Dealing with rooms made of the odd wellstone material had been an adventure in itself, especially figuring out the toilet arrangements. By morning it was time to collect whatever gear was going to be taken and then heading to 'base camp' down on the planet surface. The ride down in the massive elevators was long enough to fit in breakfast and some mingling before they reached the equatorial surface city. The architecture was a bit more lurid than up on the orbital ring, so that the base camp looked more inviting with its temporary buildings and massive wheeled vehicles. For the scientists, the great Temple of T'thogga (as best could be translated) was irresistible.
Tasha stands before the altar, having felt drawn to the more-than-a-little-peculiar statue of T'thogga. In truth, she's drawn to the many and varied instances of hybrid, or at least hybrid-seeming entities, if for no greater reason than their shared hybrid nature. Throughout her travels and adventures she's found the place of the hybrid has always been on the fringe, often taking on some remarkable or nefarious aspect, yet even when the hybrids are welcome there always seems to be some seperation between them and the rest of the society they're found in. She knows that seperation can by physical, but she's found it's often more than that: Cultural, mystical, and so on, for good or ill. In a way, the sum total of hybrid experience feels like the shared experience of hybrids, the closest thing to a core identity they might find as long as they remain along the fringe.
Tasha feels the ecco of similiarity even as she stares up at the statue, a sense of familiarity to go along with the more expectatnt sense of the alien. The statue is alien to her, reminding her of something like the Source combined with the local sentients and a few other parts thrown in for good measure. And eyeballs, she wonders at all the eyeballs. There are a lot of eyeballs. Well I guess I could have had it worse, I could have been covered in eyeballs. It's something to consider as she musses up her face in to a contemplative frown.
A holographic reproduction of the Flame sits atop the altar, showing where it was discovered. Nothing else seems to have been removed from the temple, but then it's all probably made of wellstone anyway. "So, what do you think," Dr. Broom asks as he settles down next to Tasha. "Creator species, or a deity?" The neo-chimpanzee barely comes up to Tasha's chest.
On a petty level, and she thinks it must have been brought about by reviewing the sum total of species everywhere and their relation to herself, but Tasha feels gratified that the Pan is shorter than she is. That their whole species is shorter -- she heard enough short jokes as a kid, which she is definitely not now. "Well," she begins, hoping her thoughtful head tilt and muzzle-puckered frown cover how pleased she is about being taller, "There's always the possibility it's a precusor species, uplifter, or creator. Karnor, Pans and, um, not Phins resemble Humans, after all. It could be a god, too, an idealized form of the Stonies representing whatever they thought was great to have, like wings -- and who doesn't like wings? -- it's big, so stronger and fitter, and the eyes could mean perception or knowledge or that-kind-of-thing. That's what I'd normally think, but I think it might be one of their own with special knowledge or powers. Or. maybe an angel. A herald, speaking for some othe
r being. See, look how it's like them, but it also incorporates elements common to outsider religions. Eyeballs. Tentacles. The dragon-styled parts I'm less sure of."
"It looks like it wants you to place a sacrifice on the altar so it can be swallowed," Hakeber notes. But then she has reason to see darker meanings behind deities. "If the stone really is alive, then that could actually happen, too.."
Nessus (and his keepers) slithers closer and eyes the statue in silence. Dr. Farfle holds up something like a camera and moves around the edifice as if recording it.
"Well, yeah," goes Tasha, who nods to Hakeber as she approaches. "I mean, there's that too. Some of the outsider cults and religions seemed to like sacrifice, blood and souls and 'psychic flensing' and that sort of thing." She then lifts her taloned hand, waggling it towards the statue. "If we take what I said and what Hake said together, then this is a representative of a messenger or intermediary here to accept sacrifices. But, it seems more likely a god would want the sacrifice itself, so it may be some sort of demigod or other powerful, lesser being with a physical form. It's really hard to penetrate all the layers of symbolisim and abstraction with these things, I've found."
"Maybe it's your Samael?" Yue suggests as she climbs up onto the altar. She's short for a human, and the Stonecutters seem to have been between seven and eight feet tall on average. Once on top she sits down right in the middle of the hologram, and seems to stare at the statue. The stone eyes turn to point at her.
