Three Square Meals - Chapter 118

I've updated the post with the FINAL VERSION of the chapter. No big changes in the final edit. :-)

Tefler

press F5 to pay respects (for the final version)

David Shmilowitz

Yay!

Tony

Yup. I’m supposed to be working from home. Oh dear.....

Timbo

Chapter 119 tomorrow? :)

Personally, I enjoy reading the earlier versions so that I can help, in some small way, to make the final versions better via feedback.

Evan

I started doing final online version reading when I saw that whole new scenes were being added to chapters. Spelling and grammar edits are one thing, but it sorta lessens the immersion in the tsm world for me, reading a chapter and then reading the same chapter a few days later just to see one or two new scenes

David Shmilowitz

While I always look forward to every release of anything from Tefler, I just don't understand the reason for only reading "final" versions. Can somebody explain that to me please? I mean, even "final" versions sometimes continue to get updates. I personally enjoy reading the first copy I can get my hands on, then re-read the chapter in it's final form. I then look forward to reading it yet again when it's released in eBook form and has had yet more edits and enhancements. That is the true final version. But, even the eBook can get further edits, if necessary, so I wouldn't get hung up on trying to wait for the final version. After all, it's not like it costs any extra to download a given chapter multiple times, for the intermittent versions. It doesn't. The way Tefler has it set up, you pay once for each complete chapter that is released that you download, and you only pay once for each chapter, no mater how many times you download it, in the same or edited form. Besides, I always enjoy reading books, or listening to audio books, multiple times, because I always pick up something new each time that I missed the first time around. So the only thing you "waste" is the time it takes to read the chapter, and I sure don't see that as a waste at all, but rather a pure pleasure as far as Tefler created content is concerned. Just my opinion, of course, so you are certainly free to do it however works best for you. I would suppose the true "final" version would be if Tefler ever releases a complete Box Set Anniversary version of TSM and its sequels, however many of those there ends up being, in printed form, complete with all available artwork, maps, schematics, etc. But I wouldn't expect that to happen for many years, if ever, so I wouldn't hold your breath, but we can dream!

Bp Hlpt

yea what david said im a final only reader kinda also

also final update for 118?

David Shmilowitz

Far be it for me to be pedantic (yeah right!) but it was the hyper-pulse generator which, if I recall correctly, was re-purposed to allow Faye to operate outside the ship, flying the Raptor, taking John off for picnics and the like. This of course means Dana will have to replace it before Faye can do any long distance stuff. Good idea on have Dana check out the Invictus though perhaps even Fay's server, I wonder if she'd have the same fit of giggles that people have when Rachel is checking them?

ringill

Any update on Ch 119 Tefler ?

Sid1712

Ah, you mean when they gave the array to those colonists? Good idea, although the sensors are rather new, much newer than the comm array was. That was the original array, I believe, from when it was still in TFed service. If anything, she'll probably find a lot of hairline cracks, as well as various stress and age related fatigue in the original titanium superstructure of the ship that still makes up the fore and aft sections of the Invictus. I've always worried about that a bit, especially given the age of the ship and what its been through.

Jedi Khan

Just a scene suggestion: After finding the damage to the Invictus' comm array and fixing it, Dana would want to check the rest of the ship with her powers to find any other damage before it becomes serious. What would happen to the sensors after Dana uses her powers on them, considering the comm array became better than new.

Frostfyre

very funny. I doubt the ground up kids and seniors did either as the killed them all right away, not as needed otherwise they would have been able to rescue more kids on the other two successful rescues. Lets not forgot all the corpses after the grubs hatch. To me it makes no sense to even take the kids. Leave them there for future harvest. Take the dead and the ones they could use for implantation and then use those corpses to feed the grubs. But it makes us truly detest the Kirrix and want them EXTERMINATED!!!!! so it makes a good plot point.

prsstarid

They don’t pass the five-second rule? :-)

Evan

I have another curious thought after the last couple of chapters with the Kirrix. Why dont the Kirrix pick up the bodies of the dead humans to chop them up to feed the young like the do the kids and older folks? Seems like a wasted resource for them they way the look at non Kirrix as a food source.

prsstarid

A thought just occurred to me. Niskera is now Queen of the Trankarans, right? If they don't have a crown for her, John should make one. Something simple, like a circlet that still shows off the glowing lines of her head but demonstrates a measure of regal status as a head of state and a major religious leader.

