Liability [closed]

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

After leaving his omnicom message, he waits for them in one of the Sensoriums of all places, but that will make it easier to answer any questions. Right now, there's a chalkboard up and several things written on it. Things like:

BUGS LIKE ME?

OHM WELCOME

DALIGIG TELLING THE TRUTH?

CARGN KNOWS MORE THAN HE'S TELLING

Comments

[governmentninja]

Leon entered not too long after receiving the message, curious as to what this meeting was about. He at least gave Jaime the benefit of assuming this was important, something which was confirmed as he looked over the chalkboard.

"Mr. Reyes?"

[prettycoolguy]

The Chief arrives shortly after Leon, eyes immediately drawn to the chalkboard. The message was decidedly scant on details.

"What is it?"

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

"I've finally put all the pieces together," is what Jaime says, looking at the board. "And the message on the puzzle, now that it's all together, basically reads, 'You're screwed.'"

[governmentninja]

"Slow down," not that the kid was rushing, but he seemed to have gotten ahead of himself on something here.

"I need you to back up a few steps for me here."

There was a glance at the Chief, as Leon wondered if he'd be able to shed any light on the situation.

[prettycoolguy]

The Chief, unfortunately, doesn't know what Jaime's talking about either.

"Me too. Start from the beginning, Reyes. What exactly did you figure out?"

The Chief hopes he can get a less pessimistic answer if he runs through it himself.

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

"Okay, the Daligig told me that the scarab was Ohm tech, back when we broke through to the bridge and made contact with them, remember? I just asked Cargn, because he seems to know more about them, if it's possible, from what he knows, and he basically said probably."

Jaime starts pacing back and forth.

"That wouldn't worry me, except for what happened during the fight with the Ohm. At the end."

This is the part that has him the most freaked.

[governmentninja]

Okay, now certain pieces were starting to fit together.

"When you and Khaji were messing with their communications, and they bounced you before they withdrew..."

Leon did not like the possibilities where this conversation could be headed.

[prettycoolguy]

"What happened?" asks the Chief. "I was on the ground in the thick of it."

He had other problems when that went down.

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

"Then there were the bugs on the ship, that was before your time, Leon. The bugs on the ship were part-Ohm, they thought I was one of them."

He turns to Chief.

"During the fight on Zokez, I was up here with the hackers. I was blasting back bits of the Ohm 'language,' if you can call it that. Distracting them, messing with their communications. At the end, they counter-hacked. They reached out to me and the scarab. They almost broke through, and they were--there was this feeling. Like they were trying to welcome us home. But then they retreated."

It'd been why he'd been sitting there trying to shake the greasy feelings out of his head while everyone else had celebrated.

"The scarab--I knew the Reach stole it from somewhere--it's Ohm tech and even though neither him or I want it, they might be able to break Khaji's defenses. They might be able to control us. They almost did it during the fight," he admits shamefully.

Looking at each of them steadily, he says, "They have their very own Infiltrator on the ship--and I'm not sure we can do a thing to stop them from using us if they ever decide to."

[governmentninja]

Yeah, Leon did not like where this particular conversation went. He was quiet for a moment, trying to think how to best approach this.

"Almost," he finally said. "But they didn't get you, which means you do have a way of fighting them off."

[prettycoolguy]

Well, this is wonderful.

"So essentially, you and Khaji are a potential Yeerklike situation, only with the Ohm pulling the strings."

Things just get better and better around here, he swears. "How close is 'almost'?"

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

This is the part where he stands there for a moment, breathing in and out, and admits, "The only reason it stopped, I think, is because they had to retreat."

He pushes his hair out of his face.

[governmentninja]

Yeah, this was not good.

"Look, you did the right thing by coming to us with this." Though, admittedly, Leon wished Jaime had come to him sooner, but that was beside the point.

"But obviously this makes you a liability whenever we encounter the Ohm, for the moment." And a potential asset as well, but one thing at a time. "But we are going to need to get some answers, and figure out a way for you to protect yourself from all of this. That means we need to take a much closer look at you and Khaji."

Later...

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

Jaime's very nervous as he stops by the Science lab. He's basically trusting Leon here that Luis is a trustworthy guy. Still, for Jaime, that's enough.

"Hey, uh, Dr. Sera? You in here? I'm Jaime Reyes. Leon wanted me to talk to you."

[notlewis]

Luis is hard at work at his usual station when Jaime comes in, but he sits up to see who's calling him in a rare display of not being incredibly distracted.

"Boy, for all the secretary work Leon does for me, I really ought to be paying him more," he mutters, then stands up. "Mucho gusto, Mr. Reyes. What can I do for you?"

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

"I have this symbiote," he says. "Emphasis on symbiote, it's not parasitic, but there could be problems from my having it. Leon suggested we learn more about it, and how it works. He figured you could help with that--and he figured you wouldn't go spouting off anything private. 'Cause there's some things about it that would be good to keep quiet."

