Foodplot: Parte Uno [Closed]

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

After the 'bitching about Stacy' session finally reached a head, Sakura and Howard decided to actually do something about all the questions they had about their spacefaring fleshy home. Granted, they couldn't really find anything out about the Ohm on their own, and the Daligig were Right Out, so that left exploring the ship itself.

Time for them to find out what it is that they're putting in their bodies.

They drew on a few people they trust, or at least have figured out well enough to not distrust (more than they usually do), and now they're gathered at the mess hall at some awkward hour when no one is there to eat. They've brought Kanoe Zouichi (specialties: stuff going boom and wrangling Howard into being cooperative) and Ian Chesterton (specialties: hot cocoa, also science). And Ian's brought Barbara Wright (specialties: ??? and pissing Howard off).

Howard's tucking away at a tray of slop, figuring that if they're going to find anything that puts them off eating food forever, he might as well enjoy sweet, delicious ignorance now.

Comments

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"It looks like something out of an anatomy textbook." Howard can breathe again now that he knows it's just a hologram. He waves his hand through too, passing it through the hologram of Ian's liver. "Wonder if our translator chips aren't working on it because it's computer code or something."

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[meat_mooks]

Also in the room is another computer console. It sparks to life. The pod with 'Ian' in it lifts up and moves forward by its living root at the ceiling, allowing another human-shaped pod to take its place. This pod is, likewise, the size of an adult male.

The computer display pulls up an image of Jake Berenson, including more typing in the alien language. It then beeps a few times.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[zouichi]

"So I guess it's pretty clear the ship's keeping detailed notes on everyone," Zouichi said dryly.

His manner was nonchalant, but this was not something he liked. At all. His inner structure, the materials that made him up, everything was an industry secret. And as the mission on Galilee had proved, people were not above trying to use those secrets to create more perfect tools of destruction.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[splendid_roman]

But it was an odd thing to have near to where the food was, Ian thought, before he realised why that might be. "So she knows what we can eat. If the notes are only about anatomy and digestion, it won't be much different for people who're the same species." Ian couldn't see much to worry about.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"It probably includes allergies and intolerances and stuff too." Howard opens this pod and, as expected, is greeted with a hologram of Jake Berenson. He reaches his hand in and out of it - when he passes over a vital organ, the organ lights up, and the text glows. He pulls his hand back.

"Okay, I'm not paranoid or anything," lies, "but this looks like a teaching tool to me. Like, I don't know, one of those dinosaur toys you take apart to see their insides. Like they're studying us like lab rats."

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[zouichi]

Zouichi folded his arms, staring down at the hologram. "Lab rats you want to keep alive? Or lab rats you want to dissect later, to measure how they've changed?"

Cheery thoughts!

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[splendid_roman]

Ian was thinking about teaching in a completely different way. "That's very clever. Imagine teaching biology with one of these." He walked around the pod, inspecting it. "Is there a way to take it back with us?"

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"I'm betting the latter." Howard and Zouichi are clearly professionals in jumping to the worst possible conclusion about the ship. "I mean, we know from the channels that they experimented on some kid, right? Who's saying they aren't testing stuff out on us?"

He looks over at Ian. "Maybe we could cut one down. We should probably take one that people don't rely on. Maybe we can find Zou's in here, since he doesn't eat. Lucky."

Howard's also suggesting that because he's pretty sure Zou's about as happy as a clam to have a 'teaching tool' on his anatomy floating around here. A clam that has been washed ashore and eaten by gulls, that is.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[zouichi]

"If we find mine here," Zouichi said, looking grim, "I'd prefer to destroy it." Whether they took his holographic dummy or not, chances were that the information would still be in the ship's systems. The difference was that Medical or whoever else got the dummy would then have information on how Zouichi worked.

And there were, of course, some unsavory people on the ship. He'd rather not risk it.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[splendid_roman]

"That's assuming there is one for everyone. There might just be a random selection." Although one for everyone would suggest that Zouichi and Howard are right about them being for experimentation.

"If Zouichi doesn't eat and there's one for him, then that will tell us these aren't just for working out what we eat." And then maybe they could just take Ian's back, he was willing to take that risk.

