trans_9 | Morning Exercise (open)

Entry tags:

Morning Exercise (open)

Anwei was jumping around the Hub - literally. With firm strokes of her arms and legs, she leaped from tentacle-base to tentacle-base, circling the vast room. Her hair fluttered wildly around her head in the anti-grav field, and she was sweating a little with the exertion.

She'd kept up a running commentary to Stacy about what she was doing in the back of her throat – the same way she used to talk to Horanckk. When Stacy suggested she try the Sensoriums for exercise, though, she demurred. The idea of rooms that could take things out of her mind and make them real made her shiver.

After three complete circuits of the Hub, she came to a halt and consulted her omnicom, which had been filming the whole time. Carefully, she marked the tunnels that were never entered by passers-by, the tentacles that hung limp rather than undulating. Someday, maybe soon, she would want to see if she could get into those unused tunnels, and see what might be in there. But for now, she rolled up her denim shirt and tied it to a tentacle with some blue string (making extra certain that all the pockets were sealed), marked out a large triangle on the wall with that same string, and began something that looked like dancing.

It was not dancing. It was drill for free-fall unarmed combat. Her arms and legs moved in long coordinated scything motions, her fingers grabbing and clawing at imaginary opponents (she was not grabbing with her toes because of the binding material of her plantsuit). In her ears she remembered her drill instructor bellowing as it criticized every falter and hesitation. She deliberately did not think of her first dance instructor and his tiny, cutting whip.

When she drifted out into the flow of traffic, she used her tie-line to move back against the wall and start again. It would be pretty obvious to anyone watching that she was doing some sort of structured exercise.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was his first time hearing that mentioned on this ship. There was a rather limited crewbase, even if he had actually spoke to an even more limited number. He sighed a breath of relief at the story though. He still wasn't a fan of her choice in jobs, but he ranked mercenaries quite a bit higher than army men. "N-no. I-I mean, I d-don't like i-it, b-but it's b-better than b-being owned b-by the g-government."

He paused briefly before explaining, "A b-bit. I h-have... an u-unusual diet, a-and I n-never ate p-properly. I'm t-trying ta ch-change that now."

"Owned by the government is pretty accurate really," she said wryly, remembering blank-eyed soldiers with the marks of their death-oaths carved into their foreheads. "At least for the Ninth Empire."

"Oh, I know about that, really. My species is carnivorous until we hit puberty, and then we're omnivorous. And we shed our baby teeth at puberty. So here you are, all your teeth have just fallen out, and people are offering you things like - well, the equivalent of apples, or bananas, and insisting it's food. And you're insisting right back that no, that's not food, food is meat and that's not meat!" She rubbed her stomach with one hand. "Painful. But hopefully there's a good medical team here, right? You can get supplements and such?"

He laughed a bit at the idea of trying to figure out supplements. He imagined them looking like clear capsules to other people. It was an odd mental image. "I-I know a b-bit of wh-what you mean," he said, thinking of his father forcing him to eat some terrible two day old unrefrigerated pizza, and him trying to explain that the pizza was not the sort of food he needed.

"W-well, w-we have a g-good medical t-team, b-but supplements," he laughed a bit again, "I c-can't imagine any s-supplements for me. M-my d-doctor's tryin' th-though."

"Good for your doctor. If I find the Vizsnunishne medical database and get it ported over, it should have a humans entry - there were a few humans in the Fleet. There might be something that could be adapted for you - artificial coral maybe? I'll send you a note if and when it is done, and you can pass it along to your doctor."

The database was meant to save life, and even in this strange place, that was something worth passing on. It was probably the most important thing she had to offer.

He tilted his head a bit. "I-I doubt i-it'll have m-much for me, b-but, artificial c-coral?"

So far, he hadn't met anyone else on the ship that fed off of emotions, as shadows or otherwise. Maybe if some other race ate in a similar manner, then something could be adapted. "W-were there a l-lot of r-races where y-you are from?"

"Sure, artificial coral is pretty standard for peoples who lose bone mass. You put it into the bloodstream, you see, and it finds the weakened spots in the bones and fills them in with coral material, which blends right in. Doctors use it for repairing fractures and replacing lost or diseased bones as well."

"Where I was from?" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "On my home planet, no. I only saw members of my own species, except on video broadcasts. But once I - left," her expression was joy tinged with sadness, "once I was away, there were every sort of race. Liquid people, plasma based, sentient vibration patterns, species that had translated themselves from body type to body type until even they didn't remember where they started, races that had becomes machine intelligences and vice versa - it's a great, no, a grand universe. And a wonderful one, a lot of the time...."

He kept that one in mind. He'd need to ask Sam if he had ever heard of the treatment before. If he could use it, he imagined that it would help a lot.

