16 Bit Lolita's - Non Verbal Language / Back To One (Original TC Review)

Hope Records: 2007

(2014 Update:
So we waited for 16 Bit Lolita's to drop a second proper album. And waited. And waited. And waited. And wai- Oh hey, there's finally an LP ...Released in 2012, and only digital, but still! Kriek and Olierook definitely kept busy between though, releasing many singles through their own Bits & Pieces digi-label, with a few additional EPs on Anjunadeep as well. All the while, they maintained their cred as one of progressive house's go-to acts for solid productions, even as the genre kept shifting and morphing into things like tech-house or deep house or whatever it is now.

Not much else to add to this review. There were two other remixes of Non Verbal Language on the digi-version which I didn't cover at the time, since I only ever initially got vinyl rips for review. The tunes still hold up all this time after, and given how much I've come to enjoy that earlier Coldharbour sound, I'm liking Back To One even more than before. Strange days.)


IN BRIEF: Prog’s new darlings?

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a breakout prog act with consistency. Many either produce a track or two before following their muse elsewhere (Holden) or fall prey to commercialized pap (Schulz). It remains to be seen if Peter Kriek and Ariaan Olieroock - or 16 Bit Lolita’s, a name that is every Grammar-Nazi’s nightmare - will follow these paths but with a steady stream of good tunes, the duo are showing great promise in resisting them. While not strictly prog house, 16BL gained most of their current momentum when DJs in this field clued into their singles. However, here’s not the place to delve too deeply into such details. We might as well wait for their next album regarding these matters (or their old one, if we ever get around to covering it, heh).

In the meantime, let’s take a quick look at their first single of 2007. Some of their fans are worrying that 16BL’s growing profile might lead them to trendy sounds in order to push their careers further. A valid concern, but if this single is any indication, it seems the duo are in no hurry to do so.

The A-Side is the slower cut, and it’s a deep one indeed. Spacey pads slide over grooving rhythms, crafting a murky tune that’s more concerned about atmosphere than the dancefloor. Dialogue and additional sounds crop up at points, adding to the setting but never dominating the focus. In fact, Non Verbal Language doesn’t have much focus at all, going about its business like a brief diversion from the day. This either helps or hinders, depending on what you expect out of the track. It probably makes better sense in the opening parts of a deep prog set, but as a stand-alone, there’s still some nifty soundscapes for your ears to gorge on.

Back To One on the flip is more fun. First off, the rhythms are spunkier, with little sound effects adding a chipper feeling that will form a silly smile on your face. The bassline drops, adding some extra bounce, and soon the quaint melody enters. And it’s a lovely little thing, using pleasing tones and melancholy notes that push all the right emotive buttons. Mind, it could also be considered borderline saccharine, similar to what the Coldharbour crew tend to churn out, but 16BL hold back just enough to keep Back To One in the realms of class.

Although these two songs aren’t huge by any stretch, they are nicely done and will serve as fine tide-overs until their next production. Any concerns that Kriek and Olieroock may drift from the path their fans enjoy should be put to rest with this single.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved

Open Canvas - Nomadic Impressions

Groove Unlimited/Waveform Records: 1997/1998

I bang on Waveform Records quite a bit, but truth be told, there was a period I'd all but given up on the label. Something about their late '90s output never clicked with me, which was grade-A nimrodery on my part since I was only going by cover art. One should never judge a body of music by its CD design, yet with the tacky CGI of Ancient Alien (based on a video game, no less) and silliness of Earthjuice (even the name was a head-scratcher), you'd forgive me for thinking Waveform was slipping. Not helping matters was this particular album from Open Canvas, looking like the sort of New Age pap you'd find in stores surrounded by chakra crystal stones, or whatever. Hell, I couldn't even tell whether Open Canvas was the name of the artist or the album – maybe both, for all I knew. I became a fan of Waveform because they opened my ears to a world of chill-out of more substance than Deep Forest and Enya, not because they offered more of the same.

