psilli: well boys. i'm afraid there's not much i can do about ike. you know how we spectrans program gnomes. they all have free will. its kind of an experiment in subspace relations, as well as a way to ensure a certain level of independant critical thinking. ike is a masterpiece if i don't say so myself. l'il guy. he's a genius! best rep for the cones we've ever created. did you know that he has outsold and outdistributed all the other gnomes put together?

neto: did you know that he is conspiring with mer to take over the galaxy and set himself up as the sole distributor of elfincones? this plays in with mer's much more dangerous and as of yet unknown plan which will likely rain sindhavatar all over us, as well as unspeakable entities from dimensions we hybrids can barely comprehend.

ikon: shudders

psilli: ahhh. smart little gnome!!! great tactik! is he not the bomb?! corner the market. can't say i blame him. everyone loves elfincones. mer, however is a crazy unstable elf. no doubt ike has a plan.

subspace mer (invisible): o you brat! you spectral two faced flakey hippy elf!

ikon: i think mer has some kind of hypnosis power over the gnomes. she is remarkably skilled in subspace. in fact..nova, please throw a guardian subspace opacity net over the bridge while we are talking. i keep finding mer resonances all over the subspace fields.

subspace mer: (suddenly in a cloud of thick fog). damn!!! pix, fifi, tiki! can you see anything?

fifi: nope. we're socked in. lightbulbed. well...lets go back and hassle the samurai's gnomes

tiki: whatever....they are so gross. why do you even like them?

subspace mer: are all gnomes this spacey?

neto: the mer. a true phenomenon. we keep trying to create a peace with mer. she hasnt seen the holding tanks for the sindhavatar "pets" yet. she has no idea what unspeakably cruel and evil entities mash themselves against those feeble cell tanks as we speak.

(flash to holding tank and cosmos wrestling a thousand headed plasmoid)

yet she keeps playing around on the tap wall of beta as if it was some kind of video game. i can just see miz octa and that creepy sapius character watching her, their beady little eyes peering right on to nova.

akhentek (invisible): no need to worry about that. sindhavatar have no possible eyes on to nova since ikon aquius and i installed the metajacket.

psilli: (nearly leaping out of his seat) damn! you are good! very good! looking around to where the voice came from. boys...i don't know how you make those cloaks, but i'll take 20 to start. we'll fit the whole spectral aramada with those things. handy when travelling into the alanorian sector. customs there are major heavy handed.

aquius: so..you are a smuggler?

psilli: smuggler has such a negative connotation. i trade in goods that have evolutionary value for all involved. sometimes certain governments do not recognize evolutionary value like i do. ahhh..yes. you are the infamous hathor. we were after you for centuries. and now you belong to the mer pirate. is there anything that could convince you to adjust allegiances?

aquius: i am afraid that i am bound by allegiance to whoever deactivated the telerin holofield. it is not exactly easy to relate to the mer, as she is called, merzel the atlantean. however, i am available for all levels of consultation with any who have elvish genetiks. i could, for example tell you much about the deeper histories of the spectral kin.

psilli: interesting. perhaps i could convince you to be plugged into the kinship for a bit after our meeting.

aquius: certainly. it would be an honour. your line is of the oldest and most distinguished elves known to the galaxy.

psilli; shhhhh. i'm trying to keep that under wraps for various reasons. now..boys...about the gnomes

akhentek: i have been testing a new subspace vessel that nef has loaned me. she will be back shortly. it is called a gnome destroyer. a transwarp recon pod that works in subspace and can bend the fabric of space. its is lethal on gnomes. nef and i wiped out all of wyk's tricky gnomery which i later discovered, thrru nef (gorgeous elf) was a kind of test to see if i indeed had a stable and secure ship. nef said that wyk was steaming at being unable to track any info off the kunab hu.

neto: a gnome destroyer eh?

psilli: i think we should talk a bit before we loose that thing on the gnomes. i mean..ike is still kinda innocent at heart. he's sorta like a kid. my kid. ok. i love the little guy. i'll take responsibility for him. don't you have some gnomik code?

