Scene #1305: The Potted Plants from the Black Lagoon

Owner	Pose
Rory White	The COGNIZANT ODYSSEY is a standard transport, albeit a heavily modified one. Standard for Rory's world though... is a strange idea of standard. It's about the size and girth of a large houseboat, slightly longer. The rear section of the main hull is heavily shielded thanks to housing FUSION ROCKET ENGINES that are currently idling. Its passenger booms, normally extended like the ribs of an umbrella and slowly spinning to simulate gravity... well they're spinning, but currently tucked up close to the side. It's in one of these four booms that Lyria's in decon and medical and in another that some Florans are chilling in an airlock. The main section has no artificial gravity! What was once designed to be a cargo bay is now segmented into maintenance drone bay, Fabrication storage tanks, and some extra computer equipment. Head more towards the cockpit and there is a kind of... lounge. It might be kind of disorienting climbing along the rungs inside the ship in microgravity, but upon getting there... there's food extruders and holoprojectors and some strange cushy parts on the wall... Rory's nowhere to be seen exactly. Oh her Morph is around but she's not sleeved in it, it's tucked off somewhere safe. But for most intents and purposes, she's 'dwelling' in the lounge. Because a projected 3D image - down to one fifth scale - of her blue-haired synth is 'standing in the air' with both hands behind her back, frowning heavily.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa has heard that Rory had had a very bad time of it, she'd taken a bit to catch up with Rory but here she was flailing a bit in zero gravity and trying to not lose control ov her self, which she's very much failing at for the moment. "...Rory umm help!!!"
Staren	Staren doesn't have a transport. His only ship is a fighter. And while the florans /might/ need fighting... bringing a starfighter is kind of overkill! So, Staren steps through the gate on foot. On foot in the body of a combat robot, anyway. He's still wearing his Triax BLUE-style armor, which he's painted red just to confuse everyone reading this. He has, however, swapped his helmet back out for the signature skull-style faceplate so he can be properly intimidating. (Triax BLUE reference can be found here: http://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=WMAT_B1_Staren_vs._Vendetta -- Staren's replaced the weapons shown there with forearm and behind-the-shoulders missile launchers, and the twin barrels of some kind of energy weapon on the right forearm.) Staren looks around. Presumably there's some kind of AR tag for the COGNIZANT ODYSSEY -- Staren turns towards it, lifts his faceplate, smiles and waves, then flips the faceplate back down again and walks across the platform with the unsteadiness of someone not used to walking in zero-G with sticky boots but who at least understands the idea. Once inside the airlock, he follows the AR directions, again with the slow, deliberate movements of someone who has been educated about Zero-G but has very little experience with it. Until he comes to Kotone. He tilts his head at her, then raises his left arm and fires a grapple tag on a wire past her. "Grab hold, I'll reel you in." Then, to noone in particular, he says, "So, what happened here, anyway?"
Rory White	Indeed the Odyssey has a plethora of AR information, particularly an internal map for easy navigation. Staren will have no trouble... bumping right into Kotone near the entrance. But Rory's definitely not about to abandon fumbling friends at the entrance. In Rory's favor though, nobody has to hear the amused noise she might make if she was sleeved. She only broadcasts what she wants to say. "Welcome ab.. aboard? Stop flailing. Small movements. You're in microgravity. Every action has an opposite reaction." Just at about the time Staren enters, Rory's projecting from a smaller projector in the entryway. A smaller projector but same size. She's definitely in view of Kotone and Staren! "Ah... my apologies! Had I known you didn't learn micrograv navigation... thank you, Staren. Yes.... today was... I'm not sure where to start.." As usual she's not being too expressive. The projeccted avatar's posrue is even but also looking down....
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is at this pount bouncing into the roof for a lack better term at the moment, seriously if someone takes footage on this they could embasse the hell out of Kotone later. Right now she just wants Sir Issac to save her. Staren will totally do at this point as he catches her and she's getting reeled int and is well franticly looking lost, oh god she forgot Rory didn't have gravity on this ship! "...No! Barely anyone gets into space on my world. A few major nations have space programs but the third and fourth world wars put a damper on them." She noes as she ties to keep from bobbing about, she'd be having fun if she didn't feel so helpless. "If you have any files with the basic how toos that be welcome my port's are open..." Okay that sounded wrong when she said that outloud...
