Original Archive - IAS Chapter 26

Chapter 26 (Original Archive)

aeraxbob 11/10/2004

'She' sends electronic signals for medical bots to dispatch to this location and for the medbays to ready for new occupants. Looking over the 3 standing organics, Shlitzee methodically produces liquid- propellant cannisters and liberally injects (ingests?) them into random neck and armpit ports.

Hopefully this keeps the natives somewhat preoccupied until medunits respond. Just to be on the safe side, she attempts to engage them in conversation, "So. How's the nightlife around here?"

She also moves about the room while performing these actions. -points (with her mounted laser) towards Chel's shotgun, eyes turning dark red while huskily uttering "Boomstick."

-moves to Bud-Nike, hoping to use Bud's walkie-talkie, "Ah...Bailey, looks we'll need those avacados in the galley sooner than expected...we have 6 more for dinner tonight."

stacinator 11/11/2004

Nike

OOC: Paul, you rock!

IC: The injury that Nike had sustained to her head throbbed again, as the ship continued to move. It seemed that everything was moving slowly back and forth, as if they were on a seesaw.

"Radio on! What the hell is moving us?" she mumbled to Percy on the radio.

OOC: Obviously, I know that the ship has stopped moving, but since Nike's head injury has been rebumped (like that word I just made up?) she doesn't know that!! LOL

gammaben 11/22/2004

Percy

OOC: Awesome map of the ship! Great post! You'd think I would have posted sooner, so cool was 6.0, but alas, I didn't. Well wait no longer! Happy Thanksgiving everybody, even if you're not in the USA!

Without warning, the ship lurched sternward. Percy and Arkady were in the corridor on their way to the storage room. They both managed to grab hold of the railing when the floor moved beneath them.

"Radio on! What the hell is moving us?" she mumbled to Percy on the radio.

"Radio on! I don't know, Cap! We're on the way to the garage. Next terminal I find I'll query for cause and damage report. You okay in there?" Percy had paused during his transmission fearing another ship tilt. He started again, motioning Arkady to follow, once he figured it was safe to walk again. It was a guess, mostly. Down the hall, and toward the tilted end of the ship, they cautiously proceeded down the main hall.

When he and Arkady made the turn toward port side of the ship, down the hall toward the entrance to the ship, he saw the two harnesses where he and Rufus had strapped themselves in.

OOC: Is Rufus still there? Area 6 on new map.

He felt a pang of regret once again that Rufus had not survived, but focused on their mission. The reactor needed repairs! The door to the storage room slid open as he and Arkady continued toward the garage. Percy noted on the sticky note again where to go and proceeded past the storage units to the port-side door. It slid open and revealed a small chamber with security doors on both fore and aft sides. Turning to the aft door, he examined the security system and attempted to gain entry to the garage, his blood pumping at the possibility of finding a matter compiler beyond. "That Terminus bot better be right about this," he thought grimly.

supreme_arbiter 10/28/2004

Turn 7:

[Shlitzee] moves to Bud-Nike, hoping to use Bud's walkie-talkie

OOC: Shlitzee can communicate through her own internal comm device. Bud, Bailey and all the clones (except Amanda and Chel) either have an internal or external comm device. Maybe the matter compiler can make some more? Comm devices can be activated by a whisper for surreptitious conversations. Shlitzee can use hers without making any audible sound, or use it while saying something else (like in the Fellowship of the Ring when the elf Queen speaks to Frodo while she's saying something else to his companions.)

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Shlitzee immediately dispatched nurse bots to their location. She kept an eye on the three natives that remained standing. The two students were too stunned to move, but Horatio leapt into action! He ran to the side of his fallen companion, now moaning and clutching his head. She approached the stunned students and pointed at Chel's shotgun with her laser. "Boomstick," she said huskily. Her eyes turned dark red. "So. How's the nightlife around here?" she asked out loud while she simultaneously spoke into her comm device, "Ah... Bailey? Looks like we'll need those avocados in the galley sooner than expected... We have 6 more for dinner tonight."

"We're on our way," Bailey replied over the comm device.

Bud groaned and tried to stand up. Nike climbed off of him. She helped him to his feet. "I just had the strangest dream," he said, imagining he and Nike were still at the rec center by the lake. "We had crash landed on a planet and there were wolfmen and turtlemen running around with weapons."

