Re: To The Stars! (Zilrax, Mind Flayer, plmnko)
Valis coughs at this point. "I hate to interrupt, but I've made some rather startling discoveries and it can't wait, as I need to perform check ups. Elisa, Elena, I need to scan you both. This won't take long."
She takes the medical scanner from her medpack and moves over, programming in the data of the new virus and running it over the pair to see if they had been infected, and herself as well.
"My initial theory proved correct. The strange sexual parasitism all species are now performing is due to a highly unstable retrovirus. It seems to invade host systems, mutating rapidly until it adapts to the host, then seems to accelerate fertility, and likely virility, by enormous factors. It then renders the dna incompatible to their own species. My best guess is to encourage contact and conflict with other species, without causing death. This leads to a highly prolific and virulent pathogen.," says Valis calmly.
"The chances of you two being infected are incredibly high, though it likely has yet to fully rewrite your dna and reproduce. There is also a chance I too have been infected, though I am hoping my enviroshield and gas mask have neutralized all foreign intrusions. Now the sudden arrival of this virus indicates an artificial origin. While viruses are prone to random mutation, this is far too sophisticated and sudden to have come about naturally. There is a high chance there is a listening post or research lab on the planet. If so, it likely will have the tools I need to engineer a stop gap solution, as a virus this unstable will likely require a virophage to deal with."
Valis shrugs and leans against a wall. "For now my best means to assist in the issue on the small scale is to try to ensure that Elena reproduces several litters of kitsune herms that the wolves can use to repopulate. The virus' gene scrambling nature will probably ensure all genetic matches are viable so I doubt having close genetics will be an issue. And the fact Elena's young can only reproduce with another species and not each other should prevent too many. So I'll be using nanites to ensure that the fertilized eggs genders are set to ensure they have the ability to bare young. And will be using various instruments to study the virus' spread through your systems to see if it has any vulnerable points."
She snaps her fingers and glances to the Alpha. "Oh, right. You, once you and Elisa finish up, I want you and your Den Mother in the medical lab. If you're going to be on this ship, you're getting physicals. Need to make sure you don't have any hidden issues that I have to solve on top of your viral infections."