Man, could I be an entitled brat about my music listening habits back then. What I didn’t realize at the time was Waveform was in the process of branching out from its early ambient techno and dub sound cribbed from Beyond, a plan that included dipping their toes into earthly, meditative ambient music. Yeah, yeah, that sounds dangerously close to New Age, but again, I should have had more faith in Waveform to not cross that divide. While I’ve yet to hear every album they’ve put out in this vein, what I have heard always retains a degree of sophistication often lacking in run-of-the-mill New Age, music that invokes captivating imagery with its soothing calm.

Tuu was the first of these acts to find a re-distribution deal with Waveform. Another early name was Gregory Kyryluk, who’s released several ambient albums as Alpha Wave Movement. Less frequently, he’s released music as Open Canvas, where he indulges in Middle Eastern harmonies and vistas. I guess that was enough similarity to some of the world-beat leaning acts Waveform had already put out for the label to give a re-distribution deal for Mr. Kyryluk’s first album under this alias.

I can’t say I was convinced of the Open Canvas stylee after the first few tracks here. It’s not that they’re cliché or devoid of musical substance – I simply didn’t hear anything terribly unique in Mr. Kyryluk’s song craft. It’s rather like hearing the moody score to a low budget TV series, but without any visual frame of reference.

Yet somehow, as Nomadic Impressions plays through, I find myself caught up in his sparse, desert vistas. I’m no longer sitting in a chair watching an Arabian caravan or desert marketplace - I’m actually in that setting! Well damn, that’s all I was hoping for at the start of this venture. Why couldn’t I have just let myself be swept in to start with? Oh, right, that cover...

Various - Nokturnel Mix Sessions: Robert Oleysyck

Topaz: 2000

Nokturnel Mix Sessions had kicked things off fine with Blue Amazon, and Bill Hamel was a decent follow-up. After that though, the list of recognizable jocks Topaz tapped for their DJ mix series ran out pretty fast. Maybe within localized scenes, chaps like DJ Moda and OS/2 were a bigger deal – there are countless examples of “big fish, small ponds” throughout the DJ world, the sort of dependable rinsers the touring stars would insist as their warm-up guys. And there’s nothing wrong with that, many content and comfortable with that level of fame. Unfortunately, when it comes to promoting an upstart trance label, the lack of big-name recognition can hurt long-term prospects, no matter how promising the early output is.

Take this mix from Robert Oleysyck, the third of the Nokturnel Mix Series (I figured the order out, praise be catalogue numbers). Do you know him? Don’t be ashamed if you don’t, though if you were into this music to any degree in the year 2000 while living in America, you might have come across his name. For you see, he passed the time writing trance reviews in the pages of Mixer (essentially America’s Mixmag) alongside his DJing. In a coincidence I’m sure Mixer’s editors had a good chortle over, Oleysyck was even tasked with reviewing the initial volley of Nokturnel Mix Sessions, including his own mix for the series. Aw man, how can anyone maintain journalistic integrity reviewing their own work? I can’t recall what he wrote, but I do remember he gave himself a 7/10, about as political an approach to this conundrum as any.

As for me, yeah, I’d rank this a seven too, if I did numerical scores anymore. One thing I’ll give Mr. Oleysyck credit for is he definitely knows how to put together a progressive trance CD. In fact – and I know I’m going way out on a limb saying this - Nokturnel Mix Sessions (this one) is possibly the most perfect summation of that scene I’ve ever heard. What ol’ Robert accomplishes within the context of one CD, most releases took two or even three discs to get across.

