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Topic: CH05: S [D06|1015] Into the Parasite's Lair (Read 22139 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: CH05: S [D06|1015] Into the Parasite's Lair

Reply #25 –
[ Lt. Zelosa Ejek | Security Center | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ]

She knew she would not hold the attention of her fellow Cardassians forever. They weren’t here to bear witness to an interrogation, after all, they were just here to administer vaccines and leave. Thankfully both Bila and Parnak did their jobs well and efficiently, but that also meant they would not be spending time here longer than they needed. Still...she found herself missing Parnak’s presence.

She had Bila. As the halfie spoke, she glanced over to him and noted the way he held himself. Anxious, afraid...but still trying. Especially in the face of the future that Nicander described, he held it together. She offered him no outward sign of her thoughts, but resolved to discuss it later. Instead, she turned back to Nicander, awaiting his response.

She had nothing more to question, as Bila had a solid point. What if what Nicander was seeing was incorrect? What if he was seeing what the infestation wanted him to see? She supposed if she were the overlord of such an evil, that would be her plan from the very start. Feed her enemies false information, and allow them to remove themselves from play without any effort on her part. Still, she privately acknowledged that there wasn’t any real way to tell if this is what was going on. It would be a remarkably orderly plan for an entity of chaos to execute.

She was writing down all that Nicander told them regardless. It was valuable even if it was false. It showed her what Nicander was like now, what to look for in other infested beings. Possibly.

Even that was such a flimsy clue, wasn’t it?

Re: CH05: S [D06|1015] Into the Parasite's Lair

Reply #26 –
[ Doctor Lucan cin Nicander | Security Center | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ]
Attn: @FollowTomorrow @Numen @Arista @trevorvw @chXinya @Top Hat @steelphoenix
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Nicander listened, the Cardassian offering a theory. He considered it, of course, but it was plain that the man merely tried to give him hope where there was none to be found. Perhaps not even for him, but for himself - trying to reassure himself that what Nicander said was false. In other words, he tried to refute his word.

"I am telling you that this blackness of the stars is an existence of primordial chaos, without order or thought," he said, his deep voice levelled at the halfblood. "Look at yourself. At all of us. We are a product of evolution. A linear existence the beget order, society and intelligent life, all part of the suppurating wound the Infested deem we are, spreading across existence in it's true form. To them, we are all skin-puppets. Flesh they can wear, and from which they can derive pleasure or pain. The Hosts give the blackness shape, voice and intent, a vestige of order, making them reshape what they see... into what they want."

Lucan turned away from the forcefield, letting the man go with his pale eyes. He paced in a semicircle, and when he looked at them anew, his deep voice clarified the enemy's nature further. "Yet they do not control the abyss. The Hosts cannot dictate what I see, for the darkness is not theirs to manipulate." He came to stand by the field again, looking at the Counselor. "The blackness is the nexus of the crisis, the gaping maw of atrophy, and it will consume everything. What I see... it has to be the truth, because the visions surface out of a force of the cosmos in which we preside. Like a law of nature. It is only the Hosts that provide structure to this hunger, that can lend forethought to action. The presence inside me... it is one of dark impulses."

Lifting his hand, Lucan looked at it - the carbon fibre and ceramic contraption that had replaced his own limb. "Before the Radiant treated me with her light, I was prone to ideas every minute. Impulses, and visions, where I would maim and defile, all the time. The symbiosis of the Host and the blackness is that we humanoids of flesh and thought may control these desires, and funnel them into actions of greater care and to avoid notice. These visions - ideas - do not come as often now..."

He closed the hand, dropping it, and looked at the blood in his cell. "But when I saw the Rotarran's shield frequency, and delved into the blackness, such an impulse took over. The security officers threatened to silence me before I could give the bridge the shield frequency, out of fear for my nature. One of them struck Doctor Maya down.... and that impulse to strike back came... and possessed me. When I regained control... all three of the security officers were dead, and I was cradling Doctor Maya in my lap."

