase something, she thought about how long ago that was. She could barely remember real blood flowing in her veins instead of whatever fluid this was, it was fading from her memory banks as fast as the moisture from the air in the heat of the desert that she stood in.
She wasn’t really sure where she was, all she knew was it was a desert and it was large. There was a shooting game here to entertain the visitors and she had heard from the guests here that there was another area for racing controlled by the same company who maintained both her and the surrounding area. Her name was Vickie, though she wasn’t sure whether it had always been that or if it had been given to her by her creators.
Time meant nothing to her, she had no way to measure it really though the days and nights came and went she had no idea how long she had been like this without a starting point to reference it to. All she knew was that it had been a very long time.
When had this shift in her memories started? She struggled to keep the ones she still had from before the blast, she had thought all was lost to her when the bombs hit. Then she had awakened in a hospital laboratory and most of her flesh had been replaced with machinery. So here she stood, alone in a sea of humanity.
Why had they chosen to save her? Why her memories stored in this metal shell? There were so many others who hadn’t been given the gift of life given to her; at times she wasn’t even sure she wanted it. Was this really life? Her days consisted of endless repetition, of real humans coming and going on with their lives while she stood here and gave them an objective to fulfill or sold them something for the credits they accumulated from the ones that they had already completed.
So many questions floated in her mind as she did this task, day in and day out. Where did all of the people who came to her each day come from? They seemed friendly enough, even happy to see her at times. The voice on the intercom that echoed through the entire Sodium complex seemed familiar to her, but it didn’t seem like her own, though it was. It bore the ring of machines in its tone, not at all like the voice she remembered from so long ago.
There were so many times she wished she had just gone through heavens gates with most of the others in her previous life, but then she looked around her and realized that this wasn’t so bad really. At least she still had what was left of her memories and the thrill of watching the Sodium pilots and trainees though the security cameras as they battled it out on the salt flats against the robotic enemies thrust at them.. Many didn’t even have that, so she considered herself lucky to have survived the blast.
The scientists and technicians who came to her and checked her vitals each day were her only contacts now and they truly seemed concerned about her well being. They talked among each other excitedly as they examined her circuitry and made sure their invention was still working like it did when they first created her. They would just chatter among themselves, ignoring her previous humanity. She missed the interactivity that came with conversation, though she wouldn’t have been able to respond even if one spoke directly to her. She was a maze of wiring and pre-programmed responses now, an amusement for the masses of people that thronged here seeking to be entertained.
But she did understand what they were saying when they spoke near enough for her to hear. It seemed she was a prototype, a fantastic blend of machine and human and the first that had survived the ordeal of creation. She was a leader of sorts, through her many others who were less damaged could get a piece of their life back, a limb, an eye, so many things that were thought gone forever.
This realization made her proud of the role she had served, though that role had changed now and she had become more of a curiosity than anything else. It still gave her a sense of purpose and even though she had no real way to display emotions to others anymore, the knowledge she was helping somehow made her feel that she still had that small spark of humanity inside and this was what kept her going as the endless stream of days unfolded before her.
Unlike those that she was helping to have a better life, she was attached to another machine by a robotic arm, this was her umbilical cord to life, and without it she would die. Because of this she was anchored here, never to be able to move about and see the rest of what was left of the world after the war. She heard snippets of news from those around her occasionally and these were highly sought and anticipated by her, they were her connection to an outside world she would never see.
Through this eavesdropping she was able to discern that after the war was over mankind had worked feverishly toward peace and science had leapt forward with great strides. Nanotechnology was something that had been played at for awhile before the conflict, but now it was nearing perfection as scientists from all over the world worked together to end disease and poverty, and in the wake of it ending most wars as well.
She herself was benefitting from this new technology, though most of her was made from whatever was available at war’s end. This was why she seemed incomplete to some, her right leg was exposed and her shoulder had a patch made of a metal block. The scientists had decided to leave her this way instead of upgrading her as their knowledge grew, as a kind of testament to the past. After she had served her purpose in the outside world they had brought her here to stand as an example to all those who came to see her, a testimony to what cooperation and science could accomplish.
She could barely remember those days when she was in a lab somewhere. Probably because it was such a sterile environment and not worth the effort, at least this place held some interest for her and gave her a reason for existing at all. So her days went on and she hungered for news from the outside world.
Then one day as the technician working on her was chatting with another she overheard something that she knew would be life changing for her. They were creating others like her, but they would be free of the robotic arm that anchored her here. Androids that were fully AI, unlike her in that she had the memories of a real person swimming around in her head, they would be fully mechanical.
But the thing that excited her was they would all be connected to her. She would finally be able to walk the world around her, to experience vicariously the thrill of watching a Sodium race from the stands, or even participating in them and the Salt Shooter as well. In her wildest dreams she couldn’t have imagined such a turn of events. She would have a life! Though it wouldn’t actually be her, these machines would give her the legs she lacked, and she would be the only one able to feel the emotions their actions bestowed upon her.
If she could have rejoiced she would have. She felt these things but had no way to display those feelings to anyone. But it was enough to know that her separation from the world outside of the Hub was about to be ended for good. It gave her hope, something she hadn’t felt in a long time and she relished it.
She eagerly waited for the day her mind would be opened up to new adventures and she would once again be a part of the outside world. Each day she waited for the change when she was synced with her new companion AI. Many days and night went by and she was starting to worry that it was a mistake and she had heard wrong.
Then one bright desert morning she felt a huge shift in her awareness and suddenly she started seeing through the eyes of hundreds of AI. It was very disorienting at first to have so many different images coming in at once. Then her technicians showed up and made a few adjustments and she became able to focus on one at a time.
She made her choice and was suddenly there at the Sodium races, her spirit soared as she stepped into a brave new world.