What works best about this mix is Oleysyck’s patience, spending the opening few tracks on sparse, groovy prog-house like Sander Kleinenberg’s Frog Dancing - even the opening ‘anthemy’ cut of Saints & Sinners’ Thin Ice is relatively subdued and chill. Can’t deny making a similar mix from Space Manoeuvres’ Stage One to Kleinenberg’s Sacred as Sasha did on GU: 013 reeks of jock riding, but Oleysyck somehow outdoes Mr. Coe’s finale from that classic mix, relegating Bedrock’s Heaven Scent to mere ‘third status’ near the end. Instead Christian West’s Eterna and Jon Vesta’s Gull mark our proper climax, the latter of which deserves far more appreciation compared to other progressive trance anthems of the era. Definitely a solid capper on a strong set from Oleysyck, though the rest of his mix contains little else innovative.

Various - Nokturnel Mix Sessions: Bill Hamel

Topaz: 1999

Nokturnal Mix Sessions was Topaz Records' premier DJ mix series – okay, only DJ mix series. They released around half-a-dozen of these CDs, but few names beyond the third-tier of trance jocks were ever featured. Blue Amazon's likely the most immediately recognizable name, and perhaps Scott Stubbs too, if you were following Topaz with any regularity (guy was all over the label). Bill Hamel's also a chap folks should know if they were fans of the deeper end of progressive house. Already a steady producer in the scene – including a single on Bedrock during their 'dark prog' years, though mostly releasing through his own Sunkissed Records print – Hamel wasn't much known for DJing, this mix in fact being his first official release. He followed it with an early contribution to Balance (aka: the pre-James-Holden era, when hardly anyone gave EQ Recordings much notice), but by and large kept his name in the realm of studio works.

As Topaz was hoping to establish itself as an American contender to the UK’s dominance in progressive trance circles, you bet this edition of Nokturnal Mix Sessions (Volume two? Fourth edition? I can only guess where this one falls in order with the series) is gonna’ crib some of its stylee from the big G.U.’s main players. Hamel’s sound found some kinship with John Digweed of the time, which probably led to his getting a bit chummier with Bedrock a few years after this mix. There’s quite a bit similarity to Digweed’s GU014: Hong Kong double-disc here, though obviously not as computer perfect with the mixing. Hell, I think this was a live turntable session.

After a blissy bit of Balearic business in Changing Shape’s Keep It On (some might know it better as the repurposed 16B track Keep On Changing Shape), Hamel quickly moves into chugging tech-house prog-whatever. Names like Medway, Smith & Selway, and DJ Remy – yeah, that sound – make up this section, but unfortunately ol’ Bill has no easy way of transitioning it into prog-trance territory afterwards. Just as well, then, he slightly cheats the process with the Incisions Mix of Travel’s Pray To Jerusalem, what with its break-beaty breakdown easing the clashing styles. Damn mint tune by the end of it though, progressive trance vibes in all its glorious 1999 heyday. Hell, throw in another ace Incisions remix of a Travel track (Bulgaria), plus Mr. Faber’s own Amorak, and you’d be forgiven for thinking this was an Incisions showcase – going by these tunes, he does deserve more props, methinks.

The rest of Nokturnal Mix Sessions – Bill Hamel’s Incisions Love In plays about as you’d expect a Digweed inspired set of this time would. Hell, I kept expecting Heaven Scent to emerge as the set climax, despite the fact Hamel used the Evolution Dub of the Bedrock anthem at the midway point of this mix. Though a notch below the premier mixes of the era, this is a perfectly acceptable progressive trance CD for one's collection.

Masta Killa - No Said Date

Nature Sounds: 2004

The '00s weren't nearly as musically bad of a decade for the Wu-Tang Clan as most remember. During those years though, you'd be forgiven thinking otherwise – good albums are fine, but most expected instant classics nearly every release. That said, a few such exceptional LPs found their way onto store shelves that decade, one of which took everyone by surprise: Masta Killa's debut album, No Said Date. Yes, the final official Clan member, who only got one verse out of the entirety of the Very Important Wu-Tang Album Enter The 36 Chambers, and who fans of the group seldom name-dropped as their favourite member, knocked it out of the ball-park on his first try.