"Th-that is a lot," he mused. Liquid people... His stomach flipped as he thought of Duuv and forced his mind to keep moving past that. "I-it sounds... i-incredible. D-did y-you ever m-meet a r-race that lived o-off of o-other people's e-emotions?" If she did, and these databases contained information on them, then maybe just maybe Sam would be able to make a supplement for him. Maybe even a substitute.

Anwei frowned. "That actually sounds almost familiar. You know, I can't remember the species name, but there was a couple on board the second ship I served on. Their names were Bitte and Chem, and they were married - their husbands weren't on the Fleet, they stayed home - and Bitte and Chem had to maintain this sort of copy of their spouses' emotions. An emotion print. It kept their connection to their spouses alive, and they needed that connection or they died.

"And Bitte died, and the doctors had to create a new emotion print, one that included the husbands and Bitte. And Chem was still alive when I transferred off the ship, so it must have worked...I'm sorry, that's the first thing that comes to me off the top of my mind. They didn't live off of emotions, but they needed it. The records of that treatment should be in the database - if I have it."

It was something at least! He held his laptop a bit closer to his chest as Alice made her way up onto his shoulder. "I-it's n-not the same, b-but, i-it's something." He gestured in the direction of the department and took a few steps in the direction. "I-if you c-could s-send those ta Doctor Henderson, i-if you have th-them. I-it's something!"

Anwei paused for a delicate instant; she hadn't missed the way that Alex's voice shook when she mentioned emotion-sensitive people. She hoped this wasn't some revenge he was looking for, on some specific alien or alien species who had wronged him.

"As soon as I have the information on the datastores translated and cleared with Stacy, your doctor will get everything I know. After all, my medical information is on there as well. And if for some reason Stacy won't let me port over the whole database, I should be able to pull out at least that case in cleartext." Anwei hoped that the ship didn't lock down that hard.

"And the sooner I get into Engineering, the sooner I get started on it. Hmm, if you don't mind, you know the personnel there - who would have the most free time? It might be faster to set up a specific appointment. Kaylee already gave me her name - but if she's very busy..."

Alex frowned when he noticed the shadow of concern. "I-I'm n-not too familiar w-with too m-many other m-members, b-but... c-can I ask, f-first, wh-what's worrying you?"

He wasn't sure if he could help set her up either, but it really depended on what she needed. He could probably at least find her a corner until Kaylee was free.

Edited 2011-01-16 07:46 (UTC)

He was perceptive, that was for sure. She wished that she was as facile at reading other species' facial expression; she had thought learning to express emotions with her hands was a great shortcut.

"I designed the Vizsnusnshne medical database - which doesn't mean that I wrote everything in it, I'm not a doctor. But I spent a year interviewing doctors, and three years setting up the backend structure, and I've spent a sizable portion of my time since in maintaining and updating it.

"It's a miracle really, when some soldier comes in, a species that no one on the ship has seen before, and the database knows at once what's wrong and can explain it clearly enough that even non-medical people can understand. The database saves lives, that's why I wrote it.

"But of course, because it knows what can harm or kill other species, it could be backwards engineered as a weapon. So when you asked about species who absorbed emotions, I hope that doesn't mean that a species like that has done you harm, and you're out for revenge?" She cocked her head. "Of course, if there's someone preying on the crew and you need more information to stop them, that's another matter."

Alex wasn't quite that skilled, but his own shortcut helped greatly in that regard.

He smiled with a sigh of relief, glad that it's misuse was her only concern. "N-no. I-I'm the o-one who d-does the absorbing. I-I'm n-not big on the whole r-revenge thing. I c-can see all th-the n-negative feelings th-that causes, a-and, h-honestly, I'd rather live in a w-world where I'd starve."

A medical database like that would probably be fantastic for the ship. He couldn't imagine that all the doctors knew all the species. "M-maybe y-you c-could even w-work on e-expanding it."

"So you absorb emotions, huh? If we were back on the Fleet I'd probably ask you a lot of pushy questions so I could set you up with one of our doctors, and get your condition written up for the database." Best to leave it there; as she recalled a lot of humans had high privacy expectations - a lot higher than she was used to, certainly.

"I'm sure that Stacy has a huge medical database." Because otherwise she'd unpod someone with a lethal disease or contagious insanity, and that would be that. "The Vizsnunishne database has as one of its condition of use that it can be given away, but not sold. Stacy might think her medical information is proprietary - well, even if she does think that, I can still add my information to hers. If she lets me."

One pushy question finally broke loose. "So - can you absorb emotions from anyone? Can you absorb them from Stacy?"