Yes give all my plots and plans away, Yue! "It might be 'my' Samael. My, um, 'senior contact' suggested a figure known as 'Samael' is connected to the owner of the tomb, that they had some sort of connection or relationship. If the old story is true, their combined influence may have had a big impact on this species and their culture, that maybe one or both of them had special knowledge, and that they seemed to come from elsewhere to bring it here. The eyeballs may represent that knowledge or something about it."
"I'm glad they aren't everywhere though," Dr. Broom admits. "When they move I expect the sound of scraping stone, so their being quiet is somehow creepier."
"Mild psionics are in effect here," Yue reports. "Probably just enough to detect people. I think it may be a function of the wellstone itself. Probably tuned to the Stonecutters brains."
"It does seem like they really want whoever comes here to be aware of the fact they're being watched. Watched, or judged, and the closer you get to the statue the more attention they seem to pay." Tasha demonstrates this by stepping around the altar, then waving her arms at the statue of T'thogga to see if it reacts. "How can stone deploy psionics, Yue? or is the stone itself aware? They did say it might be."
Several of T'thogga's eyeball-tentacles actually reach out towards Tasha. Slowly.
"It's not really ssstone," Nessus points out. "It iss some form of nanorobotics, like Khattan progmat but more sssophissticated."
Tasha's ears flatten and she leans back as the tentacles lean forward, but doesn't make a move to step back. She figures she'd better let them take a look at her, it might help her make headway. Or, well, require she jump away quickly to avoid being eaten. It's always a tossup with these things, in her experience. "Sooo, nanorobotics with psinonic powers. That'd suggest low level machine intelligence-resonance, but there isn't any of that, right? Could they be more like organic cells? Could they be individually concious?"
"An interesting hypothesis," Dr. Broom notes. "It's assumed that it operates at a subsapient level, similar to a plant. But nobody has figured out the power source yet, or how it can have such ridiculous tensile strength."
The tentacles stop before reaching Tasha.. and then just go back to where they were. "The priests or whatever may have used gestures to control the statue," Yue suggests to Tasha.
"Well, unless we want to try our library of gestures and Sign language, I'm not sure we can get it to do anything. I'm not even sure it understands our language, this world doesn't seem to have its own Library node and may have developed alone or with other civilizations that lacked a node." After stepping away, the hybrid woman moves around to the rare of the statue, leaning int o get a better look at the wings and tentacle-hair. "It's interesting that the Flame was found here, though. It suggests far-travelers, or vistors from far away, which works with the story of the 'wizards'."
"This entire world could be a religious center," Hakeber suggests. "Or the Library Node just hasn't been found. This city circles the globe. That's.. uh.. a quarter-million square miles, roughly. And that's not counting the spoke-towers and orbital ring, which would be even bigger."
"They're starting to figure how who's going to the shaft city so they know what will be needed for the expedition," Gabriel says over Tasha's earpiece.
"You might be right. We probably won't know, unless we stumble across the node during our explorations." Tasha leans back and circles back around the statue, returning to the group and nodding. "I'll ju--" She's cut off by the notification, head cocking to the side for a moment and then she nods. "I need to respond to this, be right back." She the steps away.
"I want Hake, Yue and myself on that descent. Tell them I can assist in the defense with Mel, but if that's not needed or wanted, then just try and get the three of us down there. If there's room, suggest whoever else you want to come. We're all used to traveling light, so supplies and materials won't be a problem," she sends to gabriel, hunching over and subvocalizing in the shadow of a frog-and-eyeball statue.
It looks like the others also got the message, as people begin to filter back out of the temple. "There should be a presentation," Dr. Broom calls before knuckle-walking on his way.
Tasha looks back, nods, then sends one last, "/I'm heading back, don't work /too/ hard while I'm gone! /Smooches/," before she turns and heads out herself.
Yet before she goes, she stops and waves in to the temple. "See you later, eyeballs. Maybe I'll see you soon, right, Samael?" The last directed at the statue, who gets a Katie Kaboom brand finger point, and then the young woman is gone.