At a time when speculation of an inevitable breakup of the group was rampant, seeing the whole Wu-fam’ on a single LP was a strong selling point for No Said Date (not to mention extended members Streetlife, Killah Priest, and Prodigal Sunn along for the show). RZA behind the producer’s chair for a number of tracks, plus his studio disciples Mathematics and True Master contributing too, helped complete the ‘vintage Wu-Tang Clan’ feel of this album. Folks had been waiting for half that decade for it, and was delivered by the least likely chap.

What works in No Said Date’s favour is fully acknowledging Mr. Turner’s role within the Clan, the final puzzle-piece of the RZA’s initial Grand Plan. Mr. Diggs, numerological nut that he is, felt it necessary to have nine proper ‘monks’ within Wu-Tang, some of whom he’d have to tutelage, guiding them to discover their inherent rap talents. Masta Killa was essentially the rookie, and definitely took some time to develop a strong persona. It’s a testament to Noodles’ dedication to the lyrical craft that he didn’t rush releasing a solo album, only putting himself out there when he felt totally confident in his skills. It was worth the wait, Mister Masta sounding as much a seasoned veteran on No Said Date as any of his fellow Clansmen that show up here. And show-up they all do indeed.

Want some throwback funk with ODB warbling? Old Man’s got you covered. Street tales from Raekwon and Ghostface? D.T.D.’s your cut. Reflections of the inner city life as only told by Inspectah Deck and GZA? Get your ears on Silverbacks. Confounding production as done by RZA? Oh hi, School. And don’t figure Masta Killa’s simply along for the lyrical ride on these tracks either - his verses are just as vital and distinct as those from his Clan-fam’.

Noodles shines though, on two tracks: Digi Warfare and Masta Killa. The former’s an awesome electro throwback, brought to the modern era with excellent sonic chops from long time New York house producer Choco. The latter, final track, in making use of Far-East harmonies and Bruce Lee’s classic “be like water” speech, serves as a strong summation of Masta Killa’s career; a justified, celebratory moment for a man who proved patience is one of music’s finest virtues.

2 Unlimited - No One (BioMetal, Pt. 5)

Quality Music: 1995

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review.)

“Are you ready for this, Anita?”

“Is that some kind of joke?”

Ray smiled. “How do you mean?”

Her reply was quick and exasperated. “We’ve had all manner of horrors thrown at us! Things both living and machine, mutations of animals common and exotic, the very walls around us pulsating and breathing like we’re inside the intestine of an asteroid-sized BioMetal. We just made it through of wall of crustaceans, each as big as our ship! And you’re asking me if I’m ready for whatever’s lurking inside that cavern?”

Ray checked his weapon and shield gauges, each still in the process of recharging, an estimation of but a few minutes before they could proceed. Some of the strongest life-signs they’d encountered yet rested just beyond the darkness before them, readings capping out nearly every sensor designed to monitor for BioMetals. Either an armada even larger than the one the HALBARD had tore a path of devastation through lay ahead, or, as Anita speculated, a central ‘brain’ complex that controlled them all. Either way, it looked like a fight to the finish, and they’d need all their spare energy reverses locked and loaded before taking it on.

“It’s probably a big, blobous tentacle,” Ray quipped, tapping a steady rhythm on the panel to his right. “Like, maybe a squid-thing, with a huge beak that could snap our ship in two if we got too close. I don’t think we’ve seen one of those yet.”

“Huh, it’s no more ludicrous than the dragon-thing we already killed.”

Ray chortled. “There, see, it’s not hard to see the lighter side of all this nonsense.”

Anita sighed again, but it was different this time, less irritation than Ray was used to hearing from her. It felt like her breath somehow billowed out from his earpiece, coursing through his body and settling just under his skin. He shuffled in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. “How do you do it, Ray?” she asked. “Keep optimistic even in such abhorrent surroundings?”