neto: the dude lies habitually. in fact, i doubt he's told you a single piece of relevant info since the mer bribed him?

psilli: what could mer offer him that i havent gotten at least a thousand of?

neto: unlimited distribution rights to the whole galaxy and beyond when mer finds the tree of life.

ikon: err..neto...there's a few trace emissions from...ahhh...shit.. damn...i thought it was trace elements of kaya. man..where is kysa anyways? all our scans into that wormhole get scrambled and garbled.

neto: fool of a human female. who knows what tha fuck she was after in there. i swear as soon as this whole elvish escapade is finished we will continue on that search.

ikon: we could soooooo use her help. mer is looking for some kind of tree. noone talks tree like kysa. she's got deep links to the ancient plant realms.

neto: well. first things first. we need to degnome this whole ship, so, akhentek, you and nef have level one clearance to bring in the transwarp recon pod and obliterate any gnomes you find:

psilli: hey!

neto: except ike...and solarion's, and the nymph gnomes (they're cute)..and jaycee...and of course whatever ikon has roaming out there..tho i think he should just reprogram a whole new batch and get rid of the last ones. seems his double has been overriding their logik circuits.

psilli: ikon has a double? interesting.

ikon: rather challenging actually. he's quite intelligent. as smart as me i guess, but kind of questionable alignment.

psilli: i'll be sure to be on the lookout for an ikon double. hey...any chance you could build me a double or two. i'll make it worth your while. i know you love a few of those neuropowders from the special reserves.

ikon: trust me...the doubles are more trouble than they are worth right now. i have to do some adjustments. but..if you are willing to make a downpayment i would certainly keep you updated.

psilli: start with this (flings a vial at ikon)..o and here's a shard for you neto.

neto: (eyes bulging out of head). are you serious?

psilli: if you can keep mer on your side, my friend, you will be one of the key characters in the galaxy. consider it an advance token of my humble grattitude at evening knowing a hero like you.

neto: i know there's a catch, but i'll thank you anyways.

psilli: catches are what makes life interesting no? nothing is ever exactly what you think it will be. silly to will it all i say. best let it happen in the flow. we spectrans are pro at just letting it all happen. thats what you need right there young neto..a flowshard. if things are ever getting too hectik or have gotten way out of hand, that little temporal adjuster will help you get back on track. we never leave home without them. so..i will see you all on spectra in a couple of days, weeks if mer is difficult. ikon...i recommend only 32 crystals for the first time, but i tend to eye high..know what i mean? akhentek (psilli looks right at the invisible space where akhentek believes he is hidden), i will expect those metajackets shortly..perhaps it can be trade on the last 5 baseballs of import rezin i aquired for you. aquius, perhaps you could come with me now (aquius nods). neto, you are wicked buddy. its all good you know. peace out.

(psilli leaves as quickly as he arrived with aquius trailing him and asking multiple questions. as soon as they leave the iris bridge they are in mer's subspace range and she begins to trail them)

subspace mer: i wonder what he is up to with aquius. no good i bet. spectral sneaks. i always knew aquius was a spectral traitor.(mer and pixie gnomes scurry off behind psilli and the hathor)

neto: spectral people are so skilled at dissolving meetings yo. i mean, did that happen? we have a fairly serious problem with ike, and i'm sure that psilli just told us "its all good" and left me with a chill shard, you with powders and we are no further along with anything.

ikon: he's definitely good. i hadnt even noticed until now that he got exactly what he wanted, which is basically the assurance that his number one recon gnome will still have absolute diplomatik immunity while on nova. but....i have a plan.

akehentek: wait till he sees this gnome destroyer. mwahahahaha. ike doesnt have to know that we won't use it on him. gnomes are going to freak out when nef rolls that ship into the realms. and if mer is in there, my guess is that she'll think twice about being aligned with any of the targets.

neto: hmm. ikon, lets chart a trajectory to spectra. akehentek, maybe you should introduce us to nef.