Rexrin Protocol is the 8th story in the VayneLine Chronicles series.  It follows the story of a group of investigators who are sent into a planet that has already lost a large portion of its population to mutated creatures.  This takes place before the rest of the series and deals with glitches in nanite programming.  The main character Auriex is wary of nanites as people have become too addicted to them, but there is no way to live without them.

On the planet, they are divided into two separate teams: Auriex and Rinnai, and the other group is his girlfriend Leole and longtime friend Pacheko.  The world they have come to is a rainy, rocky world.  There is only one major city on the planet as it is in the process of being terraformed.  There is a large reservoir of water and the city is mostly concentrated around a river which Auriex thinks the water could be poisonous.  He is ambushed by a bipedal creature that its upper body resembles a huge mouth/maw.  He cuts it with his knife and is surprised when it seems to give up and fall down dead.  He tells the others and the next day begin in earnest.

During their investigation they go to the outskirts and in a shanty neighborhood look in abandoned houses.  The two of them find a family picture that makes Auriex nostalgic about people being broken apart whereas Rinnai thinks its stupid to feel bad for people like that.  They are attacked by a group of them.

Auriex and Rinnai fight their way out, Rinnai is covered in gore from the fight.  They go to the river an clean up where Rinnai aggressively flirts with Auriex.  He is conflicted as he like her far more than his girlfriend Leole but promised her they would stay together once a long time ago.

As the story progresses more and more of the population is killed they are desperate to find the reason why.  They are on an ‘isolator program’ that limits anything from coming into their body (including food) so they are essentially starving themselves to avoid an potential infection.

They go over to a water plant and at random Rinnai dashes away at a shadow figure.  At the same time Leole messages him on ICS that Pacheko is missing as well.  Auriex tells her to retreat as they both try to rendezvous in the pouring rain from the terraforming on the planet.  He gets to the target zone and Leole is missing off the digital map as well.  Auriex is left alone on the dark, rainy planet as the creatures continue to kill the population off.

 

Characters:

Auriex – Leader of investigation team, intelligent but conflicted over interpersonal romance

Rinnai – Flirty, skilled fighter who is Auriex’s partner.  Would like a dog one day.

Pacheko – Auriex’s investigator friend.  Flirtatious and strong, wary of Rinnai.

Leole – Auriex’s girlfriend, knowledgeable about biology, the team scientist.

 

 

Trivia:

This story takes place the earliest in the VL Chronicles time line.  It is a few generations earlier before nanite glitches were edited out.

Auriex fights with a Flechette pistol, as his enemies as biologic, it is devastatingly effective.

Rinnai really wants a bigger dog

Rexrin Protocol is available on Amazon here

 

Synopsis:

 

 

**Spoiler alert:

Warning what follows is an explanation of all events in the story which is meant to be read only after finishing the story in case of confusion**

This story tells about the group of investigators who in truth are trapped on the planet as part of a massive experiment about a glitch in nanite programming.  Rinnai is part of the group conducting the test.

The four characters meet in the beginning, in which Rinnai and Pacheko have an unease towards each other.  Leole explains the isolator that will prevent anything infection, but after a limit of time severely messes up the body.

They go their separate ways, in which Auriex encounters a mutated creature.  It moves fast, but he kills it with a knife, surprised how fast it ‘gave up’ on life.  In the hotel room he explains running into it.

Next day with Rinnai on the outskirts they find a family photo to which she throws it down.  Auriex is surprised by her uncaring attitude, but she explains that leaving directions to their destination was illogical given the person was probably dead.

They find a data cube with pictures that show a person’s hand changing into something similar to the creatures.  They are attacked, to which Rinnai shows some major skill as they kill a lot of them.  Covered in blood, they go to the river to clean up.  She is flirty with him, and he thinks about how he promised Leole (after surviving being pinned by a rock slide) but likes Rinnai more.  Rinnai has a dog barrette as a symbol of an animal she really wants to have at some point.

They meet the other group and talk about options.  Auriex heads to a water plant with Rinnai.  At this point over 50% of the population is dead.  Leole calls in panic that Pacheko has disappeared.  Moments later Rinnai runs away, leaving Auriex scared of being attacked.  Later it is found out that Pacheko and Rinnai planned this rendezvous so that they could settle their differences.  Pacheko figured out it was due to the nanites, but before he could complete the conversation, Rinnai kills him at this point of the story.

Auriex runs back to Leole,they hide in the hotel having wild sex out of emotion.  He finds a note from Pacheko telling him Leole is not on the isolator.  Also explains that a single drop of blood would be enough to convert someone if they weren’t on the isolator.

Rinnai returns in the morning, tired and bloody.  Returning to the water plant, a power outtage occurs and Auriex is attacked.  Knocked into water, he sees a creature and kills out.  Getting out he finds Rinnai, they are attacked again but one acts weird.  Upon killing it, he realizes it was Leole who had changed very fast (she had a picture in her pants).

Rinnai warns him they can leave and he shouldn’t press on.  She truly had a way out for him, but he wanted to know the truth.  He finds out that the there was a glitch programmed into the nanites that allow them the highest importance and to essentially self-destruct their host.  This planet was written off as a way to both find and fix the glitch.  Auriex is extremely mad and it is shown that Rinnai was part of this.

She is forced to kill him and they have an intense battle in which she is shown to be an android.  They fight, and his hand gets trapped.  Using his knife he cuts it off (and is showered by both blood and cybernetic fluid) and fights back.  Rinnai admits she loved Auriex and he said he loved her as well but was bound by a promise to Leole.  She dashes at him, and with a lucky hit, his knife pierces a core system.  He bleeds out and passes out.  He actually does not die because Rinnai uses her own bleeding fluids to transfer into Auriex – and he is compatible because of his cybernetic arm.  It is her final gift to him.  He wakes up, staggering out holding her dog barrette.  Bloody and nearly dead, his isolator runs out.