Back at the base camp a large armored Vartan is standing on a metal crate with some sort of control wand in one hand as the various groups gather in front of him. "Is this everyone? I'm starting anyway," he bellows. "I'm Ground Commander Thrax, and I'm here to scare those of you who are still sane enough! Praxafallopus is a world that does not want us here. The city doesn't want us, and the wilderness doesn't want us. And the wilderness may also be part of the city."
"You heard that Hake, it's an world full of alien hostility and dangerous monsters," Tasha whispers to Hakeber, whom she also happens to be both hugging and resting her head upon. "Ohhh nooo~."
The wand is waved, and Hakeber's snicker dies. It shows one of the giant armored vehicles crushed flat as if a herd of Goliaths had stomped on it. "We don't know what did this," Thrax says. "It was five klicks outside of the city. No survivors, no recordings, no orbital imagery. Oh.. the atmosphere deliberately distorts things to prevent detailed imaging or scans from space. So those blurry images you saw last night are as good as it gets."
"It also means that once we're outside of the city, there's effectively no communication," Thrax adds. "And we tried running a physical line behind the next excursion. We found were the line went underground, but gave up digging after a hundred meters down. No signs of the vehicle that time."
"Well that's new," goes Tasha, who stops sniggering herself. "I see why the old goat wanted me to do this, I hope I'm not the thousandth contender or something." Her head shakes, which shakes Hakeber's head, too. "Think the ground heaved up like jaws and chomped it up? It probably ate the other vehicles, too. Maybe we should have thrown rocks at the sun."
Another image is projected into the air, showing an intact vehicle, but covered in vines and moss as if it had been abandoned for decades. "Third time out.. found the crawler but none of the crew. No blood or signs of struggle. No messages left behind," Thrax reports. "After that we used a plasma turbine platform to melt a road to the northern coast. If this expedition launches, it'll be the first attempt to cross the sea to the northern continent. There is no indigenous animal or insect life that we've found. Not even bacteria. The vegetation isn't. It looks and acts like flora, but is actually another form of wellstone. Nothing on this world is natural."
Tasha nods slowly, which again nods Hakeber's head. "I know this is looking very bad, Hake, but if you take a moment and think about it, it's amazing, isn't it? An entire surface, maybe even an entire world, made of ProgMat or something even better. I know it's hostile, but still, it's amazing. I feel like I'll never have enough time to appreciate how amazing everything is, even while it's rudely trying to kill me while I appreciate it." And so she shrugs, which does not shrug hakeber. "Are you sure you don't want to stay behind, Hake? Yue and I can handle this, there's no shame in it?"
Hakeber turns to Tasha, and whispers, "So far we only know that the planet doesn't like Vartans."
"/Maybe they're jealous of our flying?/" Tasha suggests, looking down at Hakeber's face and smiling her most encouraging smile. changeline good looks and way with words? Or subtleness? Are you /volunteering/ to go first? We could make Yue lead, too, I will /bravely/ stay in the back to not endanger you./"
"If the wellstone is psionic, then attitude and intention may be important," Hakeber suggests. "On Abaddon, there was a time when Silent-Ones sent young men into the wilderness to prove they were worthy of being warriors. The wilderness here must have a particular function too, don't you think?"
"But the others are just hear to explore, or else control the environment to make it safer to explore. That means explorers, or anyone who wants to modify the environment, is the target. I'd guess on the second one." And so Tasha raises her hand, waving it in the air. "Excuse me, Mister Thrax?"
"Yes.. whoever you are?" Thrax answers Tasha.
"Aldara Tasha Argentine, ship owner, Khattan mezzode extraordinare," the hybeid woman introduces herself, smiling her winningest smile. "All of the previous expeditions tried to modify their environment, didn't they? Did they have any other intention, like subduing the landscape, or otherwise act in a hostile or aggressive manner?"
"Unless the environment has something against wheels, no," Thrax says. "Were they military expeditions? Yes. Only the last one used actual force against the landscape to fuse a road surface."
"Pilgrimage," Hakeber asides to Tasha. "Think about it. The wilderness is artificial and sensitive to the Stonecutters. The only reason to leave the city is to go to where we want to go."