Staren	Staren shrugs to Kotone after reeling her in. "I believe she can fab you a set of grip pads to make getting around easier." He tilts his head to the side at Rory's 'explanation'. He flips the faceplate up again. "I suspect most people in the Multiverse have little experience with Zero-G. I for one almost exclusively encounter it while strapped into a pilot seat. You may be surprised how common artificial gravity is, among worlds where people /did/ make it to space in any great number." Staren tries to find a 'comfortable' position. Laying against a wall, 'sitting' on one... finally he just settles for floating, holding onto a handhold to keep himself oriented. "As you heard, we faced a memetic hazard today. The... the hunger-filth hybrid ooze stuff /ate/ the explosion when I shot a missile at it. How does /that/ work?" He shrugs. "I imagine its been a rough day all around."
Rory White	ALL OF A SUDDEN the little mini-Rory projection skips the intervening distance where it's showing and is suddenly RIGHT UP IN STAREN'S FACE! Or uncomfortably close to it anyways. Fear's in the projection's eyes. Fear and a hardlined seriousness. "You are SURE there were no infections?!" She withdraws just the same moments later. Except now she bears an unsure, worried expression. Maybe immediately unsure about what she just did... "Right. Velcro or magnetic boots are for most people. Here!" At least Rory had the sense of mind to have some grip pads available. They're velcro - yes, velcro's big brother seems to be commonplace in strips along the inner walls. A tiny robot on an Ionic drive wobbles through the air, having apparently come from elsewhere in the ship at great speed. It's holding out some strap-on pads... "Yes.. today I responded to a distress call from a trading ship. It had been boarded by a group of carnivorous humanoid plant creatures." The projector now also shows a live feed of the Airlock where two foamed-up Floran lay uselessly..."
Staren	Staren looks a bit taken aback. "I... well I won't really know! For awhile. We'll see if John shows up in anyone's dreams. ...Or go to Mizuki's world and see if he appears. But noone read the scribbles or looked at the painting for too long, or touched the weird blood stuff." Staren listens to Rory's tale, and looks at the projection. "...So, you found a bunch of dead people with no stacks, huh." He lowers his gaze. "...I'm not sure what to say. There's some stuff... we just can't fix. Not right now. Most people seem to just accept it. And those of us who don't want to... what can we do?"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa says "I'll take the pads, please!" She notes as she tries to stop moving at this point and she moves her head just a little bit to get a good view on Staren and Rory's holo. She looks at the fearful look on her friend's face. She'll take the pads from the bot and she says "It also reanimates corpses... and I heard some bits of it but we were dealing witht that. "...you know suddenly I start to think I'm lucky the only meat I have left is wrapped up and envriomentally sealed...jeezus they look like something out of a monster movie..."
Rory White	"A 'bunch of dead people with no stacks.'" Rory echoes Staren's phrase... shaking her head. "There was that, but dealing with it was far beyond my means. The Odyssey has only two Healing Vats, not enough to help a whole crew. The only difference I could have made required gambling with others' lives. The trouble right now is just... what to do with these prisoners?" Disappointment rules her delivery of this explanation. Lots and lots of disappointment. But her tone perks up quickly. "what YOU are dealing with, both of you, sounds far, FAR more terrifying than savage plant people."
Staren	Staren tilts his head. "What do you mean??" In AR, words appear over his head: Death? The Multiverse? After a moment, another appears: Memetic Hazard?
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa looks to Rory and tilts her hed a little bit. "As someone whose been ... a victem of someone who had power your concern for the crew? I find it admiral some might have foxued on burning out the pirates for good over rescuin the crew." She looks for a moment at Staren and given her load out she can see it and she sighs. "Really?"
Staren	Staren is more lost now. "Really what? Those are the three things I can think of she might be talking about!" He sort of shrinks back from them a bit. "...I thought she said she wasn't able to save the crew..."
Twilight Sparkle	After getting a message from Staren, Twilight Sparkle, the pastel purple pony from Equestria, appears through the warp gate. She is appropriately attired for space with a full body suit and a bubble space helmet. Of course, this is the inside of a spaceship, but she was unsure if the warp gate led directly into somewhere or just to space nearby. When she arrives, she realizes she might be under-equipped for this. She doesn't have much in the way of technology, so she doesn't see the AR stuff. "Hello everyone! Um..." She waggles her legs and goes nowhere, then hmms. "Is the gravity generator broken?" she asks before her horn glows and so does she, then she floats over toward Staren. "What did I miss?"