He started working through the pods, unlatching the ones that looked to be the right shape.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Stacy gives Zouichi water, so there might just be one of him around here that says 'H2O goes here'." He shakes his head. "And I don't think it's random selection. There are thousands of people in the pods, hundreds awake. What honestly are the odds that we run into your hologram the first time around?"

He looks up. The high arched ceiling is covered with pods, and tunnels allow for tentacles to bring even more in. The one with Ian, cover still hanging open, is being lifted up into a line about twenty feet above their head.

Howard points at one two pods in front of Ian's. "I bet that's yours, Zou. I bet it senses who was near the chutes last and pulls up the holograms that correlate."

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[zouichi]

In response to the pointing, Zouichi unlatched one of the two pods -- the larger one, and therefore the most likely to be his. He had his gun still in hand. If this pod was made for him, he was going to destroy it without regrets.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[splendid_roman]

"I agree it's unlikely, but that doesn't make it impossible." But if it was to show what they ate, it would make sense that whoever was closest most recently would be at the front.

Ian looked into the pod Zouchi unlatched. "If we know one of these words is water," he said, "perhaps it'll help us translate the rest of the language." After all, they all needed water, they just needed to compare the pods. Which would have been easier had the one with his hologram still been close enough to read.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[meat_mooks]

The pod is indeed Zouichi's pod, just as detailed as the rest.

There's a chamber off from this one with more computers and metal counters, tall enough for the long-legged Daligig. Tentacles descend from the ceiling and tamper with some science-like apparatuses on the counters.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Can you actually translate an entire language from a single word? I mean, we don't even know if it's a word or a chemical symbol or whatever, some other way of defining water." Howard glances over at Zouichi. "It was water, right?"

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[zouichi]

"It was water," Zouichi agreed. "Stand back, please."

He took a few steps back himself, set the shell accelerator output on his gun to the appropriate setting, then pulled the trigger.

The pod was gone.

Or rather a significant portion of it was gone, but Zouichi wasn't interested in the remnants of the thing that fell to the ground. "Generally, no. However, we can begin to infer other words through context. Assuming their language base is similar to our own."

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[splendid_roman]

When Ian stepped back he took a look at what he could see of the next chamber. Since there didn't seem to be much more to discover from here, he stepped into it. This was definitely a science lab. He wondered what the tentacles were for and as one descended he got a hold of it, to see what it would do.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[meat_mooks]

As soon as the pod is destroyed, a tentacles descends from the ceiling and feels up the hand Zouichi used to pull the trigger.

The tentacle that Ian grabbed, by contrast, flails and thrashes in a desperate attempt to escape. Its tip becomes needle-thin and it stretches back as if to strike Ian like a snake.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Whoa, it's like tentacle central up in- Ian, watch it!" Howard notices the needle point and decides he's going to happily avoid the tentacles if he can.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[zouichi]

Zouichi slapped the tentacle aside, backing off rapidly while keeping an eye on the tentacles. Any move to harm the people in the chamber, and some more destruction was going to go down.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[splendid_roman]

Ian let go of the tentacle and stepped back before it could do anything to him. "Now we know not to touch the tentacles." Part of him wondered what it would have done if he hadn't let go, but if it had done something awful, this wasn't the best place for someone to give him medical attention. So instead he went back to see what the tentacle was doing in the other chamber.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard's a very good medic. He is probably not such a good medic when they're covered in grime and he's got pretty much none of his equipment. And probably especially not good when they're camped in a giant nostril cavern.

"I think it's also telling us not to blow up any more hologram generators."

The tentacles retract, although it seems that they're rushing away not because they're sated, but because they have a destination somewhere they need to get to immediately.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[zouichi]

Zouichi lowered his gun. "Wonder where they're all off to in a hurry. Let's get out of here sooner rather than later." He hated it in this nostril cave anyway.

He followed after Ian, if only to make this end quickly.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[splendid_roman]

"I'd like to know where they're going." They must be doing something. It was just a question of finding a way to follow them without touching any of the tentacles.

Re: Tunnel 2: Ian, Zouichi and Howard

[meat_mooks]

The room they're in, probably the last place they'll be, is bereft of grime and goo, but the tentacles bring tiny trays of clear substances over to the counters, where they are placed under microscopes. Not human microscopes, by any means, but magnification lenses all the same. If one were to look into the microscopes, they should notice that cells are duplicating in the dishes.

The dishes smell strongly of the dead cow from earlier.