"Well, since there isn't any fauna and conventional weapons aren't much use against aa landscape, and as it appears the world is aware of us and may well be using psionics to sense our intentions, it may be interpreting our armed expeditions as hostile forces or as some sort of ritual challenge against the wilderness itself. If we present ourselves more like worshippers or pilgrims, unarmed and heading towards the city, the world may prove less hostile. It might even help us get there?" Tasha suggests, not entirely sold herself but willing to support Hakeber's hypothesis. It does make a certain sense to Tasha, though she can't entirely dismiss the idea that it's all automated defenses. Except ... "If the world really was that hostile, wouldn't it have just killed us all up in the cities and destroyed our ships long before we got close?"
"Several ships were lost attempting to land on the surface," Thrax notes. "I don't know what pilgrims are. But you seem to be suggesting that it is our technology - the vehicles and powered armor - that is the target? Well, the Stonecutters had amphibian features. Perhaps walking thousands of miles and swimming across an ocean were practical for them. Maybe they had wellstone integrated into their bodies. A wilderness that couldn't hurt them would make it an easier journey, certainly. But we need to carry supplies and cross water. We have successfully made supply drops along proposed routes however. Using.. Terran.. technology called parachutes."
"We have non-mechanical methods of travel available," offers up Dr. Farfle. Of course the Confederates would have some sort of bug-boats or vehicles, but they'd have to be fed.
"Does the world react to fire? We could use smoke signals, or, well, low-technology flares. The distortion will smudge the exact location but it's smoke and a flare should still show up as a bright blur. We don't need precision for the drops, as long as we have spotters and only drop during the day we can locate where the drops fall. We use the smoke or flares to signal the drops, or something liek them," the hybrid suggests. She then elbows Hakeber in a prompting sort of way. "We use the Confederate technology for transport, preferably anything reptilian, and we use basic navigation to reach our destination. If we're really off course, the drops can warn us."
"We know how to navigate using sextants and clocks," Hakeber offers up. "We have a few purely mechanical clocks that keep good enough time."
The notion of navigating without satellites seems to surprise Thrax, but he then realizes Hakeber is a Karnor. "We still won't know what to expect on the northern continent. It sounds like you expect tests of some sort. So that begs the question: how many people can be transported via Confederate beasts?"
It has been some time since Tasha used a sextant. Parts of her brain momentarily war with each other, her old life, new life, and Nora's own life painting a weirdly discordant view of her opinion on basic technology. She can do it, but she's surprised to realize how primitive part of her sees herself. "Um, yes, actually I can navigate by the stars from a planet's surface with the right maps." She pauses, mentally calculates, then replies, "My party doesn't need much, but we will need basic tools and supplies. Food, clothing, shelter might not be needed but we should bring it just in case. That's three for us; I'll be leaving my Titan behind."
Dr. Farfle consults with his associate for some time before replying. "If they do not need to be awake, we can transport twenty in bio-stasis. Another dozen active personnel."
"Hake, Yue, do either of you want to go in to stasis?" Tasha asks as she turns to face her party. "Either Hake or I need to be aware to navigate using older methods, and we both have different kinds of survival and navigation training. I probably have the most navigation training and field experience, but Hake knows more than I do. I don't know, do you have any skills that would be useful, Yue?"
"You'd be running your own expedition then, we couldn't protect you, only try to supply you," Thrax notes.
"I could probably tell when the landscape was unhappy with us," Yue notes. "And monitor our moods to see if they have an effect."
Tasha looks up from her group and smiles. "It's not the first time," she assures the man, then gives him a very Terran thumbs-up. "I know we don't look like it, but we have a wide variety of specialized training and skills." And then she drops her head and nods to Yue. "Alright, so, I'll navigate and Hake-bear will help with that and whatever else she can. Yue can sense for danger and aboslutely not make that up to avoid going in a tank again. I think we're good. Think about what you'll need to bring that's different from the old plan."
"No animals, so no need for weapons," Yue notes. "Knives and machetes, omnitools. It's the ocean crossing that is the big unknown."
"Where did the Stonecutters get their food from, I wonder," Aaron notes from next to Gabriel.