Ray pursed his lips, surprised he had to think a bit for a reply. “Hope, I guess,” he finally said. “That there’s something better than being a ‘hot-shot’ pilot with a skill for killing BioMetals in my future. Maybe settle down in a tropical paradise, make a little tango music.”

“It takes two to tango,” Anita quietly said.

Ray smiled. “Is that an offer?”

“Maybe. We’ll see, after we kick the last of these BioMetals’ asses.”

“Hah, do BioMetals even have asses?”

Anita giggled. “Honestly, no one knows, and I don’t care to be the first to find out.”

Ray powered the HALBARD’s system’s back on, the ship humming back to life. “Me neither. Let’s end this!”

HOW DOES THE THRILLING BIOMETAL SAGA CONCLUDE?
Oh, you know: big bad beat, galaxy saved for another epoch, Ray and Anita do victory parades, General Wilde retires to Planet Kaypewsolaceniceawesome, Dr. de Coster disappeared into a black hole of his own invention. Usual space opera stuff.


(If you're hopeless lost as to what's going on, click here.)

Del! The Funky Homosapien - No Need For Alarm

Elektra: 1993

While I've no doubt Del's ire against “wack MC's” was primarily directed toward those on his side of the pond, it sure is funny hearing him spouting off on lyrical lameness after I indulged a stretch of euro-dance raps. I can only imagine what the Funkee Homosapien would have thought if the likes of 2 Unlimited and Maxx had as much influence in America as they did in Europe, and how viciously he'd go for them if he cared to. Just as well Del focused his attention on his immediate competition in the hip-hop game, the silliness of euro hardly worthy of his wrath.

As for what got him so pissed off in the first place, I honestly don't know. Long-gone is the laid-back, funkadelic, 'lighter side of life' vibes that made up his debut album (Wrong Place notwithstanding). Perhaps one too many R&B chart-toppers finally broke his backpack, or maybe hip-hop’s growing dependence on gangsta tropes to shift units left him jaded with the art. Why should he have to spit about material he had no real experience with, nor wanted to fabricate to appease label heads? The core of rapping was about proving who could command a microphone and hold an audience’s attention with your lyrical skills. By 1993, too much of it had devolved into style over substance, flashy stage presence over verbal dexterity, and slick video mugging over direct connection to the kids in the streets. Fuck that noise, says Del - he just wasn’t gonna’ take it anymore.

No Need For Alarm has him removing the gloves, taking the entire hip-hop scene to task with an endless barrage of battle-raps. The opening salvo of tracks - You’re In Shambles, Catch A Bad One, Wack M.C.’s, and No Need For Alarm - became classics of the burgeoning ‘backpack rap’ scene, where lyrics cutting down hip-hop’s lamest, clichéd tendencies are the norm. This still being a young Del, however, he can’t help himself falling into some of the violent metaphors much of gangsta rap was littered with at the time. Catch A Bad One is filled with tons of aggressive imagery (to say nothing about “ripping heads off” of stuck-up girls in Boo Booheads!). He obviously wouldn’t literally do these things, but it’s a rather shocking side of Del he left behind long ago, unparalleled wordplay now his preferred weapon of choice.

Completing the ‘strictly underground’ vibe of this album is the bare-bones production, including jazz samples of wobbly cellos, out-of-tune horns, and muddy-as-shit rhythms. When your showcase is Del lyrically riding whatever beat you throw at him, you don’t want glossy nonsense getting in the way. Not exactly a strong selling point for, then, if Deltron 3030’s more your thing. Honestly though, No Need For Alarm serves best as a time-capsule, where Del not only stepped out from the shadows of a bloating hip-hop scene, but became a champion of heads hungry for underground, lyrical warriors mercilessly decimating false idols. He’d only get better from here.

Maxx - No More (I Can't Stand It) (2014 Update)

Quality Music: 1994

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review.)

