trans_9 | Do you wanna date my Avatar? [Open]

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Do you wanna date my Avatar? [Open]

_{[[ Aside from being shot for using that title...]]}

First things first. Grace was taking a look at the facilities she'd be using in the future. Neuropathy had been interesting and the Medbay had also intrigued her - the lab set-up here would probably be more conducive to some of the things she might end up doing - genetic analysis, studying samples from Stacy herself, the plantsuits. However, Contagion had proven the most invaluable (although she'd no idea why it was called that). A full genetics lab and analysis set-up. That would prove invaluable. It was as extensive (more, in fact) then the setup she'd had on Pandora. Quite a bit of the equipment looked completely unfamiliar to her, but she could learn. She'd learned before and she'd do it again. As she pressed further into the facility, she caught the glimpse of something floating in a tank. A murky, indistinct shape that solidified as she approached. She recognized it.

"...oh my God."

Her face slowly split into a tight-lipped smile. It made a certain degree of sense - if they'd snatched her up, why not her Avatar as well? And if the body were here, that meant the rest of the equipment was somewhere on the ship. She wasn't sure what she'd need it for at the moment - but it was good to know that they had elements of the Avatar program aboard. Maybe it would prove useful in the future.

Anyone who wandered deeper into Contagion would find her examining the tank curiously and trying to access data records - when had these got here?

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Aeneas had never been inside Contagion before. It was partly the reason for why he was here now; aimless wandering can do that to an alien, especially a curious one who hadn’t been out enough lately. Especially to one that also had no sense of direction, no less. You’ll never know where the guy’s gonna end up.

He doesn’t know, either.

The long, navy-striped creature, lavender eyes wide and auricles perked, carefully paced into the lab. His steps were quiet, almost silent save for the occasional clicking of his calx against the metal stands of tables and platforms, and the cautious yet ambivalent purr that resonated through his throat and out of the slit-like nostrils above his muzzle. Aeneas would’ve been cautious even if he hadn’t seen the woman near the back, but with her there, he was actually making more of an effort to disturb the silence than usual. He’d found that humans weren’t particularly big fans of being snuck up on—it was better to have his presence known than to startle her while in striking reach.

Mostly he gazed at the tank of murky fluid and the odd shape within, not bothering to say much. Aeneas wasn’t exactly known for being a conversationalist. But eventually his curiosity got the better of him, and he had to ask the obvious question:

“…May I inquire as to what is within the container?”

Grace glanced up from her curious poking and prodding to see Aeneas. She only stared for a moment - she'd seen strange alien creatures on Pandora, after all. The strange thing about this one was that it talked. And didn't seem all that humanoid. She eyed him curiously and then turned back to the tank, still trying to pull up records.

"It's a Na'vi-human clone hybrid. It's my Avatar. Trust me, that is one long story..."

She paused and turned to regard him again, "...but where did you come from?"

Talking isn’t really the best choice of verb in describing Aeneas’s form of communication. It was more like trilling, sometimes the better registers of his usual purring, sometimes a screech or a groan; but talking implies the use of the mouth. This creature’s maw remained completely static throughout his various means of vocal interchange, and his language had an understandably long delay in going through Stacy’s translators before it came back out as a pleasant, soft male’s tenor.

As for the story, Aeneas has time. He has time but he’s also been asked another question—one that he’d rather not answer, though he will anyways, because he’s polite and a gentleman.

“That…” Goodness, he’s explained this enough times for it to become tiring. “…That is a wonderful question. I do not actually know.”

He felt a little awkward. Perhaps names would help?

“You may call me Aeneas, though. What can I call you?”

…Perhaps names would help better if they were not so clumsily interjected into the conversation at hand?

Whatever it is, it was intriguing to Grace. Although, not horribly so - her specialty is plants after all. She still took a moment to watch him trill and coo and move. It was utterly alien to her (although some of it reminded her of Pandoran wildlife). She shook her head, "Interesting. How do you not-"

Oh, of course. She nodded at him brusquely, all business, "Doctor Grace Augustine. Exobiologist. Or xenobiologist if you want to call it that."

She tapped the glass, "Like I said, this is an Avatar. With the right equipment, I can transfer my mind and consciousness into it. I control it. It becomes my body for however long I stay in it or the equipment stays in operation..."

The usual follow-up question was underway, but by some change of fate, the human female actually avoided the subject completely. This was the first time that Aeneas had encountered such a thing, so he was understandably taken aback. Grace instantly had his gratitude.