"Flare guns should be simple to fabricate," Gabriel notes. "We've already got the slugthrowers if you want a firearm of some kind. It's probably too low-tech to be noticed. Swords may be better though."
"Yeeeah," agrees Tasha in a murmur. Even for her back on her advanced-yet-primitive world of Sinai, oceanic voyages were literally beneath her. Airship crews and boat crews had a regular rivalry just about everywhere she went, though they rarely interacted. She knows almost nothing about sailing except some anacedotal suggestion navigation might be similiar and that she knew how to clean and prepare a hull for seaworthiness given The Rake could land in water, although that too was a rarity. "Well, do any of you know anything about sailing? My training was different. We'll grab our swords, but I almost think any weapons are a waste of space. Tools, tools I'm completely for, especially basic ones."
"I can sail," Gabriel says with a grin. "This planet has controlled weather, so the winds should be constant. Assuming the Confederate bugs can't just swim the entire way."
"Swimming that far would require a lot of food," Dr. Farfle notes. "They do have wings that can be used as sails though."
Tasha points at Gabriel. "We should find out. Well," her look shifts from him to sweep over her party, then the rest of the expedition team. She runs a hand back through her hair. "It sounds like we have our plan. Lets pair off and get to it. Yue, help us coordinate with the other teams, Gabriel, we'll work with Yue and the others. Hake, work out what you need. The faster we go, the faster we can can get started."
It takes a few days before things are sorted out. The Confederate critters are disturbingly like giant cockroaches, complete with egg-sacs. Except that the sacs didn't hold eggs, but the suspension pods. There were two of the beasts, each able to carry ten 'passengers' and a half-dozen crew. There were two Eeee pilots, including Dr. Farfle. Nessus and his assistant would also stay awake - not needing to eat very often while have a lot of physical strength made them useful. Gabriel and Dr. Broom, surprisingly, would be in charge of sailing each of the bugs (Tasha learned that Pans can't swim - they lack the buoyancy of humans and Karnors). Tasha, Hakeber and Yue would also be crew, along with one of the Silent-Ones. The other four slots weren't filled, at least for the sea crossing. Once on the other side Shojo and Lacci could be woken up. Vartans were not the greatest of swimmers, after all, even if the ocean water wasn't really 'water'. But it did mean extra supplies could be carried, since making a supp
ly drop in the ocean wasn't practical. Not all of the passenger pods were taken up either - there was plenty of uncertainty among the less bold scholars, and there was still the city itself to explore. The other Silent-Ones, Dr. Broom's Karnor assistant and the two Lapis were on the sleeper list though.
The Vartans would escort them along the road to the coast though, along with most of the other visitors. The big trucks could carry the beasts there, saving energy, and the sleepers could see the beach before going into the hibernation pods.
The beach itself was oddly calm. For Tasha, the coast she remembers most is that of Abu-Dhabi, where flying and swimming animals were everywhere, aside from the talking ones. But here the sand was unmarked, and the waves were gentle and regular and wrong somehow. They didn't leave any foam.
"It's like a ... a sanitized ocean. A mechanical ocean that looks like an ocean is supposed to, but has all of the ocean-parts removed. The appearance of life, but lifeless." Tasha shakes her head. The whole journey feels much the same, a sense nostalgia and sameness devoid of all the little details that made her travels across two worlds seem alive. She can't even call the world dead, not the the same sense as ruins and derelicts which felt truly dead to her. No, this world is alive without life, in some strange way similiar to how ghosts are dead while being 'deadless'. The empty city certainly didn't help the sensation.
The young woman sits atop their bug, which in turn sits atop a truck. From here she can get an excellent view and be close to her post, though her role is primarily that of navigator so while it's unlikely the expedition will need split-second directions, it's old habit for her to be at the ready when they're about to set sail. Her role will require she get a good look at the stars as well, so she figures her spot is exactly the best place to be. "What do you think, Lacci? Interesting and weird, huh?"
"I've never been to a natural beach," Lacci notes. "This seems rather nice. But if you say it's unnatural I'll take your word for it. Have you been on an ocean before?"
