driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Ino and you!
Broadcast: Fleetwide video
Action: Blue Fish
When: Now!

[ Ino looks a little frazzled, but she's all business when she addresses the camera. ]

Hey everyone! An update on the research going on right now. Well, as far as I know, anyways. If anyone has any findings besides what I'm about to say, let me know, I'll add it to the list.

To make this short and sweet, we've figured out that these aliens are pretty damn intelligent -- near to or on par with humans. [ She holds up a hand, as if to shush the people watching ] Immortals and non-humans, please save your jokes about how dumb we are for the end, please and thank you.

Anyways, they're pretty smart, but they weren't really supposed to be all crazy and vicious. So we looked into it and it looks like they've been exposed to some sort of fungus that's severely damaged their nervous system. If you didn't know, that's linked to the brain, and so very much affects how they act and think. We're thinking that's shorted out their ability to think and reason properly. Hence the conflicting violent attitude compared to the distress signal they sent out before.

Soooo, if you haven't put two and two together -- until we figure out the deal with this mold, how to potentially cure the damage it's caused, so on and so forth -- I would not recommend going on the ship at all until we can determine for sure that it's not going to infect us, too. I know there's a lot of interesting things going on on the ship, but you don't know what that shit could do to you. [ A beat ] Seriously.

If you're going to be a stubborn idiot and go on the ship anyways, I'm going to be keeping an eye on the entrance and keep note of anyone who decides to go in, so you can be monitored in the future. You know, just in case this comes back to bite us later, which it probably will, because that's how these things work.

If you've been on the ship and you're worried about your own personal health, or have noticed any recent symptoms you think are off in some way, I'd be happy to check and see if your everything is in order! I'd also recommend drinking a lot of water the next few days to flush any toxins out of your body.

Anybody have any questions? I'm Ino, captain of the Three Twins for those who don't know me. Just let me know.

[ And with a short little wave, she ends the feed. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The Vision smiles slightly.] I am not offended, but I appreciate your apology. Robot implies a lack of free will; android means "like a human".

Indeed. Are you part of the medical staff, then? You mentioned checking out those who are returning.

Right, yeah ... I've got that much, at least. [ She's pretty sure her relationship with Tadashi would be over if she didn't at least know the difference between the two.

... And wait, she's just had a thought ] So wait, does that mean you have organs and blood and stuff too? It's just metal?

In a sense, yeah. My augment isn't lab support, but I was a battlefield medic at home, and part of that sort of allows me to perform my own little X-ray using my energy. If anything's amiss, I'll be able to tell by looking.

Yes, it is something to that extent. Picture a human body grown from scratch and then injected with a metal that has unique properties. The metal bonded to the cells, making them both completely under my control and very difficult to damage. I do not need to eat, drink, or sleep, but I can do so if I choose.

Very convenient. Perhaps I should have you scan me, so you will recognize what my baseline is.

Sounds pretty handy, especially in a fight.

[ Goodness, she's impressed! She just hopes this guy is a chill android and not a "kill everything" android. ]

Eh? Really? I mean, yeah, sure, that would be pretty helpful in case anything comes up .. you never know what guys like Atroma will cook up, after all ...

Are you familiar with the expression "walk softly but carry a big stick"?

[No, see, that's only one of his dads. The others were pretty cool.]

If it is no trouble. I plan to return to the ship again in any case, as I'm working on seeing if we can reactivate it enough to have it follow us.

[ A bit of a grin ]

Yeah? Is that your philosophy?

[ But at that last part ... She blinks. And frowns a little. ]

Uh -- yeah, I can meet you over there, but -- I don't know how good of an idea bringing this thing with us is.

It is. I prefer not to enter conflict unless absolutely necessary.

[He nods, looking concerned.] If it is the majority vote, I suppose we could leave it behind with a coordinate beacon for others of the bug race, but I would prefer the option be available to us to bring it along. It could be returned to its proper culture, sold, or used as additional space as several of the fleet ships are quite small.

Well, then I think we'll get along nicely. What did you say your name was?

[ ... Well. The first part is kind of an interesting point. It just seems so weird to tie a rope to the moldy bug grave and have it float along with them ... but. ]

If it's infested the way it seems to have been to cause all this, wouldn't giving it back to them just infect more of them? Selling it or using it for us just seems like it's asking for trouble.

I am the Vision.

[Yes, it's an unusual name. But really, is there anything normal about this guy? Not so much.]

Not if a cure is developed first. If we cannot do so, then of course I would not advocate bringing the disease any nearer to the host population and would advocate destroying the ship in its entirety; however, it would be a waste not to take advantages of any resources we can.

Is that supposed to be a reference to you being able to see really well? Or is it, like, you're a "vision" to look at?

Yeah, but like -- okay, let's say we do develop a cure, which I'm sure we will, and we can give that to them so it won't hurt them. We're still handing them this mold-infested ship full of the bodies of their dead buddies like, "Okay! Have fun cleaning!" It just seems kind of mean.

Two of my creators had visions regarding the future. In one, I was the ideal destroyer of the human race; in the other, I was all that stood between destruction and salvation.

Oh, no. [He sounds surprised at that.] I would certainly want to clean and sterilize the ship first. A space burial is considered honorable by many cultures.

Huh ... so, I'm assuming the latter ended up being true.

And how do you propose we do that? There's not exactly an abundance of cleaning supplies around, and mold is pretty notoriously difficult to properly clean.

Fortunately for everyone involved, except for the first creator.

Depending on how well we are able to get the ship's systems working, it should be entirely possible to compress the atmosphere into half the ship and vacuum-sterilize it by opening the airlocks, filtering the remaining air as it's released into that half, then repeat the process.

[ Well, all of that went way over her head ]

... So, you think you can do that?

If the engineers are able to repair the ship sufficiently, yes. It should be a simple process. If we're not, the point is moot.

I don't want them going back in there until it's sterilized. Better safe than sorry.

[ She pauses, thinking ]

What if they're talking to you via communicator, and you go in and follow their instructions? Do you think you could fix it that way?

Oh, certainly. I am an engineer as well, but in my experience more minds working together on a single problem yields better results.

Oh! Well, that's perfect, then. My boyfriend and his brother should be able to help you. [ Now the protectiveness probably makes a little more sense, anyways ... ]

I can probably get Sokka on board, too ...

[Ahh, yes. The personal connection always does that.] Are they both engineers as well, then? I would be glad to have all assistance people are willing to offer.

That's right! I can have them meet you over there when I head over shortly, if that works for you.

That will work nicely. Thank you.

Okay, see you soon! [ WAVES. And she'll be texting the Hamadas and Sokka to meet her over there too! ]

[Not too long afterward, a tall and decidedly maroon man with a blue suit and a cape is waiting patiently at the area the Fleet has been using as a general entrance to the derelict ship. He's not floating (yet) since he's found his appearance alone is usually enough to startle people; best to save some surprises for later.]

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