trans_9 | Say Hello and Remain Close to Me [Closed]

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Say Hello and Remain Close to Me [Closed]

Howard's nervous. It's not as if this is a new feeling for him, or even one that's unusual, but he's more nervous than he typically is. He sits in a far-off section of the Medical Bay with Sakura, away from prying eyes, and chews on his pen. He's currently on his second pot of coffee.

"Worst thing about Stacy time is that I can't even bitch that they're late."

Behind them, on a giant lab table, rests the thawing body of their dissected Ohm. It's clearly spent a little too long in the freezer, because one of its toes actually broke off during the transportation, and true to his nature Howard's wondering if said digit is edible. The corpse also stinks up this section of the Medical Bay a little like dead fish.

If the damn thing weren't so hard to move around, and if they weren't guaranteed a relative amount of privacy here, Howard would suggest they do this somewhere else (somewhere with a big windshield he could hide behind while everyone else does the dangerous stuff and possibly deals with crazy Ohmed up Jaime), but there really isn't another place that would work for it.

So they sit and wait for Kon and Jaime.

[Tag order is Sakura, Jaime, Kon, then we go from there.]

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Sakura had almost convinced herself she was used to the smell by now. "You still can," she pointed out, lips quirking up at the corners. "You just won't have an actual foundation to argue from."

Such was the freedom and restriction of Stacy's time relativity.

"You've got everything set up for recording?" Were they recording this? Most often she felt like it was this strange secondary language to verify that people paid attention and could be trusted to regurgitate what had happened to them. Or, in cases like this, trusting it takes more obvious effort to mess up the camera than mess up a given set of memories.

Oi vey.

Jaime slipped into the medical bay, checking behind himself as Kon (presumably) followed. No one around, so this was probably the best chance they'd get at this. Still, he was nervous, heart thumping in his chest. This was a chance to find out some real information, but it could also be dangerous. Directly contacting the Ohm could do some real harm to them. But it was worth the risk. He raised one hand, nodded at Sakura and Howard.

"Hey. Hope you weren't waiting too long."

Walking into Medbay was like walking into a solid wall of stench.

"Woofta! What crawled up in that thing that died and died?"

Man, it reeked. In fact, he gagged.

"There are times I hate having super-senses."

He leaned against one of the Medbay tables, eyes watering, trying to breathe more through his mouth.

"This thing? I didn't even notice." Howard pretends to take a deep whiff and only barely manages to school his face into an expression besides total disgust. It is pretty rank. He pats the video camera on the table between him and Sakura. "We've been ready to go for hours. Where the hell have you guys been?"

And he can joke about it because he's not the one about to get his mind exploded by spacebugs.

Sakura ignored Howard's attitude, if she cast Kon a sympathetic look. "Not much we can do about it, outside of attempting to preserve the body in something else. We're not sure how that might affect the active lobe, or whatever it is."

She stood, glancing toward Jaime. Sure, things on the brig hadn't gone much of anywhere, but this?

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't concerned. "What do you want us to do?" she asked Jaime, countenance calm and serious.

"I need to get access to the signal." Jaime's armor crept easily over his frame. That helped with the stench a bit, at least.

"It's coming from the brain, right? What do your chakras do?" He stepped forward to bend over the dead Ohm, examining it with the varied array of sensors available to him.

"Hey, quick question: does anyone else know this is being done? Command, Security? I know it's all a mess right now, but..."

Well. He just wanted to know if everyone knew Beetle was trying something risky right now or whether it'd be all on them to help if something went wrong.

That said, if they were doing it on the sly, he'd go with it.

"It's in the brain. I don't know what Neuropathy did to it, but it's still partially alive. We checked."

Howard leans away from the stink of dead Ohm and lets Sakura explain the chakra business - if Howard tries to explain it, it'll end with 'and somehow that means you shoot snakes out your wrist'.

"No one knows. We figure if we told anyone they'd try to stop us."

"Chakra operates on the most simple level by interacting with natural energy in the creatures and objects that exist in the world. Dead bodies have a certain residual energy release I can interact with and read, to an extent, but the node in the brain is bright. It's active with some kind of energy, if it's not what I'd call alive."

She wanted to get into a lecture, was on the verge of one, but the timing wasn't appropriate. "I'm happy to discuss the particulars with you whenever you'd like. Most won't be relevant right now. As far as what it does as an enhancement, suffice to say that it bolsters speed, strength, and a few other sundries. Which I can also explain, if anyone ever feels like sitting through the lecture."

Sakura would have a blast telling them all about it, too!

"We're on our own on this one, Kon." Jaime looked over at his friend and shrugged, then smiled at Sakura.

"Sounds neat. Love to hear about it when we get finished with this stuff. For now. . .I've got some stuff to do." He took a deep breath and lifted his hands over the Ohm's head. Closed his eyes. He'd let Khaji take a bit of a lead on this one. There was an almost disturbing lengthening of his fingers and then the tendrils lunged forward to neatly pierce the creature's skull, burrowing inward to search for the source of the transmissions.

Gross.