My, there's some hardcore hedging going on here. He's hiding something.

[notlewis]

Luis seemed to be watching Jaime's face very carefully as he spoke, then he let out a heavy sigh and brushed his hair out of his face wearily.

There was a brief and awkward pause before he spoke again. "Well, keeping quiet has become a big part of my job description lately, amigo. So you have nothing to worry about there."

But honest to god, were there any teenage boys on this ship who didn't have symbiotes/viruses/parasites/bodily hitchhikers that might kill them all?

"Lucky for you, parasites and symbiotes happen to be my specialty, so you've come to the right place. Go on and grab a seat."

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

Some teenage boys on the ship are just...aliens or whatever? Yeah.

Seat grabbed. Jaime sits there, looking not so much sullen at having to talk to Luis as sullen about his situation. Clearly, he does want to be here to take care of things, but he doesn't want to have to be there.

"The big thing I just have to say ahead of time, is whatever you have to do, Khaji can't be hurt. He's my friend. Leon said right now we should be focused on prevention and protection, not 'preemptive retaliation.' His words."

Seriously, Luis, you might want to start wondering just what exactly Leon dumped in your lap.

[notlewis]

Luis is grabbing some tools from around his workstation, things that look like ordinary medical tools... and some that look like torture devices. He also grabs his glasses and slides them onto his face.

"If Leon wants prevention and protection, you definitely don't need to worry about me coming at you with drills and saws," Luis assures him. "My reputation as a mad scientist is pretty exaggerated, I think you'll find."

There is a sudden flash of SCIENCE in his eyes as he holds up one of the scarier tools. Maybe it's not as exaggerated as he thinks.

"But listen. Whatever impression you've got of me, you don't need to worry about me keeping my mouth shut."

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

Jaime sits there, and lets Luis SCIENCE away, trying to sit very still as he does it.

Okay, Leon trusts this guy, and Jaime's finding that his gut instincts are telling him he's trustworthy, too.



"Look, it might help if you know more about what exactly you're looking for. And you'd better be telling the truth about keeping your mouth shut, 'cause it's the kinda thing that could get me launched out an airlock, with some of the people on board."

He bites his lower lip, and says, "The scarab and I just found out that the scarab is possibly--is probably Ohm-tech, seeded to our universe ages ago and later corrupted by these aliens called the Reach. The Ohm almost counter-hacked us during the big fight."

[notlewis]

There is a long pause.

"Huh."

Luis calmly writes that down, then walks up in front of Jaime as he pulls on a pair of gloves. "Okay. I'll be the first to admit I'm not exactly a technology expert, though if this thing is organic and works anything like the science I'm familiar with, I'll probably be able to take a closer look at it."

He pauses, and eyes Jaime a little suspiciously. "So I assume you're worried that, if you are hauling around Ohm-tech, then you might be the 'problem,' sí?"

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

"I think it's kind of techno-organic. Like a mix of both," explains Jaime.

As for the rest...

"And the suit the scarab makes...well, let's just say that 'negating God' over an area has been presented as a weapons option before. If the Ohm got control of the scarab, kicked in its mind control imperatives on me--we're talking a walking WMD, radiation-projecting, laser beam shooting, scanning the weaknesses of people around me, insanely deadly problem, to be specific. I would not just hurt people, I would do it systematically, intelligently, using everything Khaji and I know. I would be able to customize weapons according to people's weaknesses. And they almost did it. They almost took control."

[notlewis]

"Techno-organic," Luis mutters, jotting that down in his notes as well.

He listens quietly to Jaime's concerns, making a few notes here and there and underlining several of them. After a few minutes it's hard to tell if he's even paying attention anymore, simply writing things in as they come to him in impossible-to-decipher shorthand.

Then he seems to think for a moment.

"Listen, Mr. Reyes," he says, setting his notes down and moving so he can look Jaime in the eye. "It'd probably be vain of me to assume I had any idea of the kind of things your 'scarab' is capable of in the wrong hands. I'm not even one of the soldiers who'd have to face it if something were to happen. Not even close."

"But so you know, you are far from the only person on the ship who could become a liability-- a dangerous liability, even. And I'm the guy whose job it is to keep that from happening." He smirked a bit. "I've been able to do it so far, and a lot of it depends on your mindset. So first things first-- I don't want you stressing out over the 'what ifs.' If something comes up, we'll find a way to deal with it. But the clearer you keep your mind, the less you worry, the easier this is going to be on everyone. You got it?"

[el-escarabajo.livejournal.com]

"...I can see why Leon likes you. You're like the little rainbow that comes after his very serious stormcloud, aren't you."

[notlewis]

He shrugs. "Eh. I just like to look on the bright side of life when I can."