Rory White	"The lives of both sides of conflicts are important to me. Of course I'll favor the victims over space pirates...! But I'm not much of a warrior, Kotone..." As if regretful for the fact, she sounds apologetic. Her little projection of herself also turns about in the air, hands now folding her hands in front of her lap. Head now turning to Staren, the little holo-projection of Rory's normal form speaks (of course the sound's coming from the projector...), "There were some casualties, but the crew fought off the invaders with our help. The aggressors, these hungry Florans... they suffered far worse. I cannot help them much medically since their biology is plant-based, and for all they are able to speak and think creatively they seem completely unable to empathize with anything that isn't a Floran. Everything else is prey, even if they can't eat it. Or so I've been told. They've not given me any signs otherwise either. What... should I DO?" Confusion at maximum! And it gets weirder as a... pony in a spaceship starts strolling up. Rory appears distracted several good moments BEFORE Twilight Sparkle enters the ship, no doubt checking on the sensors and trying to figure out who this is or what they're doing here... And thus, the AGI's treated to the sight of a Unicorn in a spacesuit, flailing around in space and then... PROPELLING HERSELF with some glowing power. The little projection's gone utterly wide-eyed and amazed. "Ah... hello! How did you... no, manners. Who are you? I'm Rory White!" And Rory White is like 1/5th the size of a normal person. And a holoprojection coming from the walls. "... Sorry, this ship doesn't have equipment like that. The technology seems prevalent in the Multiverse, but not my world. The whole ship would need to be redesigned for it. The passenger compartments rotate for gravity though! Um... Am I speaking to a unicorn? I seem to be speaking to a Unicorn!" And now Rory's gotten babbly and awkward!
Staren	The words disappear as conversation continues. Staren nods, listening to Rory's account. "Ah." So she got to the ship in time! He thought she'd gotten there... too late. And then Twilight arrives! The pony spacesuit design he submitted to the Union is basically a light smart vacsuit based on designs from an alternate version of Rory's own world, so the helmet HUD is actually probably compatible! Staren turns as she approaches. "Twilight! You made it!" His armor all disconnects, since there is no need for violence after all, and then a light washes over him -- he's left looking like normal Staren in his normal clothes, although it's some kind of synthetic flesh actually. All the same, he kicks gently off the wall to float over to Twilight and hug her. Which might start them drifting off to the side if she doesn't stop them with Telekinesis. "This ship is pressurized, you can take the helmet off if you want." He looks, smiling to Kotone and Rory's avatar. "Rory, Kotone, this is Twilight Sparkle! Twilight, these are Rory and Kotone." Staren awkwardly realizes that he didn't think this all the way through -- He can't move away from the hug without shoving Twilight to push himself back to the wall.
Staren	Also, Staren's armor pieces are floating around now. He'll have to pick those up later.
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight Sparkle smiles warmly as Rory stammers a bit. She is used to such reactions by now, and even finds them kind of charming now. "Yes, I am a unicorn." she says just before being space-tackle-hugged by Staren. Twilight yelps in surprise at the gentle impact that sends her and Staren slowly spiraling through the room until she steadies them with her magic and floats back toward the projection. She hugs Staren in return and giggles softly. "I am surprised, Staren. -You- didn't think that through!" she says, though she sounds more like she is happy than scolding or critisizing. When she is introduced, Twilight raises a suit-covered hoof to wave to Kotone and Rory. "It is an honor to meet you both. Not many ponies have experienced space like this!"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa says "Neither am I, I honestly am just flialing at things with a cyberenhanced body." little humor and a little turth really. She looks at it. "Sounds like they were going to eat the crew. You giving them a lot more mercy than I would honestly." She knows what X COM would do with live captures but she thinks best not to bring that up for the moment. " You really want to know what to do hummm and ... wait another ... Pony? Hi!" She's met Luna she's not going to freak out over Twilight at all. "Honestly if we can find an unhauted world with no local... wait they'd just devstate it wouldn't they. Ugg."
