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CH02: S [D05|2020] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

[LCdr Blue Tiran | Day by Day | Hour by Hour | Hollow Hearted | Shit Ship Suckfest]
@Auctor Lucan

Again.

She leaned back into the spot that she was most comfortable in.  She had learned through visiting this particular part of the ship frequently just how to make the stay slightly more comfortable than before.  If you didn't sit just write your back would ache pressed up against the metallic walls.  Plus, it gave her the view around her so that she could keep an eye on all that came and went.  And she waited.  She was always waiting.  Dark curls mixed with the bright blue of her highlights shimmered slightly in the over head lighting. 

Ow.

She had moved her hand wrong.  She had probably not quite secured her fist when she threw the punch.  Which likely meant she would get a two-fold lecture.  One it would be something about behaving and not causing so much trouble.  The other would be to remember how to throw a punch that wouldn't make holding a spanner painful.  It would probably bruise, because she was stubborn as shit and Sickbay was literally just a waste of time.  Plus it smelled like death and cleaning products in there.

No thanks.

Boots hit the deck plating, and she smirked, right side of her mouth quirked upwards just slightly enough.  Not probably noticable by the Security pricks that were staring her down, but enough that she knew exactly who was rounding the corner in 3....2......1

~Hello, Trouble.~

Blue woke up gasping.  Unable to catch her breath she grabbed and clawed at the oversized fabric of the Savi suit that she had found and worked out for herself.  She hated wearing the damn thing, it was too big she felt a bit claustrophobic in it but it was better than being a human running around the Industrial district on the ship.  She clenched at the extra fabric and gasp.  She felt like she would never feel the tightness in her chest go.

He's gone. 

He's gone.

He's gone..

Tears spilled from Blue's eyes.  The voice in her head had seemed to real.  How many times had she heard that voice, sat in that brig.  How many times had he come on the Bridge to find her at the station because she told her lackey to get the fuck down to the bowels she needed some Ducote time.  How many times from across the Bridge did she hear that tricky warm gravely little voice unwind her from all the stress of her day.  The way that no matter what had happened in her day those two words would just call to her very soul.

Missing Ranaan Ducote was like having a hole where her heart used to be.  She knew biologically it was still there, she was still alive, but her soul had been ripped out when the escape pod had been ejected from the port on the Endeavour.  She would not recover from this.  He had taken her heart with him and held it where ever he was. 

You better not be assimilated.

Her lungs finally decided that breathing was probably crucial to life and allowed her to get a full lung full.  She pushed her hand up to her face and brushed away the traitorous tears.  There was no one around to witness her weakness.  She was probably luck that the Savi couldn't feel emotions like Ranaan could have because otherwise she would have been found out quickly.  There was no way she could hide the kind of pain she felt. 

He visited her, often.

In her dreams.

It was hard to wake up and a blessing to sleep as much as she hated sleeping.  It had come less now that she had fixed up her Savi suit.  Going out into the lower class areas had been a risk.  But one that was highly important.  She had to get out of here.  She had to get her other crewmembers out.  She wasn't going to let those fuck faces get her people.  She had already heard talk, talk that she din't like and there was no fucking way that she was going to let her people be recycled like Egon.

If it wasn't Ducote she saw in her dreams it was Egon and the screams.

Blue took a deep breath of the oxygen and sighed softly as she reached for her helmet and pulled it on.  The clips snapped into place and she took another breath.  With the oxygen concentrator in the helmet rigged up to actually provide her what she needed she was able to fill her lungs properly and they began to relax and quit screaming at her.  She took the helmet off from time to time just because she couldn't stand it any more.  She hated having her face covered all the time but for today's project she was going to need it. 

At least for a little while.

She sat up and looked around.  There was food, some shit that she had stolen when she had picked up the suit.  The ramshackle stall that had sold the food had been in one of the more shitty sections of an already shit section.  It was clear that where she had found herself located after all her running around had been the slums.  The Savi here were much less cared for.  There were dumps, trash, things that had yet to be recycled and turned back into usable items or jettisoned into space.. what have you everywhere. 

That was her favorite part.

But she had seen a couple of the high class Savi come down.  The difference was vast.  The sharpness of their suits, the cleanliness, the way that the children followed them around like Gods hoping for anything.. any kind of gift or kind word.  To be noticed, to get out of this hell hole.  On the ship the Savi didn't wear their helmets and down here not all of them even wore the suits that Blue had stolen and twisted better to suit her needs.  She was a fucking genius and she was proving it time and time again.

Fuck I need a shower.

One thing that sucked about being in an enclosed suit was that it was painfully obvious that she hadn't had a shower since .. well.. the day before the Borg decided to be fuckwits.  So that was like.. four days or something.  She wasn't entirely sure how long they had spent on the pod.  Some of it was just darkness.  She knew she had passed out at some point and who knew how long she had slept it was likely the only silence that the poor crew had. 

I ought to apologize....  Then she thought about that for half a second.  But I probably won't, and besides that blue mother fucker deserves to gargle my wrench.

Blue turned over on all fours.  Breakfast was a no go.  Her stomach reminded her of the last time she forced herself to eat, and she decided that having to relocate because she spewed all over her temporary -and it had BETTER fucking be temporary – home.  Crawling she headed to the ducts.  She needed to go check on her people.  That was the one thing she hadn't done.  It had taken time to prep herself for movement, and she was fairly sure she had mapped out the place in all her adventures. 

At least well enough to get by.

She had taken a tricorder and figured it out to emit a Savi life sign when she was running about so that way she didn't appear human.  Even if they scanned her they wouldn't get anything more than Savi life signs.  This gave her far more freedom when it came to moving around and allowed her to actually leave the maintenance and air shafts and get shit done.

She had too.  The tricorder was one.  The oxygen concentrator was another, and she had created herself a transportation blocker so that if she was found out and some Savi had decided to beam her happy ass over to recycling again they would be in for a rude surprise.  Shame she couldn't make it backfire and blow up in their fucking faces but while a genius Blue was not a miracle worker.  Blue shifted to the right careful of the spot on the ductwork that made noise under her weight on the left and then she shifted back to center.  Slow and steady.  She had altered the suit, it wasn't as air tight as it was supposed to be but it fit her smaller frame.  She just looked like a really short Savi, but that was okay, some of the ones in the Slums weren't as tall as the upper echelon.  They were much taller.  She was glad to be in the Slums.

Slums meant trash, free shit.  Shit she could turn into weapons.

Her horde in her 'home' was growing by the day, she snuck out to the various dumps here and there so she could grab what she needed and head back.  She spent all her waking time exploring, or making, or altering, or fixing.  She was constantly busy until she passed out.  Blue came to the ladder in the duct system that would lead her back up, hopefully, to the labs.  She needed to check on her crew and see what was going on so she could see what kind of time table she had to finish her plan.  She made short work of the ladder grateful for the oxygen concentrator in her suit that was allowing her to breathe easily.  Last time she had made this climb she blacked out three times and barely clung onto the rungs while she waited for her lungs to remember how to work.

Finally she wormed her way through the tight tunnel that would take her to the labs and waited at the small hatch.  Watching carefully, hoping that she could get some information.

Re: Day 05: Supplemental - Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #1 –
[ Cirand | Biolab | Precept-ship Versant ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

In the biolab, the specimen was suspended vertically while Cirand prepared his medical instruments. She seemed semi-conscious, slowly waking up after her time in the Resequence Pod. The specimen used to be Romulan and Human, and she even had a sibling among the samples collected from escape pods, which was a curiosity at best, but Cirand had made careful note of it nonetheless. Even if he despised his work in the Correction Program, destined as he thought himself for far greater projects, it didn't mean he would stop being a professional all of a sudden. He reached for his tablet and activated the translator, then returned to his instruments, talking loud enough for the specimen to hear.

"Species Seven-Three-One, your correction is partially complete," he said in his monotonous voice, not bothering to look at her where she hung in her restraints, her catheter and esophageal tube alone remaining after she'd been extracted from the pod. Her body was still covered in gel, making her body gleam in the dim lighting. "The Resequence Pod managed to correct your entire anatomy save for some residual forehead ridges that were too dense in composition to completely smooth out. You are here to undergo your final surgery, where I will remove those ridges as well. After that, you will await your memory wipe and release in one of our Containment Cells. I wi-"

Before he could finish, the door slid open, admitting two other xenobiologists into the lab. "Pardon us for the interruption," said Metand, the older Ante, and in his wake followed Encegin, a younger female Ante - both well known colleagues and the latter in the Correctional Program as well. "We were talking about Semathal's request, and thought you might wish to partake."

Cirand stopped what he was doing and turned towards Metand, folding his arms across his chest. Indeed, this was something both he and Encegin were highly affected by, and to some extent, even Metand. "Has it passed the High Council?"

"No, but they are about to convene," said Encegin, turning her smooth head towards the specimen for a second, likely just judging what state it was in. Without pause, he added, "I heard it from the Voice himself. Echtand wanted a report on how many specimens had survived so far, and told me the up-link between the four Precept-ships will take place soon."

Sighing, Cirand folded his hands behind his back and began to pace the biolab. "Even though I won't miss it... If such an exception to the Code is made merely because of repairs the Versant, what may be exempt next? The process of Correction has been in the Code for many centuries, surviving in the Archive regardless the mistakes of our predecessors." Cirand said this, and took the chance to glance at the back of Encegin's head, appreciating the curve it made in the overhead light. If only not Metand was there... Then he might actually mate with her, with or without her initial consent.

"It is the logical step," said Metand, his dry whisper of a voice. He seemed to take no interest in the specimen hanging at display in her restraints - her white hair covering her features and most of her bare chest.

"What do you mean?" asked Encegin, looking at the older Ante with an unreadable face.

"What do we do with the non-hybrids? With those of no scientific interest, that happen to come aboard the Versant?" he asked, wheezing at the end of his sentence.

"They are Recycled, fed to the Versant to sustain its population and the research," said Encegin, her face tighter, not keen on the guessing game. The older Ante had a tendency for lectures.

"And what are the specimens when they have undergone correction?" asked Metand, and the answer was obvious to both Cirand and Ecegin. Still Metand insisted on telling them, as if they were some mere Decatria. "Why, they are non-hybrids, are they not? They hold no scientific interest any more. Then what separates them from the others? It is clear, to me, that when we Vigilant began to forage to the extent that we've done in the past year, and we've begun to Recycle more biomatter to further our results, the purpose of Correction has fallen in shadow. When the Scion Directive came into effect, the work we have done for centuries, preserving the legacy of the Progenitors, has paled in import compared to our own evolution."

Cirand knew this very well already, and didn't need Metand to say it again. "Indeed, wasting our resources upon Correction holds us back as a species, since those resources would be less wasted on projects that truly matters to us all - like furthering the Scion Directive. We have created our future, and yet we don't allocate the resources it needs. If the Correction Program is cancelled, there will be other opportunities of greater achievements in more poignant fields."

Encegin turned her head to meet Cirand's gaze. "I think it's clear that the exception will be approved by the High Council," she said, oblivious to Cirand's looks upon her head and figure. "All our current specimens will Recycled. It's only a question of time, and what we will work on next, when the Correction Program finally ends."

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2120 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #2 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran |  Reduce, Reuse, and Go Fuck Yourself | Do or Let Die | Remember Blue Tiran]
@Auctor Lucan

Around a corner was the grate that was her destination.  She had been here before but seen nothing.  Only notated where it was.  There were all sorts of diagrams and writings on the walls of the ventilation system that were in Blue's chicken scratch hand writing that notated and helped her navigate the areas.  She needed that as much as possible because she didn't have any other way to make a map.  She was old schooling this fuck-fest as much as possible.  Finally she pulled herself up to a somewhat slumped seated position.  She could see into the lab and today it seemed there were things happening. 

A woman, hanging, tubs coming out of her.  Blue didn't care what the fuck they were for, but they weren't natural that much was for fucking certain.  Neither was her forehead.  There was something about her forehead.  It was ridged but not.  Something was off.  That was when Ol' Fuck-Face began talking to himself. 

Fucking doctors and Scientists are so fucking weird.  At least I talk to my fucking owl.  If they fuck with my bird I swear by all that used to be holy that I will fucking cram it so far down the Savi throat that it will be permanently lodged there and detonate blowing Savi bits all over the fucking bulk heads. she thought thinking back to her precious Albert.  She had no idea where he was, and she missed him, she caught herself almost asking him to check on shit for her all the time but then she would remember that he was gone. 

Like Ducote... no .. fucking Blue you have to get your shit together.  You can fall the fuck apart later right now you have to either fucking save some people or let yourself fucking die.  You ran away and saved your mother fucking ass so you will fucking do what you can to save these people.  Blue found that she consistently chastised herself but it helped her stay real.  Part of her wanted to give up, it would be easy to give up.  To let it go to let the darkness consume her and let the people that had been 'fixed' live their lives.

Moments later it became clear that the ridges were because the woman had once been half-Romulan and was now human except there were parts that hadn't been fixed and would be fixed surgically.  You sick fuckers.  That made her think about Laurel.  The half-Romulan that was treated like shit on the ship until she and Ducote got involved.  Blue didn't think she could count the number of friends even on one hand but she had hoped that Laurel would be counted among them.  She has to live first. she reminded herself and Blue sighed quietly as the being down below continued to record himself.

She continued listening to his horrible monotone voice and Blue wondered if she shot a washer from her bag hard enough from a rubber band sling shot if she could take that fucker out just so she didn't have to listen to him drone on anymore.  She felt bad for the assholes that were suffering with his horrible tones for the duration of their stay in his mad scientist work shop.  She looked up watching him pause in his speak as two other people entered the room.  Blue spun a small nut that she had been messing with in her fingers while she watched.  The Mother Fucking Award for Best Timing goes tooooooooo those two timely fuckers! 

Though whatever the fuck the Voice was, she was kind of course.  She would like to meet this Voice, she doubted that she would, but it sounded hokey.  Likely it was some kind of computer system or some like old Wizard of Oz bit.  She remembered seeing the play as a young girl, some kind of forced torture that people called field trips.  She remembered that Oz was just a loser in a fucking photo booth and not really all that fucking special at all.  Which had really bummed her out.  The tech behind making himself seem cool and all powerful was awesome, when it turned out to be smoke and mirrors she was absolutely pissed off. 

The Code.  That sounds computer driven, I need to get my fucking hands on a computer.. maybe they have a mode for Starfleet standard, that or I'll be having to get some fucker to read it to me.  Man.. hostages are nothing but fucking trouble.  I'll probably forget to feed it...  They began to talk about Recycling which made the blood in Blue's veins run cold.  She shifted laying out length wise so that she could get closer to the grate and so that she could see a little bit better as they just talked about how precious life was to be drained away to sustain the ship and population.

Ugh!  They eat us?  Those fuckers are nasty.  I hope I'm a fucking chewy piece of shit you mother fuckers should you ever get your teeth on me!  They were talking about the people that had been fixed.  They were no longer interesting or necessary as the process had been finished.  She figured they were going to get recycled as well.  Scion Directive.  I need to look that shit up when I can. she thought as she bit her lower lip.  She needed to find a universal translator first, see if it would help her read the computer systems here.  Then she needed to find a system that she could hack into.  That wouldn't be too hard, she just needed a way to read it and then she could begin to navigate it.  Their computer coding couldn't be all that dissimilar to what she was used to, could it?

Blue bit her lower lip. 

I have limited time if I'm going to save my crew.  I have to get to work.  I have to find something to do.  But where are they?  Where is my crew.  That one, I don't recognize, and the others are in here somewhere.  I need weapons, information, and something to turn the tide on my side.

Blue decided to see if she could figure out where the crew had gone before she went back to her hub to get started on her work.  She began to crawl the only direction the vent shaft would lead her at this moment.  Taking it nice and slow, and looking out each grate as she went in the hopes to find sign of her other crewmates.

