Even though there weren't any fairies about, the location still provided a sense of enchantment. Tasha even caught Galatea smiling a few times, and Katie actually sang and danced a bit without leaving the water. It was very fun and relaxing, and helped Tasha feel grounded again (even if the ground was actually wood beneath the soil layer).
Eventually Tasha, who got in on the dancing towards the end, finds herself right back on the grass and as naked as the day she was reborn, both the second and third time. She stares out at the sky, splayed on the grass next to Katie and Galatea. "This is nice," she declares out of the blue, to say it, to really feel it. "This ... is nice."
"No argument from me," Katie says, having her arms crossed behind her head. "Too bad Tia wasn't a blonde though. She'd be cuter."
"You can do that, can't you Tia? Be blonde?" Tasha rolls her head over to look. "I think you could even make me blond, if I wasn't already?"
"I am normally golden blonde," Tia notes. "This is to fit in better with my mother. And I do not get any cuter. When I try I end up looking like a doll. It's very difficult to manage the right degree of asymmetry to not look artificial."
"Ah, yeah.. I have people to manage that for me," Katie claims, and gives Tasha wink.
"Well there you have it. Maybe Tia can join the Beauty and Aesthetics Committee, when we have one of those? Ships' Barber?" Tasha rolls her head back, catches the wink, then grins back. "Yes, Katie has two very professional managers for her look. They can help you, too. Katie manages my look."
Tia seems to consider this. "I prefer not to draw too much attention, so I will remain as I am and just stand next to one of you," she concludes. "I think it is concession enough to allow you to choose clothing for me. And probably footwear, unless sandals are allowed?"
"Sandals are allowed, though perhaps not appropriate everywhere," Tasha explains, looking back to the sky. "There's enough variation across ports, worlds, sub-factions and Galactic powers that many styles are permitted without much consideration unless it's a formal affair with dress codes. The Terragens and the Confederacy are especially broad, since they don't rely as much on the Library for defining style and manufacture."
"You have libraries for checking out clothes?" Tia asks. "I assume anything you pick for me I can get a duplicate of for my mother. Unless it is unusual for parent and child to dress alike."
"It's a bit unusual. Children tend to want to diversify themselves form their parent, and Human children more so than most. Talk to Yue, she'll help you understand modern Humans. I was only one for a few days and I only wore clothes for the latter half of that." Tasha sweeps her legs in and out over the grass, glad to feel it, to feel something alive and relatively mundane against her skin. "The Library is a precusor-civ artifact that teaches budding sentients how to live,m technology, and so on. Many Galactics rely on it, while two do not: Terragens and Confederates. The Star Empire also tends to not rely on it."
"Interesting," Tia says. "I would like to see this Library sometime." She then sits up, as she had the advantage when it comes to drying off compared to the furred women. "The best part about you wearing clothes then," Katie tells Tasha, "was the thought of taking them off of you. I suppose stripping humans is also a Karnor fetish. Or it was just me."
Tasha's tail wags as she grins. "I did catch that. Humans are very sensitive and and vulnerable after all, so it makes many Humans -- me included? -- cuter somehow, because they seem more vulnerable. Like prey. I suppose that's why I look like I'm half predator and half prey, now. Persephone must have picked up on my, um, behavior." And then she spreads her hands in a shrug; Katie thinks she'd be blushing if Tasha was still Human.
"Please let me know if I start to act vulnerable," Tia says, wrapping her dress back around her. "I have an idea of how to proceed for the next phase of training," she then reports.
Tasha sits up, albeit languidly. "Oh? Are we leaving, then?"
"Are we?" Tia asks, looking at the pair. "Are you dry, or does that matter? I can see how you are part human now. The wolves I knew hated taking baths."
"I am an evolved and refined being," Tasha insists. Then she holds a hand out to Katherine and adds, "Katie is more evolved and refined than I am, however." And then she stands up. "Well, what's next for training? If it helps keep you distracted and helps me to learn new abilities, I'm happy to continue."
"First I need you to answer a question," Tia says, looks at Tasha. "Where do your shield and sword go when you aren't using them?"
"Uh," goes Tasha, which is not much of an answer and she knows it. The blond woman cocks her head to the side and thinks for a moment, then answers, "Well, I assume I stop channeling them. They're like, um, redirecting power from a potential in my soul. So, back in to my soul. They seem to be finite in amount but not usage, and don't seem to experience decay or loss when used, as if there's a set amount of the Color Energy, for lack of a better descriptor. My other hypothesis is that I'm channeling the energy from elsewhere, or generating it, using some pre-made key or access that was given to me, and the key is part of my soul, and the energy stops channeling when I stop using it."
"But where does it reside?" Tia asks, coming up to Tasha. She pokes her in the chest, and asks, "Here?" Then she pokes her forehead and asks, "Or here? It's very important to know where it is when it's not being channeled. It exists somewhere. So if you don't know, you're going to need to make it exist somewhere when you aren't using it."
"Thennnn I suppose we'd better make it exist somewhere," Tasha concludes at length. Her head then tilts the other way. "Why is it important that it exist somewhere?"
"Because, you need it to work like the kinetic field," Tia explains. "Always ready to respond, without you thinking about it. That means when you're unconscious or dead as well. The blue is the important one. You need it to make it exist in your skull. All the time. Even in your eyes. Surround your brain in a blue barrier."
"Armor?" Katie asks. "But it doesn't stop.. anything real, does it?"
"Things that are not real are more dangerous than those that are," Tia claims.
"That sounds tricky. My head won't explode, will it?" Tasha reaches up and taps her head. "Because I've never had them intersect with my being before, out of fear I'd damage or deflect myself, since I'm a little magical now, too."
At Tia's response Tasha turns to nod slowly to Katie. "Tia's right. Our opponents aren't real in the usual sense of things, they are as much conceptual as anything, deified ideas made sentient that feed on other concepts, pulling them in to themselves. It's a little like fighting a really terrifying database that eats other databases."