Chelydra pushed his helmet out of his eyes with a grunt. He grabbed his shotgun from where it lay on the table and sized up the situation. Everyone was conscious. The student who had hit his head seemed to be the only one injured. Horatio was applying some kind of a root to his scalp.

Two nurse bots zipped into the dining room and examined the occupants. Bailey and Amanda arrived soon behind them.

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Percy and Arkady made the turn toward the port side of the ship, and walked down the hall toward the ship's entrance. They saw where Percy and Rufus had strapped themselves in. Rufus still lie slumped over in his harness. He looked serenely comfortable in death's embrace. Percy felt a pang of regret once again that Rufus had not survived, but focused on their mission. The reactor needed repairs! The door to the storage room slid open as he and Arkady continued toward the garage. Percy read from the sticky note again where to go and proceeded past the storage units to the port-side door. It slid open and revealed a small chamber with security doors on both fore and aft sides. Turning to the aft door, he examined the security system. It was a simple affair like all the other doors: a simple card reader. Percy wiped his passcard over the reader and the heavy door ponderously opened.

Inside the garage, Percy and Arkady marveled at the sporty ground car and hovercar that sat in their protective berths. In front of the vehicles, a large lift was recessed into the floor. Percy spotted the only other door in the room and walked toward it. It was similar to the heavy security door they had just come through. To the left of the door were two robot chambers. Inside were what looked like heavy industrial robots. The light above one chamber glowed blue; the other glowed red. There were no computer terminals in sight.

Percy's blood pumped at the possibility of finding the matter compiler. "That Terminus bot better be right about this," he thought grimly. He swiped his card across the reader and the door opened. Inside was a large machine that nearly filled the entire space.

"Man, that's a big one," Arkady said as he eyed the size of the output door. It was at least a couple of meters wide.

Percy pressed the 'on' switch and they waited for it to boot up. When it finally came to life, two warning lights flashed on the top panel: one read 'Offline', and the other simply had the letter 'C' on it. Percy turned his attention to the compiler's interface. Below the top panel was a touch screen and a keyboard. The top of the screen showed the tabs of several directories. The selected directory was called 'Emergency Equipment'. Percy touched the search button on the screen and typed the part number written on his Post-It note. The part displayed on the screen with information about it, including an estimated compile time of three hours and twenty minutes.

Percy pressed the compile button. The compiler prompted him to scan his passcard in the compiler's card reader. Percy swiped his card and waited. His card was authorized, but a warning appeared on the screen: 'There is insufficient Carbon for this task. Please deposit refuse containing carbon in a recycling device and try again later.'

While Percy and Arkady reread the screen and pondered what to do, the ship suddenly shuddered again. This time the motion was much weaker and no one lost their footing.

end transmission

stacinator 12/3/2004

Nike

"Radio on. Status, people! Everyone report!" Nike said gruffly into her radio. "That tweren't no dream, Toto," she said quietly to her bruised companion.

publius1024 12/4/2004

Arkady

"Arkady here, the matter complier is out of carbon and we can't make the right part until we get some. Maybe there's some spare food in the galley we can throw in the recyclers?"

"Amanda here. Sorry Arkady, there's no carbon in the cockpit. Not even diamondoid. Everything here seems to be made of duralloy or some synthetic plastic. But hey! This shaking has removed all the sand from the cockpit windows. Bailey and I can see the sky around us now that we're no longer submerged. We think it was caused by the lightning: it gave us quite a light show! The computer registers no internal damage; All the lightning strikes have been negatively charged; all the ship's batteries are now fully charged; and now that we have a decent view outside, it seems like there's some daylight peeking out from behind the clouds. This storm could be past us soon!"

stacinator 12/5/2004

Nike

"Has anyone found any food?" Nike asked, stomach rumbling. "And are all of our guests accounted for and healthy? Any sign of other life forms near our perimeter outside?"

gammaben 12/6/2004

Percy

Percy turned to Arkady. "I have a pack of gum, that's about it! Not sure how much carbon's in it, though! We'll report back if we find something. As for lifeforms--there's not a computer terminal I see in here, next one I see I'll try to find out what's in the area--maybe you could ask our guests for their knowledge of these dunes? Radio off!"