Lucan wasn't sure if what he said had any larger merit for the mission, but perhaps they could understand his nature a bit better.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1015] Into the Parasite's Lair

Reply #27 –
[ Lt. JG Izar Bila | Security Center | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy NX-79854]
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Att:  @Auctor Lucan @FollowTomorrow

Bila heard how the Infected refuted his suggestion after ponder over it for a short time. He came back to his grim speech, pacing around the cell like a caged animal. His footsteps circulated around the dried blood stains on the floor and ceiling, remembering, playing the film of what was happen there in the eye of his mind. Bila had only heard... rumors among other officials. Horror stories whispered in low voice in the corridors. The hybrid didn't know how much of what he had heard here and there was true, but that murmurs were what had terrified him when he approached to the brig. Which would bring more nightmares to his nights.

As Nicander described how he cradled Doctor Maya after assassinating three security officers, a shiver ran through the chemist from head to toe. His earring tinkled musically, a sound totally out of place in the solitary brig. The Carôon seemed to bask in the most morbid aspects of his actions. He looked for absolution? He looked for gloating in his own acts? He simply wanted to wipe out all the hope of the Cardassians minds? Izar was not sure. Maybe he just wanted... to be heard. To free himself from the weight of what he had done. Bila looked sidelong at the counselor, hoping she knew how to handle the situation. After all, it was her specialty.

"I hope that the study of your research could bring more calm to your mind, more silent." He finally said, more for himself than for the Infected. "And that the Prophets bring some rest to your pagh,"  he finally said, using a common bajoran farewell to the moribunds. He knew it was a hollow phrase. If the deities of his mother's people had ever protected that man, they had abandoned him a long, long time ago.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1015] Into the Parasite's Lair

Reply #28 –
[ Lt. Zelosa Ejek | Security Center | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ]

Nicander sure did have a way with words, and by a way with words, she meant that he was particularly good at flowery language. She was growing impatient. She had to quell that, let the doctor speak, and simply write down her notes to be given to the captain for the upcoming battle. As she listened, she heard a quiet tinkling of an earring--she glanced over to see Bila, shuddering. He was unnerved. She supposed he had a right to be, given the sort of person he was.

“Lieutenant Bila.” She spoke, finally, interjecting between the doctor and the scientist. “If you will find Lieutenant Tovarek, I’ve messages to send out. Doctor.” Her eyes met his. Her voice carried the tone of business, and strictly business.
“Your information has been written down and will be investigated. If I find it to have been useful, you can expect another chat like this sometime in the near future. I will likely be making regular wellness checkups with you either way.” She explained, under the assumption both of them would survive the oncoming battle and remain in their positions. She could not predict the future, just as she said, so she couldn’t necessarily plan for the infinite variety of chaotic outcomes that could happen. She had some plans anyways, just in case.

“I do look forward to your continued cooperation.” She finished, a line frequently found in Starfleet interrogation manuals. She had skimmed just a bit before coming here, and found much of what she learned wasn’t really applicable. Nicander seemed all too eager to share what he knew. This could be good or bad. Either he’s attempting to redeem himself, or feeding the ship false information.

She added this final opinion to her report. She’d make adjustments and edits in her office. For now, the questioning was over. She nodded to him a goodbye and began to walk out herself.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1015] Into the Parasite's Lair

Reply #29 –
[ Doctor Lucan cin Nicander | Security Center | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ]
Attn: @FollowTomorrow @Numen @Arista @trevorvw @chXinya @Top Hat @steelphoenix
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Whether they left him so soon out of fear was not the question on Nicander's mind, but if they had listened. Judging by their words, they had taken some of what he said to heart, despite the enormity of the implications.

"I look forward to our continued conversations, Counselor Ejek," he said with a smile, standing there in the dried blood decorating his cell. Then he turned to the other man. "And to hear about the results of continuing my research."

After they left, Nicander stepped away from the forcefield, and retreated to the hover gurney left behind the day before. While he had used it as a bed during the night - the temporary holding cell having far too little in terms of comforts - the diagnostic features and LCARS interface allowed him to continue some of his own research. Of course, the gurney was a crude thing, and he had no access to the database since it had been cut off from the ship shortly after his permanent incarceration in the cell. Moreover, he had to recompile his data from memory in order to have anything to work with, his calculations lacking in terms of verification.

But he would not idly go into the dark, and just be at the mercy of his ignorant captors. They may refute his aid all they wanted, mistrust his word at every turn.

He would still do what he could to save them from their arrogance, before it was too late.

- FIN
 
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