"And Tasha has no psychic defense," Tia claims. "So it is very important that she has some, otherwise I will be vulnerable as well via the ansible link."
"And she also means that she cares about me being hurt and such," Tasha adds helpfully, walking over to sling an arm around Tia's shoulders. "And she's not mad about the stabbing or anything."
"You tried to kill me twice," Tia says. "And the second time really hurt. I do not like being hurt, so I am not going to allow it again, directly or indirectly, where you are involved. I have a compulsion to serve, and you have purpose which I do not."
Tasha lays a hand on her chest. "Im my defense, your maker did eat my soul and drive me absolutely berserk and almost destroyed me, and I only tried to kill you once. The second time I was trying to hurt you so your maker would snap out of it, because I am very tiny and she is very big, especially then, and you were crying in a corner while your maker tried to suck us all in to who knows where." And so the red woman folds her arms. "It was a gamble when I had nothing left. She cares about you, so I tried to make her remember she cared about something in the world she intended to destroy. It stopped her long enough for help to arrive." And so Tasha looks off, frowning. "I'm not sure if it actually made the difference or not, but as I said, I was out of options. And you did ask me to come back, knowing I was not well."
"I figured if she ate you it would calm her down," Tia claims, but grins. Humans can look smug so much easier than other species, except for the feline ones.
Katie snerks.
"Only I, and a select few others, get to eat Tasha," Katie claims.
Tasha huffs. "You should all know I'm very poisonous, no matter how much I look like half a prey animal," she insists. She then coughs very hard at Katherine's last comment.
"So, how hard will it be for you to wrap your brain in the blue shield?" Tia asks. "It should probably be done with medical care close at hand, just in case it does sever your optic nerve or spinal column."
Tasha eyes Tia for a long moment, then tries to poke her. "I'm going to have another seemingly serious but secretly teasing mentor slash ally slash questionable friend, aren't I?" But then she leans back and spreads her hands. "We may as well return to the ship, then. Jonas will be disappointed if I don't rely on him, doctors are very sensitive about that sort of thing."
"Oh.. does the shield come separate at all?" Tia asks. "Could you hand it to me?"
"We should hit the mall and get some ice cream first," Katie suggests. "While you can still enjoy it," she teases Tasha.
"I don't think so?" Tasha holds her arm up, manifesting the Blue shield. Katherine then gets a dirty look before Tasha's tail starts trying to swat at her. "I would like ice cream. Before I'm injured. Again."
Tia holds her hand out. "Can you make it smaller?" she asks.
Tasha frowns down at the shield, presumably trying to do just that. "They tend to resist my efforts to shape them," she admits. "The sword did become more, um, horrible when I was long it, though. I can throw it for a distance before it vanishes."
Tia instead examines the tri-part symbol on the shield. "There's something we can try later," she says. "I haven't had ice cream in a very long time."
"We'll see if you can handle it on a cone without needing to explain to everyone around you're not an alien robot," Tasha insists, then she starts walking, snatching Katie's hand with her tail. "I know just the place. It has puppies."
Katie did manage to get some shopping done, with Tia accepting all of her choices so long as she could also wear shorts, sandals and a flower-print tank-top for the rest of the day. The puppy parlor was also a big hit with Katie, who claimed that nobody on Abaddon could ever know such a place existed. "I feel like a mom," she claimed while holding onto a squirming, spotted puppy. Even Tia was happy to play with them. Who knows if she ever had a pet before. She could have had hundreds after all.
"Yue will be at the bungalow, if she's not out on a nature walk," Katie says. "Tree therapy, she calls it. I assume you'll need a psychic to test if the psychic armor works," Katie notes after much of the ice-cream has been demolished.
Tasha was content to be a cuddle spot for several of the more (relatively) sedate puppies, who she cradled, petted, or rub-rubbed as seemed appropriate and din't cause her to drop her ice cream. It also helped she bought several bowls for her assembly, to keep them distracted.
As they were walking back Tasha nods. "We can ping her and request she return. She's as professional as any of us -- maybe more so than most of us -- and will probably be willing to help."
"And she is a specialist in humans?" Tia asks. She seems a lot more self-conscious (or scared) around large groups of people. "What other species do you have in your fellowship?"
Tasha does make an effort to avoid the groups as she walks, though she does make a show of waving to a mixed group of children who gawk at her -- including waving her tail in a decidedly un-Karnor way. "She's a psychic human, a sensitive. She can't project, but she can feel. And you'll see. No need to explain too much in the center of town."
Just outside of their vacation accommodations, Samael and Lacci can be seen chatting on the landing. Lacci has a very large cup of probably Vartan-strength coffee clutched in both hands.
"You know Sam, and the Vartan is Lacci." Tasha lifts her hand to wave to the two as her party approach the landing, giving them a tail wave as well. "Lacci's a bit shy and naive, but she means well. Mostly. She's fun to tease."
"Tease or flirt with?" Tia asks. "I have the seen both terms used interchangeably."
Lacci waves to Tasha and Katie, and gives a curious look to Tia. "Back from your camping trip?" she asks Tasha.
"Yeah. Made a new friend, too. She'll be joining us when we depart Ymir," Tasha answers, gesturing to the new person as if to indicate some new commodity they will be transporting. "She's a little shy and maybe a little weird, but we're not new to that, are we?"
"Well hello then, I'm Lacci, a military historian," the Vartan says, and offers her hand. Tia smiles and examines the talons for a moment before offering her own hand. "Pleased to meet you, I am Tia. Tasha has told me next to nothing about you."
"Oh.. then you shouldn't have weird expectations for me," Lacci replies after a head tilt.
"I have weird expectations," Samael claims.
"See? Weird." Tasha shrugs with shoulder and hands. "I'm sure we can all learn more about each other as the days come. But, I suppose I could add a little more right now: I met Lacci on Caltrop, she was crying because a big Vartan was mean to her, I thought she had potential, now she handles our Galactic-side research and planning, military and otherwise, as needed." And then she gestures to Samael. "And Sam is Sam."