Maybe Shar will get recycled, bet she gets caught in some fuckers teeth.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #3 –
“I be most honest when I say, there be nothin' worse'n bein' a puppet for whims an' fancy o' gods an' monsters.”
- Sinead O'Riley, Testimonials and Conduct

[ Lt. JG Sinead O'Riley | Biolabs | Main Research Hull | Precept-ship Versant ] Joint-Post by @Auctor Lucan & @Triage
[Show/Hide]
They'd let her out, and then left her on her own. She was still stark naked, but that had never bothered the Bringloidi, even if she had been placed amongst many other people. But she was alone, and she had no way of knowing if the captain was all right. It was the sole concern on her mind at this point. Mobility was returned to her as well, so she took immediate advantage of this. Studying her surroundings, feeling the edges of the walls, and seeking an escape. It wasn't too long before she resumed sitting in the center of the room, empty and devoid of any seeming exit. It was, for all intents and purposes a perfect box with no true sign of entrance or exit. She was well and truly trapped with nothing to do but wait.

Then it happened.

It was a sharp, brief jolt in her head. She barely moved but to flicker her eyes, and then quite on its own, her arm began to move, flailing. She knew she wasn't the one doing it, so it had to be something else. The part between her neck and head began to ache, and she was not able to move her body once more save for whatever unknown force was manipulating her. And she stood up, again, not of her choosing. She was both fascinated and privately horrified at being a prisoner in her own body, as she watched this unseen force make her move about, examine her own hands.

[ Meanwhile | Adjacent Area | Biolabs ]

Unaware that he was being watched, Tachand saw how Spergin looked at her own hands. She was his female Ante orderly, and she wore a visor over her eyes. Right then, she saw through the eyes of the specimen.

"<I have a feed,>" she said, and began to run her hands over the front of her body, no doubt seeing herself touching Human skin. While Spergin wore her exosuit, Tachand still appreciated the sight, momentarily distracted by his orderly before he turned his gaze away from the glowing field in which Spergin stood. He looked at the bare specimen just beyond the bulkhead instead. The current setting in the phsophors allowed them to look into the cell, but she could not see them from her side. There was no requirement in this phase of the initial testing to make the specimen aware of the situation on hand. These were merely... preliminary studies, as Tachand called them, and he would not make any official recordings.

Instead, he had asked Spergin to test the subspace signal frequency and the chosen interface field. He would do it himself, of course, but then he would not be able to make notes on his datapad. No, instead he paced the room, looking between Spergin and the specimen, seeing how the motions were exactly mirrored. It seemed the reception was adequate. Question was, how strong was the up-link of the crude, antiquated implant in her head? Was the specimen able to resist the feed? Could she, if motivated survival or by strong moral standpoints, refute the actions the chip made her do? This was of critical import, and thus, Tachand would evaluate such a scenario before putting any thorough testing to his track record.

"<Spergin, would you please have her walk up to this bulkhead and strike her fist against it, repeatedly. Continue until I say stop.>"

"<At once,>" she said, and even though she walked inside the glowing interface field, she did not move - the platform compensating for the momentum beneath her feet. Inside the cell, however, the bare specimen made her way up to the opaque bulkhead. Once Spergin began to make the motions of striking the air in front of her, there was a dull thud heard in the lab. Tachand watched, riveted, as the Human specimen didn't hold back, beginning to injure herself.

"<Please continue,>" he said in a low, quiet voice, watching how an organic creature had become slave to technology.

[ Containment Cell]

“...n...nnn...!” Sinead's expression was barely able to project as she found herself striking the wall, quite against her own will. Why couldn't she stop it? Was it her other self? The other consciousness had managed to overtake her? She could still think for herself, or was she actually thinking for herself at all? No, she was certain she had that much left to her at least. But the pain shot through her fist up the rest of her arm as she tried to will herself to stop. There was no logic or point to self-inflicted injury. She had to stop, or she would put herself in a compromising disadvantage that would hamper any rescue or escape efforts on her part.

She had to find the captain, get him off this ship, and assist to liberate others that might be trapped here too.

“Stop,” she said as she made the third strike, then fourth, the pain was excruciating, but that was not what prompted her to cry out or protest. “There be no point to this. Cease.” She barely faltered at the fifth punch. It took all her will just to prevent that, but she tried all the harder to resist. Her head ached greatly, and she could barely see through the haze of pain. “Urnh!” Her fist was going to break!

[ Adjacent Biolab ]

The specimen resisted, as much was plain. Tachand took a deep breath and calibrated the frequency to compensate, glad that the momentary lapse wouldn't show up in the official records of the tests. As he tapped his datapad, the field around Spergin hummed a little bit louder. As the strikes continued to fall against the bulkhead, the red imprint of blood could be seen, and Tachand was pleased to see that they could overpower self-preservation. "<Excellent, you can stop now.>"

Spergin stopped to make the striking motions, and stood at ease in the interface field. Obviously, she didn't feel what the specimen felt. "<Do you need me to do anything more?>" she asked from behind her visor.

"<No, I think we should test the pre-set modes in the chip next.>" Tachand deactivated the interface field, releasing the specimen to her own bodily control. He didn't even look at her as she recovered from the test, since they could easily treat the injury to her hand. "<Do we have any specimens that are lined of for Recycling?>"

Stepping off the platform, Spergin put the head gear aside and picked up her own datapad, opening the inventory database. "<We have one specimen taken from cryogenic stasis on the Theurgy. She was a hybrid specimen, due to undergo Correction, but after some evaluation, her injuries wouldn't let her survive a Resequence Pod. She was treated for the worst of her injuries, but after the decision was made, she has been in containment, due for Recycling tomorrow. It is Specimen Seven-Three-Three, a Human and Risian hybrid variety.>"

Tachand nodded. "<Satisfactory. Beam her into the cell.>"

"<At once,>" said Spergin, and tapped her tablet.

[ Adjacent Cell ]

“Ah...!” Sinead couldn't bite back the pain anymore, and let out a tiny yelp when, thankfully, it ended. She could regain control of herself. Massaging the wounded, nearly broken fist with her other hand. Tears poured down, her eyes reddened. She didn't think she would ever feel terror like that ever again, but she did. She was afraid of whatever it was that could take control of her like that and make her act against her own will. Why hit the wall though? Dawning realization came upon her then. She was being experimented on. Did they put something in her? Or was it something that was already there that they were toying with? It would explain the blackouts and why she sustained injuries she knew nothing about. How could she fight something like this?!?

“I am Sinead O'Riley, and I am a free person,” said the Bringloidi, her silvery glowing eyes shone with intent when she heard the sound of a transport, and saw a familiar face. She had only seen the woman in passing, but she knew she was from Theurgy. She looked in a bad state. “Are yeh in need of assistance? Rihen Neyah, aye?” she asked, remembering now that she'd actually shared a lunch with her. Her happy and easy attitude made her quite likeable, akin to a less toxic Meony. Then she felt the pain in her head once more. “No!”

Rihen was listless, barely able to sit up from her position on the floor. Her blonde hair was matted with sweat, and while her burn wounds had been treated, she was too weak to stand. Seeing the woman with her mismatched eyes, she recognised her from the Theurgy. She was in pain, so Rihen reached out with a shaking hand. "L-Lieutenant O'Riley? W-What's wrong?"

Sinead would later recall this as a blurry nightmare within shadows. One she was all too familiar with. She blacked out, but she wasn't unconscious, for her body still moved. Her eyes were razor sharp, her hearing acute, and her senses all attuned to her surroundings. Everything was a threat to her, anything alive was an enemy. She had to eliminate them before they had a chance to strike. Waste no time, break bones, snap necks, blind them, incapacitate them. That was all that mattered. Rihen was just a target now. It was irrelevant that she wasn't attacking. She was a threat.

She lunged forward, pressing her index and middle fingers together, she drove it hard into the woman's solar plexus, and then followed up with a swift kick into the abdomen, the flat of her sole connecting violently with Rihen. The woman was still alive. She had to eliminate her, fast!

[ Adjacent Biolab ]

When he had seen that the second specimen was present in the cell, Tachand had accessed the crude settings in the chip itself with his tablet, picking from the options that the creator of the ship had left there. There had been a few of them, but the one that had the most data to it was the top one in the list. He had thought for a moment, then looked towards Spergin. "<Initiate recording. We can decide later if the findings will be worth including in the official report.>"

"<Of course,>" his orderly had said in answer, and once she did, Tachand had activated the chip's top tier setting.

What happened next was not fully unexpected, but the efficiency and alacrity in which the specimen acted gave Tachand some pause. For inside the cell, the specimen drew herself up, the pain in her hand forgotten, and then she leapt upon the new specimen in her company.  Without any compunction, she began to strike and kick her. Feebly she tried to crawl away, screaming, sobbing, but the specimen with the chip in her head didn't stop.

It was in full combat mode, and wouldn't stop until the other one was dead. Tachand began to think about what the Savi could use this specimen for, and the answer was obvious. She'd have her memories removed, and then returned to the Federation - becoming their eyes and ears on Earth.

OOC: Please note that there is no translator active in this particular biolab, @Blue Zephyr , so Tiran will have to read their actions and the development she sees, interpreting it. Looking forward to see what she thinks and does next. :)

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #4 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Bitches Need Blastin' | Mind Fucking at it's Finest | Short Shaft from Death]
@Auctor Lucan
[Small trigger warning]

This was not the lab she had been shooting for. 

I need to keep going, there has to be some place where I can find the rest of my crew.  Before I can rescue them I need to fucking figure out where the fuck they're located.  Then I can finish fixing up my fucking armory and .. what the fuck are they doing...?

There was a chick beyond the glass that the Savi were watching.  She had reddish hair and some sort of .. blue eyes, but they were a bit more blue than she had seen before.  Blue slid closer to the grate as quietly as she could to see what they were going to do to the poor woman.  She was absolutely naked Blue didn't detect any signs of a shiver, but she could only imagine that to the Savi she was nothing but an animal or something.  There was no need for clothing.  Blue's own blue eyes watched as the woman explored the space and then moved to sit down. 

Okay this is stupid they're just watching her....

Blue stuck her face right up to the grate, she would probably have marks in a moment if she didn't move but she had to get closer.  The woman's arm was moving but it was clear by the panic in her eyes that she wasn't moving it on purpose.  The fucking blue chatterboxes down below began squeaking to each other like mother fucking squirrels on National Nut day.  One of them was wearing some kind of visor and the movements that he was doing.. mirrored the movements that the naked woman was doing.

Oh you sick mother fuckers, I swear to all that is holy I'm going to stick that mind control device up your ass and watch you shit all over each other. she thought to herself.  She didn't know what their plan or their point was with the woman and what the point of controlling her was. If I can save everyone we're going to have to scan each and every fucker for one of those fucking devices before they get back to any one's fucking ship.  Because I'm not having a mind controlled mother fucker running lose on my ship. 

Blue backed away from the grate and ran a hand down her face.  Her hand was trembling slightly.  She felt the horror just settle in on her shoulders.  It was a heavy weight, she didn't even know if she could make it.  There were so many times she just wanted to give it all up.  Throw in the towel.  She had plenty of sharp things she could use.  She'd much rather go out the way that she chose instead of those fuckers turning her into a fucking juice factory.  She could just slice, dice, and be done with it.  She didn't believe in the afterlife but if Ducote was there she would fight every mother fucker in her way to get at it.

Thump..  thUMP... THUMP...   A cry of pain, caused Blue to shift back over to the grate and see the woman that they were controlling punching her fist repeatedly into the bulk head unable to stop herself.  Blue had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from busting down the mother fucking grate and jumping in there to strangle some blue headed fuckers.  She had no idea what they were saying but she could tell they were testing their little prototype.  Before she could decide on action it was all over, and the woman, bleeding, crying, was let go for the moment.  Blue's mouth felt dry, she hadn't had much to eat or drink since she had been here.  She had promised herself x amount of days before she forced herself to consume anything just to stay alive for everyone.  But, she wasn't sure that she could swallow it anyway.

Another person was beamed into the cell. 

Blue wondered if, she too, had the chip and what the purpose of the two women in the cell were.  All of a sudden, there was a fight.  Clearly one sided, the woman's eyes were blue and silver and she was kicking the other one.  Attacking her.  The other woman couldn't get up, couldn't escape, couldn't fight back something was wrong with her.  Something was making her unable to do anything but she was certainly going to die.  Blue watched in horror as the attack was relentless, and the woman that was doing all of it was not even there.  She was checked out, or .. something. 

I have to stop it. she thought to herself as she began to study the outline of the grate, she could likely back the screws out but it wouldn't go unnoticed, they would have to fall somewhere and they would likely ping on the metal floor below where the Savi might not figure it out for the first couple but eventually they would.  They weren't stupid, they just sucked. 

Distraction. 

No, if I make too much noise then they'll figure out where I'm hiding and then I'm useless to the people that I'm actually trying to save.  They're Starfleet, both of them, obviously, I can understand what they're saying which means it's basic, but I don't know.. I don't know then, but they know each other, and that other one is going to die.  She's going to die, and this woman can't stop herself and the guilt.. oh the guilt... fucking you fucking Savi I swear to all that is fucking holy I will rip out your throats the long way around and feed them back to you.

Okay okay... Blue think, you have to think.  If you go down there what are the pros.  You might be able to save those bitches, you might be able to figure out what to do with them but they won't go unmissed.  The one... is nearly dead, and I'm no fucking doctor I can't fix shit like that.  If she was a robot great... but she's not she's a human.. type person.. thing and I can't fucking fix that and then you have skitzo there.. who can't control herself all they would have to do is tell her to show up some fucking where and she fucking would.  They can likely see through her eyes if they can control her to this extent and that too would give me and my happy little fuck fest away.  I can't.. I can't do that.   There are so many people on this fucking ship to save.

Blue bit her lower lip.  Tears sprang from her eyes.  Burning behind her eye lids as she hit herself in the temples three times biting her lower lip so that she wouldn't make a single sound while she freaked out mentally.  Her breaths were coming shorter, tears streamed down her cheeks, she looked over at the attack again.

I'.. I'm so sorry.  I hate myself.  I can't.. I can't save you because there are so many others on the line.  I'm so sorry, I'll try to remember you, and I'll get word to your crew and your family.  Blue slid her hands into her mess of matted curls and squeezed her hair into her fists and pulled it hard so that the pain alone would clear her head so she could think.  She swallowed heavily.  I can't save her, I can't save her, I can't risk everything for this one person.  I can't, it's stupid, it's stupid, I'll get killed, it'll get everyone killed....

She angrily brushed at the traitorous tears that marked down her face probably creating tiny rivers of clean skin against the dirty face that she had not cleaned. 

Move Blue.

I can't... I can't move.. she's going to die.

Move Blue, MOVE!

Move or die Blue Tiran, you can't fucking stay here and watch this shit unfold and let it take you down.  And it will, you're too fragile.  Find you're fucking rock Blue, find the chasm that Ducote was building a bridge over and throw yourself back on the other fucking side!

Blue took a deep breath, it was so hard to breathe.  It hurt, it hurt to force her lungs to work.  She dug into her bag.  She had to concentrate.  She had to focus, she had to get her shit together.  But she couldn't.  She couldn't get past the fact that she was letting a person, a human, a officer down.  A crewman, not of her ship but they were both Federation.  She pulled out a small screw, it was probably off of something from the Endeavour and she closed her fist around it until it punctured her hand, she gasped as the pain helped bring everything back into focus.  It gave her a point, a small tiny point that she could just settle on. 

Pain.

Move, Blue, Move!!