Jedi Khan

Paul, we already know that John. (and other Progenitors) can manipulate the time-space continuum via psychic energies alone. Simply by willing something to be, they can make it so, such as causing themselves and others to be at a faster time rate. Keeping that in mind, is it any surprise that he can temporarily expand the 'size' of the space that he occupies relative to that occupied by others, including all that which he is wearing? Remember, time and space are related (and relative), so he simply altered the relative dimensions of space rather than time in this case. Actually, he did both simultaneously. In my opinion, John is getting very close to being able to Soul Forge... and not just on the Astral Plane... and may have even already started with his sword.

Evan

“I suspect there’s only one Kirrix fleet left in this sector,” Calara said thoughtfully. “The forces that attacked Carolus III, Brecken’s World, Tasmaris Prime, Karren, and Menganus IV have all been obliterated. The only intact fleet they have left is the one that besieged Valia Gate, but those Kirrix returned the colonists, so I expect they’ll give that hive ship a wide berth. This isn't strictly true, the Tasmaris Prime fleet was only partially destroyed in the battle against the TFed forces before the Alyssa invoked cease fire. Presumably after they transferred the colonists they legged it out of Federation space. Technically there were also some Broodmothers and grubs that survived from the Brecken's World fleet though it's not clear whether any of their Hive Ships were in any condition to continue back to Kirrix space. Oh, and I've just noticed, it's Karron not Karren!

ringill

Just a thought about what Dana said regarding using the Ashanath psi-shaper as a basis for allowing Alyssa to contact Faye telepathically. Don't the Kirrix already have a form of this to allow the broodmothers to talk to their ship AI's?

ringill

I am curious about when John "changed" to a 20 foot tall being, how did his Paragon suit change with him? I understand how is body and sword can change but I was a bit surprised that the suit survived that. I'm new to the site so I am not sure which is appropriate but I had question about chapter 117. Since I was not sure where it was appropriate, I have posted the question on both chapters. In chapter 117 John tripled his size when he jumped out of the Raptor while still in his Paragon suit. He was not aware that he had grown in size until later when he was going to enter the 3 Queen's chamber. When he shrunk back down during the fight with the last queen he still had it on so how come the suit resized to his 20 foot size and didn't get shredded? He was using his HUD in the battle with the Guardians so that was still working too. It got me thinking if he can do that to non organic matter, perhaps he could change Faye to being Organic. Are you able to speak on that if it does not spoil the future plot lines?

prsstarid

What a FANTASTIC idea! Love it!

Who Me

Can the ammo the Singularity Cannon uses be runed? That way it could penetrate shields with out them having to be brought down first.

prsstarid

Really enjoyed this chapter Tefler. I really enjoy these more insular chapters that focus on the characters and their interactions. This "after battle" chapter really didn't feel like it at all. Great pacing and punch. Glad to see that the Lionesses still have their own hurdles to face and that we still have potential problems within the invictus and solely outside. Also, we need you to expand on Rill/Shan/John lovemaking scenes. For science of course!

Ch90... during Khalgron rescue you've put... 'eviscerate the closest Kirrix cruiser.' but it's carriers they're firing on. Just a few pages further on you've used Kirrix cruisers again but it's hive ships involved in Mulbharum this time

Tefler, these last two chapters were riveting. Wow.

G E

Hey Tef... Ch81 during Tashana's first sexcapade with John you have "Tashana's eyes burned with excitement as he gasped" but I'm pretty sure it should be "as she gasped"

Hi Tefler, I’m back at my PC after my travels and have continued with the corrections of ebook1 like I promised. Reading it, I realise the kind of details that you have gone into. Hats off to a really great piece of writing. Hopefully, I should have the corrections back to you in 3-4 days. Keep up the great work so far.

bob lakhanpal

Mr.Tefler, Have just ordered all 4 e-books for Kindle. I also have all the chapters downloaded from SoL and from Patreon. Will let you know if the books are better than the original chapters. (Just don't think it's possible!) Story is just too good.