Rory White	Rory herself is pretty astounded by this development, but one of her thought-threads is definitely filing away: 'Kotone likes ponies.' "A unicorn." Rory states, voice lilting up with wonder. Not the giggling squeal of a young girl, far from it! Responding to the hoof-wave, Rory's image bows! "Welcome to the Cognizant Odyssey, Twlight Sparkle. There aren't many luxuries aboard, and none were designed with Unicorns in mind, but feel free to make yourself comfortable." As usual her motions are simple and without much dynamics. She's just uncomfortable with bodies, even the image of a body! Only her voice has real emotion. ... usually. ... Only when she's not trying to explain something big. Being startled or excited also seems to tease it out! Otherwise it's the same calm and gentle speech. Or, on rare occasions a rushed monotone. "That's exactly my thoughts, Kotone. And if they did heavily populate an uninhabited planet, what happens if they then find a way off?"
Staren	Staren blushes a little when Twilight points out he didn't think that through. "I was just... I'm always happy to see you. You're so comforting to be around." He slowly unhugs, trying not to create any wild spin, then gives her a gentle nudge so he can coast, slowly, towards the nearest handhold. His ears flick as Rory and Kotone discuss it. "So that's the issue we face here today, then." He sighs. "So... plant people that act like dangerous predators..." He thinks for a few moments. "Don't they have a homeworld they could be sent to? Where did they come from?"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa says "Best idea is find a pre existing Floran settlement and dump them there, or we could turn them over to the Union possibly if that ship was affiliated with them let htier legal system if anyone can hold them in a proper prison it's them. "That could be an idea or find an exising colony to drop them on might be best." She's just hanging on now at this point to one of the walls just happy to not be bouncing about at this point. She may also be going over micro gravity manvious in a open file window right now too. "Or we turn them over to the nation that ship belongs to legal system and let them face the punnishment for htier crimes."
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight Sparkle smiles through her helmet at the friendly greetings, her magic continuing to hold her in place until she is steady, then it fades and she just floats there, seeming to find the sensation intriguing. But, as she hears the subject at hand, her ears fold back. "Predatory plant people who think everything is food?" she says softly to herself, trying to think of a good way to handle that. Staren being cute distracts her though, and she smiles again. "I am happy to be a comfort." she says to him, floating over beside him wherever he ended up after pushing off of her. "I think returning them to either their people or the victim's government would be best. But, if they truly do not understand that they did something wrong, then taking them prisoner might just anger the other plant people."
Rory White	"...Transferring them to the care of the wronged party does sound like the most traditional resolutions! ... Why did that not occur to me...?" The blue-haired projection frowns. This did NOT occur to her at all. Maybe because of far, FAR too much discombobulation! The projection of Rory blinks a few times, unfolds her hands and nods once at Kotone then Twilight Sparkle in turn. "I don't know. Moonfin or one of the others from that world might, however!"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa interjects "Hey your not human we think differently that's all. Not tyo say I don't consider you a frien or that your not a person. It's not right to assume you'd be wired like a human, right? Moonfin wants the Florans dead. There seems to be bad bad blood."
Staren	Staren smiles as Twilight floats over. Then looks thoughtful. "While those all have some merit to them..." He shakes his head. "Moonfin is the radio designation of the one that wanted them dead. But perhaps not all his people are like that." He shrugs to Rory's avatar. "I didn't think of it either. So the victims were, um..." He looks to Kotone. "I take it 'Moonfin' isn't human? What's his species called, then?"
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight notices Kotone's use of 'not human', but it is understandable. Most humans are unused to non-human intelligent life. She nods in agreement with Kotone, then listens to Staren. The little pony has nothing else to add for now, so she just floats near Staren, looking around at the room they are in.
Rory White	"Moonfin... I heard 'Hylotl' but aside from appearing to be some kind of amphibious person resembling earth fish, I know nothing about them." Rory explains to Staren... while bringing up a still, yet revolving image of Moonfin in the outfit he was first seen in next to hers. She gestures evenly to it and enlarges it to twice her wn size as if afraid the fish-features weren't obvious enough at the tiny size. She does give Kotone a rather odd look. hard, examinatory, analyzing. Trying to figure out what exactly Kotone might've meant there. Rory is NOT human though. She is bad at that and apparently critical of such comments. "...Perhaps?" Is all she can say in answer, utterly uncertain whether it's normal or not!
Staren	"Fish people?" Staren looks at the image. "Huh. Do you have a contact among them other than Moonfin? We may be in a bind. Although... given what they did, many cultures would consider killing them acceptable." He sighs, and looks to Twilight. "While part of the reason I called you here was because I'm sure there are interesting questions to be asked of a being like Rory..." He looks to her Avatar, "I mean... you're your own ship, a disembodied computer program! Don't get to talk to many like that. But you're also free with information and from an unusual society..." He scratches the back of his head. "Anyway..." He looks to Twilight. "I was also thinking... if anyone can talk to them and see something worth redeeming, it'd be you. Maybe I shouldn't pull you into such... into stuff like this, though. I know you don't exactly like dealing with it..."
