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In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)


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As soon as the dead body entered the bay, the spore ended its pointless drifting. Like a shark smelling blood, it turned on a dime and shot straight at the target. Its yellow tentacles wrapped around the battered Nnyarthall corpse and pulled it into the brutal perversion of a hug, the tendrils soon entering its flesh and visibly working their way into its brain. The bug's skin was crawling, shifting, writhing as the spore worked it over. Within a few moments, the Nnyarthall's black eyes shot open, and a shrill, wordless cry escaped its throat.

Caitlin's plan seems to have worked. Now, what would be her next step?
 

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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

The scientist's plan seemed to have gone off perfectly, the alck of gravity allowing the corpse to float far enough in that the bay door could be safely shut while the spore was busy infesting the new host. She waited, recording the process as it took the host, waiting until it seemed to be responsive before clicking on the comms. Can you hear me? Can you understand me? She asked it, her voice cold and clinical.
 
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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

As Caitlin spoke, the spores... thrall turned towards the speaker and stared at it. As it opened its mouth, however, all that could be heard was a series of low wail and clicks, not at all unlike an aquatic mammal would produce. Caitlin's computer told her it was similar to Telarin, but an unknown dialect - the thrall was probably speaking Nnyarthall. There were precious few records of Nnyarthall language recorded, but if Caitlin wished, the computer could try and synthesize a translation module. Meanwhile, the thrall had fallen silent again. Its flesh kept writhing from the tentacles piercing its form while it stared blankly into space.
 

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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

Caitlin frowned at this new setback. Of course it would rely on the host's knowledge, she just presumed the nnyarthall would know her language. In retrospect, a rather vain assumtion. She set the software to coming up with a workable translation matrix, and switched her own output to Telarin. The host body in there probably had at least a passing knowledge of that, at least.

I'm working to understand your language, the more you speak, the faster that will happen. In the meanwhile, a more rudimentary form of communication may be required. A physical response is easiest. If you understand me, bring a pseudopod up and tap the forehead of your host.
 
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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

The thrall once more looked at the speaker inquiringly. However, just like Caitlin asked, the spore raised a tentacle and prodded the Nnyarthall's head. "This one hated/disliked/loathed your mouth/tongue/voice," the translator offered as the thrall started speaking again. "He tastes bitter/sour. He knew/believed so little. The big body is better. Give me the big body."
 

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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

The big body is mine, you cannot have it. Caitlin replied, her tone containing a hint of anger as she drew the connections. It wanted the concordance, she figured. Pausing for a breath, she answered what she assumed was a question on the spore's part.
The thrall you hold is one of two halves, i speak using the voice of the other. The halves... do not like each other. What of you, without the thrall? I know much of your kind, I thought I knew all, but your self is something new, something I have not known before.
 
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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

"I touched the big body. I felt its mind/brain/soul. You are not it." The spore drew the thrall closer to itself. "We are a million children/spawn of a hundred fathers/mothers/parents. Brown grows. Blue fights. Yellow infiltrates. Others exist. We learn. We overcome. We spread. We wish to learn from the big body. Give us the big body."
 

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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

The big body is mine. I grew it myself from your Brown, nurtured it, made it whole. You cannot have it. She repeated, firmer, the translator kicking over to Nnyarthall once it had gathered enough data.

Only browns have been seen here, and not from any specific direction, that I know of. Where does your kind grow from? What has happened to other sentients your kind found? Do they all end up like the thrall in your grip?
 
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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

"We grow everywhere," the spore replies, rather obviously. "We land. We spread. We grow. We send us out. The others are eaten." The writhing within the body itensifies. "I do not want to speak anymore. Give me the big body, or I eat you." The tentacles shot out of the stumps the body possessed and started flailing wildly. And yet there was some order, some plan to it. Slowly they twisted, stuck together as they extended.

They started to form replacement limbs.
 

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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

From. Where do you grow from? Caitlin pressed, gasping as the thing started to replace the damaged host body she had given it. A moment of panic ensued, before she recalled that the Nnyarthall's weapons were part of the suit, not grown into the body.

She spent a moment to make sure anything it could interface to get into the computer systems from the hanger were completely locked out, and boosted power to the containment fields keeping the spore half from eating through the hull, then sat back, watching to see what it would attempt.
 
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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

The thrall let forth a wordless wail in response to Caitlin's question. It's leg tentacles coiled underneath its body, tensing with enormous strength - and it launched itself off the ground, rocketing towards the speaker. One of its arm masses reared back and whipped forward with inhuman strength, shattering the device before bouncing off the containment field. Without delay, the thrall started hammering against the shield with rapid-fire blows.

Single brown spores had been able to wear down fighter shields in the past by themselves. Hopefully the containment field was packing more of a punch.
 

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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

((sorry for the retarded long wait. this week has been... unpleasant. Hell, really.))

Caitlin frowned when the spore in her secondary bay went berzerk. It managed to through the field with enough force left over to smash the speaker she was speaking from, but after she increased field strength to compensate, it seemed contained enough. Though surely not happy about it. She let it bash against the shield for a while, watching the readouts to make sure it wouldn‘t break through immediately and adjusting as needed.

The emitters spaced around the bay were from old fighters she had gotten with the Concordance itself, and the conversion turned out to work wonders. These older model shields created a static charge along the fields, and while weaker than modern shields, turned out to be very efficient at discouraging repeated contact by things that could feel the zap. And now that they tapped directly into the power source for the Concordance itself, instead of from the fighter vessels they came from, the increased charge speed meant relative safely from whatever she stored there. This yellow spore had already punched through the field at the same strength the browns had been unable to, however.

Still, she was certain they would hold until the thing wore itself out trying. She had no further means to speak to it at the moment, so she started pondering how to kill the thing for dissection and examination later. Normally she had just boarded her own fighter and opened thee bay doors, shooting the spores dead while they were cornered in the bay, but she feared this thing would be too fast for that.
 
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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

The electric charge did little to discourage the thrall as it kept on bashing its tentacles against the shield. Even though the Nnyarthall body howled in pain and its own tentacle convulsed and twitched, the spore never the less drove it onward in its assault. It may even be unable to experience pain at all - for a creature that was naturally part of a legion like itself, it was not completely unreasonable. Still, it made no progress in wearing down Caitlin's defenses, giving her time to come up with a plan.
 

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Re: In Concordance with Science (Caitlin Hall)

The scientist frowned as the thing continued. Pain receptors or no the browns had stopped after a while, but this one seemed less inclined to. She‘d speak to it again, but that option was gone as well. The slim woman wracked her brain for another idea on how to calm or destroy the creature, but nothing came to mind. She had no poisons she could pump in, couldn‘t fabricate any with any speed, and any other method involved putting something in the bay with it that it had a chance of usurping and breaking out with.

It was wait and see if the shocks were enough to do it in after some indeterminate time, or hop into Alpha and try the usual method, despite this spore‘s greater quickness. She doubted the first method had any real chance of success, so she opted for the latter, heading for the slim fighter in the other bay and buckling in.

She took her time making sure she had the best possible chance to deal with the creature when she began, using her ship‘s scanners to see where the spore was in the bay before it opened. The thing would likely head straight for the doors as the opened, so she continued that directional line outwards, placing herself on the other end, and lined up her weaponry. It would head straight into her line of fire, and she‘d still hit it if it remained stationary. She warmed up her weaponry and gave the command to Bob to open the bay doors, firing as soon as the gap was large enough to do so, and not letting up until scanners registered the yellow spore as dead. There would be irreperable damage to it, and that was a shame, but that was the cost she paid for being unprepared in the first place.
 
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