Samael and Tia stare at one another for a long heartbeat. "Yes, he is," Tia confirms. "I found Tasha in the woods," she tells Lacci.
"I am often found in far flung locations," Tasha confirms, nodding slowly. "I show up and recruit strange people for mysterious reasons, then presumably they don't regret it at all, because all of them are still here."
"You told me that once I joined I couldn't leave," Lacci claims.
"Well not quickly, I can't just have people joining, learning secrets, and then departing. I expect a certain dedication." Tasha plants her hands on her hips. "And if I recall the last time we had a big meeting somebird was very concerned we were going to kick her off the ship. That said, I will be expecting more out of everyone as we move forward. You won't be able to rely on me doing everything anymore."
"I'm not going to steal things from museums though," Lacci claims. "That's a line I won't cross."
"Is that something that comes up often?" Tia asks Tasha.
"What if they're sinister museums determined to destroy the universe? Or worse, put the universe in a museum from which we can't escape?" Tasha leans forward, arches her brow, and goes 'hmm' in a decidedly interrogative manner.
"Heh, not out in Galactic space it hasn't," Katie claims with a big grin.
Tasha glances at Katie. "Well I din't steal anything. And I'm pretty sure that was a temple or a church, the one time I did steal something."
"What about Gabriel, and Bellerophon?" Katie teases. "I'm sure Hakeber has done something inappropriate in a museum.."
"Tasha does seem to like collecting very old things," Lacci agrees.
"Hake has done many inappropriate things in a museum, and Gabriel and Bellerophon are what you might call fair salvage, so I own them legally." Tasha rests a hand over her heart. "See? I collect old things. That makes me classy and wealthy, even if I'm not. No one who was ever rich and or classy did anything wrong, because those people make the rules, and why would they want to be wrong?"
"I will be wary," Tia says, but apparently isn't going to admit her age in front of Lacci. "How are you enjoying this resort?" she asks the Vartan instead.
"It's pretty nice," Lacci claims. "I've wondered about some of the other mega-tree-continents, which have different biomes, but I've gotten used to a more culturally mixed experience now. I don't know my own kind as well as I should though."
Tasha turns to Katherine now. "I'll contact Yue, then we can head back," she says before fishing out her datapad and starting that process. "I'll let the others know we've returned, too ... We should set an itinerary for departure as well."
"Lacci and I have problems understanding Vartans," Tasha asides as she works. "I'm not sure why. You'd think at least Lacci would understand. Then there's the smaller planet-born ones who are my height, they're a whole other crate of feathers."
"Where to next?" Lacci asks, after taking a sip of her coffee. Tasha's datapad shows that the message was received, and there's a reply from Yue about meeting in about an hour.
"We have an hour to get back." Tasha puts her datapad away and looks up. "You mean, off-world? We'll discuss it more later, in detail. Right now just expect we'll be in transit and at rest for a bit longer, even if not here, and then it'll be time to go to work."
"Your species is divided into military and civilian castes?" Tia asks. It's not exactly common knowledge, and a young human who can afford to be on Ymir could be reasonably expected not to know that.
"Something like that," Lacci says. "It's complicated." To Tasha, she says, "I'll let Shojo know, so he can wrap things up with his crew."
"Please do. Hopefully they'll be ready by then." Tasha looks around for a moment, then pulls out a chair and has a seat with the others. "The walk back's not even a half-an-hour, so we may as well sit here for a bit. Have you seen the others, Lacci? Anyone having any problems?"
"Problems?" Lacci asks. "I don't think so. The Lapi have been out and about, but I don't think they're getting into mischief. Aaron was actually helping Shojo with some of the training. Yue has been out a lot as well, not around the resort so much. I don't know where Gabriel and Hakeber are, or Mr. I and Necessity. Jonas is around somewhere, presumably, but he tends to vanish if you aren't looking at him."
"Yes he does; so long as he isn't in danger or endangering us, I don't see the problem with it." Tasha leans over to see what Lacci is drinking, but decides she's had enough ice cream and is not hungry right now, which is unusual. After leaning back she tells the group, "We should all do what we can to relax. It's become abundantly clear that mental health will be a central part of our defense."
"Defense against.. anxiety?" Lacci asks. She is one of the more anxious members after all.
"Perhaps you could bring some of the puppies," Tia suggests.
"No.. not cleaning up after puppies," Katie says. "The two cats are bad enough. At least the Phins don't shed everywhere."
"My cats are excellent thank you," Tasha insists as she rests her head on her hand, arm on the table. "Who else is going to check every high thing to see if it's something else,, by knocking it on the floor? At any rate, defense against the kind of anxiety our ... opponents like to distribute. You'll be briefed more on that latter. Everyone will be, to one degree or another."
"Isn't that what Sam is for?" Lacci asks. "To traumatize us until we're used to it?" She.. isn't exactly joking.
"I can only do so much," Samael claims.
"And I help as well, but the kind of trauma we're talking about is the kind I'd throw Sam off the ship for. Usually. Unless he's helping. Just, make sure you're ready for the briefing when ti comes, probably some time after we depart." And then Tasha glances at the clock on her datapad and rises again. "I'd like to take a slow walk back, so we're going to head back to the ship now."
"I'm sure we'll get to know each other more while traveling, Tia," Lacci offers.
"I hope so," the human says and smiles. She looks actually normal, so she's probably perfected the act at least, when it's needed.
"I'm sure you'll get along fine," Tasha agrees, whether she believes it or not. She gives a little wave, then snatches up Katherine's arm and begins walking back to the ship.
"How much coffee do you think Gabriel and Hakeber have consumed since we last saw them?" Katie asks, as they approach customs.
"We may need to order several more tons to make up for the loss," Tasha replies, hand over chest as if to morn their dearly departed coffee stocks. "I just hope everyone is ready for what's coming. I may have done the others a disservice by not fully understanding what we're up against, but I mean to make up for that as much as we can. Maybe I should discuss mental triage and support planning."
"We also need to stock up on fish," Katie says. "And most of us had to eat bits of Sam remember. We know it can get worse." She also glances at Tia, who is focused on the security area ahead.