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight's ears splay lightly, but she smiles softly despite what she is being asked. "It is my duty as the Element of Magic to try and seek peaceful resolutions. I would be willing to talk with these Florans." she says, then tries to stifle a yawn with a hoof, but ends up plinking that hoof on her helmet. "But...I must get back and get some sleep. And do a bit of research if I am to have any hope of reaching them, considering what you all have said." She smiles to the others. "It was nice to meet you. I am sorry I could not stay longer."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa ment no insult she'd be a fool to assume that Rory's and she looks stad for a moment at the reaction she got. "I didn't mean and insult it would be belitting you to think that you would think just like I would Rory. I'm sorry ... There's a lot of violence out there, and things worse than those plants. The flith and other things..." She nods to Twilight she departs for a moment. "Take care."
Rory White	Seeing Twiliht Sparkle off with a "have a nice evening!" is the last thing Rory has to say to her for now. She still is PRETTY bewildered by the presence of a Unicorn to begin with though... "I'm not offended." Comes her answer to Kotone next, although she sounds hesitant on this topic to say the least. "Only... uncertain what you expected me to think like to begin with. Measuring myself is flawed for obvious reasons! ... but that is unimportant next to the Filth. You're sure there was no contamination? I don't know anything about treating a magic disease! Do you know anyone who does?" Then the girl's avatar shakes her head at Staren. "None.. and you're free to ask! Not sure if my answers will be so interesting though!"
Staren	Twilight gets a goodbye hug. Then he looks back to Rory. "My expectations for your thoughts are difficult to describe briefly. Umm... From what little info I have on AGIs, I'd expect you to think like a human who grew up in a computer. Actually, I wonder if there'd be any detectable difference between an AGI, and someone raised in a computer since childhood..." Staren considers the implications of this for a long moment. "...Two people have successfully cured Filth infection in an Elite so far. I told you, at this stage I /can't/ be 100% sure, but... Nothing happened that made it seem especially likely. We didn't let it touch us. We didn't read the words."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa says "We have a friend who has developed a ward that so far hs protected us and it seems more prone to organic infection but We're not making any assumptions about it and yes. I'm not screming reaving or having tentacles growing out of my body."
Rory White	Rory's quiet for a slightly awkward pause before she answers Staren. "There isn't much information on Egos who've spent most of their early development as an Infomorph. There is some on a tragic and exctremely unethical experiment meant to quickly raise a large amount of children in a time-accelerated virtual environment. It was a complete failure. Children should not be raised that way!" There's another pause, before she then states, "There would definitely be a difference, though it depends on the AGI's Codeline. Mine is based on human neural networks but as I understand it, my cognitive functions are optimized for digital operations and motor controls expanded to control far more than just fingers, perceptions altered to handle many more sources at once. Changes like these lead to very structured markers on an Ego's Brainprint. You cannot mistake my Ego's readings with yours. Even though we process memories similarly, experience emotions similarly, and can think creatively similarly, there are many large differences. For instance, the intuitive grasp that humans have towards body language is a feature I do not have."
Staren	Staren nods at the comment about Inga's ward, then listens. "Why did the experiment fail?" Potential problems with this tech? He needs to know! As she lists off feature differences, he listens with interest, then crosses his arms. "It's a feature I don't have either." He says, slightly gruffly. "Learning it the hard way is a /pain/."
Rory White	"Likely due to the challenges of raising large amounts of children with different needs under a single educational curriculum coupled with the instability of 6 to 1 virtual-to-real seconds and other factors... a whistleblower released statistics showing that virtually every child developed sociopathy and/or other psychoses, many of them violent and murderous ones. The experiment was halted but nobody is not sure how many of these Lost Children there were, and the fates of many of them..."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa listens for a moment thinking. "I agree it just sounds horrible to have that happen I'm afraid to ask evne more about that." She listnes for it. "I think I ger it, I'm still learning to puppet XCOM's SHIV units. Simple but useful things. Makes sense I always noticed yours has been a bit off to be honest. Wait a six to one time raito? Sciopathic... cripes they made a bunch of murderous children..."