CLOSED SIGNUPS Iris Landing: Chapter One - Secrets in the Jungle (Team B)

[Diana]

IRIS LANDING​

Captain's Logs Stardate 982366965

I honestly thought this commission would be a joke. Lost Earth? We've been telling stories about that place for centuries as if it's some kind of biblical Garden of Eden. Ye Olde Land of Promise type bullshit. Now I've got to eat my own damn hat. She's beautiful. Not that vibrant bluey green we're always seeing in ancient images - the labcoats say that's due to some kind of atmospheric interference - but still. This is the world we all came from: you can't help being a little awed.

It's taken the science crew about a week of scanning, analyzing, and doing whatever the hell they do to be sure teams can land safely on the planet. The air is breathable, the temperature livable. There's confirmed life down there, though they're not sure what kinds. Well, beyond the visible hues of vegetation spread across the continents we can clearly see from orbit. They've chosen what looks like a ruined coastal city to make the first basecamps.

Catherine Callery is leading up the first team, landing on the coastal side with plans of getting samples from the beach and the ocean itself. Drew the short end of the straw though and wound up with that idiot musician as part of their landing party. The Tessan is likely to knock him on his ass the first time he steps out of line.

Victoria Jowell was assigned the second team, tasked with landing on the jungle side of the ruined city to gather plant samples and look for fauna. The Bereen Ambassador didn't seem too pleased with this choice of leadership, nor about the addition of that kid Clem to their team. I got a gut feeling that woman's about to be in for beaurocratic hell.

Almost wish I was down there myself. But somebody's gotta stay up in orbit and keep an eye on things. There's no signs of radio waves or space communications coming off the planet, and the solar system itself appears to be quiet. Yet, some of the Tessan crew insist you can't let your guard down in systems like this. "It's the quiet places enemies best hide." An old Tessan saying.

---

Ambassador Nitau'li did not say a single word during their shuttle flight down to the planet's surface. He said many words. He had quite a few things to say about how "The Memphis" should fly down their shuttle, and a few criticisms of their landing within a small clearing along the jungle side of the ancient ruins.

There were quite a few suggestions that he didn't explicitly say were meant for Victoria, but for everyone listening were obviously his oh so polite way of back-seat managing the expedition.

"A shame we did not claim the Tessan or the Doctor for our team. Human physiology can be so fragile and with the child with us..." he murmured, in that soft chiding way of his, incidentally avoiding any sort of glances or eye contact in Clem's direction when it could be helped. In fact, he was quite uncomfortable with her presence to the point that it was visibly obvious, even when he'd try to keep his fluid posture or straightening his elegant travel robes.

Once their small team had a chance to exit the shuttle and take their very first view of the lost human homeworld, the Bereen Ambassador finally fell genuinely silent.

There was naught but green, green, green in every direction. Surely in the spot they landed, it once had been a wide open highway, but after centuries it was now a small grassy clearing surrounded by giant trees, sweeping draping of vines, and the skeletons of ancient skyscrapers. On this side of the ruins there was no viewing the beach, but if the loud chirping of wildlife suddenly quieted one might be able to hear gentle ocean waves in the distance.

With so many species of plant life readily at their fingertips and the sounds of multiple species in the jungle, their basecamp would not be lacking in work to collect.



Team B is: @Zarko Straadi @Karo @Analog @StarlightStarbright @Reliance

 

[Karo]

As the shuttle neared ground, the only thing pounding harder than Victoria's heart was her head. One could only sustain so much chatter and poorly-veiled suggestions before a headache would begin to form. Ambassador Nitau'li's voice had begun to grate on her and she wondered how she would survive this mission.

She was contemplating snapping at him to shut up when the loud thud of the shuttle landing interrupted her thoughts. Finally, they had landed on Earth. Now, the real journey would begin.

As the team left the shuttle, Tori too fell speechless. All her life had led up to this moment and now, after years and years of work, she planted her feet on the planet she'd obsessively studied since childhood. She'd expected to feel something, but instead, she felt emotionless. All she could think about was all the work that was yet to be done.

There was no time to stand and gawk. A quick glance at her interplanetary watch told her they had landed eight hours before sundown. Shelter still needed to be erected and freshwater located before dusk; after all, who knew what kind of predators lurked in the dark?

The scientist turned to address her team, clasping her hands together with certainty. "We have eight hours to build shelter and find water. In each of your packs, you will find a compass, a day's worth of food and water, a laser gun, and a map. The map will track your movements and autogenerate as you travel, as well as capture the temperature and time of day. You can mark anything of note on it with the press of a button." She took in her teammates' faces to make sure they understood before continuing.

"Ambassador Nitau'li, Memphis, Ezzat, and Zosimos, you will begin building the shelter." It only made sense to assign the strongest team members to build the shelter. That left Tori and Clem to gather water, much to her chagrin. Of course, I stuck myself with the kid. Can never give myself a break, can I?

"Clem, we'll search for water together. Stay close to me. Do not under any circumstances leave my side, do you understand?" Tori ordered, her tone strict.