And the Ohm responds. Not the corpse, but within the body Jaime will find a connection, a feeling of someone touching him back (think Adam and God on the Sistine Chapel, but spacebugs to spacebug suit instead).

It's scared. Curious. Apprehensive. Angry, even. Excited. A thousand emotions course beneath the surface like fish in a pond, waiting for Jaime to solidify the connection and introduce himself.

That. . .surprises him. And he's cautious at first. He wasn't expecting that emotion, the touch of other minds. He's not really sure what he was expecting. Something more menacing, perhaps. He drops deeper, reaching out to touch mentally. A tenative, nervous greeting. Ready to scurry back and cut away the connect at a moment's notice.

We/I/you are/am/are the Ohm.

Psychic feelers brush through Jaime's mind, curious and surprised to find something of such intelligence out there. There's a sense that this must be a trick or a mistake. And another sense, that this is an amazing discovery.

How have we/I missed you/us?

Jaime is scared. But he has to try to talk to it/them. That's what he's here for, right? He responds, trying not to let on how nervous he is.

I'm not part of you. I'm a visitor. I want to know more about you.

A pause.

Why do you destroy?

There's a pause before the Ohm respond. Not a pause in time, but a sense of hesitation before their answer, as if they're having trouble processing that Jaime is not one of them.

We/I do not understand 'visitor'. The psychic feelers probe deeper, asking Jaime to feel that term instead of speak it. Explain it through his emotions.

Why do/does they/it destroy?

The emotions shift, a million different flavors of pain. Hurt. Loss, self-righteousness, rage, acceptance, apathy, disconnect. It starts to flood into Jaime's consciousness, a million different voices in kindred sorrow pushing him back away.

"Do you think it's working?" Howard glances over at Sakura and Kon. Maybe they can tell better than he can, but Jaime's face is a blank. Either he's concentrating really hard and getting nothing or concentrating really hard and getting something.

Sakura watched Jaime, eyes blinking when Howard asked his question. "Something is," she said at last, waiting for any sign of things going poorly for Jaime. Any sign of a lack of control from the fellow teen, an outside manipulating his actions.

Also for any damage to the Shrike itself. (She doubted it would zombie itself into something.) "Have you been with him when he's done anything like this before?" Her question was directed at Kon, if her attention didn't leave Jaime.

Jaiem tried to respond, to make them understand. The feeling of being separate, not quite belonging, transience. Of impermanence and moving on. Maybe that would convey what he meant. And then he reels back internally at the rush of emotion that floods over him, alsmot overwhelmed by the feeling of sorrow and rage. In the Medbay, his body merely stiffens.

Khaji slams down a mental door-way, stopping the oncoming rush of emotions from overwhelming the boy and he recovers trying to press forward, to learn something.

What happened? Why fight this war?

They've never encountered the feelings Jaime provides them with, not in their long history. The response is one of overwhelming hunger and curiosity. It's like being asked to feel 'purple' or 'dinnerplate' to them, a concept so foreign it would be laughable, but clearly this newcomer feels it all the same.

The Ohm don't know how to respond to the door being shut on them. While the nuances of their response differ, the general attitude is that they don't like it and don't appreciate it. They start with renewed vigor to try and break the mental door back down and re-establish the connection - whatever the threat to Jaime.

There is no war.

Jaime retreats further, panic beginning to rise in him until he feels the reassuring buzz of Khaji Da at the back of his mind. He won't let the Ohm take him, no matter what happens. Jaime steels himself and tries once more, all the while fending off the mental probes coming flying at hime from a thousand upon a thousand different minds.

Why are you destroying universes? Why fight the Daligig?

Who are the Daligig?

The Ohm shove at the barrier harder, determined to push through if it takes all their mental might.

Jaime doesn't bother to answer. He's in no hurry to get his mind poked and prodded at by the Ohm and so he disconnects, stumbling back from the table with a sharp exhalation of breath, his head feeling suddenly fuzzy and empty now that the clamoring emotion has gone.

"Whoa."

He hadn't meant to ignore Sakura, but he'd been entirely focused on watching Jaime, watching and listening for any subtle changes in behavior, unwilling to let himself be distracted in case he had to move at a moment's notice. In situations like this, every nanosecond counted.

Only now did he feel comfortable talking again, because it looked like it might be over.

"You still with us, Beetlebutt? No brain-hijacking?"

"Yeah--!" Jaime put a hand to his head, da bit disturbed by how quiet it felt.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Just a bit overwhelmed. He looked at the others and gave a grim nod.

"I did manage to get in touch with the Ohm, that's for sure."

"You need anything?" Howard reaches towards his medical kit. "What'd they say?"

"I'm okay. I'm okay." He rubbed his head for a moment, then slowly closed and opened his eyes.

"I didn't get much. But. . .they don't even know who the Daligig are. Or that they're fighting a war. All I got was this. . .anger. Anger and sorrow."

"The word might be meaningless for them," Sakura theorized, watching Jamie with visible concern. Howard and Kon had handled the more immediate questions as to what he needed out of them, and if he was okay enough for now. "If they think of what they're doing as something outside of what we call war, or if they have no translation, how you ask is more important than the terms you use. Or how you feel... if it's emotion they were feeding you."

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