Ah, hmm. I guess Maxx never had their own video game tie-in I can fanficify, did they. I'm gonna' have to do a real 2014 Update for this single, aren't I. Man, you don't want that. You know how boring it would have been had I done the same for all those 2 Unlimited singles? My original reviews were exhaustively detailed, and while not always entirely accurate, in no need of updating. I'll grant possibly only two people on the planet get a kick out of those BioMetal stories, but I write them for my amusement, a break from my usual fare. Dammit, why couldn't Maxx have been more popular than 2 Unlimited? Not even a CD-ROM soundtrack credit? *sigh*

Actually, listening to No More again, I’m surprised how well it’s held up to this day. Despite lacking the polish of Maxx’ first hit, Get-A-Way (Team Samira, yo’!), there remains an undeniable craft to its pop production. Maybe it’s the fact Gary Bokoe’s ‘raggamuffin’ approach to the requisite euro-dance rap sounds unlike any other out there. Seriously, compared to the endless copycats that emerged after Maxx’ success, Gary comes off remarkably unique. I think the only reggae-rapper in that scene that outmatched him was ICE MC, and he had the benefit of heritage on his side. What’s a silly German outfit like Maxx doing emulating the UK’s fascination with reggae-dance music?

There’s a lot of music from the ‘90s that’s hopelessly dated to those years. Some of it, like old school rave, big beat, and prog-house with ethnic chants continue to work in spite of their datedness, a nostalgia for the long-gone scenes they sprung up within. Conversely, this same factor works against some genres if the memories and events tied to them remind us of things the music world would much rather forget – New Jack Swing probably won’t see a comeback since everything we associate with the genre spotlights the commercial urban scene’s desperate attempt at cashing in on hip-hop street authenticity.

Euro-dance of the ‘90s exists in a funny realm between the two, primarily due to an explosive birth of creativity, followed by years of shameless rehashing and generic retreads (music turned “beige”, as ICE MC put it). Yeah, I’m being liberal with the term ‘creativity’, but consider: in combining hip-house, italo, and anthem ‘techno’, euro-dance struck upon a formula that had never been done before, and opened a wide door of potential genre blending. The most memorable tunes of this era almost all sprung up within those first couple years of existence, producers mixing and matching influences from other scenes (reggae! trance! country?), trying to top the charts over their contemporaries with some new angle (oh hi, Maxx). These songs hold up as strong dance-pop because everyone making it kept outdoing each other in this musical arms race. Small surprise acts like 2 Unlimited, Culture Beat, and Dr. Alban are making bank on ‘90s nostalgia tours now. Why Maxx hasn’t gotten in on that action?

2 Unlimited - No Limits!

Quality Music: 1993

Oh man, I could so do another 'anecdote review' with this CD, it being the first disc I ever owned and all. But nay, Nightflight To Venus was once enough for such a gimmick, so I'll leave the personal stories aside. All I'll say is had I bought my initial choice of Naughty By Nature's 19 Naughty III instead on that fateful day, my musical development could have been drastically different during those early, impressionable teenage years.

No Limits! came out a year after 2 Unlimited's debut, and the group was quick to transition from a charming (lambasted?) Belgian techno-rave act to a proper pop sensation. They couldn’t do it re-hashing the same ol’ dance formula as before though. They needed cleaner production, tighter song-writing, and a new anthem that proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, their early singles of Get Ready For This and Twilight Zone weren’t just flukes cashing in on a hot sound. Something with a hook instantly recognizable and so simple anyone could hum it, with a chorus to match and a title that not only could be used for the LP-proper, but even have tongue-in-cheek playfulness as it related to the group name. Got it, R.U.O.K.!

Look, I’m actually sick of No Limit at this moment. Between it being the first track on this album, plus having just done the single, I’ve now heard seven iteration of the damned song in a row, five of which are practically identical to each other. I’ll still enjoy it the next time I hear it at a hockey game, but right now, I’m burnt out on it – I’ve discovered there is a limit to how much No Limit I can take.