"I have," Tasha admits, scootching back and then laying down, arms under her head, looking up at Lacci. "A real ocean, I mean, an ocean from a world with native life or at least fabricated native life that's accurate, that kind of ocean has little animals everywhere. Birds in the air, crabs on the beach, fish in the water. Everywhere something alive is going about it's business, and you can smell all of it. This ocean feels like this civilization heard the gist of what an ocean is, and thought it'd be nice, but missed all the details."
"I want to see a real ocean at some point, too," Katherine says as she hands a case to Tasha. "Flare gun and micro-flares. Use the greens ones for supply drops. If you use the red one, it means Kaa will try to fly through the planet and surface next to you. He assures me he can do it too."
"Oh I'm sure he feels very confident," Tasha says in what she hopes also sounds very confident. "Lets hope we don't need that, but it's good to know he has our back. He really is a good man." The mock-Khattan scratches her nose, more a habit than anything, then offers, "If we get a chance, I'll see if I can find us a resort on a world with a real ocean, with an atmosphere we can breath and everything." That said, Tasha pulls the flare gun case on to her lap, wrapping one arm around it while returning the other to under her head. The bug may be useful, but it's hull isn't exactly cushy.
"I'll be watching," Katie says and gives Tasha a peck on the cheek. "If things get tough, don't let anyone eat Liza," she adds with a wink before sliding off the bug. "I guess that means I have to go into the hibernation pod now," Lacci notes.
Tasha giggles at the kiss and would kiss back, except she's laying down and chasing Katie down to get one would probably seem undignified. Instead she turns to Lacci, opting for leadership in the absence of kisses. "I'm afraid so, Lacci. You could remain awake, but it's better for all of us if you go to sleep. We can always teach you the skills we used here at some later time. Actually, you probably get the better option, since it's not going to be an exciting trip," she tells her.
"Plus if we get eaten by the planet I won't notice it," Lacci says. And seems cheerful about it. But she's a spacer, and there so many horrible ways to die in space that 'going in your sleep' is probably considered a fancy luxury for the best officers.
"Now you're starting to sound like one of us, Lacci!" Tasha reaches up and pats Lacci's arm, then gently but firmly pushes her to head off. "I promise to tell you all the excruciatingly boring details, like how the water was exactly the same, and how the sky never changed, and maybe the one about how I got bored and started singing for, like, an hour."
"Our turn too," Aaron notes from the other side of the bug. "I'm sorry I'll miss the boring stuff. I always like that more than the non-boring, terrifying parts. So try to be a little paranoid for my sake. And if it's really boring, there are extra sleepy-goo pods."
"I loaded some reading material onto your datapad," Liza offers.
"Unfortunately I have to work, so it's going to be the opposite of what I do on ships these day--" Tasha pauses at the mention of reading material; her expression sobers immediately. "Well. It won't be that much different. Thank you, Liza." She sits up, then turns to the two Lapi and tilts her head. "Have good dreams, won't you?"
"The Eeee told me I wouldn't dream at all," Liza says. "Or at least not remember any when I wake up. Which isn't so bad."
"No, it's not." And with that Tasha stretches, having to quickly reach down and grab the case full of flares to prevent it from sliding right off her, then off the side of the insect. She takes one last look around, then thumbs back towards the entrance to their vehicle. "I think I'll get in to place and ready the instruments. See you soon, Liza, Aaron, Lacci."
It takes a few more hours for everyone to put into hibernation - it's a one-at-a-time process, and there only two Eeee to manage it. Then it's time to unload the bugs from the trucks, and strap in for the water. The wings are spread (they actually supplement the bugs power via solar collection and symbiotic algae) to act as sails, and the expedition marches boldly into the ocean. The water, being not-water, is easy to float on at least.
From her vantage high in the lead insect, Tasha regards the unlikely water with a mix of apprehension and wonder. It could be that she's about to become a sailor of the nautical variety, but can she really be called a sailor of a naval vessel when the water itself isn't? No, she must then be sailing across something stranger yet, a sailor of alien matter and of lost civilizations, guided only by the stars and their own courage. That, at least, remains the same for sailors everywhere, even if the stars and the instruments that guide them change.