trans_9 | "From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines" (Part 1

A large group of crew members was gathered. In fact, given the mission briefing provided, it was curious that there'd be such a large number for a diplomatic mission.

Planet Designation: Galilee
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Extensive flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Homo Sapiens. [Various translations of "human" appear here so everyone understands it]
Water: 69.5% of the planet's surface.
Climate: Earth-like [Click here for cultural equivalents for non-Earth cultures.]
Landscape: Varied.
Air: Normoxic concentration. Slightly elevated levels of carbon dioxide.
Air Pressure: 101.3 kPa (kilopascals) = 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch)
Sky: Blue. Often overcast.
Sun: A class G2V, yellow star.
Warnings: Wildlife and plant-life can be hazardous. Humans can be hazardous. A human cultural and legal database is available. [click here]
Mission: Successfully negotiate with the Galileeans in exchange for their advanced medical technology.

It was very little to work with, so the crew gathered there possibly had a lot of questions.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You could always suggest it to Stacy. Live, pulsating robes that can, let's see, reconfigure into glider wings? You could be flying through the City, the wind in your ears..."

"Status," she says dryly. "'Look at me, I'm so important that I need to have my every word captured by a real live organic sentient' - never mind that an AI could do it with a fraction of its attention, more perfectly than I ever could."

She wasn't even certain that she did care, either. This situation wasn't that different from the mercs, right down to people constantly disappearing - although here they did seem to reappear. Sometimes. But she didn't want Howard to go away. That might just be it, the selfish wish for familiar company.

"She's grabbing multiple people from Medical - pray that no one so much as breaks a tooth while you're gone," she says, rolling her eyes at the ceiling. "This mission had better be worth it."

"If I wanted to fly, I'd have signed up for some kind of Rogue Squadron training. I'm fine just keeping my feet on the ground, if I can."

Always talking about AI's. He tilts his head at her. It must be hard for her to adjust to this new way of life when she's constantly comparing it to how it could be - even he knows that.

And in a weir way, he doesn't want her to go away either. She terrifies him, and yet she's easy to talk to, an ally in the Med Bay. And allies are hard to come by. She's someone who doesn't hold a grudge for all the ways he's chipped at her.

"You might have to do some Medic stuff yourself. Just shove them into stasis until we get back."

"Right," she replies, gesturing wide to the Obs Deck around them, and the view out the windows, and the tentacled walls, and the mingling humans and aliens around them. "Feet right here on the ground."

A society run by AIs is a very safe one, so long as the AIs do not get mischievous. And as she had grown older, Anwei had chosen safety over freedom, over and over again.

"I'll review the stasis process as soon as I'm back on duty. I promise." Then she wags a finger in his face, a grin slicing into her cheeks. "And I shall nibble on all of your pens if you don't come back whole." She clicks her teeth in menace.

"Well, close enough to ground."

Howard would agree with safety over freedom, too. Unlike Anwei, his perspective doesn't come from age.

"Maw, I don't want to come back and have the stuff on my desk looking like it went through a wood-chipper. Leave my pens alone. If I'm missing body parts I'm going to need to chew on something more than ever."

"Space is safer - sometimes." More room to hide.

"Oh, we'll just have Billy in Engineering make you an edible prosthesis." She wiggled her own hands to demonstrate. "The fingers will be jerky, the skin fruit leather, and you can just nibble all day long."

Anwei did bite her nails - sometimes. Carefully. Very carefully.

Howard looks like he's about to gag. "Not funny, Maw."

The idea of being eaten, prosthetic or not, lost its humor value to Howard a long time ago.

"Fine." She makes a mental note that Howard should not be invited to her funeral - or would the crew of Stacy insist on performing an Earth ritual, and letting her go to waste?

Now that was a grisly thought. Maybe she could discuss it with Stacy in advance, and see if she could do something about it.

"Just - come back."

"Don't need to tell me twice. Unless the place we're going is better than Stacy, in which case - bye?"

She clutches at her chest with feigned terror. "You're going to leave me here? All alone? With all these strangers? How could you?!"

Actually, from Howard's description of his Earth and the FAYZ, jumping ship might be very tempting.

She drops her voice. "The briefing up there," she gestures with her chin, "looks rather sparse. I'd hate to find out that their advanced technology runs on the consumption of alien souls, or something like that. And you'd hate it even more."

"But if you choose to run - do it. And don't look back."

She hadn't.

"Somehow I get the feeling you've survived way worse than spending time without me, Maw." He winks. This is, despite everything, possibly the friendly conversation they've ever had.

He whispers too. "Don't worry. I may hate it here, but I know it can be way worse. Thanks for the candy."

She winks back.

"And now I shall sneak away, before Stacy decides a diplomatic mission isn't complete without a cheerleader." She mimes shaking pom-poms in front of her, then turns and slips off through the crowd."

"From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines" (Part 1 - Briefing)

Re: Arrivals

Re: Arrivals

Re: Arrivals

Re: Arrivals

Re: Arrivals

Re: Arrivals

Re: Arrivals

Re: Arrivals

Re: Arrivals

Re: Arrivals

Re: Arrivals