Fortunately, No Limits! doesn’t retread that mind-numbing path quite so often. Maximum Overdrive and Let The Beat Control Your Body are similar tunes, in that they go for the ‘dumb-fun’ dance anthem as No Limit does, but the rest of this album’s surprisingly diverse within the limited range 2 Unlimited set upon itself. Tribal Dance was the other big single from here, far cleverer in offering high-octane dance music compared to forgotten tracks like Break The Chain and Kiss Me Bliss Me (literally, I forgot the latter existed!). Showing some musical class, Mysterious is a well-crafted dance-pop song, while Faces and The Power Age have Ray and Anita injecting world issues into their lyrics, using their gained popularity for more than mindless musical escapism. On the lighter side of things is a happy little number called Throw The Groove Down (such whimsical fun!) and a nice bit o’ bliss from Invite Me To Trance.

I’m not gonna’ sell you on No Limits! if you aren’t already sold on 2 Unlimited, but for such a quick sophomore effort, it’s leaps beyond Get Ready. Hell, even the ballads, Where Are You Now and Shelter For A Rainy Day, are pleasant numbers to end the album on. Me, giving praise to euro-dance ballads. That just don’t happen, mang!

2 Unlimited - No Limit (BioMetal, Part 4)

Quality Music: 1992/1993

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review.)

“Time until total blackout?”

“Five minutes, General Wilde.”

He leaned forward at his cramped bridge console, and finished his ninth stim’ fix with a strong swig. A song played in his head, a tune so annoyingly memorable it seemed forever looped. Maybe it was his mind’s feeble attempt at distraction, relieving the stress of the mission. Everything hinged on his direction, his orders, and his intuition. Yet here were a couple of kids doing all the gruelling work for him. All he could do was sit and watch their progress, praying to the Elder Souls he’d given them all the tools they needed in the HALBARD for a successful mission. That, and a limitless amount of luck.

“Amazing they've made it so far,” Wilde muttered, but their time was almost out. The orbital frigate he operated from could only remain for a couple hours more before the BioMetals would detect it and send swarms of the creatures after them. If his two officers ploughing a course into the heart of the BioMetal lair failed in eliminating the central brain-hub and spawning nursery, he’d be left with no other option but complete planetary decimation, including Ray and Anita whether they still lived or not. They deserved a chance to succeed on their own, but Wilde knew where his obligations lay.

He rubbed both sides of his cheeks, sweaty palms scratching against a coarse layer of whiskers. A shave already? Truly his beard had no upper limit in its rate of growth. Probably sprouts faster than BioMetals.

He tapped an intercom button at his console, opening a channel to the science lab. “Dr. de Coster, how's the status of our fail-safe?”

“Sitting just p'urty, Sir,” came a reply. “Ol' Romy and Marion are ready if you want them.”

Wilde chuckled. Leave it to a 'mad' scientist to give such destructive weapons pet names. “I hope it won't come to that,” he replied. “Ray and Anita have exceeded my expectations. It's possible there's unlimited potential in the two. Their mission's gone from 'long shot' to 'possible chance' in rapid time, and I'm not about to waste their earned good will by destroying them in the process.”

“And if they don't make it back?”

Wilde pursed his lips. “We'll have to give 'Romy' and 'Marion' a try then, won't we. May the Elder Souls forgive us if we do though.”

“Haha, you sound as though their aftermath will swallow us in the process.”

Wilde switched the intercom off. If they don't succeed, I fear it just will at that.

He glanced back at his monitor, the tactical read-out of the BioMetal lair growing distorted. Then, with a garbled flash of radio-wave static, it went dark. The HALBARD’s signal disappeared, buried beneath tons of rock and twisted bio-mass. It was all on Ray and Anita to see the mission through to its end.

Pressing his clasped knuckles against his forehead, he gave a small, quiet prayer. May there be no limit to your gifts.


(If you're hopeless lost as to what's going on, click here.)