“A pleasure to meet you, Doctor Grace Augustine,” trilled the alien pleasantly, a smile slowly blinked into his eyes and creasing his brow. Exobiologist, eh? There were a few of those on Walrum that were quite happy to meet Aeneas when he first landed.

“…Fascinating…” he purred, lavender irises sparkling as he impulsively leaned closer to the container, “…What happens to the body you are in right now? Does it go into a similar mode of stasis?”

It was a bit difficult for her not to watch him - he was a fascinating creature and the way he moved was incredibly fluid. Norm would probably enjoy talking to him. She turned back to the console, trying to call up more information as she responded a bit absent-mindedly.

"Pretty much. We have to use special equipment to get it all up and running, though. But... if the Avatar is here I'll bet that the other equipment is too."

No qualms there. Even futuristic humans were amazed by this creature; Aeneas had just assumed that it was some sort of insatiable curiosity that they all possessed, hard-wired into their brains throughout the ages. True, the Awesonians showed a similar intrigue in the alien’s physiology, but it was never so…severe. And I mean that in the best possible way.

Of course this one was no better, because he found the humans just as bizarre as they presumably found him.

“Yes, that seems likely…” Aeneas mused, gently wiping the side of the stasis tube with a webbed hand, hoping perhaps that he could better see inside, “…Is that their actual species classification? ‘Avatar’?”

He’s heard that phrase before. In a different context, obviously, but he’s heard it.

It might be hardwired. After all, humans had that whole, "ooo, fire" thing going, as well as an apparently insatiable drive to explore the unknown. Who knows? Whatever the reason, Grace was one of those types; the kind of person who liked to discover just what was over the next hill (or in the plants on the next hill). She glanced at him again and shook her head.

"No. The species is called the Na'vi. At least that's what they call themselves."

Nothing really that important was getting pulled from the console. Frustrating. She grimaced and turned to lean against it, watching Aeneas examine the tube through the glass.

"And we just call them Avatars because they're sort of like a character you control in a video game or a representation of you. In fact, it's not really a Na'vi. It's a human-N'avi hybrid and let me tell you, that took a lot of work to figure out."

So…a different species in stasis, used as a mere vessel…

“Can these hybrids think for themselves?” Aeneas blinked, stepping back to admire the tube from a different perspective, “Though I suppose if they were created for the purpose of being possessed, then…?”

The relevance of Grace’s statement didn’t quite strike him until several moments afterwards.

“—Wait, so—so you created these beings?” the alien cocked his head and perked his ears in wonderment.

"Of course not. They were created for this and there's only about twenty or thirty in existence. If they were fully functioning people, it'd be unethical to actually use them."

She glanced back at Aeneas curiously, still fascinated by him. So very interesting. She'd have to talk to him later.

"Well, I didn't. The Avatar project did, though."

And by ‘talk to’ I’m sure we mean ‘probe with something sharp’, because this is the most conversation Grace is going to get out of this shy alien unless she threatens him or something.

“—Oh,” Aeneas’s maw turned deep crimson and he quickly glanced away, “—Sorry, I—I should have assumed so, yes. Eh.”

He nervously began scratching his ears, quelled into silence by sheer embarrassment. Doctor Grace Augustine obviously did not have time for his ignorance.

No, no. Grace only probed plants. Aeneas has nothing to worry about there. Although he might have to worry about Norm talking his... uh... hearing appendages off.

"It's fine." She shrugged. "Natural assumption to make."

She leaned over the console again. "How long have you been on board this thing? Anything I should know?"

Auricles. They are auricles. Funny little appendages, too—like fleshy, webbed stalks, flexible but constantly perked and dilated in this hot, humid climate of alien entrails. When fully erect (as they were currently, since Aeneas was attentive to his audience as always), they were nearly a foot tall.

But enough about hearing apparatuses. Extraterrestrial creature physiology lessons can wait.

“It is…difficult to tell,” Aeneas slowly regained his composure, now that Grace didn’t seem quite so threatening, “Though I assume it has been several months since I first awoke. Some have been free for…quite a while longer.”

He hesitated.

“…You are new, yes? How much have you been told?”

She would be very interested to learn that. Maybe later, though. She shrugged.

"Oh, the usual. World destroyed. Universe in peril. All the stuff."

Aeneas exhaled slowly, bursts of invisible warmth and moisture streaming from the slit-like nostrils in the center of his face.