Who Me

Ah, well spotted! I originally ended that dialogue there, but then extended it a bit and missed her disappearing act. :-)

Tefler

Well, it was beca

Risacu

I am a big fan of science: the positive impact of scientific progress on the human condition is enormous. I find the negative hype about AI to be akin to the hype about the millennium bug (remember that?): yes, we need to be careful, but no, it is not a big issue. However, TSM is a novel, and in the TSM universe, AI has been problematic. Furthermore, in a novel, plotlines are often developed to add tension or present the characters with challenges. However, it is also possible that the Faye baby-AI's will actually be used in the plot to resolve a problem. Wanting to find out keeps us reading!

John Jameson

How did john’s armor su

Something that was pointed out in a podcast I was listening to talked about how we, as a species, seem to always think that with advances in science we always seem to think that there has to be a drawback or something given up. Which leads me to question why Faye creating a child, or another AI, or what ever, why we all kind of assume it has to become evil? Like I mean it would help drive the story, but why can't Gate's child be the first of a new breed of automaton or whatever, that grows and learns and begins their own civilization and become transformers... Okay maybe not that but like silicon based life or something?

Kensyi

Floating at her side, the sprite hesitated before disappearing. “Is John okay? I saw Alyssa in a panic, then Sakura rushed to join her... but I don’t know why they were upset.” Do you mean to say disappearing? Especially as 2 paragrahs on we have: Faye’s face fell. “He’s going to be torturing himself with guilt...”

ringill

that gotta be a fun chapter for all arachnophobes :p allthough personally i am all for it ;)

TargetDrone

He healed it right after though the armor is probably still damaged.

Grimlakin

so tefler since Alyssa is talking about making nkriit part of the family are we gonna see john fill her up either by himeself or with jades help and transform her ?

travis btmb

There have been a few comments on the Faye AI developments above, so here are some of my thoughts. On the positive side, I don't think Tefler would have introduced this plotline without having in mind a way for it to develop and be resolved. On the negative side, it seems to me that the baby-AI plan shows very little maturation on Faye's part, despite all her experiences and observations in previous chapters. She is basically doing the AI equivalent of human children liking to play with baby dolls, and totally missing the deeper reasons that couples want to have children together (or in her case, have children with John). I suspect this may be why this development jars a bit, especially among Faye fans (me included).

John Jameson

amazing story, love how you are tying up loose ends and bringing it all together. This is going to get interesting with Faye and her new child. AI creating life and not telling anyone, hmm. Dana and 24 hours of fun with John, what brain storm will she unlock and come up with then, John and his alter ego, the final showdown.... Which reminds me we have not heard from the astral plane where Alyssa has her mentor and how she is doing. The Brimorrian's are being awful quiet, and if Alyssa can find a way to help Nkkrrit would be amazing, maybe some fellow Spiders thought dead but alive she can go home to. Then there is the Spy in the Federation, also the malri daughters who are not sure what is going on with their mother and Edraele, the fun is going to get even better.... cant wait

Taco1085

Yeah it's easy to read them on your computer. I like 'em portable, even if it is weird reading sex scenes while I'm taking my morning walk. :)

Dave Barrack

Is Faye a Maliri AI ? She was created off Valada's vambrace that Tashana found & gave to Irillith & probably is Progenitor tech , don't you think? It held a lot of data from when Valada still was MN's Matriarch & it would seem the program to create the AI would be MN's .

bigdawguw65

Didn't John take a hit from the Hive Queens last chapter? I recall that part of his armor got destroyed, along one of his arms I think, but I didn't see any mention of the damage in this chapter.

Jedi Khan

I read them as they natively are, as .docx files in Word. Lot easier to do that than try converting it to another file type.

Jedi Khan

Probably not completely, they know Faye is tinkering with them, but the extent of the tinkering, and her end goal, they know nothing about.

Jedi Khan

So, are John and the girls like completely oblivious to the personality changes in the maintenance bots?

Kensyi

Tefler, I am concerned about baby-Faye. With the history John has with AI, I don't see him reacting too well to Faye's creation. Please take care of this creation and tread carefully when you write about it. I didn't feel comfortable about it when I read it the first time and all I'm doing is reading a fictitious book. I think this is a bad idea and should be deleted. Sorry, just my opinion.