She forced herself to crawl on, the sounds of the one sided brawl slowly fading as she moved on, she crawled one hand flat, the other fisted around the screw while she worked her way to try to find her crew.  I have to find them, I have to find them, I have to find them.  Forgive me.  Oh please forgive me.  Ranaan... I'm so sorry... I let you down, I'm so sorry.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #5 –
“It is my absolute belief that Sinead O'Riley is guilty. Now to the matter of her judgement. Indeed, what greater punishment can possibly be met upon this monster by letting her live, knowing all the blood covering her hands are that of countless innocents, the first victim her own self?”
- Unknown, Testimonials and Conduct

[ Lt. JG Sinead O'Riley | Biolabs | Main Research Hull | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @Blue Zephyr
[Show/Hide]
She was delaying, a part of her deep within fighting against her own brain, against the natural reaction of a terrible threat before her. So long as breath was drawn, so long as she moved, Rihen Niyah was an undeniable threat. As she struggled, feebly so, Sinead's eyes flashed as she made a jerky movement forward, intending to swiftly prevent any further problems to her. Abruptly the flame-haired Bringloidi kicked under Rihen's leg, and brought one foot up within reach, which she grasped with both hands and twisted the foot around completely, using her full strength, intending to snap and break the joint beyond use. As soon as she was done, she bent fluidly, placing her knee against the Risian's unbroken leg's own knee, with one hand on the inner thigh and the other at the ankle, and pushed at the knee at the same time as both her hands pulled. Another joint snapped, and both legs disabled.

Silvery-blue eyes blinked, one of them twitching violently, as she struggled to stop herself, yet she couldn't bring herself to do so. It was right to end the threat swiftly, but she was delaying unnecessarily by breaking bones. Rihen's defense or retaliations were feeble compared to her. Sinead was swift, smooth and fluid like a river in motion, but she was not going for the kill. Deep within herself, she was troubled by a conflicting sense. Rihen Niyah was not a threat. YES SHE IS! She was a friend. SHE IS AN ENEMY! She didn't want to hurt the Risian. KILL HER! KILL HER! KILL HER!!!

She thrust a palm at Rihen's jugular, robbing her of breath. The hands would be a problem. Flip her on her belly, grab the wrists, pull right hand behind her over to the left shoulder, and the left arm pulls to the right, tear ligaments by the shoulders. Dislocation, irrepairable without medical tools and corrective surgery. She acted on this thought and plan a split second later. Now, there was nothing left to do, above the anticipated and expected screams, indicating life still flowed within her. As the woman reached for Rihen's head, palm on either side of her head to twist violently in one direction, tears flowed down her face, and Sinead's two personalities, the calm one trained by Vulcans, and her wild, free-spirited self, screamed in unison, for the first time, in one accord. No cry was heard from her outside, but she was deafened by herself inside.

Let the nightmare end. Please...let the nightmare end.

"Please, n-no," said the Risian, as a final plea for her life - the words barely discerned in her mewls of pain.

Yet when the wrenching motion came, silence returned to the observation chamber.

With her head twisted around, the woman met the eye of her killer, but the spark of life slowly left her mismatched eyes.

Re: Day 05: Supplemental - Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #6 –
[ Tachgyn | Biolabs | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr 

The female Ante xenobiologist raised her black eyes from her tablet. "Activate the translator."

Tachgyn's orderlies were at the ready, two of them. Well, one of them was. The second was preoccupied with loading the inoculation canon at his station, mixing the chemicals on a display in front of him for distribution through the apertures in the ceiling and into the cannon itself. The system was fully automated and computer controlled. No need for maintenance. Well, at least not for Tachgyn or her orderlies. The Low Class Antes were available for that kind of work.

Once the available orderly had activated the translator for the adjacent observation chamber, Tachgyn activated to comm feed, speaking in part to protocol dictated by the Code, and partially unique phrasing for the study in question.

"Specimens 7-0-2 and 7-1-9, you are have been uniquely picked for this resilience study, where it will be determined whether or not - as you call them - Augments have any elevated resistance against an untethered Deltan's mental assault." Tachgyn took no relish in the experiment itself, only in need to generate the data requested by Scion Semathal, who had requested her superiors to conduct the study. The incentive had not been pre-determined, but a result of the findings when they had conducted their forage on the Theurgy.

"Indeed, we know what you are, 7-0-2... and the Correction of 7-1-9 is complete," she continued, pacing the room slowly since she was bored with the required conduct. "She used to be a hybrid Deltan, and when we collected her from the USS Theurgy, she seemed to suffer from a condition where her incomplete genome was generating psionic powers and pheromone emissions completely out of her control. What we have done is to Correct her for her benefit, making her fully Deltan, but unfortunately... it doesn't seem like she has gained any kind of control yet. At this rate, it is doubtful that the specimen will ever retain any of her mental faculties - instead reduced a slave to the powers she possess."

The second orderly turned to Tachgyn and nodded. The inoculation cannon was armed. Tachgyn nodded before she continued to speak.

"Specimen 7-0-2, you had first been picked for Correction, in which you were supposed to be reduced to a normal human, but since the specimen in front of you is in the state she is, I have been tasked to make this study instead. You will not be given any aphrodisiac to ease the process of the study for two reasons. One being that it would muddle the clear results of the resilience study itself, and secondly, because there will hardly by any need to waste such an inoculation on you. Given your evident stare of arousal, Specimen 7-1-9 should already be affecting you with her presence."

Tachgyn quietly verified her observation with the sensor readings on her tablet, noticing the elevated heart-rate and pooling of blood in the Augment's genitalia. "The resilience study will now commence. I would offer food and beverage, but since the study is likely going to be short, neither of you will likely require any such supplements. Specimen 7-0-2, if you do not survive the full impact of the untethered Deltan's powers, your surviving husk will be Recycled. Should that be the case, I wish to thank you on behalf of all Savi for your contribution to our research. Specimen 7-1-9, if you hear me and understand me, I am compelled to inform you that you will be kept alive for further studies."

As she observed the commencement of the study, Tachgyn forgot to ask her orderly to deactivate the translator. Once the study was complete, she would order the Deltan sedated with the inoculation cannon.

[Adjacent Observation Chamber | Precept-ship Versant ]

With his limbs spread like an X, David Grayson was strapped unto a horizontal diagnostic table of some kind, and as strong as he was, he could not tear himself free from his restraints. The alien voice had finished speaking, and his panic, tightly controlled as he kept it, was gradually being replaced by the notion that there was no threat to his life. He felt him going mad by the second, unable to tear his eyes away from the naked figure that walked up to the bed.

He remembered her face from the Theurgy, before he had been shot by that hologram and woke up in his cell, but the face did not match the rest of her. She used to have hair, but now she was bald, and while she had been beautiful before, Eve Jenkins was otherworldly in the way she moved towards him. Perhaps she hadn't changed much physically, or perhaps she had, but David knew his senses were betraying him. The alien had told him as much. She was Deltan, and out of control. He was being assailed by her pheromones,, and he could feel her... inside his head. She was there, making him want her, controlling his desire, amplifying it. He knew she was making him want her, and there was naught he could do about it, even if he knew the rumours about what Deltans could do to people....

"Go away," he growled, making one more effort to try and tear his wrists free. He could hear the diagnostic table crack... but it didn't yield an inch. She was right there at his feet, climbing on top of him. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her, and she smiled as if she didn't have a care in the whole universe. She bit her lower lip, reaching out for his hardness, and then he was lost. The wanton lust in her mindless gaze should have been a nightmare to behold, but he could not think clearly. He should be screaming for help, but he just wanted to kiss her. He wanted to stop her from straddling his hips, but he did nothing to stop her.

She was already riding him, and he forgot why he wanted to fight her. How could he want that? He just wanted more, joining her in quiet sounds of passion... while his mind bled away.

[ Meanwhile | Adjacent Biolab ]

Quietly, Tachgyn observed the sensor readings more than the actual coitus, seeing how they just continued to accumulate and build. "Remarkable," she said, looking up once more. The stamina of an Augment would be considerate, but only in a situation where it was under its own mental faculties. The theory was that an enhanced human had just as little chance for survival as any other human, since a Deltan with the amount of power that Specimen 7-0-9 had would easily assert control nonetheless. Therefore, the stamina of the Augment was a negligible factor in the study. The beeping heard in the biolab was the heart-rate of the Augment, and it was getting more and more frantic.

In the end, the augmented specimen didn't last, as expected. He cried out, convulsing below the Deltan specimen, and then the heart-rate slowly decelerated - the beeping sounds coming more scarcely. Yet they did not completely stop. This was the interesting thing about the effects of a Deltan's powers. It left the victim's body still alive, but the mind... it was blasted away by the force in the mental connection. Tachgyn flipped her sensor readings to that of brain activity readings, and there was none. Complete silence, and on the diagnostic table, the unseeing eyes of the Augment stared into the ceiling - mouth agape and with saliva running down his chin. The results were clear. "Theory confirmed."

Then, the Deltan specimen rounded on them - as if she could see them through the bulkhead.

"Sedate he-!" began Tachgyn, but she cried out, shaking as she fell down on her knees. The onslaught on her capacious mind obliterated her reasoning, and her two orderlies seemed equally affected. The Deltan was in their heads, briefly rummaging around since she'd not been inside a Savi mind before, and then she enraptured Tachgyn - who gasped at the sensation. The need. The wish for her orderlies to do something entirely else than sedating the Deltan.

What Tachgyn saw, however, in that brief glimpse of the Deltan mind, was the journey of the Theurgy as seen through the eyes of the specimen. Eve Jenkins was her name, and she had seen the truth about the Federation. Tachgyn didn't care, but she knew the plights of the crew of outlaws.

OOC: Notice the mentioning of the Theurgy, and how Blue Tiran would learn the truth from the touch of Eve Jenkin's mind. With no partner available in the maintenance duct she is in, she'd likely leave in search for one... only to get out of range and to the next lab. :)

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #7 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Fuck-tards Are Pale Mother Fuckers | Live or Die Trying | Time to Fuck the Fuckers]
@Auctor Lucan

==Major trigger warning.==

Blue slid into another air grate and she curled herself up in a way that would allow her to sit up.  Her back against the air shaft as she looked down through the grate of the air duct system.  Her eyes narrowing as she realized that she was, yet again, not at the spot she had been searching for.  I guess I ran further than I meant to.  The last biolab still hung heavily with her.  She could feel the slick blood on her palm from the implantation of the screw into the soft flesh of her hand.  She knew that it was not clean, or good, but it was better than losing her mind.  Losing her mind right now was not going to do her any good.

I need to move on... I can't stand here and watch more shit.  It'll only piss me off more and I'm about to fucking go in there and tear their white bulbous heads from their skinny fucking bodies.  Blue pulled the screw out of her palm as she sat there for a moment just trying to collect her thoughts.  Swallowing as the pain throbbed heavily as she liberated the metal screw from her palm and put it back in her bag.  She thought about tossing it but one never knew when you were going to need it again and besides she didn't want to leave anything behind.  She tugged at the collar of the Savi uniform that she was wearing.  It didn't fit right and after a while it hugged her throat in a weird way.

Blue was just about to turn and head off to the next area when she heard Standard coming through the biolab and it was so nice to hear more words in language that she knew she turned to check out what was going on below before she could stop herself.  Don't watch, you know it won't end well.  Get the fuck out of here Blue Tiran.  Ducote would tell you to move. 

Well Ducote is a dead mother fucker right now isn't he?

Not completely confirmed.

Hope is for the weak fuckers of the world that have nothing to focus on.  It gives me nothing now.

Make him proud anyway.

Doubt that was ever possible...

Blue took a deep breath and closed her eyes letting it out slowly.  She felt like her mind was fragmenting.  She was so tired.  I need to eat. she thought to herself, she hadn't eaten anything since she had gotten on the ship, that would be something she would have to do soon.  But, the fun part would be finding a place to grab something.  Right now, she wasn't in the position so she told her stomach to chill the fuck out and slid over towards the grate.  Inside the lab there was a man that was tied down, and completely naked.  Apparently the Savi have prejudice against clothing. she thought to herself as she watched as there was another woman in the room too.  Deltan, apparently.  That made Blue rise her brow, though she was not the sort that figured out what the point of the Savi was until it was far too late.

He tried, the poor man tried to tell her to stop.  But, she could not be controlled or spoken too.  Blue could feel it too, the ebb and flow of desire brushing against the edges of her mind.  She didn't focus on it because she was far too shocked at what was going on below.  The woman was raping the male, he begged and pleaded and then he couldn't fight any more.  He lay there as she invaded his body and his mind.  Blue felt like she was going to puke. 

It was over so quickly.

He's dead.. holy .. holy fuck.

Blue tasted bile of an empty stomach in her mouth and her stomach heaved as she turned quietly away from the grate and tried to breathe deeply.  Though without the distraction of the male she literally fucked the brains out of, the Deltan was turning on her captors.  She had heard them mentioning something about a tranq but they clearly weren't in the place to administer such a thing.  Blue could feel the pressure in her own mind.  She knew that the Deltan was out of control, she had absolutely no control over herself or her feelings.  Blue's hand scrounged around for her bag of tricks.  She gasped loudly as she found fantasies taking hold.

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He was pressed against her, she could feel the cool of the bulkhead behind her.  The wall standing sturdy as he pushed her into it.  The fight had been one of their best, their Quarters was a total mess, and now here she was subdued in a way, pressed against the bulkhead as emotions ran high.  His hand slid up underneath her tank top taking in the tight body she worked hard to keep especially with the amount of sugar she ate in a day.  She could feel the heavy sucking and brushing of his lips on her neck.  She could hear the moans, both of them, against her ears.  Reverberating against her ear drums.  She clawed at his shirt, wanting that damn Command red to be nothing but a pile of clothing on the floor.

Fuck...   Blue gasped, her eyes glassed over as her hand quickly reached into her bag and dug for anything, anything that she could use to get this woman out of her mind.  Part of her wanted to bash her skull into the fucking bulkhead until she passed out.  But then, she would lose precious hours and probably give away her location.  Not to mention she did not have the abilities to treat herself if she gave herself a concussion.  I have to get this bitch out of my head.

Another wave hit her. 

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Flashes appeared in her mind.

A massive Starfleet vessel, the kind that Blue had only ever dreamed of working on with Engines for miles and a department as big as the ships she had served on in the past.  The Theurgy, the letters read on the side.  It was a huge beautiful ship with some .. Captain.. it was hard to tell if they were male or female.  Sometimes it was one or the other but Blue chalked it up to the confusion of not knowing anything about this ship. 

There was something.  Some sort of worm... or .. creature.  Like a parasite, and then flashes of images.  People, that she knew, and heard of, within Starfleet.  Each one of them a host to this kind of beast.  Then, one of their own, a doctor on the Theurgy.  Infected.  Some kind of bright light, had subdued the beast, and then... it was over.

Blue gasped again, and clutched at her chest with one hand.  Her other found something in her bag she wasn't even sure what it was at this point but it was sharp and that was all that mattered.  She was trying to figure something out.  She had to move.  She had to get out...

Quote
He pulled on her long curls.  Tilting her neck back.  Ducote working his way down her neck and back up again before he took her lips for his own again.  She could feel every ounce of pleasure as they made amends for their fighting together against the wall of their shared Quarters.  The mess would clean up later, probably in the morning, as neither of them would be in the mood to bother with it for the rest of the night.  His hand gripped her hip tighter, almost to the point where it would hurt if he put any more pressure on it but it only served to drive him within her deeper, better, her cries answered his unasked question on if it was the right spot or not.

This was torture.

The kind of torture that was going to kill her.  Reliving and imagining the various ways she and Ducote could and had made love together in their Quarters was going to kill her. 

He's dead...

He's dead...

The ship blew up....

He's.. He's... he's space dust.

