Re: [WP] Beacons (Story Thread Only)
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 6:52 am
Willing or unwilling, that didn't matter, but both Fireblade and Beryl got front row seats to whatever Tempo did. That suits them both well, Beryl might be readily accepting of Tempo, but Fireblade was dead set on double-checking whatever Tempo did to Alex. Both of them exchanged thoughts now and then, in a tight sending, careful not to disturb whatever they were doing.
'What was that picture I picked up from him? You as a small girl, bringing in a small furry four-footed animal with a wounded leg?', Fireblade asked, with thinly veiled amusement in her sanzai.
'That's a metaphor on how he sees me. From what I gathered, it's the sort of cliche picture amongst his people, the little girl who cannot stand to see any wounded and helpless creature and trying her best to nurse it back to health... what is missing in the picture would be the exasperated mother of their home when she brings in yet another animal to care for. I'm still not sure if I should find that thought endearing or insulting.', Beryl groused.
'Well, you were quick to jump to Tempo's defense, and you were the one who took to talking to Enzin when he woke up the very first time...', Fireblade sent back.
Try as she might, but Beryl couldn't shake the feeling that Fireblade does have a point.
'Fireblade, did you notice something? I'm a Listel, and you as a Teidar are trained in mental techniques, too, but I don't understand even half of what happens between them, yet Enzin's brain seems to readily incorporate the concepts she's sending him. And remember, he has no prior training in sanzai techniques save what he got from us', Beryl sent.
'Hmmm...', Fireblade mused, 'Now as you say it... what do you think of this?'
'The Mizol only recently got a foothold on Deinar, right? And now our Emperor is a Mizol, too, the orders to bring him to Deinar, alive and unharmed, came from her desk, too, and I've spotted at least one file encrypted with a quadruple-strength key. This is only reserved for the Council and the Emperor herself. There's got to be a connection. It sounds crazy, but would you agree that the modern Mizol techniques might be heavily influenced by what they could have learned from the Deinar human... and thus humans might be even more compatible to them?' Beryl elaborated.
Fireblade fell silent, visibly surprised.
'You're right, this is crazy. But... the whole thing is crazy. We stumbled across a conspiracy that's reaching into the highest echelons of the Union! This is madness, whatever we do or don't do, we could either be hailed as heroes and saviors of the Union or executed for treason, depending on who you talk to.'
'Remember, the key is visualizing your Lotai as a separate entitiy, one you don't need to readily accept as it is, but one you can train to heed to your wishes. Much like your... dogs, is this right? That animal you domesticated to herd and protect your livestock from predators?' Tempo just concluded the session.
'Makes sense. A good and loyal dog, with the need to protect its human on its mind. Kind-hearted, but needing some training to not to bark at or attack the visiting stranger.' Alex agreed. 'Color me curious, what would it mean to transport me ... or any human ... as cargo?'
It was Beryl who answered, with a tinge of distaste in her sending.
'Either to put you in stasis or cryosleep, or to keep you heavily sedated, or failing that, secluded in the brig with no contact to the crew.'
'That... somehow makes sense', Alex admitted.
'WHAT?!', the triple-voiced outcry 'loud' enough to send a stab of pain through his head, and it was Fireblade who got a grip on his upper body - telekinetically - to spin him around and pin his eyes with hers. 'Listen to me and listen well, buster. You are NOT cargo. NOT to be shipped around like ... a piece of meat! I WILL NOT allow it and I WILL challenge everyone to a duel of honor whoever issues that kind of order!', Fireblade sent sharply, fierce determination in her thoughts and accompanied by equally strong assents from Beryl and Tempo.
'Whoa... calm down.' Alex tried to placate them. 'Remember what Cloud said? About you being bonded to me and even Stillstorm on the verge of turning around? And this is me not even trying. Imagine a human intent on subverting a ship's crew.'
Beryl shook her head. 'You have it wrong. These bonds are based on deep understanding and trust, as I see it. It shouldn't be possible if you were doing this for nefarious purposes.'
Point, Alex thought. 'You all know it. But whoever issued that orders may suspect otherwise. But... with considerations like these, bringing a human to Seren or the Emperor's flagship rather than an isolated facility would be the recipe for disaster.'
'What do you mean?', Beryl inquired.
'Remember how I told you about our fictional works on aliens? A often used trope is human exploration crew found something they should have better left alone, and this one is sort of a classic, if the images are a bit... disturbing.'
Feeling that his warning didn't deter the three Loroi, he played some pieces of an old movie in his mind. A human in an enviro suit on a stormy planet. Something attaching itself to its face. The human in sickbay, and with the ... thing ... falling off seemingly getting better. Then, in the mess hall, a ... worm-thing bursting out of his chest in a grisly manner. Fights. Hunting that creature throughout corridors and catwalks, with that thing killing the crew one by one.
A different movie. A slim, alien-looking spaceship, long, thin, with one end fanning out in long spires in the orbit of a blue planet. 'Earth', Beryl's thoughts supplied, recognizing the image from his memories. A primitive looking vessel approaching. Scene cut. Inside the alien ship, drifting in microgravity, a large number of... winged things, desiccated corpses. And in the center, a transparent casket and the shape of a ... human? ... woman inside it. Bringing the casket down to earth, 'she' waking up and starting to ... suck ... the life out of the humans, leaving dry, aged husks in her wake while escaping.
The images subsided, leaving three deeply rattled Loroi in their wake, Beryl looking much paler than usual. Alex clearly felt that she was close to vomiting.
Fireblade was the first regaining her composure. 'And humans watch this for entertainment?', she sent, disbelievingly.
'Uh... many do. It was a subgenre called 'sci-fi horror' which plays on terror and scare. But, actually, things like these make our scientists think long and hard about safety and containment procedures to ward off any possible danger we might not even find conceivable.', Alex admitted.
'I ... think I see your point...', Beryl sent hestitantly, still trying to calm down her upset stomach. 'We would be foolish to bring a human to one of our sister worlds if you are that dangerous. Perhaps that order to bring any human as cargo was intended to protect the ship's crew, yes, or maybe keep the crew ignorant about your people and your abilities.'
Tempo kept her subdued silence for a long time, but then she spoke up.
'I don't think that this order is a matter of inadequate containment procedures. I'm sure we would have directed any humans found to an isolated asteroid facility if we thought him to be a biohazard of such dimensions. Beryl might be right... it is more a matter of secrecy. A human in close contact with a ship's crew... you've seen what happened.'
'Whoever wanted to get hold of anything human wanted to do it all hushed up. But that's not possible anymore with the Barsam and the Historians knowing of my existence.', Alex stated.
'Let's hope that them knowing turns out to be for the better, rather than the worse. Please do keep in mind that they'd readily use you for their own ends... as well.', Tempo sighed. 'Can I stay for a while? Stars, I missed your touch in sanzai...', she trailed off.
Alex casted a worried glance at Beryl, remembering their earlier discussion.
'She's definitely addicted to you... is it possible that Mizol react more strongly to humans just because their ways of thinking are quite similar? Uh... no offense intended.'
'None taken, but that could explain Brightshield, too...', Alex hedged.
'Which makes it doubly important to not to let her claws get into you!', Beryl, and surprisingly Fireblade, sent with red-hot jealousy in their thoughts.