Case studies [Open]

[theprophet]

Tarrant strode along the bank of the River, eyes trained on the invisible, delicate web of power that stretched out even to this remote location. He picked out eddies in the flow, interpreting minute fluctuations as an animal might discern a faint scent in the air or vibrations along the ground.

There was life here, yes. And the river should provide adequate housing and space. Combined with the equipment in the Castle, supplemented with supplies from the various shore leave planets...

He pulled out his datapad, slender fingers dancing along the screen -- rapidly charting out the flow of the water, the depth, the amount of shade. Yes, this might do quite nicely.

Comments

[on_errantry]

The People don't have a word for it, Rhiow said. She filed that difference in definition away - for a wizard, language was power, and she didn't like being imprecise. And neither do I, but we don't have a whisker's chance of success if we move while Stacy is still under their control. She controls whether or not we eat or breathe, or even whether or not we're awake.

That was the fine point she wished more of the people understood - although perhaps the recent repodding of the ship's leadership had brought some sense into the equation.

[theprophet]

Tarrant merely waited; he assumed Rhiow was leading into something, not restating what he already knew.

[on_errantry]

I've been following them - as far as they know, I'm someone's housepet that regularly escapes and likes that particular corridor. Their leader has accelerated the timetable, and they want to get out of here as quickly as possible. She licked her whiskers, her eyes slitting half-closed in thought.

I believe they also had a direct hand in Captain Kennedy and Chairwoman Nehaalista's repoddings, as well as the repodding of the head of Neuropathy. They called it their 'stopgap.' Before this happened we were as organized as we had ever been, even if we weren't working together so well.

[theprophet]

"That would certainly seem to confirm crew suspicions about the timing," said Tarrant. Subtlety was obviously an unknown art among the Daligig. Then again, with an apparently invincible superarmy at one's back, who needed subtlety?

He passed over the remark about the lack of organized cooperation on the ship; no sense retreading the obvious here. There was something more important that he was interested in. "I thought that the Daligig kept themselves only to restricted zones. Why do you have access to them?"

[on_errantry]

Most of their repairs are done in restricted sections, true. But they tend not to notice me, or else think that I slipped through a crack somewhere. They're partially right - I'm just walking through the walls. They consider me harmless and I don't think it's occurred to them that I might be sapient.

Rhiow's tail twitched - she was fairly smug about her accomplishments with the Daligig. She took great pains to make it seem like she was just an animal with no intelligence whatsoever. It made them less cautious, around her at least. With the rest of the crew unable to even get close, someone had to be watching them.

[theprophet]

"You are saying that once a crew member is inside a restricted area, the ship does not act to remove them from it?"

What terribly lax security, if true. What kind of monitoring system was this, anyway?

[on_errantry]

That's part of the point of the repairs, I believe. Stacy is still damaged from the pirate attack before I woke up, and SHODAN did more damage. That's primarily what they've been repairing.

Or perhaps Stacy trusted the crew enough that she let them be if they weren't in an absolutely vital area of her systems.

The fish had been reduced to bones, skin and offal, which Rhiow dutifully pushed back into the river so it would decay in an organic location where it might do some good.

[theprophet]

"Interesting." And rather frustrating that it wasn't common knowledge. What he could have accomplished in all this time -- !

"And how did you manage to get yourself into this area? Walking through walls, you said?"

[on_errantry]

"Yes," Rhiow said, switching back to normal speech now that her lunch was done with. "I just ask the molecules in the wall to space themselves out a little so that they're more air than wall, and then I walk right through it. Usually I'm also sidled - just to the left of physical reality. Laymen call it 'invisibility' but really it's stepping into subreality. Just like my telepathy isn't really telepathy, it's a switch into a different dialect of Speech."

She had the feeling that Tarrant was not a layman in any sense of the word.

[theprophet]

"I see. A unique skillset, then. Or at least no one else I've met yet aboard this ship has mentioned having similar abilities." Worth noting for later, perhaps.

"Is that all the Daligig have mentioned thus far?"

[on_errantry]

"So far, that's all I've managed to pick up. Even when they don't think it's possible for them to be overheard, they're excessively careful. I'm not going to stop following them until they leave - of course that means I may be scarce around the ship. I can't let them see me speaking with any of the crew, or they'll realize they've been tricked. I can't imagine they'll react well."

The last thing she wanted was to destroy her cover after so many weeks carefully building it. "Of course that means I'll rely on you and the other Councilors to communicate with the crew until they're gone. I'm afraid that for now, my position as chairperson is purely ceremonial."

[theprophet]

"I plan to do my job," Tarrant said smoothly. "Just as I'm sure the other councilmembers plan to do theirs."

Well. That had been a bit of disappointing news, but at least they'd been able to obtain some kind of information on the Daligig's movements. Better than nothing.

And if the Daligig were in fact leaving soon, that left him a window of opportunity. Time to deliberate on what exactly should be done with it. He gave Rhiow a courteous bow. "If you'll excuse me, I believe I should be getting back to my survey."

[on_errantry]

"Of course," Rhiow said. "I'll keep you updated to the best of my ability, and if I learn anything material you'll be among the first to know."

Perhaps not the first to know. Kang had that honor.

"I've been here too long anyway. Even if they don't come to the City often, I shouldn't stay in one place long." She tilted her head for a moment, composing a spell in her mind and holding there save for the activation. "I look forward to working with you," she said, and then activated the spell. She vanished abruptly with a soft whump as air rushed into the vacuum she created when she transported away.