Sharp pain radiated from her arm and she gasped as clarity again invaded her mind.  It was brief, but it was there, and the answer to her problems.  It wasn't even the implement in her hand that had done it.  Writhing around in the duct system she had scraped her arm against something metal and cut it.  Not really bad but enough that the pain echoed into her mind.  The answer found, this was how she was going to fight.  Sitting up pressing on the wound to make it continue hurting she looked back into the lab.  The Savi were all trying to get into each other, all of them were clearly under the influence of the Deltan woman.  Blue swallowed heavily.

She remembered in the back of her mind that they had spoken of a tranquilizer.  Blue had no idea just how she was going to get far enough away or if there was a place that was far enough away from the Sex Bomb that had somehow fucking been created by these bulb headed mother fuckers.  She hated every single one of them and if she lived to see the day that this fucking hell hole was blown to smithereens she would have made good on her life.  Even if she had to take it down her fucking self.  Knowing these black eyed creeps were nothing but atomic space dust would tickle her to no end. 

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Water washed down over her.  Heat wafted heavily in the humid air.  Her normally supple curls were nothing but frizzy extensions of base frizz.  There was nothing to be done for it, but she tilted her head back into the water letting it wash over her.  He was there, his large hands sliding over her slick skin because of the waterfall over head.  Peru.  One of their very few vacations but one she remembered the best because it was the first.  The first time they had gone on a vacation together and the first time they had made love together.  Though she supposed it might not have necessarily been love at the time but it was more than just a good fucking.

He was behind her, pulling her close to him now, out of the steam of water and into the spray of water around them.  She laughed as he slid his hand around to explore her lithe body while their lips danced together again.  She could feel his muscles, the planes of his body...

This time, pain, on purpose.

The jagged metal she had pulled from her bag helped her refocus.   Down below the others were busy and she could tell they were about to do.. whatever it was that the Savi did when they were turned on by crazy alien women.  Carefully Blue felt her way around the grate in the wall and realized it was held on by simple push tabs.  She quickly depressed them, carefully grabbing the grate and pulling it into the air duct with her.  No one below noticed.  She put it carefully to the side...

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Quiet panting echoed in her ear, she knew exactly where she was.  In the small work shop that belonged to Captain Ducote, or Erich as she liked to call him only because it pissed him off.  She and Ranaan were down to Earth for a visit and they had decided to secret away.  Hoping that Ratela's telepathy and empathy couldn't reach all the way into the work shop where they decided on a quickie.  They both knew that getting caught would bring the hammer of Erich God of Starfleet down on them, but neither of them cared at the moment...

NO!  God damnit!

Another slice to her wrist.  She had shit to do.  Blue grabbed for her bag and opened it.  There inside was her baby, it was named Thor, for obvious reasons.  She pulled out the large nacelle wrench and hefted it in her hand.  The familiar weight did everything to comfort her in ways that no one could besides Ducote.  She quickly looped it into the belt of her suit and slid out of the air duct.  Landing on the deck as quietly as she could.  Everyone was too busy sucking faces... or eye balls.. or whatever the fuck they were doing they didn't even realize she was there.  Carefully she crept over to the very busy Savi and slid Thor out of her belt loop. 

Againt he weight reminded her of everything that was good in the universe. 

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Maintence closet, Deck Eleven, in between shifts.  She had pulled his ass into it and basically stripped him right down.  It wasn't as if he could or would say no.  He was just about to go onto his Bridge shift and she hadn't seen him in hours...

Blue shuddered and pressed harder on the bleeding wounds on her wrist trying desperately to stay in control.  The pain continued to throb and it was then that her mind cleared as she quickly raised the Wrench and slammed it home onto the bulbous and large head of the first Savi.  He went down, thunk, onto the deck below.  The others hardly noticed since they were far too busy getting ready to do a Savi Fuck down.  Quickly, she got the second one, a thump to the head and he too crumpled to the floor and the last one, the woman, well she got it in the fucking forehead because Blue was too fucking scared to be raped by a Savi woman who's sex drive was ridiculously high at the moment.  Blue bent over at the waist, for a moment and tried to control her breathing.  More images of the Theurgy, her crew, and Starfleet invaded her mind intermixed with images of her .. Ducote, and the various places they had fucked and that she wanted to fuck him in. 

Blue had quite the adventurous streak when she wanted to.

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Ready room, in the FO's seat.  Her uniform was some pile on the floor but she didn't actually care where it was, that was something to worry about later.  This was fast, hard, and hot.  She was sweating and Ducote was still mostly dressed, the lucky fucker.  They were kissing mostly to stifle the moans that would have been heard on the Bridge.  Both of them knew if there was anyone with empathy they would feel what was going on in here but sometimes you just had to get things done when you had time and their schedules had not aligned in weeks.

Blue slammed her finger nail into the wound that she had created earlier.  I have got to knock that bitch out!  She looked at the display around her, the ones that the Savi had been using earlier.  There was a giant red button, the one that they had been about to push earlier before the Deltan decided to play with their minds.  Blue grunted as she kept wiggling her fingernail in the wound to make it not only bleed more but to make it hurt that much worse and focus her mind.  Finally, she slammed her hand down on the button and the injector came down from the ceiling and injected the Deltan in her neck.

It was quiet.

Holy.. mental.. warfare..... fuck you...

Blue sunk down into one of the seats that the Savi used for a moment and just stared at the bodies beneath her.  They would.. probably live but honestly she didn't care.  Sliding her wrench back into her belt she looked around for a moment now that she could see things more clearly.  God DAMN where is Ranaan E. Ducote when I need him.  She needed him, needed him in ways that she hadn't thought about since they had been separated. 

Gotta move Blue, you are too vulnerable in here to be doing anything else.

She looked at the woman that was now passed out in the bio lab.  There wasn't much she could do for her.  As much as Blue wished that she could take her with, that just wasn't possible.  She wouldn't do anyone any good and Blue would never get any work done.  What to do with a fuck machine... fucking mind raping mother fu....ohhhhhh

Blue was up and she looked around.  Best thing about most systems were they were often created for stupid people.  They were so user friendly that you didn't even have to fucking try.  She could tell that some things had to do with the room, but there was a nice green button with an arrow on it that allowed her to cycle through the menus.  Then.. beautifully, there was a button that showed a teleporation pad and a half-teleported Savi shape on it.

Oh you beautiful fuckers, if I didn't want to kill you all I'd be happy.

She quickly locked onto the woman that was in the other room and prepped to beam, it wasn't hard, you could actually pull up a schematic on the ship and pick a general or specific location to beam too.  So Blue thought about where the most vulnerable place would be and decided to stick her on the habitat deck.  Where she could cause the most damage as soon as she woke up.  Those Savi would be up there fucking their aristocratic brains out while Blue liberated the crew.

Fuck you bitches.

Blue hit the initiate button and watched the Deltan disappear.  Standing back up she knew she had to get out of here quickly so she headed back to the wall and boosted herself up on a nearby rack of equipment.  Sliding back up into the air duct she quickly closed it behind her.  The little pegs snapping quietly as they found themselves at home in their slots.  She checked to make sure it was secure and that Thor had survived the journey, he had.  Sliding Thor back into her bag she looked at her poor wrist.  Three gashes, one jagged, accidental and nasty, the other two on purpose, less jagged, also nasty.

I sure as fuck hope this next biolab is the fucking one I need.  I need to get these fuckers out of here before I fucking lose my shit and set this whole fucking ship to blow.

Grabbing her satchel she pulled it around her shoulders and crawled on towards the next area.  Hoping that her gamble would pay off.  Though she supposed she wouldn't know until the assholes started fucking or people started talking about it.  For now, it was at least a hopeful situation.

Re: Day 05: Supplemental - Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #8 –
[ Biand | Nonary Containment Cells | Precept-ship Versant ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr 

Stepping into the long corridor, the Ante-caste Savi named Biand prepared to clean out the cells. The specimens had all been allocated, and it was time to prepare the cell-block for the next forage. As one of the Low Class, Biand had no greater aspirations than his duties, which granted him enough nutritional supplement to survive. For his whole life, he'd known that he couldn't expect anything more, his potential as a Savi determined at birth. Thus, he barely looked around when he set to the task, powering up the cell-block by the main controls in the corridor. To pass the time, he had memorised the manuals for his equipment, and recited them under his breath - activating himself beyond the physical tasks ahead. There was no tune to his words, no musical element to the sentences, just a contralto drone sprung from his mind whilst he powered up the sanitation field generators.

"<Diagnostic scan tool K8410. Page one. As it is stated in the Code, all Savi are required to study all warnings, operating, and maintenance instructions prior to operation of this device. If the operator is of Low Class, the instructions shall be read and discussed with the operators’ Decaennea. Make sure that the operator comprehends its contents. Safety information shall be emphasized and understood prior to usage. The device shall be inspected per the operating instructions,>" droned Biand quietly, turning away from the controls. As he did, he accidentally managed to snag the corner of a datapad with the sleeve of his exosuit, making it fall to the deck plating.

Biand paused the recitation of the manual, picked up the tablet, and made sure it was not damaged. He looked down both ends of the corridor, making sure no one saw the accident since he had just risked to have his nutritional supplement for the next day withdrawn. Satisfied that no one had seen the accident, he put the tablet back, having accidentally activated the translator system in the cell block.

Thus reminded about the supplement of the day - which he had the right to claim before his duty began - he walked over to the nutritional generator and put his hand against the plate. As soon as the scan was complete, the black utricle had materialised. He picked it up, and resumed the recitation. "All operators that handle this device must also be of sound physical health and retain the mental capacity to preform the tasks detailed in this manual. No operator may be under the influence of any substance that might impair their vision, dexterity or judgement. Failure to comply with the Code could result in the damage of the device, the personal injury of the operator and their current position rescinde-"

Biand paused after he turned around, seeing another Ante-caste male in the corridor.

He blinked with his large, black eyes, realising who it was. It was the Voice. Echtand.

"Can I be of assistance?" he asked, standing stock still with the supplement in his hands. "My Decaennea is-"

"No," said the Voice of the Savi, not even looking at Biand. He seemed to be studying the empty cells, which lined one side of the corridor for almost two hundred meters. Biand did not wish to have his position rescinded, nor his supplements withdrawn, so he still tried to be of assistance. He shifted his stance a bit, and put his hands and the utricle behind his back, hoping that the Voice had not seen him ingest whilst preforming his allotted tasks.

"If the Voice wonders where all the specimens went, their deteriorating health required for them to be moved to the Undenary Observation Pen, either in wait for finalised Correction or Memory Engra-."

"I know," said the Voice quietly, still not looking at Biand. "I put them there."

"I... see. Of course. My apologies." Biand glanced towards the door, wondering if he ought to leave.

"Yes, please leave me," said the Voice, almost as if he could read Biand's thoughts. That was not the case, of course. He was just High Class, and of far greater intellect than his own. Biand swallowed and moved towards the exit, and emptied the utricle through its thick straw on the way out.

What did the Voice wish to do with the Containment Cells?

[ Echtand | Nonary Containment Cells | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
Alone, Echtand lowered his eyes to the deck, not entirely sure what he was doing there. Then again, that would be a lie. He knew exactly why he had come. Two reasons, actually. He had come to see the Correction Cells with his own eyes. To think about how they would be empty once Semathal's motion carried with the High Council. Since all the bulkheads were not set opaque, he could see into them, like gaping holes along the corridor. Over the course of the past centuries, many thousands of specimens had undergone Correction as according to the Code, safeguarding the legacy of the Progenitors. Now, they would remain empty, like gaping wounds in the Versant - the Scion Directive corrupting the Code one motion at the time.

He was thinking about the Aspect Maker again, and the way its eyes had pierced him there in the Scion Nest. Echtand thought of his own mother, many years ago, with the same eyes, resenting him for his quietude. His father, blue blood smeared across his chin, enraged. Him, hiding from their eyes, behind his Decataria... holding true to the Code in its past iteration. Yet even then, the Code wasn't the same, the Scions already a part of the Savi. They were the new caste, about to surpass them all. Evolution... granting their species that which Correction took away from others. Justified by survival. Because of their short lifespans. By the perpetual Cataclysms. If the Savi improved, the Archive would be safe. So it was stated in the Code.

"It is stated," whispered Echtand, walking over to the sanitation controls. In regret, he completed the task which the other Ante had meant to do, activating the sanitation system. The whirr of the system was heard, and the subtle yellow light lit the empty cells. They came alive with the cleansing protocol, and cast his black eyes and exosuit in dim light. "Yet what did it use to say?"

Would the Code once have saved mother and father? Would they even have been charged to begin with?

Echtand could not shake the idea... that just as corrupted as their Code might have become, so was also the Scion Directive. False evolution, violating that which they had always been, and always stood for. If Correction would end, how long would it be... until the Ante-caste would follow, and there was nothing left of what the Savi used to be? Progress did not have to be equal to the betterment of their species. The Code validated betterment, but did not relate it to any degree of cost.

A movement caught his eye, far out in his peripheral vision....

...and as he turned his head, he made eye-contact with the free-roaming specimen.

The yellow light had caught her distant figure in the air-inlet, several meters above the deck. Echtand was certain she'd seen him detect her, but he remained still, wondering what she might do if he raised no alarm. This was the second reason he had come to the Containment Cells. To wait for her, having tracked her progress with his personal sensor clearance. He was not entirely sure about his own intentions... but there was something that had grown in his mind. An outrage... which he could put to neither words nor action.

"Lieutenant Commander Blue Tiran," he said in accented Federation Standard, not even needing a translator system. "I merely wish to speak."

His voice heard... at long last.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #9 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Caught in the Act | Not Quite the Ninja | Should I Stay or Should I Go?]
@Auctor Lucan

The next area was in some sort of corridor.  Blue hadn't expected that, but she was getting tired.  She hadn't eaten in days and the more active she was the more her stomach decided to remind her of this.  Her arm hurt the small slashes on her arm from the sharp metal.  There was nothing quite like having to harm yourself to stay focused but she figured that she would be all right.  She was likely going to die anyway though she would not give the satisfaction to the white headed mother fuckers that filled this fucking ship.  If she went down with them it would be because she blew the Mother fucker up.  Sliding to a stop she closed her eyes for a moment.  Trying to just relax for a minute.  Everything that had just happened kept replaying in her mind.

Down below one of those white faced fuckers was doing a job.  Powering something up, he was tinkering with some kind of control panel on the wall.  Blue could imagine that it powered up whatever was behind the walls, the place that she expected to find her people.  Yet, they weren't there.  They weren't where she had hoped to find them and now she wasn't exactly sure what the fuck she was supposed to do now.  She knew that she could try to get to the escape pod and fire the fucker back up and peace out those white faced fuckers.  But then, she would have abandoned those that were still here to being gooped.

That's not even a word Emelia Tiran.

I'm not Emelia.

Well... fine.  Gooped still isn't a word.

You just used it.

Fuck you.

Fuck you back, you elitist mother fucker!

Blue's eyes slid closed for a moment as she desperately fought to regain her mental prowess.  She needed to eat.  She knew that was probably ninety percent of her problem, lack of sustenance but at the same time, she needed to get the fuck out of here.  I'm not good to anyone if I am not strong enough to complete the task. she reminded herself.  The clatter of something falling to the deck plating caused Blue to open her lovely blue eyes.  Shifting them slightly from her hiding place she leaned forward a bit so that she could see what was going on.  White Mother Fucker had dropped his datapad on the deck plating.  Not hard enough to break it;  that shit had to be stout.  She didn't miss the tensity that took over the shoulders of the creature below.  The way that it seemed he worried he would have been caught for making such a racket.

These fuckers are mean to their own kind much more so to the ones that aren't.

He walked over to some sort of machine in the wall.  Blue hadn't really paid much mind to the Savi or the most part.  She spent most of her time avoiding those Evil Fuckers for as long as she thought possible.  She just wanted to save her people and get the fuck out of here.  It would be great if she could explode the mother fucker on the way out.  She wanted to watch these white headed mother fuckers became white headed space dust.  He had flicked something on his padd because instead of coming out in garbled Mother Fucker speak it came out in something that she could actually understand.  She listened to the bit about being of sound physical and mental health to operate shit.  Rolling her eyes she shook her head.  They're either really fucking evil and fucking with people or you got this bulbous dick head that is fucking listening to an instruction manual on how to wipe his own ass.