“Then I am afraid there is little else to tell,” the alien purred, shrugging as he offered Grace a brow-raising smile, “Other than the Nightmare King, I suppose. But I am sure you have been informed of that—most of us have been by this point.”

Obviously there were many other things that Aeneas could investigate; perhaps the zombie attacks, or the pirate raid, or the alien infections would make for interesting stories. However, this creature hadn’t experienced them for himself, and in a way, he felt that made him…unqualified to describe such scenarios in detail. If Grace inquired, then he at least knew who to direct her to.

Scarlet was running her usual checks through the lab, making sure everything they needed was in order, and that Luis wasn't passed out in the middle of the floor again.

She was focused on the data pad in her hands (per usual) when she caught movement and noticed a woman she hadn't met before messing with some of the equipment. Frowning a little, she approached her, cautious but not threatening.

"Excuse me, is there something I can help you with?"

Grace looked up and eyed the other woman curiously. She nodded briskly and nodded at the tank, "Maybe. How much do you know about this?"

"Not much," she frowned a little at the tank, holding her data pad against her chest and moving a little closer. "We haven't done full diagonistics on everything in the lab, we had an incident a few months back which required us to focus most of our attention on the viral and bacterial specimens we have." Because zombie outbreaks are bad.

She looked over at the other woman again, tilting her head. "Is it something that's familiar to you?"

"Yes, actually. It's my Avatar." She tapped lightly on the tank. "I don't know why it's here or how it got here, but... with the reight equipment I can use it. Then again, I'm not sure what the hell I'm going to use it for on this ship..."

Scarlet's brow furrowed slightly, as she looked again at the tank. She wasn't really sure what this woman even meant by her Avatar, but...well there was a variety of really weird things on board, she just wasn't going to question it for the moment. Instead she exhaled, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, I guess it'd entirely depend on what it's primarily used for. We've had trouble in the past, and will likely have it in the future, so it's entirely possible you might need it, and that's why it's here."

"Maybe. It's not intended for combat. It was supposed to help me do field research on an alien planet..." She shrugged, "Then again, the Na'vi are stronger and faster than humans. You could be right."

Tobias is drawn in as he passes by the Medbay, having caught a glimpse of the flash of blue. He wants a closer look.

< Someone please tell me that's not an...actually...Andalites aren't that big, so it can't be. >

She started to explain to the other person who was present that it was an 'avatar'.

< A what? Man, I thought Hork-bajir were big. This thing would be looking down at me even in that morph. > he commented.

"...a talking hawk. And I thought Pandora was a bit weird."

She eyed Tobias dubiously. "So, are you an alien hawk or have we just not realized that Earth birds-of-prey are telepathic all these years? Wait. What's a Hork-bajir?"

< It's hard to answer yes or no to that first one > he replied. < I used to be a human kid...but my father is decidedly not human. On top of that, there's a whole complicated alien thing with the hawk part. Have you seen the other blue guys on this ship yet? There is a resemblance to...that...only shorter. And with more legs. They're a big part of it all. I'll just say it's all complicated. > He saw no harm in mentioning Elfangor, but he still kept his cautious nature regarding the Andalite technology.

< It's another alien species. A little dim, but nice, once you get used to them. I will say that given the things I've seen in my life, it's very hard to surprise me anymore. >

The Pandora name was strange, but Tobias knew that with a whole universe out there, it was impossible to say how many planets and life forms there were. It was a bit odd not to just hear a species name used, though. In his world, it was always things like "the Andalite world" or "the Hork-Bajir homeworld".

It really seemed like an odd form of morph...except that morphing didn't involve a totally separate body, just a lot of DNA shifting and changing of one's own body.

"More extraterrestrial life...? Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised." She eyed Tobias, "...that is one hell of a story. Considering everything I've run into since I arrived, it's probably true, too."

She leaned back against the console, folding her arms, "I'm Grace Augustine. Who are you?"

< It's hard to be surprised by anything on this ship after you've been here a while > he replied. < Tobias Fangor. Good to meet you. >

"Try living on Pandora for a bit," she responded wryly, "Nice to meet you Tobias."

< What's that? Is it a planet? > he asked. He'd seen several by now, but they were probably only a small fraction of what was out there, especially if you asked the Ellimist. < I used to think things couldn't get any weirder, but it kept happening, so I've quit thinking it can't get worse. >

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