Dave i have been reading them in open office.

Out of curiosity, how do you guys read these. It's a pain in the butt to try and get them into the kindle app on an iPad. It's easier on a proper kindle, but even though Kindle claims to be able to read docx files, they don't show up in my library. I've been using calibre to convert them to .mobi first.

Dave Barrack

Hi, that buried ‘something’ on Karron is for the sequel. Tef has more or less admitted as much...

Timbo

Just finished another awesome chapter I will need to read again to make sure I did not miss anything! Thanks Tefler!!!!

Arrowglass

Thanks!

Tefler

Nice edits! They should all be fixed now. :-)

Tefler

Nice idea, I'll write that now! (In my defence, I've got a stinking cold at the moment and wrote that scene at 2am.) :-)

Tefler

I added a bit of extra dialogue to chapter 117, with John and Edraele discussing Maliri boarding actions against the Kirrix.

Tefler

One small suggestion Tefler. In the debriefing scene you have Helene come and sit with John to help fortify her against the brutality of battle, but you don't follow up on this or use her reaction when John starts hacking the Kirrix to pieces. Some reaction such as gripping John tightly or burying her head in his shoulders might balance the wonder and awe of the other girls who are more inured to combat. (This only struck me because it is so rare in your tight writing that you introduce something without really using it!)

John Jameson

I thought Fat Tony subplot would end up with him telling John about "old mining machine" he found in the tunnel back in Karron. Current plot seems to suggest that would never happen or when they'll meet again after quite some time, which is impossible since the story is about to be end.

"...abductions will begin start again."" will start?

zingowner

Man, there are so many things to like in this chapter. Faye's got some 'splaining to do but I think it's partly John's fault. Faye asked what’s so special about spending solo-time with John (sniff) and it's been eons in AI-time since he spent any time at all visiting Faye in her own hardware environment. She was positronically euphoric when he visited her, but I think John's only gone 'in' once. Faye has been learning about and handling things in the real world and Dana's going to try to hook her up with her own node/number for the Lioness’ version of the psychic friends network too. That'd be so cool if it works, they’d all have psychic links to a highly-evolved Maliri AI running on Progenitor hardware. Whoa! Eat your heart out, Google! John should try to find seven minutes in realtime (take a bath, John!) to spend seven days or whatever with Faye in AI-time in her world for some virtual recreation, dates, picnics, meet and get to know her new child, then hang out with 'The Boys' for a while. John would probably wake up with a goofy grin painted on his face too. It'd be a hoot if John figured out how to use what must be a totally killer Progenitor symbolic debugger on the server to force his Evil-John code to run in a virtual machine/sandbox or just delete it after locating any useful stuff instead of doing it the hard way on the Astral Plane with all the monsters. Nah. :)

Really enjoyed this chapter. One of your better ones.

Who Me

Tefler, great chapter! Enjoyed reading this chapter. Some suggested edits for Chapter 118, that I have not seen others post are as follows: Page 44: As soon as they convince themselves that Alyssa and I aren’t a threat any more, the raids and abductions will begin (to) start again (or just: begin again).”; Page 44: and they’ll (there’ll) be no stopping this time, not until every last trace of their vile civilisation is eradicated from the galaxy.”; Page 46: I’m just upset that I never (I) got a chance to punish her for everything she did; I was feeling quite creative...”; Page 60: Jade landed in dragon( )form beside him; Page 61: “I use Cryokinesis to freeze the blades and for area(-)based effects, rather than directly attacking with ice lances.”; Page 66: The territory maps we saw in Mael’nerak’s control room showed his opponent conquering huge swathes of stars, a lot (of it then,) now in Kirrix Space.; As always, if you disagree, I completely understand. Good luck with Chapter 119. Cheers!

Aaaand we have the first child on the Invictus! Will be fascinating to see how all the others react. Just makes me wonder why Faye is keeping secrets again, as it worked out so poorly for her last time...

J B

"We can do, but the return journey...." do that?

zingowner

Damned cliff hanger! Need 119 now so we can get on with the celebration! LOL

Sirloki

Why Faye why!!!!! Playing with fire you gonna get burned

Damn it, why does Faye have to antagonize Murphy so late in the story? He's an awful bastard when invoking his law.