Whatever that thing was drinking it was black and sludgy and it looked awful.  She knew that she might have to stoop low enough to a glass of liquid shit but she would try to hold out for some real food if possible.  I'd vaporize a planet for some fucking twinkies. she thought to herself as she suddenly sat up a bit straighter when another Savi came and joined the party. 

They began to talk, the translator doing it's job while she watched.  She had no fucking clue what a Decaennea was but she also didn't care.  Neither did the asshole that was talking.  Apparently, stuck up mother fuckers was a thing that spanned multiple races.  She sat up straighter when he mentioned that the specimens... Those are people you suck fucks!... had been moved because of their deteriorating health.

Okay, time and lives are on the line now if their health is failing so rapidly.  I've got to fucking get on the move and arm these people so that we can fight the fuck off this ship and give them a fucking Starfleet issued boot up their respective white assholes.  The other one responded with the fact that he was the one that put them there.  So you're the decision maker... she pondered as she continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.  Watching the two interact was interesting.  She could tell that the first one, the drinker, was lower than the other.  He was almost scared. … or intimidated by the other.

Finally, the Drinker was dismissed and the other stayed put. 

The being walked over to the wall and pressed a button, a sickly yellow light took over the containment cells where her people had once stood and survived.  They had been moved, but no one had said they were dead, which meant she had a little time.  That was all she needed.  A little bit more time to get things settled.  To get things prepped.  I need to get back to the pits so I can get more weapons. she thought to herself.  She was about to move when she swore.. swore that the being down there had fucking noticed her.

Oh shit.  I can't get caught.

Before she could move, he spoke.  Not needing a translator which surprised her.  She swallowed heavily as he didn't even need to ask her name he knew exactly who she was.  Which surprised her.  For a moment, her heart raced, in her chest.  Slamming against her rib cage.  She didn't know what his point was, he didn't come after her.  He didn't raise a weapon, he just spoke her name and told her that he wanted to speak with her.  She looked around, she didn't have a weapon.  Nothing that would reach the sick mother fucker down below.  She could throw Thor but there was now way her aim would be good enough to do the kind of damage to his face that she wished to do.  It would be amazing if she could turn his skull into pulp.

A nice sickly stain on the deck plating.  One of those bad fuckers that never comes out.

She pondered.  She could run, she could disappear into the air vents again and she could get back to her small base and get her shit together and find her people and... But that asshole moved them, and he knows where they are.  Even if he taunts me with their location I can learn more about it. she thought as she figured that it might be worth staying.  Maybe.  I'm not going to die at the hands of that bastard.  At least, so far, I don't think they can shoot lasers out of their eyes. she thought to herself as she carefully rose her hands and pulled the tabs out of the air vent and allowed the grate to fall into her hands.  She pulled it to the side.  I hope he doesn't know about the bastards I left unconscious in the other lab.  Or about the Deltian.

For the first time, Echtand would see Blue Tiran.  She had a mess of hair that hadn't been washed or combed since she had come on board and even then days before that.  She was slender, thin, but strong.  Her eyes held and internal fire that was something familiar to many people that came across her but there was a hint of vulnerability just around the edges that was likely because of the fact that she was starving, scared, and of course, not at home.  She watched him for a moment.  Sizing him up.  Gauging him.  She pulled Thor close to her.  Not that she could use it from this distance but she felt better just having it in her hand.

She let out a deep breath. 

“How do you know my name?”

Of all the questions that she could have asked, that was what had come out.  But it was a curiosity how this strange bulb headed fucker knew her name and her location. 

Fuck me....

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #10 –
[ Echtand | Nonary Containment Cells | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
Since he hadn't been sure if the free-roaming specimen would answer him, much less see any reason to speak with him, Echtand was content when she revealed herself fully. She seemed to be in poor condition, which he had expected, her having eluded their internal security scans for some time. Of course, security did not have his sensor clearance. Such access was considered a privilege in a ship the size of the Versant, and they were Savi, without any greater fear of domestic threats. He turned to face her fully while the sanitation fields cleansed the containment cells, and he folded his arms across his chest.

The single question was, of course, not unexpected, but hardly essential for either of them. He'd tell her, of course, for her had little to loose, and all to gain with a sign of non-hostility. Therefore, he indulged her.

"You served on the Endeavour, a Federation ship. You arrived on an escape pod, having survived an encounter with the Borg," he said, quite aware about the advancements of the Borg Queen's forces. The Savi had always eluded the Borg, and he considered them little more than a spreading obstruction for his people's research. They were a concern, but not a major one, catalogued in the Archive and surveyed at all times as they were. "It was marked 'ASRV H93', this pod that we encountered. You left behind logs, with ranks and names mentioned. As you might have suspected, the incident where you were to be Recycled was also noted. Since the other pure-bred was a male, there was but one female unaccounted for. Your method of projecting a life-sign of the Savi has eluded our automated systems, but not my own eyes - detecting the second life-sign next to it."

Hopefully, his answer had satisfied her curiosity. He recognised the fact that she had no reason to listen to him. That she could crawl away into hiding any moment, so he had to give her a reason to stay. Despite how she likely hated him and his kind for what they did - their work and research far beyond most of simple understanding - her feelings on the matter were inconsequential. He needed to speak with her on behalf of all Savi. Only this time, his role as the Voice was not premeditated by the Code.

"If you help me, I will assist in having the crewmembers of the Endeavour released," he said, hardly believing his own words. Yet since Semathal was about to corrupt the Code, and Recycle the Corrected, he would act in the interest of all Savi, and investigate possible alternatives. "Not just them, but all the specimens we now hold aboard this ship."

Echtand hoped this would have gained her attention. After a pause, he continued, his voice echoing in the corridor.

"The criteria for scientific truth typically include the formulation of hypotheses that meet the logical criteria of contingency, falsifiability and testability. Scientific truth is also grounded in empirical evidence." He said this, unmoving and unblinking as he stared up the perch upon which she remained. "I am Echtand qi Versant, the Voice of the Savi, and I have come to understand that our Code might have been compromised. If I determine this to be the truth, I mean to protect our Archive and our own purity as a species. I have sought you out - as a non-Savi - to verify my findings."

Blinking once, Echtand took a couple of steps closer, but he offered neither sympathy nor understanding of her plight in his tone. She was, to him, a means to an end, yet he would stand by his word. "It is my hope that you'd participate in a thought-experiment to ascertain the truth about the Code that all Savi live by. If our common findings correlate, I am willing to accept the fact that the Savi have erred... and I have validated the actions I mean to take to correct our Code."

He had no way of knowing if the human was adequately intelligent to participate in the experiment, but her intelligence was not the key factor for testability. The two of them might, if she could verify his findings. have some common interests during the hours to come. If the results were unfavourable, however, and he had to assume that he was under the influence of sentimentality and regrets - like some Low Class degenerate - then he'd simply have her Recycled, as she should have been to begin with.

Then, he'd strive to remove his doubts in the Scion Directive and the future of his people. Perhaps it was easier to have his memories of his parents removed, to facilitate his reasoning, and keep him focused on the evolution of his race. 

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #11 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Deals with White Devils | Call Him Moby | The White Dick | Hellship of Horrors]
@Auctor Lucan

It was unnerving when the skinny white bulbous fucker turned to face her with his big black eyes.  He looked like a bug.  Like those fucking summer ants back home that back when she actually had parents would plague the picnics.  Crawling on your blankets, carting off your crumbs, and leaving you stinging bites as little love taps on the way.  She wanted very badly, to feel the crunch of skull underneath Thor as she bashed it repeatedly into the massive skull until the brain matter that was hidden inside oozed out more like liquid goop than any kind of matter.  She wanted to watch the shape slowly turn concave until it was just a flat mush-filled sack.  The fantasies raced through her mind of all the ways she could hurt him and all the things she would say with every thick, wet, slick hit of Thor.

The thing below began to speak about how she had served upon the Endeavour and that the escape pod had carried with it their personal logs.  He admitted that her idea of projecting a Savi life sign to help mask her own seemed to be working through most of the ships but that his enhanced sensor pallate had been able to find and keep track of her. Son of a bitch, but then.. why hasn't he come and drug me out to murderate me... Really Blue?  Murderate? 

What?  It's a word too. 

No, no it isn't.  Seriously, where has your mind gone.

Oh, well lets think about where the mind has gone shall we...

No no, lets not... I get it.  Carry on.

She thought about leaving, Moby didn't have anything she needed to hear.  She wanted to kill him but that would most definitely leave her exposed.  If she left, she could upgrade her equipment through her amazing skill set and hopefully the parts from the Savi-dump and see if she could actually hide this time.  She could not imagine anything he could say that would keep her here.  He knew she existed, knew her name, and knew how to find her.  Time was of the essence and she needed to get the fuck out of here before she blew this fucking ship to smithereens. 

Now I sound like an evil villain from a Princess movie. ~I'll get you my ugly and you're little do- oh shit he doesn't have a dog.  Well that ruined that... fuck me....

She was about to move, she looked over and found her bag beside her with Thor sitting steadily right beside it.  Still had some of the blood and gore and possible skull bits from the savi in the last Biolab.  She was still wondering when that particular time bomb was going to go off.  It would, at some point, and she would revel in the chaos that she had caused.  She twisted her legs so that she could move in the shaft more fully but then his words came, and hit her.  She paused, her body tense for a moment and then the tension rolled down and out of her body as her striking and fierce blue eyes shifted back to Moby.  Her eyes had never yet lost that fight. She would fight to the end, her sheer will power was something to behold.  She had already made it this long.

He promised the release of all the specimens not even just the ones on the Endeavour.  Her brow rose.  I knew there were others, some I hadn't seen before, but I didn't know how many. she swallowed heavily watching him.  She wasn't empathic or telepathic she could not do anything but have hope that his words were true and that he wasn't just shitting her so that he could use her and get her taken care of.  Tie up the loose end, whatever it was that he wanted to call it. 

“You have my attention, but I don't know why the fuck I should believe you are different from all the other fuckers in here hell bent on making my people suffer.” she said honestly.  Blue was never anything but honest.  Something she had a feeling was attractive to Ducote.  What you saw was what you got, what you put into her you got back out of her.  Respect was a two way street.  He began to babble, truly, there was probably a point to it.  But Scientists were glorified Sensor Jockeys and she had no time for any of that shit.  But he decided to give her his name, but she still thought Moby fit him better ,and thus he would forever be known as Moby whether he liked it or not.  Watching him as he explained that the Code, shit name for something that tortures people for shits and giggles, was broken and he needed proof of it so that he could protect it.

“Well I can tell you right the fuck now your code is fucking messed up.  Doing the things you do to real sentient beings without their consent is really fucked the fuck up.  Okay?” she said with a shrug of her shoulder, giving him as straight forward an answer as she could.  “Not sure what your Code actually wants you to do, but if you want to protect the sanctity of whatever it means to be a White Headed Torture Monger, then you need to fucking do it and let me and mine go.  Because, you see, we're Federation.  If you think we're just going to lay down on a bed like good people and let you fuck with our minds and bodies then you haven't come across us before.  We're not play things.  We're ticking time bombs and at some point we're going to go the fuck off.  And when that happens, you and all your little Fuck-Minded people are going to go down.”

He wanted a 'thought-experiment'.  Whatever the fuck that was.  Her brow rose, and Blue shifted pulling her knees up against her chest she rested her back against one of the walls of the duct.  He had stepped closer but she showed no signs of discomfort.  Gods, I'll kill that man.. for a twinkie. she thought as she brushed a hand through her greasy and dirty hair.

“All right, lets do it.  I help you get your thoughts out, and you give me all the Federation people you have on this ship and we get to go.  Leave.  You keep no one, you kill no one, you let us go.  Realizing that you made a gross error.  Honestly it's for the best for your kind.  We don't take kindly to someone fucking us about.  So lets see.  What exactly are you wanting to know?  What is it you think that's happening that you don't like?  Or is against the Code?  I've seen a lot.  Probably more than you have, so... lets begin.”

I hope I don't regret this...

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #12 –
[ Echtand | Nonary Containment Cells | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
Standing there with his arms crossed, Echtand weathered the specimen's initial outburst and profanities with dispassionate patience. Already, she thought she had the answer, advocating her insipid morality to solve the problem without even hearing it. He let her speak without interruption, not wishing to disillusion her. He had already predicted what he had to say to make her stay, and since she had, he had no reason to argue the invalid points she made. She wanted to save the other specimens, so she would stay and she would listen, that was all that mattered.

Had he been prone to laugh, he might have scoffed when she threatened the Savi with the Federation, which was like shaking her fist at a celestial star. The Flotilla moved beyond her comprehension and physical reach, and should she come close to exert retribution, she would disintegrate before she came anywhere close.

And yet... this thinking of his, this certainty, he recognised how it was so deeply ingrained in him that he still thought along those terms... even now, when he'd begun to question that very certitude, having glimpsed something that questioned the motive of the Code.

Her terms were inconsequential, and flawed, having missed one critical aspect in her demands. Was it a sign that she wasn't intelligent enough to help him? Just like her inane presumption that she'd seen more of that happened on the Versant than he had. Perhaps she didn't know enough, or she was just deluded, emotionally compromised, but either way, Echtand already knew what he was prepared to do for these specimens, and he'd do what he could for them. She was hardly in a position to ask of anything more. Therefore, he made no comment on her terms, giving her wits the benefit of the doubt.

"My question," he said, his voice echoing in the corridor below her. He hoped he had her attention.

"In the interest of preserving the health and longevity of a people in decline, is it beneficial to sacrifice those dying in order to save a larger number from pending death?" He supposed the human specimen needed an example, to help her wrap her feeble mind around the problem. He remembered the journals of the Sol System well enough, even if it was years ago he studied them. He dumbed it down for her benefit. "Imagine medical facility, what you would call a 'hospital', where the organs of one person would save a larger number of patients. Escalate that situation, to a point when those dying stand in the way for the survival of the whole species. Is it, or is it not, better to let the dying die, so that the rest may live?"

This was his first question of three to Lieutenant Commander Blue Tiran, and he sincerely hoped he'd reach the same conclusion that he did.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #13 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Pondering Life's Questions | I'll Take Genocide for $1000 | Tea and Crumpets with the Enemy | Air Shaft Confessions]
@Auctor Lucan

He stood there, while she spoke.  Nothing to say, she wasn't sure if she had just floored him with her excellent answers or if he was just waiting for her to shut the fuck up so that he could speak again.  At least the fucker has manners. she thought, which was about the nicest thing she could say about a race hell bent on the torture and experimentation of people that she knew.  Or well.. the universe but that first part somehow made it that much more painful.  He stood there, infuritatingly quiet while she explained that knew, without question, his damned code was worked the wrong fucking way.  If he needed to ask then he already fucking knew.  Sitting there talking about it with a complete stranger seemed counterproductive.

But if I can save them.

If I can get him on my side. 

If we can get off this Popsicle stand of absolute runny shit.... it'd be worth it.

Finally, it was time to get down to the nitty and the gritty.  Her piercing blue eyes, ones that had been part of her nickname as a child, stared at Moby while he began to go.  He was a wordy fucker, that much was for certain.  All pomp and circumstance which was really not her style but then she supposed that was why he was head Dick-head.  Not everyone could be a Moby, so she supposed that he had probably been better trained or better educated than the other white whales of the Savi Sea.  For now though, he did have her attention.  She was curious what precisely he wanted to know about his own ship.  If he had doubts, they were likely founded, all she had to do was help the doubts flourish into the need to take some fucking action.