Percy paused as he looked gravely at the pilot. "Uh, I don't think I wanna even go here, but I have to mention it anyway. There's about 50 hairy kilos of carbon strapped to a harness in the hallway back there. If we can't find anything else...." Percy grimaced and for the second time since his clone awakening, had a flashback of an air conditioner burial location for a pet canine. "Rufus deserves a burial, not a recycling," he thought.

"Waaaaaaaitaminute! Hair!" He turned to the compiler. "I could wolf out, cut off my hair, and shove it down a recycler! It might not be much, but it's something! Maybe we don't need much," Percy said unconvincingly. He queried for the compiler's deficiency of carbon relative to construction the new cooling system.

supreme_arbiter 10/28/2004

Turn 8:

OOC: Sorry for being tardy. I was on vacation for two weeks. I was in an Internet cafe when I posted Amanda's NPC post (four months into GM duty and I've already managed to mess things up ;) I'd completely lost track of where she was when I made that post. Just after the first major tremor, Amanda was with Bailey in the cockpit when she said this:

"This shaking has removed the sand from the cockpit windows," Amanda said over the radio. "Bailey and I can see the storm around us now. We think the movement was caused somehow by the lightning. It's giving us quite a light show! The computer registers no internal damage and all the ship's batteries are now fully charged!"

OOC: But Amanda was in the galley with Nike/Bud/Chel/Shlitzee/Bailey when she said this:

"Sorry Arkady," Amanda said over the radio. "I haven't seen any carbon onboard at all. Not even diamondoid! Everything here seems to be made of duralloy or some synthetic plastic."

OOC: Now back to the action:

Percy scanned through the template's contents. He groaned when he read how many kilograms of carbon were required. "That's a LOT of hair. I'd be shaving for weeks! Months!"

"Maybe Amanda would help shave your back," Arkady teased him. "Seriously, we should raid the pantry instead. That cafeteria back on the Warden still had plenty of food. We might find plenty here, too! We probably don't need much food: a few hours to finish this piece, fix the reactor and fly outta here; then we can resupply elsewhere." Arkady snapped his fingers. "Hey, tires! A couple of tires from that car over there should do the trick!"

"Good idea!" Percy replied as they headed in that direction, but they were brought up short by what they saw. The car was resting on its rims, tireless.

"What the," Arkady exclaimed. He walked around the car. "Even the rubber seals around the windows are missing!" The hovercraft was in a similar state. The skirting that allowed it to hover was gone.

"So much for riding in style!" Percy shrugged.

"For now, anyways. Once we get enough carbon together, we can probably make new tires and a skirt for the hovercraft. Wanna go raid the pantry?"

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The natives were terrified by the nurse bots. As the bots examined his students, Horatio tried to comfort them. The words that gave Horatio strength were from scriptures he had read in the Hithari seminary. He searched for words his less educated students would be more familiar with. "Why are you fearful?" he said to them softly. "Do you still have no faith? Remember, 'He will reward each according to what he has done. Have faith and do not doubt.'"

The nurse bots completed their triage and reported to Shlitzee. "Every one seems to be fine," Shlitzee said, "except for Horatio's student here who seems to have mistaken this table for a percussion instrument and tried to play it with his head! He may be fine, but there might be internal trauma that will have to be checked out in the medbay."

"Please follow me," The bots said to Horatio's student before leading him out of the Captain's dining room toward the medbay. The student looked at Horatio. "'Have faith and do not doubt'," Horatio repeated as he put his arm around the man and helped him toward the door in the direction the nurse bots had gone.

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end transmission

gammaben 1/11/2005

Percy

OOC: Ok I'll kick off the follow ups to turn 8. As I sit here in Milton Keynes, England, there's not much else to do! :D

"What the," Arkady exclaimed. He walked around the car. "Even the rubber seals around the windows are missing!" The hovercraft was in a similar state. The skirting that allowed it to hover was gone.

"So much for riding in style!" Percy shrugged.

"For now, anyways. Once we get enough carbon together, we can probably make new tires and a skirt for the hovercraft. Wanna go raid the pantry?"