"The rest of you will find the tools needed to build the shelter in the shuttle. Oh, and keep your communicators on."

Tori surveyed her crew once more before giving a curt nod. "Alright, get to it."

Searching through her pack, she withdrew the laser gun, slipping it into its holster. With a sigh, she turned to Clem. "Do you even know how to use one of these?" she asked, gesturing to the gun.

 

[StarlightStarbright]

Clem was so enamored by the surrounding beauty of Earth that she at first didn't hear what Victoria had asked of her. The Scientist had to repeat her question before Clem was finally snapped away from admiring the views. She can ponder the inspiration this forest has given her for her art later; right now, she needs to answer Victoria's question.

"A-ah…no." She mumbled quietly, so quietly that many would have to strain their ears to make out the words she spoke. "My fathers would not let me near a butter knife, let alone a gun." Clem ran her fingers through ever crevice of the weapon, now seemingly enamored with it instead. Based on her look of awe, it's likely that she'd never even seen a gun up close before. She was quite the easily amused character.

Clem's fingers accidentally pressed the trigger. A sharp buzzing sound assaulted both Victoria and Clems ears as a lazer was shot. Luckily, the lazer gun was pointing at the ground, so neither her or Victoria were injured. Only the poor ground was harmed.

Clem was, however, deeply startled by the accident, and almost dropped the gun. "Sorry!" She whined, and put the gun back in her pack; wise enough to not trust herself with using it.

Excitement had bubbled up inside of Clem ever since the shuttle landed. She was elated to find herself on her rumored origin land, and even more excited to be paired with a fellow human. She can learn so much about her culture from this Victoria character!

She did wonder why Victoria was looking at her so crossly though. Did Clem do something to upset her? And why was she speaking to her as if she was nothing more than a careless toddler? It reminded Clem too much of her fathers, and visibly disheartened her.

 

[Analog]

The whole trip had likely been annoying for anyone who'd had any extended period of contact with Ezzat. The Earth-obsessed scientist had spent most of their time holed away in their quarters, but when they had surfaced they'd spoken nonstop about Earth and many a theory concerning the planet, though they'd also been very nosy about their fellow explorers, always full of questions and genuine intrigue.

As soon as Earth had become visible the scientist's excitement had increased tenfold, their likability probably dropping in the same manner as Ezzat's mouth had seemed to forgotten how to stay shut for more than 10 seconds. Getting them away from the viewing windows and maps had been a struggle itself, and when it was time to board the shuttle the eager individual had already been prepped and ready several hours prior.

They'd have been first off if they'd had the chance; the only thing stopping them immediately diving into the flora - aside from common sense and what limited sense of self-preservation they still reserved - was fellow scientist Victoria's command. A very sensible command it was too. What a shame! They hesitated for long enough to listen, wiping away unabashed tears of pure overwhelming joy as they beheld the rich, green world ahead of them. Oh, how they'd dreamed of this!

"Eight hours is plenty of time!" Ezzat stated jovially, not bothering to put their laser gun in their holster, instead taking out their compass and map and a variety of other analyzing tools they'd packed. They made haste strapping several gadgets to their arms - and even legs - apparently indifferent to how silly they might have (definitely) looked before they made for an area where the tree line began, a thick tropical forest laying behind.

"Chin up, look sharp, Miss Mulnot!" They tossed the words of encouragement over their shoulder - and what looked like a camera and sensor attached to it - at the awkward young woman before they turned their head this way and that to locate the others who'd been assigned to create a shelter.

They were absolutely certain that between the reliable Memphis, the narked Ambassador and the capable Zosimos, a shelter would be up in next to no time at all, but that didn't mean Ezzat didn't want to input too; after all, they had plenty of experience with this sort of thing on previous expeditions; now, whether or not such experience was good or downright abysmal was a different matter.

"Incredible!" The scientist exclaimed as they picked up a large leaf frond just over half the size of themselves; "Barely two steps and there's already such diversity!" Beneath the leaf had been various creatures; a menagerie of invertebrates from insects, myriapods, gastropods and small crustaceans, all of which scuttled away from the light. With a gasp, Ezzat spotted a tiny frog jump off of the frond and into more plants, and in a rush to record their findings they hugged the frond to their chest, their hands flapping around their many gadgets to input data.

Needless to say, it hadn't taken very long at all for Ezzat to get wrapped up in their intrigue, already wandering off the path of their quest to build a shelter.

 

[Reliance]

Private Log - Stardate 982366965

It's been about a week of scanning and gluing all the bits and pieces together. You know, the usual stuff. Spectroscopy to map out the surface composition and atmospheric conditions, water table and soil samples to see what's happening with the bacteria and mineral content. You're not going to catch me mucking around in air that gets a pass on being able to breathe it but happens to be full of bacteria or something, no how no way.