After he released her people, of course.

He posed his question.  But he didn't stop long enough for her to answer the mother fucking thing.  That was a quick and easy answer, but he had to continue on with his vomit of his weird... bug like mouth.  She would never look at ants the same way, she would probably genocide all those fuckers if she ever set foot on Earth again.  Unlikely unless they were visiting Ranaan's family....

Oooof oh fuck... the pain hit her again, long and hard for a moment.  A piercing stab right in the center of her chest where the cold, frozen, and blocked off heart of Blue Tiran sat.  It had sat there for years, untouched, unseen, completely hidden to the people around her.  But, then enter Ranaan Ducote, renown and completely Starfleet commander.  Someone that surprised her, over and over and over again.  By opening her up, peeling back the layers of protection she had built up since she was a young girl and had hidden herself from the pain of her parents' betrayal.  That night, the dance, Q, his cane... everything it was as if the universe had decided that she couldn't be a cold and viscous bitch anymore.  That she needed to remember that she was a person.  They had been nigh on inseparable since.  And then.. now.

Blue's shaking fist came up and grabbed at her ill-fitted Savi issue garment and clenched at the chest.  Adjusting the fabric as if she was just moving it for comfort but she was taking the moment to compartmentalize her pain and shove it back down the mother fucking betrayer of a heart that consistently reminded her of that which she had lost.

Her world.

He was still talking, she was highly intelligent; not that he knew that.  He began to break down his question for her and Blue focused on his question so that she didn't have to focus on anything else right now.  The pain of losing Ducote surprised her at the most random of times.  She missed him so very much.  He had always been her other half.  Definitely the better half.  She missed the way that, with a look, he could calm her down.  The charm he exuded when he teased her while she was in the Brig for one infraction or another.  Her file had a long list of infractions but none of them were overly bad.  Just punching assholes in the face when they deserved it.  Never anything malicious.

Though she was getting close to malicious if Moby didn't shut the fuck up and let her fucking answer!

Finally, he shut the fuck up.  She was able to finally answer his mother fucking question.

She didn't dive right into the answer, but she thought about what she needed to say but also, she was against lying.  It was something that bothered her deeply.  Lying was something that she had never done.  Well not if she could help it.  Any time she was in trouble she was fully honest about what she had done and why.  Honesty, was the best policy.

“For starters, you don't have to dumb shit down for me.  I get it, I'm not unintelligent.  I understood your first question.” she admitted simply as she shifted herself in the air shaft and tried to get comfortable to no avail.  Her stomach grumbled rather loudly as she did so but she ignored it has she had the last several days.  She knew she could last two weeks without food, but the water... well that was the problem.  Dehydration was a thing.

“Short answer; yes.” she said honestly as she looked down at Moby.  Watching him with her eyes, those piercing blue ones, that seemed to shoot through people she talked to for the most part.  “If you could end the life of one person, or even a select group of people and it would benefit a greater number of people than you ended.. it would be worth it to save a race.  It won't be the popular option, everyone wants to live.  The sad part about being the ruler or.. head honcho of a race is to be the fissure ridden asshole that gets to make those choices.”

She leaned back and brushed her greasy curls out of her face and behind her ear.  “There's a thing on Earth.  People are hunters and they go after animals for food, sport, what have you.  But they have this thing they call culling.  Basically, when the animal is too old or their genetics are not prime they wipe out the animal.  Use it for food.  Because, otherwise it becomes a detriment to the greater good of the others.  They cause more harm than good.  Sometimes you have to .. get rid of the rot so that new growth can happen.”

She looked back over at Moby, wondering what he thought of her answer.  Though somehow, she doubted he was going to tell her.  She hoped that he did.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #14 –
[ Echtand | Nonary Containment Cells | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
Remaining where he stood, Echtand listened to the human specimen when she gave him her point of view - her answer to his portentous question. Hearing it, he lowered his black eyes to the deck below his feet.

He said naught, but this second opinion... It did not sit well with him. The Antes were flawed, dying, and that was the reason why the Scion Directive had been issued. They had lost the Archive several times because of the shortcomings of the Antes, and now, compared to the Scions, the Antes were the rot that held back the Savi. Eventually, there had to be a culling, because each day constituted a risk to the Archive. In that sense, the Code had to be changed to adopt the changes they had embraced with the Scion Directive. The question he had posed Lieutenant Commander Tiran had dealt in numbers... but while it was true that the number of Antes were currently larger than the number of Scions, what kind of scientist would he be if he didn't take the future into account? A future where the life on the Flotilla diminished them, and there was no planet to terraform in time.

In the long term, the number of living Antes would not matter, not when considering the infinite number of Scions yet to be born. As perfected as the Scion-caste was, they had the larger potential, and the risk to the Archive would be minimised because of their greater intellect. Since Antes were the old rot that kept holding them back as a species, already dwindling in numbers because they lived in the Flotilla, the answer was clear. Compared to the future, the current number of Antes meant nothing.

Then why had my parents not seen this, before they rebelled? Were their intellect inferior to mine? Should I disregard them?

The eyes of the Aspect-Maker still haunted him, the memory of its gaze flashing before his eyes. So alike theirs.

He had almost decided to forego asking another question, about to have the human specimen Recycled, since if the Scion Directive was the correct evolutionary path for the Savi, then there was no reason to deny it... much less collaborate with the specimens aboard the Versant. Still, with the memory of his parents in mind, he supposed it did not hurt to proceed with the next question. There was time, and opportunity, the latter which would be lost if he transported her to the Recycling Platforms.

"Next question," he said, raising his eyes to the figure above, his stance otherwise unchanged. He hoped he had her full attention.

"Is it possible for anyone to be exonerated, or will they always be judged because of what they have done, regardless what they have done?" he asked the Human specimen, and he gazed at her with piscine relentlessness, his black eyes blank - void of passion. He was under no illusion that she could somehow understand it, feel the menace of his inhuman intellect. She likely just thought him a pale monstrosity, with bulbous eyes maintaining an implacable gaze.

Then again, perhaps the bottomless indifference of his gaze was the only thing that terrified her... when she had gleaned the hopelessness of her situation.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #15 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Alien Sociology Studies | Pondering with the Enemy | Shut the Fuck Up and Give Me My People]
@Auctor Lucan

Of course, Moby didn't answer.

She hadn't expected him to.  It might have been nice if this was less a lecture with pointed questions at the end and more a conversation but hey... she was saving her people one word at a time.  Maybe.  Hopefully.  Thing was, she was at his mercy.  She could not really make him give her the people that he had promised to her.  She wanted to get them out, and get the fuck off this massive ship.  She wanted to shoot the fucker the middle finger as she road off into the galaxy.  Dying of starvation out in the middle of fucking no where was far better than being here and turned into goo.  She refused to goo herself for whatever the fuck they used it for.  Probably pipe lubrication or something equally as horrendous. 

He was quiet, too quiet.

Eyes cast down at the floor.  She watched him, studying the way that he moved and the way that the wheels in his mind moved.  He was intelligent, not that she thought they weren't.  The fucking experiments she had witnessed were cruel but she knew that the people were studying the various reactions.  That's why Scientists are shit. she thought to herself.  Always fucking with people and things in the name of research when really they just secretly like to torture people.

Then he spoke.  She sighed and leaned into the side of the air shaft.  She shifted so that one of her legs slowly lowered outside the shaft bent at the knee at the shaft's entrance.  She was exhausted, greasy, tired, dirty, and itchy.  She wanted to answer this mother fucking white bastards questions so that she could get her people and get the fuck out of here.  She wanted to ask her own questions.  She had something she needed to know and it was very important.  She decided to let Moby speak first, it was afterall the Moby-show at this point.  Though what the fuck he was going to do with her opinions she had no idea.  She could only hope that things would work out the way that they were supposed to.  What he did with the opinions of some human in his air shafts was up to him.

His next question really seemed both related and unrelated to the first.  For a moment she just watched him.  She seemed small, fraile, inside the over sized Savi suit but she wasn't.  Even though she had starved for days she was still strong.  Weaker than she normally would be and muscle atrophy was a thing, but honestly, she was stronger than she looked.  Her eyes studied Moby.  He had a point to these questions.  There was a decisions, there, he was hinging on and she had no idea what side of the fence he stood on.  But she knew, there was a right answer and wrong answer.  It was clear in the way that he posed his questions even if he didn't give a single hint as to which side she should pick.  He was very talented in his questioning.

The next question he posed caused her to raise her brow for a moment and then she thought about what to say.

“Exonerated and judged.  Now we're changing the tide of the conversation Moby.” she said with a long sigh as she thought about the way she wanted to frame her answer.  “See, now you're saying, in my mind anyway that these Fuckers are doing wrong if there is judgments and exoneration given.  If you're asking if someone could be spared for being useful.  Then yes.  See you also have to think about it this way.  What you decide to do will impact the greater race, right?” she said using her hand as she talked slightly. 

“If you get rid of one person to save the race, like you mentioned the hospital earlier, that's something that benefits the race.  As a whole.  But recall that decisions such as this will create discontent among the masses.  They'll be next.  What if they're the ones that are deemed unnecessary this time.  What if some thing better comes along and they're needed to be sacrificed like the others.  Does life mean nothing?” she pondered with him for a moment.

Brushing her greasy curls behind her shoulder she tackled the answer of his question.  “Should some be spared?  Sure.  They can be.  Lets jack this up.  Past hospital.  Lets put this into a perspective of ….. well there's this country, Cambodia, back on Earth.  A long time ago, I remember a history lesson being given, where some Asshole decided to cleanse his entire country.  Because, they had too many immigrants from other countries and there was not enough purity in the country.  So they started taking down the people.  Anyone of mixed race.  Anyone in power, great intelligence, anyone that could possibly become intelligent.  If they weren't right, they were executed.  Purity was the standard, and it was hard won.”

“Skip to the end.  The country ended up nearly collapsing because there wasn't anyone left to do the jobs.  There weren't people that were smart and there weren't people willing to do the grunt work.  Which meant that all that was left were the tortures and murderers.  So the point I'm trying to make here is, you have to be careful what the fuck you do to a group of people.  Are there people willing to do the jobs of the people you kill?  Is it really for the greater good?  Will the dynamic actually improve?  Or is it just that someone has decided that they don't work anymore.  Is that Fucker going to step up and clean the halls or sanitize your shitter?  Because, the thing is, most races... most .. people, most countries there is a balance.  There's a careful balance of those that will willingly do the jobs of the lower echelon and those that are more intelligent than that.”

She chewed on her lower lip.

“Losing a life to save a group is one thing.  Do some deserve to live?  Absolutely.  Otherwise, you're leaving those left behind to do what the one left vacant.” her eyes turned back to Moby to study his reactions for the moment.

She sat forward slightly and looked Moby right in the eyes.  This was important.  She needed his entire attention, fully, and completely.  "Now I have a question for you." she said quickly.  "I need to know what happened to the robotic owl your people found on my pod."

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #16 –
[ Echtand | Nonary Containment Cells | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
Perhaps his expectations were too high. Perhaps her first answer had made him irritable, seeing as it debunked his personal conclusion. Perhaps his doubts were making him impatient with her. Either way, when she did not answer his question, instead going into a long-winded and convoluted tirade that touched upon the first and second question both, a frown creased Echtand's forehead.

He was not pleased.

It was not her place to guess his intentions, and to try and cultivate her words and reasoning for sake of his mercy or her own benefit. It was the great detriment when dealing with a specimen in matters such as these. The situation imposed itself upon the experiment, with a biased filter masking and distorting clear thought and succinct answer. Echtand told himself to not threaten her, nor make any ultimatums. He he was right, despite her answers so far, then it would be less beneficial if he had given her further reason to mistrust him. In fact, if he was right, then their ambitions were aligned, and they might need each other to act.

"Thank you for those words, and that comparison to your own people," he said in a low voice, not shifting his stance. His stare remained adamant and unfaltering. In truth, the context of workers and leadership was not lost on him, but the experiment was not over, and he had to maintain his chosen methodology. "Yet you did not answer my question."

He did not let his stare turn cruel, telling himself to keep is tone civil but concise.

"Is it possible for anyone to be exonerated, or will they always be judged because of what they have done, regardless what they have done?" he asked again, not speaking slower, but he did add words to help her understand the import of avoiding context. He pinned her to the wall with his stare and demanded his answer. "Context cripples your reasoning, even though it might inform your decision. You should answer the question as it is stated, and without inflecting your current wish for food and comfort, for deliverance and mercy."

Having said this, he blinked, just once.

"Is exoneration possible, regardless what someone may have done?"

Given what she may have seen aboard the Versant, the question was an important one.

Perhaps that was even why she had dodged it.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #17 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Schooled by the Savi | Fuck you Teach | You Didn't Answer My Question Either, Dick-Face | Air Shafts of Survival] 
@Auctor Lucan


His voice was low, changed, and thus, she could tell he wasn't exactly happy.  Apparently, he wanted simple succinct answers.  Well he had found the wrong fucking girl to ask if he wanted someone that was going to be tight lipped.  She sighed as she ran a hand down her face.  Her tongue was sticking to the top of her mouth again.  She licked her lips trying to get her saliva going once more.  She was getting more and more dehydrated as the days drug on.  But, it was either live, or die.  The wounds she had self-inflicted on her arms burned and stung with every movement and occasionally seeped blood from their slits to color her already pale skin pink.

She highly doubted, on his tone, that he was actually interested in her opinion what so ever that she had given him.  Especially, the comparison, but she didn't give two shits.  He struck up the conversation she was merely doing what people did... conversing.  She wasn't a fucking computer, you couldn't just get a simple answer out of her.  Which was, apparently, what he sought after.

He responded that she hadn't answered the question and then posed the question, in the exact same way, to her again.

“I'd like to start with the fact that you didn't answer my question either.” she stated calmly but there was a bit of that dangerous spark in her eye that people like, one Ranaan Ducote, knew all too well.  “So if we're trying to build some kind of good will here, you're falling down on your side of the equation.”

Blue wasn't sure what to make of Moby and his little questions that seemed to have right and wrong answers though if there was a grading system she was unaware of how she was scoring.  Not that she gave a shit.  She hadn't given a shit in the Academy or in school when she was a young girl.  She knew that she was smart, a veritable genius, but then most of the people in Starfleet were that didn't make her something special or to stand out in any real special way.  She was amazingly intelligent when it came to hacking, computers, and engines.  She was an inventor from childhood and that owl... the one that he decided not to let her inquire about was the only fucking family she had in this world and she had built that fucker from the ground up.

Withholding him was worse than holding the members of her crew.  That owl was her brother, her sister, her best friend.  He was the one that kept her in tune with the rest of the world, reminded her of what she needed to do, and pissed Ranaan off when only she could understand his trills and hoots.  She knew that he wouldn't understand.  He wouldn't be able to separate or correct the owl, he was just a piece of machine. Thing was too, he would never understand the importance of the owl to her.  That the lone machine was something of a project but more than that.  It was the reason that when the Borg attacked that she had grabbed up Albert and his charging station.  She would never, be able to leave it behind.  Even though she had a few backups for his programming they weren't always with her.  Like now.

“Without my current wish for food and comfort, for deliverance and mercy.  Holy fuckballs Moby, did you really just say that shit to me?  When is the last time you went without food and comfort you white headed mother fucker?  When is the last time you asked or wished for deliverance and mercy.  You stand there all self righteous trying to ponder the answers to the whole fucking universe and you get pissed for me for wanting those things?  Fuck you.  Fuck you so hard in every orrafice in your white mother fucking body.  You sit there and judge me when you don't fucking know me, or my life, or my struggles.  You stand there and bait me with your shit-tastic questions while I sit here starving, thirsty, and tired.  I want to get my fucking people off this ship and go the fuck home!”