"Pantry sounds good to me. Percy took one last glance at the matter compiler and sighed. He hoped silently that they would find enough carbon based scrap or otherwise to feed the machine, and that after all the years it silently waited for an item to fashion, that it would work properly.

Percy led Arkady through the starboard side door out of the storage room adjacent to the garage, turned fore, and deliberately turned a sharp corner starboard, not glancing back at Rufus again. It was bad enough the canine...oid was in his thoughts; he didn't want to gaze upon the poor beast again. He had a thought and acted on it impulsively. "Computer," he said stoicly as he walked toward the galley. "Dispatch a care bot to retrieve the canine...ish corpse near the entrance. Put it in stasis, if you can." He shrugged at Arkady. We'll bury him later, but I don't want him starting to stink.

As they rounded the last corner that led to the mini hallway leading into the galley, he could hear the occupants conversing. "Hello there! Crewmen Arkady and Percy comin' on in for a food recon!" He gazed upon the (remaining) newcomer sand people and tried to smile a friendly smile. "Hi there! Welcome to... er, our ship!"

"We need to name this ship!" he thought excitedly. "I thought there were more...?" he said cautiously to Nike. He had missed Horatio and the other desert dweller's exit to the medical bay with the medical bot.

stacinator 1/11/2005

Nike

She smiled at Percy's attention to detail. "You were right... I'll explain later. Any luck on finding significant carbon sources?"

Nike hated the thought of using Rufus to achieve carbon levels, but if it was what it took to save the group... "Yck--I don't even want to think about it," she though with a grimace.

She turned her attention to Horatio. "I know that we have not yet been properly acquainted, but I wondered if, while my companions seek food, I could ask you a few questions?"

gammaben 1/12/2005

Percy

OOC: Well, one of us goofed, stacinator. I think it was me!

"'Have faith and do not doubt'," Horatio repeated as he put his arm around the man and helped him toward the door in the direction the nurse bots had gone.

Percy: "I thought there were more...?" he said cautiously to Nike. He had missed Horatio and the other desert dweller's exit to the medical bay with the medical bot.

Nike She turned her attention to Horatio. "I know that we have not yet been properly acquainted, but I wondered if, while my companions seek food, I could ask you a few questions?"

OOC: I assumed Horatio left with the student and the bots, but the SA says he only moves to the door to help the student there, but not leave with the student. Nike assumed what I just realized is probably the case, which is that Horatio is still in the cafeteria. I guess it'll all come out in the wash!

supreme_arbiter 1/12/2005

Horatio followed the robots. I did not specify whether he left the room or not, because I wanted to give y'all a chance to respond to his departure. By the time Percy arrived in the dining room, it was by no means certain where Horatio would have been: in the medbay or still in the dining room. Based on Nike's and Percy's posts, I think Horatio went with his injured student and Shlitzee to the medbay and Nike went with them. Feel free to re-post if this is incorrect.

BTW, Horatio _has_ introduced himself to Nike, outside the airlock: "I am Horatio of the Hithari Galtites [...] I am a priest and these are my students. We came from the oasis at Sigai. We pray for shelter from the storm."

supreme_arbiter 1/14/2005

Turn 9:

Nike joined Shlitzee, Horatio and his student on their way to the medbay. She turned her attention to Horatio. "I wonder if I can ask you a few questions?"

"Absolutely... Mam. What is it you'd like to know?" Horatio smiled affably.

Before Nike could ask another question, the student Horatio was supporting stumbled. He was having a hard time keeping his balance. "Easy, David. I'm here," Horatio said to him soothingly.

"I'm going to be sick", he replied.

"Do you think you could wait 'till we reach a sink?" Shlitzee asked.

As if in reply, David fell to his knees and loudly emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor outside the sleeping berths.

"What a waste of perfectly good carbon," Shlitzee said. She ordered one of the medbots to clean the mess and take it to the recycler. While the medbot vacuumed the corridor floor, they entered the medbay.

-----------------------------------

"Computer," Percy said stoically as he walked toward the galley. "Dispatch a care bot to retrieve the canine...ish corpse near the entrance. Put it in stasis, if you can." He shrugged at Arkady. Only the sound of their footsteps replied.

