text | un: redlion

[secondnature]

[This message shows up about an hour after their arrival in the Mothership. Keith has had it made clear to him that if he doesn't handle this appropriately, then some of the people who have volunteered will take care of it themselves. If there's any better reason to step up (to be the leader his team back home believes he can be), this is it. It's text because they can't risk being overheard.]

Hey. Some of you don't know what the taraxa are, or what that has to do with our mission. I thought I'd begin there, and then make it clear what we're doing here with that.

A year ago, we had a mission on Perdition's Rest. That's when our team first learned about Zymandis and their goals. They utilize taraxa agents. These agents are slugs that take over someone's mind against their will. The person loses themselves, but ALASTAIR has developed a means to get most of them back. The problem is that they're a part of a hive mind led by the Mother. They can communicate with each other so long as she's active.

That should make our goal here clear.

1. We need to identify the location of the Mother and take her out. This is a necessary casualty to save as many of the hosts' lives as we can.

2. We need to identify taraxa agents. Kal and Rhys both have means to scan for taraxa-affected brains. Work with them if you need someone confirmed. Once they're confirmed and the Mother is down, we put them to sleep until we can rift them back to Oska. We'll need to find a safe place to gather the bodies.

3. Once the Mother is identified, we take her out, and then we head for the rest of the taraxa agents.

We need to work quickly.

And I KNOW some of you will think we're better off killing the hosts than risking Oska, but that's stupid. They never asked for this! Plus, we put down a Zymandis force before. We'll do it again. So don't even try it. I already remember all that from last year. Trust me. I've heard it all before.

So, let's do this the right way this time.

[It wouldn't be Keith without the little bit of abrasiveness at the end.]

Comments

[secondnature]

Do you know how to identify them?

[controlling]

Yes.

[ disturbingly easily, in fact. he does not think of why. ]

The chemical compounds don't change even if the names do. That said, I know of the effects on humans. Non-human hosts, it's a gamble.

[secondnature]

The Qorral weren't so different from humans, but depended on a kind of element to live. I'm not sure if they're keeping the same hosts, because the bodies depend on that.

But if it's on this ship, we might not have to worry about whether it's strong enough. If they have a species of choice, maybe we can check their computers to cross reference what we need.

I think we'll have to do that for the rest of our mission, anyway.

[controlling]

My concern isn't just that it might not be strong enough. Too strong can prove fatal. [ batman doesn't kill also the pope is catholic. ] But the level of risk depends on what compounds are aboard.
I can check through what my clearance affords me. Someone with access to the labs too. Depending on what's here, we can make firmer plans.

[secondnature]

Sounds good.

[The goal isn't to kill the hosts, just to put them under. (Sans the Mother, the "necessary casualty" of the bunch.]

I'll keep an eye out for a scientist, see what I can find. Or who I can find. We'll have to figure out a way to make sure we do this safely, so none of our own get knocked out as well.

[controlling]

[ "necessary" is debatable. ]

Labs come equipped with safety measures. Masks, hoods. Even have one of our own who is immune set it off.

[ he recommends clark. ]

Gas also typically disperses quickly so, depending, we'd only need to wait a while before the affected space is safe to move around in freely again.

[secondnature]

I'll look for someone who's immune. If it doesn't work, my suit should be able to protect me.

[Keith would just prefer to keep out of the paladin gear until necessary.]

Do you think we should angle on rounding them up into a place, or find them separately? One is more effective. I know that. But it might be harder to pull off.

[The rounding up is harder, in his opinion.]

[controlling]

Depends on the numbers we're looking at.

[ a little pause. ]

The first time, did the other taraxa converge on the Mother when she felt threatened?

[secondnature]

I think she knew we were coming because we went after the others.

No one managed to find her. She got away.

[controlling]

Eusocial animals such as those that form hives tend to be very protective of the "queen." It's a behavior you see repeated across species. Depending on their level of aggression, the entire hive may turn out to respond to a perceived threat.
If she is located, she can be used to draw the hive to a given point. Of course, she could not be allowed to guess at our purpose. But she might be our best bet at being able to round them all up.

[ and she could be knocked out with the rest, kept under heavier sedation to ensure she cannot organize, be the first host whose parasite is removed. ]

[secondnature]

It's not a bad plan, but I'm not sure I'm willing to risk it. When we fought these guys before, they could work in unison. Think many people working in sync with one another to hit you at the same time. It's the Mother who makes that possible. I'd prefer some kind of ... decoy, so they're not anywhere near her when their connection gets cut off.

[In terms of keeping her alive, Keith hasn't figured out that some people are reluctant to kill her.]

[controlling]

You misunderstand. She would be sedated along with the rest. As a bonus, she could be kept in that state until an extraction can be attempted.
It's much easier to wrangle enough supplies to keep one under for several hours.

[secondnature]

Keep her alive too, and save her.

It's not a bad idea, but I'm worried that they might still be able to connect even if she's out.

We might need to make sure they can't right away. Some ... test.

text | un: the doctor

[spacerhyme]

Hello.

I have access to the labs. Find the physiological profile of any species in question, and I'll be able to cook up something nice and non-lethal.

[ at least, he's fairly confident he could. ]

[secondnature]

It might be multiple species.

Any chance they've got medical files for their taraxa agents? That won't be a bad place to start.

[spacerhyme]

I would expect so, but I haven't had a chance to look. Have you got the name of anyone posing as medical personnel now?

[secondnature]

Not yet.

I didn't think to grab someone.

[Whoops.]

[spacerhyme]

Now you have.

What do we know about the nature of the Mother's connection to the hive?

[secondnature]

Actually, I have a file. I'll send that over to you.

[After a beat, this arrives in the Doctor's inbox.]

Hey. By the way. You wouldn't happen to be the Doctor Doctor guy, would you?

[This is Loki's fault.]

[spacerhyme]

Thanks.

Hive minds are vulnerable in a number of ways. I've never encountered this particular species before, but I've dealt with my share of psychically-linked gestalt consciousnesses before.

[ . . . . but he stops there, pauses . . . . ]

The Doctor. What did Loki tell you?

[controlling]

Mind if I join you? Two heads, etc.

[spacerhyme]

Be my guest. Come round and I'll give you the ten cent tour of the facilities. We've a rather impressive assortment of substances at our disposal.

[controlling]

If you can break a quarter, I'll be there. [ and if he can't, bruce will still be there. having something to do is exactly what he needs. ]

[spacerhyme]

Not bare-handedly.

[ ha ha. ]

Of course, this is presuming we're able to acquire their bio-data, quickly. Plan B may not be as elegant.

[controlling]

All the more reason to make sure Plan A is a rousing success.