She took a steadying breath. Easy.. Trouble, we need him..  Ranaan's voice echoed in her mind as she tried to center herself for half a moment.  She took another breath, and calmed herself down. 

“To answer your question; yes.  I do.” she said as her eyes opened and she looked back over at the alien fucktard that stood there. 

“Now.  My turn.  Where is my owl?”  she asked curiously looking back at the man, knowing he likely had another question.  And that was fine, but fair was fair. 

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #18 –
[ Echtand | Nonary Containment Cells | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
Apparently, the Human specimen was worse off than Echtand had thought, but her plights and her blighting words mostly just annoyed him. She seemed like a child objecting to making analysis. Surely she had to understand that she was in no kind of negotiating position? Couldn't she see how her inquiry about her personal possession was irrelevant compared to the greater machinations of their meeting? Was she so blind to the great lengths he had gone to arrange for this encounter with her?

He raised his hand to his face, shaking his head. How was he supposed to deal with this?

Yet he had sought her out, for despite what the Code said, and the lack of proof he had, he needed to make his supposition solid enough. To make a platform upon which he could speak of circumstance, and with his voice, later raise the questions that had been unanswered for far too long. These mightn't be the questions he was asking the specimen up there on her perch, yet he had to believe in his own word. What made him conflicted about ignoring her irrelevances a second time... was how the message he would advocate might imply something deeper. Something he had yet to adapt to, but might be there at the end of his undertaking - the truth and its necessities shrouded in records of lies.

"While I might not see the relevance of your enquiry, since items of affectionate value had little meaning to the Savi, I will query the inventory," he said in his contralto voice, and while he preformed this act of 'goodwill', he considered her answers. She believed, despite all that she might have seen on the Versant - what the Code dictated to be done to the specimens collected - that regardless the act, there was a chance to be exonerated. It surprised him, having thought a larger scope than their own needs was beyond her. The Human species was defined by its greed, anger and jealousy, ceaselessly dominating each other and having a tendency towards violence. This, the records in the Archive relating to Earth had clearly stated when he reviewed them for this encounter. At least the 'greed' portion fit with the insensible desire for an inanimate object.

Checking the inventory of the Versant, which database was connected with the Archive, Echtand found the list of items taken from the escape pod Lieutenant Commander Tiran had arrived upon. "Data retrieval appliance in the shape of a Terran Strigidae," he cited from the inventory, finding the idea to shape a common tool like Avifauna ludicrous. It's current location, however, was noteworthy. "Your appliance is in the Octal Machine Intelligence Lab here in the Main Research Hull, for some reason, and it's right now utilised in an experiment related to something we foraged from another ship. The results of the current research has yet to be added to the Archive, so I do not know more than that at this point."

Having said this, granting her this first act of goodwill, Echtand took a deep breath. Odd, how easy it had been.

In his research of Humanity, he had looked for something that would mitigate their lack of civility. Good examples were scant, the Federation imposing its doctrine upon other worlds in an insidious fashion, but from memory, he remembered having read something. Hopefully, she would overcome her crude nature and abide to a higher standard. He could cite the words easily, even if it had been a passing notation he made.

"In the middle of the twentieth century, a male of your species named Gary Hamel wrote 'Trust is not simply a matter of truthfulness, or even constancy. It is also a matter of amity and goodwill. We trust those who have our best interests at heart, and mistrust those who seem deaf to our concerns.'" Politely, he inclined his head to her. "My apologies, for ignoring your concerns. This conversation we are having is unprecedented in the Archive records." He realised he had just apologised to a specimen, but only in treating her as an equal would he glean what he needed to know. Whether or not he was correct in doing so was yet to be determined. Operating outside the Code was not just confusing, but absurd.

"With this in mind, would you be so kind as to call me by my name, if we are to find a mutual ground?" he asked her, thinking that asking for his title as well would be too cumbersome for a specimen of inferior intellect. "I can barely understand the profanities you use, but linguistics being one of my main fields of research, I grasp just enough to judge you by what you say. This conversation is still of mutual interest... but I find it lacking in required amity." He hoped he did not have to point out how he had not insulted her beyond underestimating her intelligence when he asked the first question. Instead he moved on, needing to know the last answer before he made his final decision.

"You attended Starfleet Academy and earned a rank in the Federation's fleet," he said, stating facts, "As I understand this, you attended schooling to a certain extent. Since Starfleet has been active for more than one hundred years, I seek to know a crucial factor, which is not in our Archive. I hope you will be able to help me with this."

The outcome was, in part, pinned on this reply, and Echtand had actually come to dread the implications of the answer. The scope of the ramifications perilous.

"Are there any records of individuals in Federation space that have been genetically altered without them being able to explain how, or when, this might have happened to them?" Of course, this enquiry needed context, as opposed to the previous ones, since it was based in real-time events. "You should not think of this in the terms of a single individual, in how it might have happened to someone at some point in time. I am asking, if you - in your career and education - have encountered any records of something called the Purity Syndrome? This should have afflicted over twenty thousand individuals in the Alpha Quadrant alone."

Of course, whenever the Savi foraged in the Federation database, there was always such a notation, this 'Purity Syndrome', and new numbers were always added to it. It was never static data. It was recorded as a galactic occurrence, with no explanation to its origin. It was, of course, the consequence of the Corrections that the Savi witnessed in the Federation database. Or at least that was the common understanding. Echtand now wondered... if that entry in the Federation database was real, or automatically placed there in each forage they made.

"I would surmise someone of your rank would have encountered such an occurrence, given the numbers... and the unexplained nature of such a phenomenon." Having asked this, Echtand could not help but glance towards the Containment Cells next to him. He was, after all, about to learn the fate of all the past occupants of those cells. Thousands of different species, all Corrected to the design of the Progenitors, without a mixture of genes from other species. Their legacy continued... or corrupted. Small wonder Echtand anticipated the answer with great concern.

Right then, the yellow sanitation fields died out, the purification sequence ending... and the corridor was shrouded in its usual dim light.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #19 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Step By Step | Mutual... Something | I Want To Destroy You – But I Need You | Common Ground]
@Auctor Lucan

Did he just... face plant?!

Blue wasn't sure if she should laugh.. or if she should roll her eyes.  It was, in a way, hilarious to the young engineer that he had such a 'human' reaction to her going off on him.  He actually, in a way, for just a tiny modicum fraction of a second, reminded her of Ducote.  The way he would just shake his head at her, or at the others, and be like 'that's Blue'.  She couldn't help but let just a slight twitch of her lips in amusement actually happen.  Just watching him trying to deal with her.  He pissed her off enough, Moby, there was no reason to not turn it back around on him too.  It seemed that he hadn't expected it.  Even after all she had been through Blue Tiran still had a bit of fight left in her.  She doubted it would ever, truly, leave.  She was the sort that would probably look at the scythe wielding black wearing mother fucker and tell him to wait a God Damned minute she wasn't finished with her last fucking twinkie.

She had after all, yelled at Q once, and he brought Ducote back lickety split.  She wasn't afraid of much. 

I have nothing more to lose. she nagged at herself, and the pain seared heavily in her heart.  She missed him, he was.. her other half.  In every sense of the word.  When she flew off the handle, he was there to ground her.  When she was raging, he was there to calm her.  When she was sad, he uplifted her.  He pulled her out of the darkness one date, one day, one moment at a time.  Unfolding the shields around herself that she had built.  The spiky outer shell, that until him, had remained firmly in place.  He was the one that coaxed a young extremely wounded girl out of her shell to give him the trust that she had never given another person since her parents had turned their backs on her.  He was the one, the only one.  He fit against her, a puzzle piece beside each other.

I can't do this without you.  I can't go on.  You have no idea what it's like.  You fixed me.  You made me whole and now you're just.. you're just gone.

~You never needed me, Trouble.  I was just along for the ride.~  His voice, so clear, echoed in her mind, she nearly looked around for him.  The hole in her heart grew bigger still, the fragile thing waiting at any moment to shatter into a million pieces.  Where did that come from?  There, a memory out of no where, of her sitting on the floor of their shared Quarters.  Mayhem all around her, she had probably tried to cook or something but ended up on the floor.  Ducote beside her, bottle of booze between them.  Her head lulled heavily onto his shoulder as she poured some of her feelings out into actual words.  A rarity for a woman that suppressed much of them. 

Quote
“You know I wouldn't be me without you.  Right?  All those fuckers out there.  They don't know anything about me.  Not like you do.  Not about my family.  Fuck those fuckers.  But, about who I am on the inside.  I couldn't be the officer I am today if you weren't beside me Ran.”

There was her favorite sound again; that gravely chuckle that was singular only to Ranaan Ducote.  “You never needed me.  I was just along for the ride.”  his lips brushed her temple as he pulled her close and darkness took her down to sleep.  A rip of her heart mending at the words she wouldn't even remember come morning.

Moby got her attention, throwing her out of her own mind and back into the present where he said he didn't understand why she placed value in whatever it was she was looking for but he would look for it.  She swallowed, there was nothing to swallow, her mouth was dry.  In heartbreak, in anticipation that maybe Albert, at least, lived.  She knew, for sure, that no one else would understand her obsessions with the owl, but that was okay.  They didn't have to understand, they just had to let her have her owl back.  Albert was the only thing, next to Ducote, that gave her any hope in life.  As sad as that might be, she had been working on his prototype since she was a small girl, Albert was the culmination of a life's work at this point.

She swallowed again, or rather, attempted it when he read about Albert.  He clearly, didn't know the bird's name, and Albert was highly encrypted.  She had no idea what kind of skills the Savi had when it came to that, but she figured that at the very least it wouldn't be easy to get into.  She hoped so anyway.  He read it as though it had no meaning.  He doesn't understand how amazing Albert is!  That's he's mine, my creation, my baby, my family.  Still she hung on his every word for the moment, her eyes hungry for any tidbit.  He was here.  Right here, in the research area.  He was being used to test some other tech they had come across.  She slumped down softly and groaned.  It was a groan and sigh of relief.  She closed her eyes for a moment as he finished reading it.

“I need him too.” she said not changing the fact that he clearly had a sex, even though the owl actually had no designation his name had always been Albert.  He had always been a he, in her mind.  She could listen and tell what his beeps and bops meant for the most part, but there was also the read out screen when she needed it.

“I know to you, it probably seems ridiculous, I won't go into why.  But I'm going to need him too.”  She bit her lower lip and looked at Moby, standing there, self righteous with his information reading about Albert as if it was a toy.  An appliance he called it.  “His name is Albert, and I built him.” she said softly, he meant something to her, it was clear.

But it was nice, what he had done, and it earned him a bit of her trust.  Trust was hard won with Blue and it was easily broken.  No one understood that better than Ducote.  He was a good man and had never once destroyed or even made her doubt him.  But then, he knew.  He knew when she was reaching that shattering point and he would pull her into his arms and just rest his strong jaw on top of her head and hold her.  No words, just acceptance.  She had at some point stopped fearing his breaking up with her or departure during every fight.  And man, they had some brutal ones.  Security would sometimes be involved, and it would make them both laugh and then it was over.  It was just how they were.  She burned hot and quick when she burned at all, and she was always a lit fuse... but Ducote was the man that steadied her and returned her to normal.  He understood her flashes and road the wave until they were gone and he was there reminiscing about old times.  Before the night was over, they were locked in each other's arms and making up for all the things they said.

He named some asshole from her 'species' that said something about trust.  But as she listened to the quote she gave a quick nod.  “That's actually.. really true.  I'm surprised that you actually read or memorized anything from my people.  Sometimes, they're profound, and .. thank you.. for your apology.”  she cleared her throat and shifted.  Blue was not gifted in the art of apology.  Honestly, she had given very few in her life time and most of them were to Ducote.  He was the one that she felt the worst to most of the time because he had to put up with her crap all the time.  Still, she knew that if this was going to work.  If they were going to do whatever this was, she was going to need to make an effort.  Bridge a gap.

Wouldn't Ranaan be proud..

“I shouldn't .. have yelled.  I'm sorry.. too.” she said it was meant even if it was hard for her to say.  She didn't want him to think she was insincere she just wasn't used to having to apologize.  Usually, she was right. 

She was hungry, tired, and thirsty.  But, more than all of that she really did want to live and rescue all the people that were on this ship.  If she could somehow get Moby on her side then things could change.  The tide could turn.  People wouldn't be gooped.  He had a request of her, it seemed that they had gone from stalwart enemies to some sort of odd common ground.  They both had goals and now it seemed that he was reaching for her a bit more instead of talking at her.  He asked her to call him by his name.  That he could not understand all the language and profanities that she used but he understood the gist of it.  However, amity would go a long way.

“All right, Echtand.” she said using his actual name for the first time, it rolled off her tongue a little oddly as the emphasis placed on the first part of his name the esht didn't quite meld well with her native Texan accent, so she said it as best as she could.  Ek-tand.

She shifted her weight again, she swore her butt was more bony than it had been prior to being on the damned ship of torture, that or air shafts just weren't built for comfort.  Likely, both.  But she listened as he listed that she had gone to the Academy and earned rank in the Fleet.  She only gave a nod, because yes, and he knew that already he had a bigger point he was getting to.  “Yes, that's true, we attend the Academy we learn Starfleet skills, history, and our chosen career paths.”

He told her there was a tidbit of history that he wasn't privy to and he needed to know about it.  Her brow rose.  “Okay, shoot.” she said with a shrug unsure of what he could possibly want to inquire about. 

He asked her about if she knew, in her career, about people that had been corrected.  Her brows furrowed as she listened to him talk that it wasn't even a small number.  Some twenty thousand people would have found themselves no longer hybridized by various races but instead having been fixed, without any memories of how.  She listened to him for a long moment, but she couldn't figure out what the fuck he was talking about.  She thought for a moment, she had been through many Federation history classes and she had even done the common quick medical training that every cadet learned at some point.  Your basic quick shit that basically was all about administering band-aids.

But, no matter how much she had wracked her brain she couldn't remember anyone talking about people being changed. 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” she asked as she shifted in her spot again and looked down at Moby.  “Sorry.  I guess that means the answer is; no.  I've never heard of anything like that.  The Federation itself is very much against any kind of gene fuckery.  So, we don't even allow that shit, too many ways for it to get fucked up or whatever.  But, never have I heard of people suddenly being fixed up.  I think, that if it were that many people there would be some kind of trail, studies, we have a shit ton of doctors they'd be all over that shit.”

She thought again and then shook her head.  “Yeah, no, I haven't ever heard of anything like that.” she gave a shrug.  “Wait.  Have you?”

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #20 –
[ Echtand | Nonary Containment Cells | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
When he heard the specimen's request to be able to bring the appliance of hers as well, Echtand blinked, not entirely sure how so much greed for inanimate objects could remain with her species. He was familiar with the Ferengi species, which might surpass the humans in their greed for monetary wealth, but in a situation like this? To make a request for such a crude appliance?

"Since I do not know what purpose... 'he' fills," he said, making sure to politely use the pronoun the human preferred for her appliance, "in the machine intelligence labs, I cannot make any guarantees. If we find a common understanding, I will investigate further and let you know if retrieving him is a viable option."

Having said as much, he could but hope she understood how his commitment to helping her was still not settled. Yet just a little while later... she would tell him what he feared.

There was no affliction called the Purity Syndrom.

Hearing this, Echtand felt... unbalanced. Numbly, he slowly turned from the human on her perch and looked at the gaping, black cells. These chambers that had housed so many, and all of them, each individual that had regained health after their Corrections, they were all a part of a lie. A veil placed over the eyes of all Antes, him included. Where they had gone, instead of released back into the Galaxy the way the Progenitors intended... Oh, it was plain already.

"The Scions..." he said quietly, his black eyes slowly running along the row of cells. "They rewrote the Code... They changed it... and we're too young... We didn't know."