"Sam's just a little bit of it. The worst is ... the worst." But Tasha does not elaborate further as she approaches the security line, lifting a hand in friendly greeting to show that yes, as you can well see, a very expensive being is approaching and should be paid attention to. "Ready for the checkpoint? They may react to your new presence."
"Just don't draw attention to me," Tia requests. "Last time you drew focus to the space suit, so that should work again."
"Do you have anything to declare," the Karnor guard asks as he gestures to Tasha's duffel-case.
"Alright." Tasha makes sure she's the first one in, followed by Katherine who she knows is also a special distraction, especially to the right kind of people. "I do not, just the same things as before. Space suit. The usual." She tries to make it sound boring, knowing people tend to follow the lead of others.
The bag is scanned, and Tia walks through the checkpoint while this is happening, apparently unnoticed in the same way that Sam can become unnoticed - or their seldom seen crew member Batty. It isn't until they are nearly to the docks that Tasha realizes Tia didn't even have a scent.. mainly because she notices it come back. "Much more convenient that having to wear metallic makeup and uniforms," Katie notes.
"But you like metallic makeup and uniforms." Tasha wags her tail, smiling, and then looks to Tia. "So, will I be able to learn to do that? Because I really stand out. Or is that unique to yoru 'compatibility' with the system?"
"I'm laced with exotic matter," Tia notes. "There's a psionic element as well, but the key in most situations is to not become invisible. Just.. somebody else's problem."
"So it works best when you're around other people who draw attention," Katie suggests.
"For the most part, yes," Tia says. "Real invisibility is difficult in this form."
"So how my cats work, basically." Tasha approaches the ship, giving it, too, a wave as she approaches. "Yue should be returning soon. We can head to the meeting room, and I'll notify Jonas." She uses her datapad to do exactly that. "Since we may need to wait, feel free to ask further questions. Oh, and did the communication system have anything to do with 'being' a Phin?"
"You still want to do that?" Tia asks. "You will have to ask the Phin first. I've never interacted with altered dolphins before."
"It seems like fun, so why not? Maybe I'll learn something from the experience." Tasha gives a little shrug, then steps aboard the Dark Horse.
Inside, she says, "Please notify Jonas we may need him for possible emergency medical support as we test something. Also, where are my cats? I don't think Tia has met them."
The meeting room is clear, although the ghosts of the meeting munchies lingers. "The cats are on board," the Niss reply. "Until they are fitted with tracking systems we cannot be more accurate. They exist as wave functions that may collapse at any location within the volume of Dark Horse."
Tasha nods to this, as if it were all well known. "I'll grab them if I see them, then." In the meeting room she takes a seat at the head of the table, having gotten used to it, even if she's not exactly 'The Leader' now. "Well then, make yourself comfortable. We come here for private discussions and higher level planning; for lower level stuff, we use the galley."
Tia looks around, and even bends down to check under the table.. before going to the window wall to look into the hangar. When she does sit down, she immediately begins fiddling with the adjustments. "Do you find this chamber relaxing?" she asks Tasha while doing so.
"It's supposed to have a more focused, business-and-discussion feel, Tia. So no. Usually when we're in here something important needs to be addressed, and those things are rarely served well by being too comfortable. We have other rooms for being comfortable, and will have one fewer after the remodel, but that can't be helped," Tasha explains. She then spreads her hands. "I plan to remodel all of this deck to accommodate new people and new avenues of research. We can't afford to let space go to waste." She then tilts her head again. "Why, does it make you uncomfortable?"
"I don't think I've ever been in a conference room before," Tia claims. "I didn't get involved in the sorts of things that would require them. I did not expect one to be so bland. I like it." She then gets up out of her meticulously adjusted chair to walk up to Tasha. "Please stand up so I don't have to bend over."
"But I'm a little tired," Tasha insists, ears down, eyes wide. She even yawns a little, then tilts her head.
"Alright, I just want to test something quick then," Tia says, and places her palm against the back of Tasha's head. "Bring out the shield, then put it away."
Tasha stands up anyway. "Very well." The shield appears in her left hand, which she makes sure everyone sees, and then as it came, it bubbles and roils back in to her body as if it were made of some supernatural foam.
"That's good," Tia says, removing her hand. "You should probably get some sleep. Katie can introduce me to Yue and your doctor, unless you think you should see the doctor now in case you've been injured or cursed."
"I'm about as injured and cursed as I usually am, so probably not," Tasha insists. She looks to Katherine and asks, "Would you like to entertain Tia for a while, then? We can resume in a few hours when I'm better rested. The last few days took a lot out of me."
"I'll take her to meet the Phins," Katie says, getting a sardonic look. "They'll love her."
"They do love dry humor," Tasha agrees, smiling. She looks around for a moment, then spreads her hands. "In a few hours then. Everyone should be back on board by that point. Please give my apologies to the others."
When Tasha finally begins to rouse, she feels well rested. It's possible that her 'nap' lasted longer than she planned it too. Or else nobody wanted to wake her up.
Tasha supposes that the down side to being a demon-slaying source if mass destruction is that no one wants to wake up up early for fear of your being cranky. She stretches and yawns, then sits up to gather her clothes, get dressed, and check the time.
She's been asleep for at least seven hours, if her guess about when she went to sleep is accurate.
More of a sleep than a mere nap, Tasha supposes, and further supposes it can't be helped. She has been through a lot, and when 'shot in the face' is a mild point of concern for your day, that really adds an extra dimension of exhaustion to every day. Once dressed she punches up the wall controls and sees who is on board, although she's uncertain the ship can even detect Galatea.
It looks like everyone has returned by now, including Shojo's squad.
That means departure isn't far off, Tasha considers, perhaps even later today, or in a few days. She adds a note to her status to indicate she's awake and ready, if anyone should be waiting for her, and steps out of her cabin.
There's a small group in the lounge area. Katie, Yue and Mr. Invention. For some reason, Katie is wearing her sidearm. "Ah, Tasha," Mr. Invention says. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better, thank you. It's been a draining few days." An understatement, if ever there was one. "How is everyone? I see you're ... armed, Katie? Did something happen?" her brows go up and she looks around to faces, searching for an indicator.
"Well," Katie starts, and rubs the back of her head. "I was taking our guest on a tour, but we never got past this area." She points to the door to the artifact room, where the Niss resides. "That door opened, she went in, it closed.. and that's the last I've seen of her and the Niss isn't responding."
"Well, that's ... hmm." Tasha takes a seat, plants her arm on the table and her head on her hand, and frowns. She does this for a good several seconds, and then says, "I'm going to try and communicate with her. If that fails I'm going to walk in there and touch the Niss, and try and communicate with them. If I go catatonic for longer than a few minutes, or my vitals begin to drop dangerously, have Jonas knock me out, really reset my brain. That should do it."
"Take my hand then," Yue says, holding her hand out to Tasha. "I'll be able to tell if you're in mental distress."
Tasha takes the hand, then as an extra precaution just lays her head on the table, arms out. "What, I'm not always in mental distress? I must be doing better than I thought." She smiles, though there's a bit of a forced air to it, a doing it for the team vibe. "Well, here I go." And then she opens the anisble controls and selects Galatea for communication.
"You take long naps," is the immediate message that Tasha gets when she activates the network. The door opens and Tia steps out, with the door closing behind her. Tasha immediately gets a sense of mild distress from the alien, when she notices Mr. Invention and Yue. Galatea does not do well in the presence of strangers it seems.
"I've been tired, my body isn't as resilient as you might think." Tasha lifts her head off the table and looks up. "You've been speaking to the Niss? They are failing to respond to us, and we are worried for their safety and for the safety of this vessel."
"We were running a simulation," Galatea explains. "We were all rather absorbed in the process. I assumed the collective was reserving some cells for external communication. We need to go to the containment sphere."
Tasha watches Galatea, but otherwise there is silence. "The ship's containment sphere or another containment sphere? And what were you simulating, to what purpose?" Tasha glances towards the door behind Galatea, eyes lingering. "I will check on the Niss and ask them to maintain communications whenever possible in a moment."
"The containment sphere for the lesser Ogdru-hem that moves the ship," Galatea replies. "We were simulating the phase-states for it."
"They were simulating phase states for Tatha-hem were distracted," Tasha explains to the people around here, all while watching Galatea. "You must have some results, or at least something to investigate, then? We prefer if crew remembers inform at least the senior crew if critical members will be out of communication and if important research projects are under way. if you don't want to talk to the others, at least send Gabriel a note. Otherwise, this happens." And so she lifts a hand to indicate the concerned people around her.
"I did not think it prudent to ignore the invitation from the Niss," Galatea replies. "It was very distracting. I apologize for forgetting I was with Katherine."
"They are very interesting and there is a lot to take in on this ship. Just apologies later and tell her what you told me, and everything will be fine." Tasha then turns to Katherine and tells her, "The Niss extended a desire to communicate and Galatea was caught up with that. Their presence can be immense." She then turns back to Galatea. "How did you and the Niss get along? Well, I assume? They rarely reach out to speak to others."
"I've never met anything like them before," Galatea answers, but seems wistful somehow. "A long time ago, I wanted to be a planet, and every thing on it. It is similar yet opposite to what the Niss are."
"I apologize for causing concern," Tia tells Katie, blushing slightly. "I was indeed overwhelmed."
"I know what you mean. I was overwhelmed by what they represented, too, in my own way. Their form of existence was very different from anything I'd encountered until then, and I was new in my explorations, making their existence that much more surprising. I think I found the idea disturbing, but I knew -- as I do now -- that I liked them even if I was having trouble with the new information." Tasha smilies a little, which is a little strange when she does it without some preamble or prior event. "I thought it might be nice to be a ship. I've always been on ships. Horus asked me if I'd like it once, and I found that it would be fine."
"Is this sort of thing going to happen often?" Katie asks, looking between Tia and Tasha.
"What do you mean be 'this sort of thing' and 'often'?" Tia replies. Katie apparently doesn't care for that. "Weird stuff," the Karnor elaborates.
Tia clearly looks like she's about to ask what constitutes 'weird' for this crew, but just purses her lips. "I don't know," she admits.
"The Niss can be a lot. They are an entire civilization, with a very different form of life, yet they are still a people. It is like meeting an entire alien planet at once. They have much to share and a way of existing neither Tia nor I have seen. Also, Tia is not comfortable with large groups nor strangers, so the Niss would be, for her, like walking in to a small room only to find it occupied by the population of a star system." And so Tasha spreads her hands. "Tia's also had a different form of existence. There is an adjustment period."
"I don't think Katie has quite forgiven you for shooting me in the face," Tasha notes to Galatea. "Which I think is understandable given the conditions."
"Well just remember to give some warning then," Katie growls.
"I thought she was just being territorial," Galatea notes. "The wolves I'm used to can be very pack-centric, and some adhere to hierarchies."
"Definitely hasn't forgiven you," Tasha adds, then she shrugs with her hands; what can you do, you did do that thing. "Territoriality may be part of it. I am Katie's mate and her friend, just as I am Gabriel's. Endangering me without warning will not endear you to any of them, nor most people on this ship, in the same way you still resent me for harming Kainudy."
"I see," Galatea replies. "Next time, I will ask one of them to shoot you instead if it is necessary."
"Yes Katherine," Tia says, and averts her eyes downward in a submissive gesture. Which actually seems to work on Katie, who at least doesn't seem to have her hackles up again.
Yue notes out loud, "Alright, I can't read her, just like I can't read Thoth or Sam."
"So not actually human," Mr. Invention observes.
"That's because her existence is quite different. She is, to a degree, simulating and fabricating her responses to match your expectations. She does have emotions. Tia will need time to adjust from an isolated self-directed existence to one where the feelings and desires of strangers must be considered." Tasha sometimes feels like a database that spews out strange new alien life explanations, but such is the value of experience and discovery. "Is your lack of emotional content perceivable by a psionic part of why the fae do not like you?"
"No, they do not like me because their glamours and illusions do not work on me," Galatea explains. "I tend to see what is real."
"Like Sam and Thoth, then." Feeling it might help people understand Galatea better, Tasha notes, "Tia has been through a lot, so some understanding, please. Not too much, use your own limits, but for the rest just know she needs to adjust and she's going through a difficult time."
"A shut in," Katie says. "That explains some of it, I suppose."
"I need to borrow Tasha for an experiment," Tia says, and looks at Yue as she does so since she's the one holding Tasha's hand."
"I'm still not over your last experiment," Katie notes.
"I won't be experimenting on her though," Tia quickly explains.
"What do you say, Yue?" Tasha looks to Yue with a slight smirk, ears up, and clearly amused. To Katie, she adds, "And you shouldn't be. That was one of those 'too far' moments I'm not expecting anyone to just let go."
"I won't shoot her again," Tia promises.
"I'm not so sure about this link you have," Yue tells Tasha. "But I also don't think you're being influenced through it. So, up to you."
"It's unlikely Tia will try to harm me in a lasting way, nor seek my death or control. If her and the party she is connected to wished that, they would have already done so. I am also supported by a higher authority than herself, she is not inclined to taking a leadership nor directional role, and she is ill-suited to combating her foes, which are our foes." Tasha sniffs, sitting up straighter. "It's not in her best interest in other words, but she does harbor some lingering resentment towards me that may manifest as lesser hostility."
"You stabbed my soul," Tia points out.
"Not something I would have thought could be stabbed," Mr. Invention notes.
Tasha's brows arch, then she leans back and spreads her hands in a what could I do gesture. "It was a last resort to get someone's attention, and it worked. You knew my condition and you knew we were going in to danger. I would also note that your attempts to gain that being's attention had failed."
"So I do not think I can be blamed for likewise getting your attention by shooting you in the face," Tia claims. "And I was not trying to get Katherine's attention by that. It was just a side effect."
"Some side effect," Katie growls.
"And are you now both 'even' as far as stabbing and shooting each other?" Yue asks.
"I do not intend to do anything like that again," Tia claims.
"You can be blamed." Tasha folds her hands together and rests them on the table, a gesture that is immediately, instinctlually obvious to all of the Karnors as well as the Huamn: a lecture is coming. It does at least give Tasha motherly air. "What I did, I did to save you, to save me, and to disrupt a catastrophic situation. What you did was petty and ill-considered. There is a weighting to these things. Terragens have a saying: "Desperate times call for desperate measures." The action should be commensurate with the problem at hand, and life-threatening, risky action employed only when other options had been exhausted. You might be older than me, but you know less than me about leadership and crisis decision making."
"Your life was not at risk from the action," Tia points out. "That was the point, to show that it was no longer a risk."
"Alternatively, you could have said: "Thanks to this force field I have enabled, your life is not at risk from kinetic weapons of the magnitude, such as this. If you will allow it, I will not shoot you to demonstrate."" And so Tasha's brows go up and her head ducks just so; do you understand. "I'm used to being casually threatened by unusual beings, but scaring Katie, who did nothing to you, was not well done."
"I had not anticipated her reaction," Tia admits. "I'm sorry. Would you have let me shoot you if I had explained all of that first though, or would you have been anxious?"
"I would have been anxious and let you shoot me in a less life threatening location, possibly also letting our medical staff know before hand." Tasha unfolds her hands and leans back, lecture mode over and now on to the gentle come down portion of the talk. "I have been reckless in letting people experiment on me, but it should show that I still trust you enough that I let you do what you have." And then she stands up, hands to the back of her chair, leaning forward. "But I think you get the idea. Welcome aboard. Shall we head the the Bridle?"
"The.. oh, yes," Tia says. "I thought you meant there was going to be a wedding, since the crew are also your mates."
"Not.. all of us," Yue points out. "What have you been telling her?" she asks Tasha.
"Tia made an assumption based on a few individuals who I said are my mates," Tasha stresses, grinning. She begins towards the aft, heading for the elevator. "But if anyone wants to apply for the position I will ask Gabriel to create a sign up sheet." her tail wags as she goes.
"Forgive me, I extrapolated from the relationships of the people I have actually met that were not Thoth or Samael, for which such a relationship would not have made sense," Tia says.
Tasha waits by the elevator. "It will be a little cramped. I'd like at least Yue to come with me, but others are welcome as well, especially since some of you have broader scientific backgrounds than I do." She reaches behind herself to poke the button causing the doors to slide open.
"I'm the smallest," Yue says. "I can probably squeeze in."
"I'm not in the mood to be in a cramped space with a crazy alien," Katie notes.
Mr. Invention just spreads his hand. He can't fit in the elevator with anybody as it is.
"Interacting with Tatha-hem may be dangerous, so best you keep an eye on my mental state." Tasha steps in to the elevator and waits for Tia and anyone else who plans to join them. "No one else then?"
Tia gets into the elevator, pressing to the back.
Yue packs in next.
With no one else coming Tasha, who must fold her wings until she looks like a rendition of modest angel, hits the button for Bridle Access. "We'll be renovating soon so hopefully there will be fewer of these crammed-in moments."
When the doors open, there's just the narrow platform extending to the Bridle itself, a crystal sphere pierced by four crystal beams and having seemingly randomly placed, asymmetrical panels embedded in parts of it.
"Tasha gets out first, stepping out as far as she can and then turning around to unfold her arms and wings in a grand and indicating fashion. "This is the Bridle. We know it was constructed by the combined effort of both Thotep and a species known as the Tnuctipin, a species of hyper-intelligent predators. Beyond that we know a bit, but I'm not qualified to explain it to you."
"The Niss explained that they liked to control everything manually," Tia says, and tries look past Tasha's wings to the sphere. "Hmmm."
Tasha lowers her wings and scoots to the side, at least as much as she is able. "We're strongly considering building a new room around the Bridle to aid further research of both it, magic, and technomagical based technologies."
"Mmm," Tia responds, while Yue gets as close as she dares. "Tatha-hem couldn't resist her.. mother's.. influence," Yue notes.
"I can sympathize," Tia says, then tells Tasha. "I need to borrow your senses. Do you mind?"
"Am I going to be piloting your body again or am I just going to be taking a back seat in my head?" A reasonable question, Tasha thinks. having other people pilot your body is something that has to be reviewed.
"I'm going to ask you to do things while I watch," Tia says. "I may need to act on my own. So I will be touching your interface studs this time."
"Very well. Yue, please observe." Tasha turns around to walk as close to the Bridge as she can, which also puts her back to Galatea. Out of the blue she notes, "I always wondered what the Tnuctipin looked like. You'd think we'd know by now. Maybe we should make a mural or statue to them some day, as thanks, even if they probably wouldn't appreciate it."
"I doubt they were cute," Tia says, and puts her hand on the back of Tasha's head. "Now, can you look at the Ogdru-hem with your third eye?"
"I don't know, with enough material, stuffing, and large yes, I'm sure we could make them cute." Tasha turns her head as she talks, closing her two eyes for the third. She focuses her attention as she has learned to do, extending the 'beam' of her senses towards the Bridle. "Don't be surprised if Tatha-hem attempts to communicate. We have 'spoken' before."
As before, the depth of the space in the sphere seems to shorten, and Tatha-hem appears as a spindly shape with insect-like wings that fade in and out. "Ah, that is what I needed to see," Tia says, and pulls her hand back from Tasha's head.
"What did you see?" Yue asks Tasha.
Tasha's eyes open and she glances back. "A thin, almost humanoid form with insect-like wings, if an insect could beat their wings so quickly they seemed to be in many states at once. There's also a lot of color that's hard to convey; I'm not sure the colors have real-world analogues," she explains. She then thumbs to the crystal sphere. "I'm not even sure how large the interior is, Tatha-hem could be my size, or the size of a mountain, or size and other dimensions may not apply."
"We can find out," Tia says, and places her outspread hand against the crystal for a moment. "Tasha, can you press your hand here like this, but first summon Persephone's 'marker' into your palm."
"Into? I'm not sure we covered making the Marker appear within a location yet, we had intended to," Tasha replies, not yet reaching out.
"You can make it appear in your hand, can't you?" Tia asks. "I did not mean fused to your hand though. Just as if you were holding it."
"That I can do." And so it is, the Blue bubbles from Tasha's hand and solidifies in to the Marker, almost like the reverse flow of bubbly water. With the Marker in place Tasha reaches out to touch the indicated part.
Nothing seems to happen at first, but then a thin streamer of plasma connects on the inside of the dome to one of her fingertips, then more join the first to connect to the others, just like one of the plasma orb toys she's seen in the Caltrop Station Bazaar. "Now try to drag that over to this nearby panel," Tia requests, tapping the not-exactly-metal shape on the sphere.
Tasha moves her hand slowly, not entirely sure how to wire together plasma streams to an alien device of unknown function, let alone one that lists the universe's madness as one of it's co-architects. "Just let me know if I'm doing this wrong."
"I think you will be the first to know if you are doing something wrong," Tia claims. Tasha does get to the panel, which begins to light up in strange ways as the plasma (apparently) contacts the other side of it. "I think that is supposed to happen," the alien offers.
"Now I know how everyone else feels when I do anything," Tasha remarks to no one in particular. And sos he stands there, channeling plasma, not entirely sure she's making progress or if she is, what sort of progress, or even why.
"Just hold it there for a moment, I'm going to try something," Tia says, and produces something in her own palm. It's the odd, hard-to-look at hypercube of her ships dimensional shunt. She presses it to the panel next to Tasha's hand, and starts turning and sliding it this way and that. Tasha gets the impression of someone trying to crack a safe. "The Niss thinks this should work," she says, without explaining what is supposed to work.
Tasha is content not to ask, suspecting she would not understand even if it were explained to her. So instead she tries to be the best interface connection she can be by mostly holding still, and also making faces at Yue.
Yue seems about to ask what is supposed to happen, but ends up making faces back at Tasha. Then there's a flash of light, and the odd cube thing begins to unfold and spread out like a fractal across part of the sphere. "Oh.. I think it worked," Tia says. "You can pull your hand away now."
Tasha does so, flexing her hand and looking at it to make sure she didn't end up with a Tnuctipin finger or something. "So, what worked? Did you manage to gain some new understanding or control functionality?"
"Maybe, but we have to go back to the elevator first to find out," Tia says.
"Alright. Back in the can." Tasha waves everyone out, since she can't get out while they're in the way. "Up we go. Back to the Niss, then?"
"No, just close the door," Tia says.
Tasha is reaching for the button. She stops, leans back, and nonchalantly nods as if she knew that. "Yes, of course." She then raises her voice and says, "Tasha to Gabriel and Katie. Tia's going to test something on the core, be advised."
"Alright, now.. push the button using the marker," Tia suggests. "There might be a spark."
Tasha frowns, and so leans as far back as she can before touching the marker. "If this is the end, you're my favorite Human, Yue."
"And you are my favorite hopefully insulator, in that case," Yue claims. The marker makes contact.. and there are no sparks. The door just opens. But it doesn't open into the Bridle. It opens into a blue crystal cathedral. Similar to what Tasha found when she, Gabriel and Katie tried to access the marker at the same time. Arcs of plasma play around the domed ceiling, with Tatha-hem in the center of it as bolts fly from her constantly cycling wings and her slender body wrapped in the stuff.
Tasha looks up, and up, and then her eyes go wide at the sight of Tatha-hem. "Is this ... a simulation-space? A pocket universe?" Instinctively she side steps in front of Yue, just in case.
"It's a repurposing of the containment space," Tia says, and steps out into it. The chamber is circular at the base, and has arches in the walls, with dark spaces beyond them. Tia walks into one.. and emerges from one of the others. "I think we can work with this, with the shunt partially active.."
"So a kind of warped space prison," Tasha concludes, also stepping out now. She does a full look around while trying to keep Tatha-hem in her visual arc at all times. "And we're not causing problems for the ships' systems? Power loss?"
"The system is still in place, we just have a way inside of it," Tia says. "Once I saw Tatha-hem through your special sight, I concluded that the Niss's theory of this being a conceptual space was likely to be true. And since the marker has its own space, and the shunt can bridge spaces, we can merge the two."
"What exactly is a 'conceptual space'?" Tasha walks towards Tatha-hem now, looking up at her with her actual eyes and not third sight, strange impressions, or some other gimmick. She was never sure this day would come, or that it was even possible. It's very strange to her to have been so close to Tatha-hem this long, yet so impossibly far. "And accessing direct contact is part of some plan of yours?"
"A conceptual space is.. uh, imaginary, but specific sort of imaginary," Tia tries to explain. "I knew it as the Vague, mother called it the Unformed. It's what the fey control. The can carve out worlds from it and use it to conjure up objects."
"It's a space that is nothing, but has the potential to be everything," the alien goes on. "This one doesn't have quite that level of potential, which is why the marker and shunt are needed to give it stability. But we should be able to use it as a hub."
"So like a virtual environment, a data-state different from the data states of our reality, that can mimic various properties, not unlike a virtual reality or imagining something." Tasha frowns thoughtfully up at Tatha-hem, still working to believe she is, in some way, feet from her. Or imaginary feet, anyway. With the kind of beings she faces, imaginary can be far more real than reality, and more dangerous besides. "So Tatha-hem is purely conceptual then, lacking any physicality?"
"She's a spirit of motion," Tia says, looking up. "Her wings are constantly in motion, and those are what connect to the ship and move it as well as maintain internal gravity and inertia. She's a bit more real in here though."
Tasha nods slowly, she had suspected Tatha-hem was something like that. "And not just real-world motion, but beyond real-world motion. She can accelerate the vessel to beyond light speed without using any gimmicks, which is normally impossible. It seems to me each and every Ogdru'hem assigned to a specific function can also exceed the limits of reality in that category. Like tools, they specialize and do what cannot be done unaided."
It's then Tasha lifts her hand to give Tatha-hem a wave; hello again.
It's hard to tell if Tatha-hem responds, since her limbs are already constantly waving.
"Well, this place is quiet, too," Yue says, looking around. "Psionically, I mean. Very soothing."
"Probably part of the containment system, to avoid interference and remote control," Tasha suggests. She begins to slowly walk in a circle at Tatha-hem's base, still looking upward. "Did you have a reason to want to access this space, or was access itself the goal, Tia?"
"The shunt needs time to repair itself, but it can still be useful," Tia says. "Just like the broken ansible. I should be able to break one of these loopbacks to connect to Astraea eventually. Or to.. whatever is left of my mother's realm."
"It's also a good place to hide," she adds.
"No one expects you to hide in prison?" Tasha barks a laugh at that, it's very true. To not be caught, be caught already. "Well, this is very interesting at least. I was expecting Tatha-hem to speak to me, but it has been a while, and this is a very different form of interaction than before."
"I don't know if she has a way of talking," Tia says, looking up at the entity. "And Yue is not sensing her? We may need to make some adjustments to this space to compensate. How does she normally communicate?"
"Maybe she wants tacos," Yue says.
"Normally through some means I don't understand. I make contact with the orb and she talks to me. Or through me, as I whisper her words. She does like fish tacos," Tasha explains.
"Spicy or mild?" Tia asks.
"Mild, or at least mine are mild." Tasha tries walking towards one of the black walls, curious to see how looped space works, and experience it herself.
There's nothing to see through dark.. whatever. But the air feels slightly charged near it.
Tasha tries stepping through the darkness to see if she arrives on the other side.
She steps back out into the chamber.. from the doorway next to the one she entered.
"You could make some wild games with these." Tasha then fishes a snack bar out of her jacket pocket and tries to angle her toss through the doorway so she can catch it coming out of the other doorway.
It comes out of a different doorway, and hits Yue in the shoulder. "Free snacks?" she asks.
"Thanks to the wonders of who-knows-which science and my lack of understanding." Tasha takes another look around, then nods and turns to Tia. "Well, we probably shouldn't linger here. Shall we call this a success and report back to the others? It's unlikely they can detect us here and may be beginning to worry."
"Alright, just remember that you have the only key to this space," Tia tells Tasha. "Otherwise the door will just open to the Bridle as before."
"That's probably for the best. I'll make a point of never entering here alone, just in case." Tasha heads for the exit but waits for the others to get out before exiting herself. "Tasha to Gabriel and Katie. We're back. Tia managed to get us access to the interior of the Bridle in a manner I don't fully understand, but it could be useful."
"And nothing is going to come out of it?" Gabriel asks.
"I have the only key, the binding system has not been compromised, and Tatha-hem is the only occupant." Tasha leans back against the elevator wall and folds her arms. "So probably not. I see Shojo and crew are back as well, how's that experiment going?"
"I haven't asked, but Mr. I is talking to Shojo now," Gabriel says. The doors open on the lounge before more can be said.
Tasha steps out, glancing back. "I should go down and meet with Shojo, be, if not quite the boss, than at least an overseeing figure. Yue, would you mind staying with Tia for a while? Tia, Yue is our councilor for the time being, so she's here to help the crew with emotional and mental problems."
"Oh my, it would take me quite a while just to list them," Tia claims, "But you're an actual human, so can you help me be one? It's been awhile for me and every universe has a different flavor."
"There you go, help her be Human!" Tasha slows to pat Yue on the shoulder. "I'm sure being the high quality Human you are you'll have no problem. Now, I'm going to go down and speak with our mercenaries and see how they did. Expect that we'll be departing if not soon, then in a few days at most." And with that the red-furred woman walks off, feeling relatively confident her newest member of an already strange crew will be fine, hopefully.