Jedi Khan

Great month

Jim lynch

1st and 3rd not bad Muledrvr Great reflexives.

Jim lynch

Yet another fantastic chapter tefler. But I am feeling decidedly unhappy with you because in a few parts of chapter 118 I could feel the beginning of the end of 3SM it won’t belong till John fights his guide and then it won’t be long till the final chapter and that brings pure sadness to my heart so if you can find it in your heart to drag it out for another hundred or two more chapters that might be enough to bring a bit of joy to my saddened heart lol. Thanks for making my Monday much more bearable and to make things even better panther parabolo has brought a chapter out today too oh so happy day.

Jim lynch

I uploaded a new version that fixed a few typos. :-)

Tefler

You're welcome!

Tefler

Ah, thank you. :-)

Tefler

Fixed!

Tefler

Thanks! I changed that sentence around half-way through and the tenses got messed up.

Tefler

I was just messing around with letters to make a name and Mhoirad sounded suitably different to any races I've introduced already. I hadn't really thought about names for the plant guys themselves, but yeah... some kind of Gaelic type names might fit quite well. :-)

Tefler

I'm glad you enjoyed their interaction. It was fun writing those scenes. :-)

Tefler

Thank you! Two mistakes in the space of three sentences?! I must have been tired. :-)

Tefler

Ah, nice spot! Thanks! :-)

Tefler

very satisfying

tony

> “The hive ship is nearly read to depart,” John said, stroking Faye’s back. “Do you want to say goodbye to your new friends?” s/b ...Jade's back

GrandPaM

Oh HELL YEAH LOL LOVE it.

Dragon

Excellent Chapter Tefler! Thanks

Cignal

Great chapter Tefler!

Rogue

I really enjoyed reading this one, Tefler! Very well done!

Evan

'could he be growing in strength is he’s trapped' -> 'could he be growing in strength if he’s trapped'

Evan

'as he smashed four hive ships, read the psychic echoes around the starport, then chase after' -> 'as he smashed four hive ships, read the psychic echoes around the starport, then chased after' (making it past tense)

Evan

'The forces that attacking Carolus III, Brecken’s World, Tasmaris Prime, Karren, and Menganus IV have all been obliterated' -> 'The forces that attacked Carolus III, Brecken’s World, Tasmaris Prime, Karren, and Menganus IV have all been obliterated' (making it past tense)

Evan

I assumed that since she was based on Maliri limb replacement technology (I forget the chapter where they were discussing her design, it was mentioned that the replacement limb's skin was coloured to match Maliri skin tones) that she would not be too heavy. Since it is attached to existing musculature, there is a hard upper limit to how heavy the limb can weigh; regardless of the strength advantage the limb provides.

commatoes

Well, any plans to go to bed early are shot! ETA: Tefler, if you get a chance to read this, I was just wondering if the Mhoirad's name is loosely constructed like Gaelic (Scots and Irish), like in the name Niamh and sláinte mhaith or slàinte mhòr? Cheers and some names are the limit of my Caelic.

commatoes

'support her 90lb frame' -- Faye's form only weighs 90 pounds? Is that accurate or the result of using gravity controlling technology? In other words, does her mass at 1G equate to a 90 pound weight? I had thought that she weighed considerably more, although that wouldn't impact John's ability to support her in the slightest.

Evan

another great addition to the series. I'm really loving the robot talk between Faye and the cleaning robots, so really happy to see more of that. Can't go without mentioning Faye's adorable little miracle! Thanks Tef!

Nathos

'The hive ship is nearly read to depart' -> 'The hive ship is nearly ready to depart' This is right before the typo that Frostfyre pointed out a few minutes ago.

Evan

John said, stroking Faye’s back ...That should be Jade, not Faye

Frostfyre

Didn't see that one coming, but heck yeah! Thank you, Tefler!

Thank you, Tefler, for another chapter!

Evan

It is a good month for TSM so far!

Frostfyre

cheers mister

Braw

Right on, thank you, Tefler!

Thanks Tefler

Old Cruiser

Nice! So much for sleep tonight!

CJ Mora

Woot!

Sirloki

Yes

Jim lynch

Ooh... and 1st woo hoo

Muledrvr

Hell yeah

Yay

Muledrvr