They followed the sound of voices through the main dining room and into the Captain's dining quarters. "Hello there! Crewmen Arkady and Percy comin' on in for a food recon," he said as they entered the room. He gazed upon their sand dwelling guests and tried to smile a friendly smile. "Hi there! Welcome to... er, our ship!" Percy turned to Chelydra and said, "I thought there were more..."

"Nike and Shlitzee took Horatio with one of his students to the medbay. His student may have been injured in the quake."

"Ah," Percy nodded. "Well, we've got a job to do. See you around!" He laughed as he and Arkady exited through the other door.

Next door they found the kitchen: the galley proper. There were a great number of utilities in the room for food preparation: sinks, counters, cabinets, dishes, utensils, pots, and refrigerators. There was a chopping block, but it was made of an artificial polymer instead of wood. There was no food in the refrigerators or the cabinets.

They left the kitchen through another door. On the other side of the main dining area, they saw two more doors: one on either side of the hallway. They went to the nearest door first. Inside they found rows of inertial dampening shelves. There were many boxes. They searched inside each of them, but there was no food. The boxes were all empty. "What kind of emergency lifeboat doesn't have emergency rations on board," Arkady asked.

They left the room and went to the last door. Inside, they found several chairs facing an entertainment console in the center of the room. A flat screen sat on four sides of the console. A holographic projector was in the middle. Arkady approached the console. "Ooo," he cooed. "An Omega box. We can play some games and watch movies while we starve to death."

Bright light suddenly streamed in through the open doorway. The central dining room was brightly lit from above. Percy and Arkady walked toward the skylight. The crew and students next door also saw the light through a narrow window on the fore side of the Captain's dining room. The clouds had parted. The storm was gone.

Arkady stood precariously on a table and held his face close to the skylight. The stern side of the ship was lower than the rest, so he could see the storm clouds as they passed behind them. The distant clouds were dark and sinister, but nearby there was only the light rain of wind blown sand.

Percy logged into one of the two computer terminals in the main dining room. The ship's meteorological sensors indicated the storm had passed. There was no longer any danger from lightning strikes. The outside temperature had cooled and the winds were dying down. He queried the computer about the quakes. They had coincided with the lightning strikes. Each strike had been in phase with the shields. The energy from the strikes had either been deflected into the nearby sand or stored in the ship's batteries by the transducers.

Percy thought for a moment. There was something else he had meant to check... "Ah!" he said as he remembered to check for life forms outside the ship. After an interval of several seconds, the terminal displayed an overhead view of the ship with portions of the surrounding sand highlighted in different colors. Each distinct red section was labeled. "Radio on," Percy said after scrutinizing the details. He briefly read the weather report to the rest of the crew. "As for the carbon search, Arkady and I searched the galley and didn't find any food. Not so much as a wooden spoon to toss in the recycler! But there's plenty of life forms outside the ship. Or, at least there were. Now they're all death forms."

"Good work, fellas," Nike said into the comm device. "We're in the medbay, patching up one of Horatio's students. Radio off." Nike watched as Shlitzee ran numerous tests. The student lay on the medbed in front of the desk and computer. A cold compress covered his temple where a lump had formed. Each time Shlitzee removed the compress to clean the wound underneath, the lump was bigger. It was now obscenely swollen, the size of a golf ball, and dark with blood. Shlitzee checked his pupils then administered a shot in the neck. The student was terrified, but Horatio calmed him down so Shlitzee could continue. She completed the injection, then divided her attention between a small display on the side of the medbed and a small medical computer which she held in her hand. Horatio watched curiously.

It was a long time before Shlitzee spoke. "Well, my native friend... David?" He nodded. "Are your ears ringing?"

"Yes."

"Both of them?"

"No, just this one," he pointed to his ear near where the lump had formed.

"Was it ringing before?"

"No."

"There's pressure inside your ear. It's called Meniere's disease. The good news is we can perform the surgery here to fix it. It'll take about an hour. Don't worry," Shlitzee said. "You won't feel a thing. You'll be WELL sedated." Her eyes turned a dazzling shade of purple.

Shlitzee looked at Nike and surreptitiously spoke to the crew through her internal comm device. "Horatio's student, David, is human. The genetic match is identical. There aren't even any gene modifications: he's a pure strain."

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end transmission

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