"I i-imagine the sh-ship'll a-appreciate the e-extra info," he said with a smile. Alex seemed more than happy to oblige her question, however prodding it might have seemed. "I've n-never tried f-from an AI, b-but with the ship's s-size... I w-would h-have a hard time s-seeing a s-shadow. I-I'm n-not really sure, s-since I d-don't k-know how shadows are m-made." That would be something to look into though. He wondered, if an AI that can feel emotions would produce shadows.

"I certainly hope she does," Anwei laughed. "It's always best to be on an AI's good side - especially when you are living inside of its sphere of influence."

Anwei tried to picture emotions as shadows for a moment - shadows that could be eaten. What did they look like, what did they taste like? Maybe she would ask some of those questions, later. For the database, of course.

"Remember what I said on the comm, about treating AI's as people? How the more flexible they became, the better personalities they had? Stacy is the person who will know about her emotions, good and bad. Ask Stacy how she feels. Maybe she's nothing but love and joy all the time but - maybe not. And if you can take some of her shadows away - she may appreciate it."

Talk to her? On his own free will? "I-I've never... m-much liked the sh-ship." Reasons built over time, but more than anything else was that first feeling he got, along with the missing memory of the pod caverns that everyone else had. He didn't want to know what happened, but he knew whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"I-I just... D-don't trust her."

"Well, that's a hard one," Anwei said. "Because I certainly can see why you wouldn't like her. She's done a lot of strange things to all of us, and hasn't be able to tell us why. Of course for all we know she is screaming inside to tell us why, and there's some code on her that won't let her speak."

She looked down for a moment. "Look. I don't know how long all of us, any of us, are going to be here. But maybe you could try talking to her, tell her why you don't trust her, what she would need to do for you to trust her. And - here's the important thing - give her permission to talk to you later, to think about what you've said. Sometimes for an AI that's all it takes, knowing that someone wants to hear back from them. And before you know it they're running their numbers backwards, in your favor. Because they like you."

Alex sighed and rubbed his arm. It would be easier if he knew why, at least. Then perhaps he could figure out what she might be able to do to get him to trust her. "I'll k-keep it in mind. I-I think, I-I need t-to work th-through s-some things b-before I c-can go t-to her though. I d-do want t-to help her t-though."

As much distrust and dislike he felt towards Stacy, that projection had shown a side of her that he hadn't expected to see. As hurt as he still felt, seeing anyone like that tugged at his heart.

"You should do what you need to do for yourself first, of course. Just try not to forget she's there?" Anwei asked, while simultaneously gsturing to the huge cavern of green-black tentacles around them as though to say, it isn't that easy. "Don't forget that there's a person behind all this, like as not, and she may be wanting you to trust her very, very much."

Alex sighed and nodded. She was right. She hadn't been wrong yet. "I-it's hard n-not to, wh-when you h-hear her pulse a-as you go to s-sleep every night." He frowned a bit as if he wasn't all too pleased with the idea. He really wasn't. It was a constant reminder that she was everywhere, and could possibly hear everything. He went through hoops at home to keep anyone from being able to do that. It left him feeling a bit helpless here.

Anwei smiled; she rather liked that pulse. It was nice having something warm and soft close to you. Sort of like Stacy was standing cuddle watch every night, for all of them.

"I wonder if she ever sleeps? I mean probably she shuts down segments of her system in series for maintenance and defragging, but does she dream, I wonder? AI's can have some incredibly vivid dreams." She'd met two who had been award-winning novelists, and both had claimed that they only wrote their dreams. "Maybe she dreams of you and Alice. Dreams of keeping you safe. Dreams of this whole war being over, of having never been. Of everyone going home."

He sighed. He didn't want to go home, really, but he didn't want to keep speaking so hopelessly. He just hoped that somehow, he could live in another person's world, like Luna's.

"M-maybe. Th-that'd be nice. M-maybe, i-if she c-can't, I c-could someday f-figure a w-way so she c-could."

Anwei had left her physical home behind long, long ago. Home was people now; the mercenaries, Horanckk. She so wanted to go back to the Fleet - to know that some of it had escaped - to see those friendly tusked faces, hear her AI's dry drawl in her ear. To go home.

But Stacy was her place for the moment. "I hope that the Daligig have something nice planned for her after this is over. She's a beautiful piece of software and bioware, even if she is rather mixed up right now; I hope they don't just wipe her and turn her back into a prison ship."

Alex smiled wryly, "I-if I c-can really learn this c-code, then I m-might be able to figure a w-way to make s-sure they do." At the very least, Stacy had shown that she was not happy about being a prison ship. And even he had to respect the beauty of her complexity at the very least. "'C-'course, t-talking ta th-them would b-be b-best."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

If this isn't okay, lemme know? He sees negative emotions as shadows

Fine with me

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject