It's the first time Tasha has really gotten a look at Dark Horse in its undisguised state with actual reference points for size. It looks bigger than it did in space, and not like something that should be floating next to a primitive wooden dock. But at least the semi-permeable airlock section is easy to spot, especially as the end of the dock is partly inside of it. "Ladies first?" Sasha suggests.
"Of course, after you." Tasha reaches over and tries to swat Sasha butt's and nudge him inside. Sasha is rather slight, and like herself, not terribly tall for his species, which is made worse by his being a modern Karnor rather than the beefier, wolfier original Karnor. She thinks Hakeber called him a twink at some point, whatever that means.
So Sasha boldly goes forth into the ship, then waits for Tasha near the elevator at the end of the main corridor. "I don't smell the Phins," he notes. "They may have left for the lake already."
"Oh probably, they never miss a chance to get out and swim. I just hope the lake's safe, we're not exactly equipped for daring water rescues and I haven't tried my various powers underwater. I feel like the lightning would go badly," Tasha says as she steps on the elevator. "So, what do you think of the Phins?"
"You can't help but like them, but together they can probably handle anything in the water here," Sasha says. "You get used to the razzing and flirting soon enough."
"Yeah, it's really harmless when it comes from them. They flirt and make squeaky noises like Vartans fly and are stubborn." Tasha leans against the back wall, stretching. "I always wanted to try being with a Phin male but you know I have obligations, and besides, Kaa would never leave me alone."
"My Taa never left me alone," Sasha says. "Always wanted to get me in the water, or would spray me."
"Hmm, you seem easier than me. If it's all reversed you'd cheat a lot more than I did, but then again, it's not exactly reversed, is it? We're not just mirrors, we both lean certain ways. We all do, which is something we should remember. None of us are alone anymore." Tasha glances at the elevetaor controls, then asks, "So where did Tia stay? The Hangar?"
"She was with Yue and Hakeber on the way back, or at least she kept her clothes in their quarters," Sasha explains, gesturing down the corridor. "I don't know if she has a specific place she stays at otherwise."
"Despite how she acts, she can be mysterious." Tasha steps off the elevator and follows along. "How's Yue been? I haven't talked to her much lately."
"She seemed pretty engaged during the shopping trip," Sasha says, walking past the galley. "Teaching Sharon and Tia mostly. She doesn't stay with the Lapis all the time, so I guess she's over whatever it is that messed her up with Sam."
"Sam's.. nature messed with her. It's easy to forget what he is, that's part of why it hits you so hard, when you remember. You've probably noticed I've been avoiding him. I suspect he knows, too. Well, that's probably over at least," Tasha notes conversationally as they walk.
"I doubt he'd be surprised at being avoided," Sasha says, stopping in front of the door to Hakeber and Yue's shared room. "Which one of us should try the intercom?" he then asks.
"Probably me, I'm a known quantity if maybe not the most preferred one." Tasha steps forward, straightens, gives Sasha a nod, then taps the intercom button. "Hello? Is Tia there?"
The light shows the connection is active, but there's no reply at first, but then the voice of the Niss respond: "She is with us in the Artifact Bay."
"Oh, hi Niss. Does she reject company besides yours, at the moment?" Tasha doesn't even bother to ask how Tia got in to the high security, hidden, Artifact Bay. It's up on the Owner's Deck behind a false wall, to keep people from wandering in to it. There are also warnings and her black box of things people shouldn't mess with, which is an actual secured black box labeled 'Don't Open, Mortal Hazard' which is a double entandre in this case.
"She is unresponsive at the moment," the Niss reply. As for security.. when Galatea was first onboard, she was able to freely move through the projected matter that made up the walls.
And that is why Tasha didn't bother to ask. It'd be like locking the door against Persephone. "I'll take that as we're coming, be right there." Tasha waves Sasha to follow her and walks at a quicker pace towards the elevator and up to the Owner's Deck.
"So.. do I get security clearance?" Sasha asks, keeping on Tasha's heels.
"Lets wait until you feel more sorted out. There's no reaosn to burden you with additional responsibilities right now. It sounds fun and great and all, but it usually means more trouble and more work. Like leadership." Tasha punches the button and up they go again. "So, Tia's by the Niss, but also not responsive. I'm not sure why she'd go to them and then stop. Speaking of which, 'Niss, did Tia say anything or otherwise engage you in any way? Was she talkative before, or did she simply arrive and say nothing?'"
"She spoke of an interest in ancient spacetime observations, and attempted to interface with the Library unit recovered from the battlefield," the Niss relay, as the doors open onto the Owner's Deck.
"Oh that's not good, that thing's probably Thoteped up. The whole Fleet was his project." Tasha almost calls it his 'little project', which for a being like Thotep is likely true. She can't, however, bring herself to belittle the ancient space fairers, who may not have been so different from her and her fellows. "Hopefully she simply found something and is distracted. I don't think she needs mental torment at the moment."
For convenience, the Niss open up the chamber from the inside. While the brain-blob that is the Niss civilization rests on its pedestal, Tia is hugging her knees with her back to (and partially submerged in) the ancient, wooden-looking Library unit. She's transformed back into her daughter-of-Kai human form, but hasn't gotten dressed. "She has a toddler's disdain for clothing," Sasha bemoans, and tries to look elsewhere.
"Kai described her as a kid who never grew up, sometimes it's more obvious than others." Tasha closes the door behind them and stands frowning at Tia. "It hurts to see her like this, honestly. She sometimes gets on my nerves, a little like Lacci does but also very differently, but I feel for her and I don't really enjoy seeing her suffer. It's strange, she's far, far older, more powerful, more learned, better traveled, and-so-on than me, but she always feels younger than I do. Especially times like this."
"So.. how do we wake her up?" Sasha asks. "Bucket of water, tickling.. just trying to pull her free? I've heard that she doesn't sleep, so not sure how she might wake up."
"Given her raw power we should try and be careful how we disturb her. It may be easier to go in and get her. We'll try going together if we can. Niss, can you help with that? And can you notify Gabriel of what we're about to do, so he can grab Samael to pull us out if need be?" Tasha hunkers down besides Tia and waves a hand in front of her face. "Hopefully this won't take long."
"We have not been able to communicate with her," the Niss note. "You have a direct implant, however we assumed you had already tried it."
"My communication functions are disabled. I guess we'll have to try this the physical way." The red woman considers poking Tia in the nose, but she rethinks the idea as now not being the time for it. Instead she takes Tia's hand in both of her's and taps on it. "Tia?"
The hand feels cool, but there is a reaction at least: Tia takes in a breath. Apparently she hadn't been breathing at all before, so she must at least be aware of her body to make it appear more alive.
"That's a good sign, right?" Sasha asks.
"It means she just redirected effort to seem alive and is probably checking on why her body just made contact with something, especially a someone." Tasha holds the hand, shifting position to watch Tia's eyes. "She might have realized she might look dead, too, I don't think she anticipated anyone interacting with her here given the choice of bodies and clothes. The body is especially interesting."
"It.. is?" Sasha asks, taking a peek. Tia does open her eyes, and at first they're the golden dragon looking ones, but then they shift to same greenish-gray as those of Kai and Kainudy. They haven't focused on anything yet, however.
"Someone's booting up." Tasha sits down crosslegged, still holding Tia's hand though she stops tapping on it. "And yes, but I don't mean that way. "
"What way?" Sasha asks. "It's weird when she looks dead."
Tia blinks, and her eyes start to move around, before finally focusing on Tasha.
"Oh that, once you understand a bit of what kind of being she is, it's really not hard to grasp. In a way we're all something akin to what she is: created beings. Tia's just more malleable than you and I. Kind of like Kai." Tasha waits patiently and when the eyes meet her's, she smiles. "We were a bit worried about you. Welcome back."
It still takes a few moments before Tia speaks, claiming, "I never left." Then after another slow blink, she asks, "Why were you worried?"
"We thought you might be disturbed by what happened earlier; also, this device isn't safe. The two further make a bad combination." Tasha tilts her head back towards Sasha, then frees a hand to pat the ground beside her so he'll join them. "So we came to check on you."
Sasha sits on the other side of Tia, mimicking her knee-hugging pose.
"It's only a machine," Tia says, sounding disappointed. "I had hoped to find some sort of intelligence or non-local method of communication that continues to work in a Sifran-influenced region, but it just has a very dense, finite storage medium. It lacks a power source however, so I could not actually access any of the data."
"How do you power a wooden memory ball?" Tasha eyes the thing; she's not touched it since they got it, as she's hardly their technology expert and she knows she influenced it. "We've been meaning to plumb its depths but as information goes we already have enough to act, and we have more immediate issues. What were you hoping to learn from it? Or did you just wnat to talk to an AI?"
"The Library branch units are perplexing," Tia explains. "They are difficult to use, and there are entire professions built around searching for specific information. An AI librarian would have made it all much easier, which makes me wonder if there was one originally, but it has been purged in order to deliberately make things more difficult."
"Or cut off. There may be more than one as well, or, like so many of Thotep's designs, it was setup to intill dependency and then chaos. I can see many reasons to adjust things that way. We can't rule out time or damage, either. Is the unit self-contained entirely then? No remote access?" Tasha eyes the sphere again. It always seemed so ominous. Maybe it's the wood.
"There must be a remote access method for updating data," Tia suggests, and stands up. Her flesh makes disturbing noises as it pulls free of the Library unit. "However, this one was part of a battleship. It may not have had that sort of functionality as a failsafe against falling into enemy hands."
Sasha covers his eyes this time.
Tasha tries hard not to grin and mostly succeeds. "That could be, or perhaps the update method is itself a risk if it can be detected or backtraced. Or copied." Tasha frowns in thought, then shakes her head. "Well, I'm no ancient technology expert. Your guess is better than mine."
"I suspect it is all up to the Library Institute on what capabilities each unit is given," Tia says. "It would make that organization as powerful as any of the senior Galactic powers, which appear to have greater access to the Library than the younger ones."
"Assuming they even have original access. The Library was from an earlier civilization, its access may not be full, or it may still be under the influence of an earlier power, or another power. Through it you could control the development of entire star fairing civilizations, as the Vril-ya did with their creations." Tasha is also their creation many, many generations down the line, but she prefers to step back in these things. An,d, she's different now. "The current access arrangement is a product of the Progenitor's decisions whether to sue, or not use, the pre-existent Library system. Some chose to use it, other did not, and though they were all created around the same time the Library allowed those that used it to thrive, if in pre-defined ways."
"I was hoping to find ancient cosmological data beyond what the Niss possess," Tia says. "To see if - and when - spacetime was modified, and how localized it is. The addition of a hidden full or partial dimension would be indicative of how influential the mere presence of the Ogdoad, Ogdru-hem or similar entities could be."
"I see.. I do know there is a prison and the third monitor species created by Marduk supposedly exited th- that reality to hide outside of it, but I don't know of any warpage. I wouldn't be surprised, though, given their scale of action. Well, scale is a bit off, I doubt they have size as we know it, but they can surely warp things. Although, maybe not? They work by convincing the universe to somehow let them in, converting it." Tasha spreads her hands. "That I know, but the beings themselves? More alien than even the likes of Thotep."
"Usually such things can be determined by the existence of and manners of FTL travel available within a universe," Tia notes. "I was specifically looking for any evidence that this universe is rotating or not. It may not be meaningful though."
"Waaaaay outside of my expertise, unfortunately. I'm not even sure who to ask about that," Tasha admits, then she shrugs to Sasha. "Maybe we should learn about these things? Want to volunteer to learn about universal rotations and multidimensional FTL methods?"
"Hmmmmm... that doesn't sound like a drinking game," Sasha points out.
"Anything can be a drinking game," Tasha insists.
"I wonder if there has been a peer reviewed study on that," Tia says, and finally seems to notice Sasha awkwardly avoiding looking at her. "I should probably get dressed and have things moved to the base. Have I been assigned quarters there yet? Have the three mercenaries been alright since the end of the survival test?"
"Last i checked they weren't attacking us or raving incoherently or anything. I imagine they'll be consulting amongst themselves and maybe having some very heavy quiet time, but they seem fine for now." Tasha then tilts her head. "No, no quarters yet. I haven't even had time to figure out quarters for the rest of me. We were working that out. If you have have requirements, let me or the others know. We have a lot of space. I'll probably be grabbing a whole tower or row."
"I suppose I just need the minimum to be convincingly human.. so somewhere to disappear to for several hours a day," Tia says. "Unless my ruse has already been pierced and the mercenaries know I was the monster, or my apparently relationship with Kai indicates I'm something other than I appear to be."
"Kai and others gave it away during the last meeting, so feel free to be what you want to be. I don't think any of us need to hold back too much, we just shouldn't share secrets that may be unnecessary, or else too risky." Tasha shakes her head. "And I'm sure they ahve suspicions or thoughts on all of us."
"I will maintain this guise then for now, and wear clothes," Tia promises. "It's unlikely I will be interacting with them much."
"Clothes would be good," Sasha agrees.
"Does that make you sad?" Tasha tilts her head. "You know, you can talk to us. I know some of the people here are scared of you, and are of Kai too, but I think revealing some weakness and some problems would do more to help you and them than it could hurt. We all understand being damaged outsiders."
"I'm always sad," Tia claims. "I don't belong with real people.. I get along with the Niss and Tadpole though."
"Well that's mean, you just called the Niss and the Tadpole not real people." Tasha leans back and crosses her arms. "Are you not offended, Niss? I never considered you not to be people."
"We are self-engineered," the Niss reply. "The Tadpole is also an engineered lifeform.
Tasha rolls her eyes. "We're all engineered, that's no excuse to belittle yourselves. No one's going to jump on you if you want to hang out with the reeeeeaaal peeeeople." The woman exaggerates the last two words, and makes air quotes. "If anything it will help you get on better."
"I've already 'gotten on better' with normal, mortal people, and all it has done is erode me," Tia says. "And they weren't going into danger, even." She then turns to Sasha, and says, "If I'd known what Kai meant for you, I wouldn't have helped put you into the situation you're in. I'm sorry, even if she isn't. Everything reminds me of people I've lost too, and because of the way my memory works, I actually relive that loss as it happened. It's all still fresh for you though."
"Uh," Sasha goes, and rubs the back of his head without looking Tia in the eyes. "Apology accepted," he then says.
Tasha considers adding something, but this seems like a great segway in to removing herself and inserting Sasha. "Well, you two seem to have something in common at least, maybe I'll just head back now since I'm not much help."
"Tasha, would it make you worry less if I became less distant?" Tia asks before Tasha can escape.
"Honestly?" Tasha pauses in her departure, clearly hesitating. "Since I asked you to be more open I'll just follow my own words: I don't actually know how to help you. It pains me me to see you suffer, I feel bad for you, I feel a bit responsible for you -- and I don't mean what happened that's a separate matter -- and while you get on my nerves sometimes, and you can be a bit grating, I honestly don't want you to suffer anymore and I don't know how to accomplish that. I wish I could free you from what haunts you so you can rest." And so Tasha spreads her arms wide, indicating all. "But my ability to grants wishes is unreliable and increasingly bad at personal matters."
"I appreciate the honesty," Tia says. "I can be more like I was on our shopping trip."
"Only do it if it works for you. I don't wnat you to pretend and hurt yourself on my account." Tasha then nods to Sasha. "But why not talk to him? He's here now, he has problems fitting in, he needs someone to talk to. Apologies are good, but company and comradeship are a lot better. Commiseration, too."
"Sasha doesn't look enough like a wolf to cause me issues," Tia says, and pats Sasha on the head. "I'll still need time to myself to continue my research, but I'll try to be more social."
"Thank you. Remember, we're not the usual sorts. We're all outsiders here, and from everywhere. You may also be happy to talk to Gwyndrael when she arrives, she can probably tell you a lot more about your mother's earlier years." And then Tasha raches down to pat Sasha on the head, too. "He's so cute, isn't he? This must be what it was like for Hake and the others after I ended up like this. It's unbearable. Well be nice to him, I consider him a real person and not expendable. Off I go!" She pops up, then she's heading out.
By the time Tasha reaches the end of the pier, she notices just how nice of a day it is. There's no way to tell just how the weather works in this little game preserve world, but for now it's pleasant enough, so instead of returning to the base right away she decides to take a moment to lie on the sand-and-pebble beach. There's only a very slight breeze, barely enough to ripple the water of the lake, making things very quiet and peaceful.
Tasha sits down, then stretches back on the beach and decides to simply lay there and do nothing for a while. It's rare for her to take time to relax peacefully; she often naps, rests, or tries to enjoy herself, but she doesn't spare much time for quiet reflection and appreciation. It's a trait that has grown with time, experience, and having too much weight on her shoulders.
The sun is certainly warm, regardless of its origin. Tasha's never really experienced this sort of quiet though, without even the sounds of insects. It makes it hard to judge the passage of time, but eventually she hears voices and the slight rumble of wheels on wooden planks.
Tasha is content to let problems come to her for once, if they're indeed coming to her. Usually she goes to problems, often violently, so it's a nice change of pace. It's in this moment she can see why Gabriel wanted a cabin in the woods and a boat, thinking that both must be very much like this. Perhaps he, too, eventually found some peace in resting like this.
"We've got everything unloaded," Sasha says from not too far away, as the wheeled cargo platforms pass from the wooden pier to the packed earth leading to the walled landing field and base. "Where did you want the personal stuff brought to?"
Tasha doesn't want to stand up, so instead she just spreads her wings and begins floating, then floats over towards Sasha while never actually having gotten up. "You mean ours or everyone's? If you mean ours, we haven't decided on accommodations. I can summon the others, maybe it would be good to have all of us together. If you mean everyone's, we should put it inside or outside the galley, and tell everyone to pick their stuff up."
"Well, I mean us I suppose, since we're the ones that needed stuff," Sasha says, and reaches out to see if he can make Tasha spin around if he pushes on one end. "There's a little park in the residential area," he says. "We can meet there if you want it to be a little private."
Tasha stubbornly refuses to spin, she may as well be welded to the sky. "That sounds nice, lets head there. We can then move the stuff afterwards when we figure out where everyone's going." She then floats up and over the passenger seat until she lowers down in a seated position, as if placed there by an invisible hand.
So the two car train proceeds into the base, and stops at the steps to the command center. "I can bring this over to park," Sasha says. "All of the buildings are uninhabited there.. since there's room for a hundred people or so and there aren't many of us."
"Well, I'll see about food then. We can leave the truck here for now, if anyone steals it I'll be very surprised." Tasha hops out, looks around, then taps her chin. "I'll send the word, too. I think I remember what Sharon likes to eat, Vasha's probably going to want beak-friendly foods. We'll pilfer a foot box and fill a bag, nothing fancy. Anyway lets get going."
"I've got the food in my cart," Tia notes. "Or I could cook the fish that've been caught in the lake and use local herbs for seasoning."
Tasha peers at Tia a moment, as if trying to figure something out. "Well I did say you should socialize more, so you may as well join us. Why don't you help Sasha get the food over, and maybe find a blanket or something we can all sit on. I will help escort the others over if they need it."
"Did you need me to join you in the park then?" Tia asks, as she guides the cart up the ramp to the command center with an electronic wand. She even got dressed. "I'm only tangentially part of your family."
"I will leave that to you, do you want to come and see me talk to myself for hours?" Tasha's ears go up and she even ruffles up her cheek fur to make herself seem cuter. "We'll have snacks."
"I can be there to answer questions," Tia offers as they all enter the main building. A wave of the wand sets the cart heading towards the cafeteria.
And so Tasha follows along because despite being older, she hasn't actually explored the base more than Sasha has. "Did you two have a good talk? Niss doing okay?"
"It was mostly making sure she wore a complete set of clothes," Sasha says, rolling his eyes slightly. "I'm not sure if she's really like that or was just teasing me in a very deadpan way. I.. didn't talk to the Niss."
"The Niss are continuing to work on the encryption of the Library unit," Tia notes as they roll into the cafeteria. Tia and the cart head towards the kitchen part of it.
"Too bad, the Niss can be very insightful. Nothing like having billions of people reviewing your problem to get a good answer." Tasha then glances at Tia sidelong and admits, "I'm not entirely sure, either. My guess is that it's like that one time where I got out of Mel and curled up in the cold, then almost got eat by bugs."
"Same thing happened to me, I think," Sasha says, heading for a table. "I still can't stand sound of metal scraping against metal."
"That was a lot to deal with. We still hadn't really settled in to the new world and all the strangeness, we were still a drover who found the stars. Life can be a lot sometimes. Tia's lived longer than most. And she's been through a lot." Tasha angles her walk until she's beside Sasha, then she tries to take up his hand so she can walk hand in hand. "For me, I still feel anxious around roaring fires, floating bitey-things, soul-eating demons, what else.. Systems failures."
"Broad-chested wolves?" Sasha tries to add. "I have no idea where Sharon and Vasha are, unless they could somehow sense their new clothes nearby."
"I'll just summon them." And so Tasha does, sending out a request the two join them, then general directions as to where they are and a note Vasha should fly Sharon in if they get lost, and if all else fails, then can send a message to her and ask for help. "There. And why broad-chested wolves? Gabriel is my broad-chested wolf."
"Doesn't he make you feel anxious though?" Sasha asks, side-eyeing Tasha. "In a thrilling sort of way?"
Sasha leads Tasha out of the main complex into the residential streets. Near the center of the cluster of bulbous towers is a small park.. or a large garden.. with a gazebo. Part of it is has been taken over for growing vegetables though from the look of it.
"Well, more so these days than before when I was almost as strong as he is. Being physically less can mess with your mind in ways I'm still working out. He did really Big Bad Wolf me earlier though, him and Katie. I thought they might fight, but I was too busy being a toy to do anything about it." Tasha scratches her nose in thought. "I like it but it makes me feel weird and vulnerable, like I'm afraid to like it too much. Like they won't take me seriously, or see me as something be protected and kept out of danger."
"The vegetables have to be Aaron and Liza," the red woman remarks of the produce section.
"Yue and Dr. Knight as well," Sasha says. "The Lapi also eat the flowers." A shadow passes overhead, before Vasha drops down and lands atop the gazebo before sliding down the roof and hopping to the ground at the last moment. Then she stares downward and stomps one hoof. "Dammit, I wanted sparks," she complains.
"Am I really this ridiculous," Tasha mock-deadpans after a second staring at Vasha. "You can be honest."
"Do you remember that weird restaurant on Rephidim?" Vasha asks. "It had this Exile do a show where she just came out and insulted people. But she had cloven hooves that sparked with every step! I absolutely need shoes that do that." The Vartan crosses her arms over chest, and tries to look big and intimidating.
Tasha mostly manages it only by relatively, in the sense that Tasha-prime is a fuzzy-necked leggy-wolf succubus, Sasha is a cute floppy earned dog twink, Tia looks like Kai's somewhat disgruntled little sister, and the truck is a truck. "You should try puffing up more. It will make you bigger, but you might just look like Lacci, who is bigger, but much less scary, like how a grape and a apple is much less meat." She sniffs. "Also, don't hang around Lacci too much. It will make you self-conscious and sad."
"I not jealous of her," Vasha claims. "She's a.. marshmallow Vartan."
The sound of someone running and panting approaches, as Sharon jogs up the street to them, and then has to bend over and grab her knees. "Wha.. what's.. wrong?" she gasps out.
"She really is a marshmallow," Tasha agrees, nodding slowly. "I just don't want you to feel abd since she'll cling to Shojo and be very high and mighty about everything. You know how she can be. If all else, just beat her up." She wags her tail, at least until Sharon rounds the bend and it stops mid-wag. "Are you alright? I just wanted to have a get-together, it's not an emergency. I'm pretty sure I warn people when it's an emergency."
The marshmallow human straightens her back, takes a few deep breaths, and says, "That is.. good to know. I'm.. going to sit down.." She then walks into the gazebo, which has a small glass-topped table and several chairs.
Tasha looks to the others, shrugs, then follows along as well. "This better not be a commentary that I'm becoming some kind fo marshmallow-person. I was very strong until I died, and being strong didn't help that much, anyway. Besides, we have ships and people taking care of us. That's why it's nice to go off alone now and then."
"You could stand a bit of strength training," Sasha notes cautiously. "All of you." Vasha clacks her beak as she turns a chair to sit on it backwards, and says, "Yeah, you girls need beefing up." She points at Tasha, and adds, "Can't let Hakeber be stronger than you!"
"It's not my fault! I died and somehow I came back as an adorable succu-whatever with a fluffy neck. It's not like I planned that." Tasha pulls her own chair, flopping back in to it, crossing her legs and her arms. "I'm subject to Persephone's sense of asthetics! Hake cheats by being a real Karnor, even if just."
"I can barely beat her at arm wrestling," Sasha admits. "These new Karnor bods need a lot of work."
"You're demilitarized. We can't really beat anyone in raw strength, we need to find other ways to compete, like cunning, or magic, or, I don't know, telekenesis. Guns? Piloting? Magic guns?" Tasha spreads her hands. "Well, there's a lot. And, unlike them, we can share each other's skills, which means anything that one of us becomes good at, we all do. That's something even Kai and maybe Tia can't do."
"What are we each good at?" Sasha asks around. "I'm good with machines."
"I'm a Vartan," Vasha offers.
"That's not a skill," Sharon tells Vasha.
"Punching then," Vasha claims. "I got all Tasha's punching and fighting and carrying heavy things skills."
"I'm.. uh.. insecure?" Sharon offers. "And good at petting. Not being petted though. And I have the best hair."
"You're a world-Vartan, so technically a second class fighting Vartan. Somehow Lacci is third class even though she's space Vartan." Tasha tilts her head and eyes Vasha. "You have like half of those skills, tops. Or are you saying you want to focus on physical matters? Maybe you should join Shojo's mercenary training efforts, then? Lacci can't do anyting if you're part of that group. But, well, how does that help the rest of us? Weapons?"
Tasha turns to Sharon and frowns, thinking. "Maybe you're insecure but I remember being you, you're the most independent, even if you're the most shy. So tasks which benefit from independence and Huamn skill might be best. Sasha picked machines."
"Modern weapons are smart," Sasha says. "If it isn't a sword, it's safe to assume it will always hit the target. Unless it's a heavy weapon, that requires strength, like our old gauss rifle."
"Bait," Vasha suggests to Sharon.
"No one's bait. We're not expendable," Tasha insists, a bit more loudly than she intended. "How about reading, magic? There's a lot of complicated magic I just don't have time to sit down and learn. Ritual magic, alchemy, that sort of thing."
"Just being.. underestimated then?" Sharon says, ignoring Vasha. "Yue can teach me her martial art, and how to be overlooked or get someone to lower their guard. I seem alright at learning things."
"Are Humans better at magic?" Sasha asks Tasha. "I mean, not Sifran stuff but.. demon stuff?"
"Humans make good assassins," Tia offers as she floats down from the air outside of the gazebo, carrying a large platter. "I bring snacks."
"I don't know, I was Human for two days, three tops. I don't automatically know what versions of me would be best at, I just know what I can't engage in and what I remember from my time being all of you." Tasha pauses when Tia arrives, then nods and points to her. "Assassin, you can work on being an assassin. Kai's kind of like a Human and she's a good assassin. So is Yue. And you probably have more focus than the rest of us, because you need more tricks since you can't rely on raw abilities and powers."
"Killing people feels.. uh.. a bit mean," Sharon says, actually blushing.
Tia sets down the platter. "Spicy fish tacos and beer," she announces as she distributes the mugs. The mugs are all the same size though.
"Wow," goes Tasha, who actually leans back. "'A bit mean'. I didn't think I was that shy. That complicates things." Without even looking over she picks up her mug and a taco. "This might be difficult."
"I'm probably good at killing things, like any Human, just maybe not directly," Sharon explains. "I mean.. if I can't kill it one blow, I'm toast."
"I suggest having Dr. Sen do psychological profiles on all of you," Tia offers. "And Aaron can do physical trials. It will help you discover your limits. Tasha and the Vartans will also need to undergo special telekinesis training with Kai."
"That's why I suggest magic, unless you all want me to ahndle all of the magic, which I can do I just won't have as much free time as the rest of you. I think Vasha has volunteered for combat duty, so she can work with Shojo and use my old powered armor. Then.." Tasha pauses to listen to Tia, then nods approvingly. "That's probably a better idea. Just because I was all of you doens't mean I know myself better than I already know myself, which isn't as well as anyone would like. And I can do telekineses. So can Vasha. Actually wathcing Lacci expolode in feathers will make it doubly worth it."
"Shojo will likely excel at it," Tia says. "And if you have any questions about the.. more esoteric functions of your bodies, you can always come to me."
"Wait.. what?" Sasha asks.
"Reproductive cycles," Tia says. "Those do not apply to you though, Sasha."
"However, Sharon and Vasha will have certain enhanced abilities at different stages of theirs," Tia goes on to explain. "Not supernatural, just evolutionary quirks."
"Oh this is going to be good," Tasha admits, leaning back and chewing on her taco with a grin. Shen then pauses, ears forwrad, "Whrait, do I hrave 'enhanced quawraties'?"
"You have.. whatever Persephone gave you," Tia tells Tasha. "I don't know what, if any, evolutionary elements you may have, or from where. For the others, they will become more attractive to men while ovulating, and Sharon will have enhanced serpent-detection and other senses during pregnancy."
"I'm not getting pregnant," Sharon blurts out. "Tasha has to get pregnant first!"
Tasha swallows her taco and then asks, "Serpent detection? Also, I think Sasha is already attractive to some men."
Sasha's tail wags for a moment at the compliment. "All new Karnors are cute though," he claims.
"It's hard to resist scratching behind his ears or rubbing his belly," Sharon admits.
"They really are, I expect you to leverage that cuteness." Tasha put sher drink down and holds out a hand, indicatively. "Also I think I have to be the first to get pregnant, otherwise everyone else will feel awkward. We also don't know what will happen yet, since we don't really know what Persephone did."
"I can get you pregnant if you want," Tia offers. "That goes for all of you, although with Sasha it would require some modifications." She says it in her usual deadpan manner, but Sasha narrows his eyes. "That was a joke," he claims.
"It's probably not, but Tia enjoys awkwardly mentioning stuff to get a rise out of us to see if we'll reject her. I think she's testing us, or maybe she just doesn't quite grasp our society," Tasha explains to Sasha, head shaking. "Don't take it too personally. We all know she's a lot more powerful than she seems, now. If she's around Persephone's level these things shouldn't be beyond her."
"Mmmmm," Vasha remarks. "Why not just make us all super-strong then?"
"Because I'm not a magical wish-granting genie," Tia replies. "You'll care more about abilities you develop yourselves."
"That's a good point," Tasha notes, until Tia shoots it down. Then her ears flick and she asks, "Wait, if you're as powerful as Kai says, why did you need me to rescue Kainudy?" She blinks, having realized in hindsight how odd it is. Why rely on a half-broken person with minimal relative powers in such a critical situation?
"Also I'm pretty sure I'm the wish grandting genie," Tasha adds.
"Rescue?" Tia asks Tasha. "If she needs rescuing, we won't know unless she calls us. But there isn't much I can do to intervene in her battle."
"I meant back when things were falling apart in there, why rely on me? Why call on Persephone, either? I'm not mad, I'm just curious. It's not like I'm particularly powerful or some deep sage," Tasha asks.
Tia blinks at this. "I don't know how to fight demons," she explains. "Having power doesn't translate into knowing how to use it in any given situation, and my head was not clear at that time. I normally run from things I can't deal with."
Tasha considers that for a long moment, then slowly beings to nod. "That I can understand. I guess neither of us were in much of a shape to do anything useful, it's amazing we survived at all. And I think all the rest of me here can agree with the sentiment of having powers and situations we don't know how to deal with. If anything, we might run at problems too much."
"The more power you can apply, the bigger the consequences if you do it incorrectly," Tia says. "And making that sort of mistake is my greatest fear. I have been at the limit of my power before, and fallen short, as well."
"When they attacked your world," Tasha guesses, brows raising. "Even all of that wasn't enough. I can begin to fathom the kind of enemy that must have been. Luk'thu-hem are her prime, the Ogdoad by themselves, beings like Thotep and Hastur, or enough of beings like Samael." She wrinkles her nose, head shaking more. "And we both know I've been at my limits, so I know how it feels. I guess I fear not being enough, or worse, losing someone. Burning out. Or, becoming helpless and unable to break free." She nods to Sharon. "Which is why I keep pushing myself."
"So, you should learn your limits before you need to exceed them," Tia advises. "Physical, spiritual, mental and how much alcohol and pizza you can handle. Those are the main ones, but there are other less critical limits as well."
"Does it help any I keep changing?" Tasha tilts her head. "I think we've also seen my leadership limits. I can lead, but I'm not suited to it long-term. I probably need some kind of structure, but not too much."
"Military leadership is a bit redundant in your group, but Yue can probably help you with covert, counter-intelligence leadership," Tia suggests. "I can't really help with leadership or strategy."
"I think I'm okay with being an individual member with special qualities. It lets me act as I need to, but still work with the organization. Maybe we should have a special members group for people like that, we tend to collect a lot of them, but they're not really suited to direct leadership, support, or follower roles. We're like dragons were in Kainudy's war," Tasha suggests.
"It's hard to get powerful entities to work in groups," Tia says, nodding. "All of you should be capable of acting independently. You just need to make sure you know when to back away and regroup."
"Yes, which really goes for all of our powerful entities, including Samael. We can operate alone well but if we go too far there may be no one left to save us, as I almost learned." Tasha tugs at her fuzzy mane. "It also means we're really bad at asking for emotional help. I also fear the others -- Gabriel, Katie and so on -- tend to see me as being.. invincible? Or like a flag, or symbol. I'm the spirit of things. I'm not sure they can deal with me appearing to be weak, or if they do think I'm weak, they may try too hard to protect me. deep down they might suspect it could all fall apart without me, since no one seems to have stepped up to be the center of things, or could be. It's also why I stepped down, to spread the center around so if I'm not.. around, then everyone won't end up lost."
"I hadn't thought about what we'd do if you were gone," Sasha says.
"End up with doing what Liza tells us to do," Sharon suggests.
"Another thing you should plan for," Tis notes. "Right now the three of you are very dependent on the support of the larger group, moreso than anyone else in it. Dr. Sen can probably help you plan ahead though."
"Liza, for all her tiny might, has no interest in doing all of this. I suppose you could go back to ordinary lives and leave the Ogdoad for someone else to deal with." But Tasha frowns, and clear, does not approve. "I think without the Ogdoad to deal with I'd either want to create a place for all of us or explore the universe -- maybe others, too. Or both."
"Yes, and even I depend a lot on other others. If they left us, we might have a difficult time of things. You should all consider your lives beyond me and everyone here, if that's what you want. I'll expect you to contribute to what we work on here, but if you really want to leave, I would let you go. It'd be sad and difficult but I don't ant to force anyone to stay. It's also not wise," Tasha admits.
"I've got enough to scared about without dealing with that scenario just yet," Sharon says.
"Too much upheaval for me to deal with too," Sasha adds.
Tasha's tail wags. "Well that's good, because you just came to be and already I think I'd miss you. I feel better having you around. It makes my immediate existence feel more stable and less, well, lonely."
Vasha, who seems the most like 'original recipe' Tasha, just says, "I just need a ship of my own."
Tasha raises an eyebrow. "Leaving already, Vasha?"
"Hah, not until I get a ship and enough wealth to not care," Vasha says, and raises her mug. "Till then, we gots lots of other people's crap to break!"
"Sounds like someone wants a Titanian vacation," Tasha says with a laugh. She picks up her mug and raises it to. "To not getting our shit broken."