Ectands fists closed at his sides, and he lowered his eyes. Savi prided themselves with emotional control, but right then, there was no measure to the outrage that burned inside him. Like some Low Class degenerate, he felt his heart beating in his head, his visage twisted into something cruel. "<They... rewrote the Code!>" he hissed, and the translator system relayed his words to the Human now, in crystal clarity. "<We could not know what they did, for we were not alive yet. A lie.... The specimens. The Corrections... All of them.... It is all a facade from something else. None of them were ever released afterwards. There is no 'Purity Syndrome' heard of out there. No trace of our work. It means they were all Recycled. They have all been fed to the Flotilla. This changes everything...>"

The Code was corrupted. There was no doubt about it. "<The Corrections we make, they might not be part of the original Code either. All the procedures. All the instructions. It could all have been rewritten, and we have been made to believe it is our law. The very identity of the Vigilant of Sa might be a construct to serve the Scion Directive. What else have they changed? Deceived from birth, bred to serve them, and to die when we serve no purpose to them any more. We, the Antecedents, have been torn from our true identity and purpose... enslaved to carry on the work of the Scions.>"

Supposition made fact. All the loose ends so far hinting at the ugly truth of it. Now, it was cast in garish light. The High Council were all Scions, all of them elders of the 'evolved' caste. In the name of evolution, they betrayed what the Savi used to be, whatever they used to be. Echtand turned back, and his large knuckles cracked as he looked towards the Human, his face contorted in rage.

"They may have killed our collective identity. Stolen our dreams. Stained our innocence. Taken our freedom. All in the name of their self-begotten evolution. In the idea of progress above all else. Hypocrisy excused in arrogance. They may have used the Corrections to create themselves."

The tone of his words was cold in its delivery, his eyes black opals of hate, but he remained collected, now - sharp as a blade.

"Lieutenant Commander Blue Tiran," he said, and he rolled his wide shoulders, stretching his neck. The time for action was now. With renewed purpose, and his dead parents in his thoughts, he walked towards her again. "I will uncover the true Code of my people, and until I learn what our real purpose is, I will end the Corrections and the experiments aboard the Versant. I will, however, need your aid, as well as the others'. I am but a single Savi who knows the truth... and your sole ally aboard this ship."

Standing below her, he raised his three-fingered hand towards her.

It struck him... as he stood there, how he could either be the first Savi to strike an allegiance with a non-Savi, or it might have happened hundreds of times before, since the Cataclysms had erased so many of their records through the millennia.

"In the spirit of Gary Hamel's words," he said quietly, waiting for her to leap down to him, "trust me... for I now hold your best interests in both my hearts."

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #21 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran | Give Me the Bird or I'll Give You The Bird | Alliances Aren't Easy |  Your Hand is Wet | Are There Any Wet Wipes?]
@Auctor Lucan

He was … trying.

She knew that it seemed odd to him, this attachment she had to a robotic owl.  But, then, she didn't recall asking for his opinion on the matter she just wanted her fucking owl back.  The fact that he was being used in some other thing in the Intelligence Lab was a bit unnerving.  I swear if those white faced mother fuckers screw the fuck out of my owl or fuck him over I'm going to put a phaser blast in the eye hole of every single one of them then run through the muck of their bodies until it's ground paste...

She really needed to eat.

Hangry had never been good for Blue Tiran.

After she answered his question he turned from her.  She wasn't sure if he was puzzling through her answer, didn't like it, or was plotting her death.  Probably contemplating just how much goo he would have to clean out of the air shaft depending on where her brain matter went.  Though, she had a feeling they were past the brain matter squeegee necessities at this point. 

He began to monologue.

Why was it that all the 'bad guys' decided that they needed to air their greviances with the system out loud in such a fashion?  Blue leaned back against the wall of her air shaft and listened to the translator doing it's job and telling her exactly what he was saying.  Though she still felt calling anything that the Savi did a 'Code' was really fucking wrong.  A code fixed things, made them work, and completed actions.  These fuckers were just playing God and then … did he say.. fed to the flotilla?!

Blue's stomach wrenched sideways and she suddenly was very glad that one, she had not yet had anything to drink but also two that she had never been brave enough to try to steal food from the Savi.  She wanted to eat, needed to eat, but she was not going to drink the matter of her friends and … other... whatever it was that they used when they didn't have fresh Starfleet people to goopify.  He turned to her now, and mentioned that they had changed everything, and that nothing was what he thought it was.  All their purpose was nothing but creating food and playing God.

Could have told him that without all the cryptic questions and assholery.

She heard her name, and fought to tell him just to call her Blue.  Though she was surprised after all the shit he gave her about her owl and other questions she had asked that he hadn't asked the one that every fucking person in the Federation did  …. why was her name Blue?  It likely didn't dawn on him that it was an odd name, or maybe he was removed enough he just didn't really care.  But, still he was coming over to her, rolling his shoulders.  So she was either about to die or they were about to get this shit show on the road.  He told her that he was going to uncover the code of his people and discover their true purpose.  That she was his sole ally on the ship and he needed her.

“I could have told you that half an hour and six questions ago.” she said with a bit of a grin on her face as he extended his hand to her.  He needed her and the others.  Her brow rose, he was going to need her now more than ever if he wanted to rope the others that he and his crew had fucked with into this. 

For a moment she stared at his hand.  Trying to decide if there was some kind of poisonous injecting hairs or something on it.  Maybe deadly suction cups or something.  Creepy... something had to be.  But, his hand was just there.  She swallowed and leaned down so that they could actually meet hands.

“Well that makes us on even ground, because, as it happens Echtand... you're my only ally on this ship as well.. for the time being.” 

His hand was... creepy.  It just was.  There was no doubts about the fact that it was just odd to have three large fingers instead of five small ones, but they managed to get the hand shake off at any rate.  She fought the urge to brush her hand on her suit after she took her hand back and she managed not to crush his hand with her own powerful one.  She was a very strong woman, or she had been before she had been starved and on the run for several days on board a ship of torture and horrors.

Both... his hearts?  Well that answers an unasked question doesn't it.  Wonder if he can survive on one...

“So.  I guess the next question is this;  what do you need me to do?”  she asked him curiously.  “I'm not without skills.  I'm a hacker, programmer, engineer, and inventor.  Also, other than you, I'm very adept at hiding up in these walls.  I want to get the fuck off your ship.  So tell me how I assist in getting me and my people off safely.  Oh, and Albert.” she grinned, having not forgotten her owl.  Never.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #22 –
[ Echtand | Nonary Containment Cells | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
A hand-shake made, an accord struck, Echtand lowered his hand again - letting her remain where she was. Her question was prudent, and he had already considered a few options depending on his findings. His hearts were still beating fast, the revelation still hard on him, but he controlled his wayward emotions, taking a deep breath. Slowly, he folded his three-fingered hands behind his back.

"It is one thing to set the Starfleet crews free aboard the Versant, yet quite another to have them leave the ship entirely," he said, beginning to slowly pace as he spoke. "If I am to aid you in doing the latter, I cannot be caught doing the former. If I alert Admiral Semathal - the Scion in command of this Precept-ship - about my intentions, I will swiftly be dealt with, and I cannot aid you any further. Therefore, I can point the way, tell you how to proceed, exactly what to do, but I cannot get directly involved at this premature stage. To be perfectly honest, what you will be able to do - with my indirect aid - will serve as a distraction for my own research into the Code."

He sensed he had to explain this further, so he gestured with one hand while he spoke, looking up at her. "While the escape of specimens from the Primary Research Hull will draw the full attention of Semathal and his closest associates, I will enter the warded tiers of the Archive and learn the truth. I will even copy the data I find, raw and true, and when the opportune moment comes, I will let my voice be heard across the entire Flotilla. I will have the Antecendents rise in opposition to the Scion Directive, and I will restore the Code and my people to what we used to be. What we truly stood for before the Scions corrupted us for their own gain. As the Voice of the Savi, I will learn what to say to them all."

Of course, the Human wanted to know what she might do. She would want the means to free them all from the labs, and this, he'd give her. Yet first, she needed to know something dire, unless she had already heard of it.

"Semathal has made a motion to the High Council of the Savi, asking to have all specimens aboard the Versant Recycled. The difference is that he is now doing it openly, getting it sanctioned because of the damage to the ship. Evidently, they would all have been Recycled anyway, but this move is political more than based on actual result. He is about to create a precedent that would make the process of using all specimens to feed the Flotilla common practice - openly recognised by the Code. Yet more importantly... he is expediting the process," he explained, guessing at the Scion's intentions. "Instead of waiting for the full Correction processes to run their course, he has asked for the latitude to use all their biomatter to sustain an increase of Low Class repair teams."

Echtand hoped she understood the gravity of the situation. "As of right now, the Scion High Council has convened, and there is no doubt about the outcome. Semathal will have all of the present specimens Recycled within a couple of hours." He paused, knowing that it would likely be of emotional value to her, what he was telling her. "Semathal has already sent me the transcript of what I am to tell the Starfleet crews before the order is executed, preforming my duty as the Voice of the Savi. I am supposed to carry out the order, and activate the Recycling sequence for them."

Having said as much, Echtand awaited her reaction.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #23 –
[LCdr Blue Tiran | There Are Not Enough Twinkies | Best Laid Plans | Not Killing the White Whale, Yet | Ship of Compromise]
@Auctor Lucan

He began to speak, handshake done.  She listened, even though she tired of having to deal with him.  As kind as he was being now, she hadn't forgotten his pretensions attitude of earlier nor would she.  Still, for the time being, she needed him so that she could rescue her people and get them off of the ship.  He wasn't wrong about the fact that setting them free and getting them actually off the ship were completely different problems.  She knew that it would be fairly easy to set them free, but getting them off the ship was going to require so very much more.  Somewhere to put them, or a ship close enough to beam them too.  Blue, had a great deal of skills she could likely hack into another computer if possible but she had to get her hands on her own PADDs she would be able to do a whole lot more.

She wasn't sure if she could, that would require Moby doing something for her.  But that would be for another time, or at least once he began to give her all the information that she needed to know.  Her eyes studied his, her eyes blue, bright and crystalline.  They were tired and told of the wear and tear that she had taken recently.  The shadows of loss. 

His words made sense, she was not angry that he was not going to stand side by side with her she understood what would happen if they were, instead, found out.  If they figured out what was going on too quickly they would execute the officers that were currently in holding.  Far too fast for her to save them.  She had to play this right if she was going to play it at all and that was going to be the tricky part.  She needed to make sure that she was discreet and listened to everything that Echtand said to her.  He explained to her that while she was doing her part of the plan, she would be serving as a distraction for the research that he needed to do into the sick thing he called a code.

“Really need to change that name.” she sighed softly but she gave a nod.  She didn't have any fight in her mostly because fighting would be counterproductive at this point.  She would much rather have him on her side and the possibility of getting the other officers off this ship.  She had weapons, if she could release them, she could arm them, and they could all work together to get themselves off this hell hole called a ship.

It was a lot of information to take in.  Apparently the unpronounceable fucker that was in charge had been murdering the corrected people all along.  But now, he was going before the High Fucking council and he was telling them he was going to do it for a reason.  He was going to get approval so that the time that Echtand could actually use this action against him was highly limited.  If the whole thing got passed they were fucked.

“Cool.  So work fast, right, got it.  I'd kill a mother fucker for a twinkie and a energy drink right about now.  I'm so fucking hungry.” she said more to herself than him but she didn't see any way that she could remedy that at the moment.

She sighed softly as he fell silent and closed her eyes letting it all sink in for a long terrible moment while she tried to figure out what she was supposed to do.  The weight of all those people's lives, including her own, rest heavily on her shoulders.  She opened her eyes, determination and resolve filled the blue orbs heavily. 

“Okay, then I need to know how to open the rooms, where to go, and how the fuck to get off this boat.  Also; I need to know if I can get my hands on any of our tech.  Yes, of course, Albert, but I mean, we have these devices, similar to your hand held ones, that we call PADDs and I need to get my hands on one of those as well.  If I can do that, then I can do some hacking.. I hope you know what that word means.” she said quickly.  “Anyway, tell me what I need to do and lets get this plan started.  We can do it, you can save your people and I can save mine.”

She watched him like a hawk, and waited for his information.

Re: Chapter 02: Supplemental [ Day 05 | 2020 hrs. ] Human Determination & Ingenuity

Reply #24 –
[ Echtand | Nonary Containment Cells | Precept-ship Versant ]
[Show/Hide]
Hearing Lieutenant Commander Blue Tiran's comment to his explanation, Echtand paused in attempt to derive what items she'd end lives for, but could not derive the import of such actions in relation to what he'd just said. The rhetoric of Humans was... imprecise at best. Drink? he thought, does she require sustenance? He had believed she'd been able to acquire nutritional paste already, since there was no current rationing on the Versant.

Before he could offer any suggestion to remedy her plight, she began to ask more important questions.

"There will be no point in trying to open these cells," he said, gesturing with his three-fingered hand towards the empty rooms in Containment, "because all the humanoids have been - or will be - moved to the Undenary Observation Pen. Currently, they are in a simulation of a large starship in the Federation fleet, where they are free to roam about in a known environment. It was decided that it would be more healthy for them, and it has given a sliver of a chance..."

He didn't expand upon that, because he got a notification on his tablet. It was a priority message, so he lifted his tablet to read it. His brow creased as he took in the brief information. "It seems like there are disruptions in the simulation, and those we mean to set free are trying to break out all on their own. This is problematic..." he said, thinking. "It is too soon. The idea I had to get them out of there is pinned on our preparations. If they are too disruptive, I will not be able to help you. Right now, I do not know which will come first, the decision from the High Council or the prisoners in the simulation getting themselves Recycled because of their disruption. Evidently, they are organising themselves, and have already killed holographic crew on the simulated ship."

Looking back at Blue Tiran, Echtand knew he had to be succinct, and there wasn't time to tell her more. "I know you have a hideout in the Maintenance Bays, above the Aerodrome. I have already dampened the sensors in the area. It was the only reason you were able to stay there. You must return, as fast as you can, and stay there. Be ready. When it is time, you must tell them all the risks, everything you have learned about the Versant. You must tell them about the Code, and the Scion Directive, and that the majority of the Savi aboard this ship are simply misled, ignorant of the lie. Still, you have to provide me a distraction somehow if I am to uncover what Semathal and the rest have done. Potentially, I can cease any hostile actions towards you, but for that to happen, I urge you to just kill the Scions when you and the prisoners make your move, and incapacitate the Antecendants you may encounter. Go, and prepare!"

Echtand knew, as he backed away, that the Human could not guess how he meant to help them all; how he meant to aid in their escape. He expected her objections, not wishing to be kept in the dark. There was another message on his tablet, and he paused his step, checking it, his two hearts beating faster. "There is no time..." He kept calm, and decided he had no other choice. Tapping at his datapad, he reverted it to standard settings, and then encoded it for her life-sign only.

"It was not linguistics that earned me the position of the Voice," he grated in a manner of explanation, meaning to settle any concerns, alluding towards his prestigious background in the sciences but not divulging more. He was too focused on the tasks at hand. He reversed his step, away from the exit. He ran to her, leapt up, and caught the edge of the duct in which she sat. With a grimace of effort, he dropped the datapad next to her. "I will send you further instructions. Keep it with you, always. Expect my word, but now, you must go. Go!"

Then, he dropped back on the floor. He would have transported himself to where he needed to be, but he had no datapad to make the transport request with. So, without a second look, with no time for it, he set a brisk pace out of the area - vanishing through the exit. He knew he hadn't managed to tell her how to sustain herself on the Versant, and knew that he had to send her that information when he could, but right then, the survival of the prisoners and his chance to uncover the real Code hung in the balance, and he had to make it his priority.

Odd, how the controlled emotions in his chest were not of doubt. Rather, despite the risk, his conscience was clearer, and the memory of his mother and father was already easier to bear.
 
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