After that we had to settle on a place to set down the camp. Had to be a place that gives us access to the best of the best. Settled on on a quaint little place just off the coast. Ultra-diverse jungle on the one side, ocean on the other, and smack in the middle a ruined metropolis to give us about a decade of archaeological digs to sort through.

Everyone's getting antsy. Of the few people selected to go on the mission its an even smaller number who got picked to actually make landfall. I don't blame them for being a bit irritable.

Well.

I don't blame most of them, at any rate.

---

"Hey, get off my back why don't you?"

Memphis kept his jaw closed and vented the words through his teeth to keep from screaming over his shoulder at ambassador Nitau'li.

"If you want to fly and land the ship then you come on up here and take the wheel but I'll have you know I'm licensed and tested again before we launched so if you don't like the way I drive, complain to the federation."

Admittedly the ship trembled a bit more than he would have liked while landing, but Memphis managed to correct for the slope's grade and put the shuttle down on an acceptably even keel.

That was the last word on that particular matter but the ambassador had a knack for finding things to keep talking about. He had nothing to say about the ambassador's concern over Clem's youth. She was the youngest among them to be sure but they hadn't packed coloring books, last he checked. Memphis expected of Clem what he expected of every other crew member tasked with this most holy of holy tasks: baseline competence.

Deflating this line of thinking like a sputtering balloon, the crisp twang and sizzle of a laser bolt firing caused Memphis to drop to one knee and fumble for his own weapon.

"Put the safety on!" He shouted towards Clem and Victoria through cupped hands.

Then immediately turned to Ezzat.

"I'm not going to spend the next eight hours manually building camp, that's prosaic. You go to work on clearing the tree line so we can build out over the next few days and I'll work on getting us some help for the main camp. Twenty minutes to drum up a subroutine for the maintenance bots, have them lay out the foundation and general structure. Four or five hours later we come back and mop up any leftover precision work. Sound good?"

Memphis went to clap Ezzat on the shoulder but Ezzat had already left and Memphis was too far gone in his thought process to notice he was patting empty air. He disappeared into the shuttle and reappeared five minutes later with a chair, two custodial drones, and a programming terminal. If he was going to clack away at keys for a bit he may as well do so in full view of earth's regenerated and unkempt splendor.

 

[Zarko Straadi]

Zosimos had spent most of the journey in quiet contemplation. Aside from the ever-talkative and inquisitive Ezzat, few sought his company. In response to their many questions, he had offered them a number of holosims of favorite locations in Ta-Neteru and holodocs with overviews of its history, flora and fauna, and some of the more prominent cultures. In total, several years' worth of introductory experiences converted to the more limited AR/VR format of their equipment, to let them decide if they wished to inquire further.

As the shuttle descended, Zosimos again felt the strangeness of being among baselines, watching their interpersonal dramas play out. It was remarkable that they were able to get anything done at all, limited to a narrow channel of audio and a rudimentary language of gesture and facial expression. Yet they had. An expedition to lost Earth!

The Ambassador had apparently decided to make the most of his available bandwidth, maintaining a running commentary on all of the little flaws of his fellow crewmembers and the manifold ways the mission could be run better. Zosimos himself had largely escaped the Ambassador's criticism, probably because the Bereen did not know enough about him to nitpick.

"A shame we did not claim the Tessan or the Doctor for our team. Human physiology can be so fragile and with the child with us..." he said, earning an arched eyebrow from Zosimos. While Zosimos was fully aware that she likely qualified as a young adult among baselines, to him she truly was a child. She would only barely be at her Age of Ascension (Initiate level), the point at which she could begin selecting and receiving her first basic Enhancements. Which meant that, for Zosimos, the Ambassador was picking on a child.

"Beginners' Mind is the portal to wisdom," he said. "Mastery of diplomacy is not manifested in the tears of the innocent."

Moments later, one comment too many about the flight resulted in the Ambassador getting read the riot act by Memphis. Zosimos chose not to offer any commentary; if they could walk away from it, it was a good landing.

---

Zosimos made sure to remember the experience of emerging from the shuttle onto Earth's surface in highest fidelity. Humanity, returned to its home! These experiences would surely go viral on Ta-Neteru! He hid his amusement at the notion of building a shelter, presumably by hand, instead of simply planting a Utility Seed and letting one grow. However, it would be a new experience, and a way to connect with the Ancestors.

His communion with the present moment was broken by the sound of laser fire. Zosimos snapped his head in the direction of the shot; the girl, Clem, had accidentally discharged her firearm, but thankfully no one was hurt. His psychological model of the girl suggested a high probability of increased anxiety and discomfort for her though.

Seeing that Victoria and Clem were about to head off into the unexplored wilderness alone, Zosimos started to offer a set of ecological models with probability statistics for the estimated likelihood of encountering dangerous megafauna, toxic plants, poisonous insects and a remaining probability-space for unknown unknowns such as human(oid?) or machine survivors, along with a recommendation that they go accompanied by a Cybertulpa that his modeling-mind was even now designing. But...they were not Connected, so he could not offer them a set of experiences and reams of data. Words could not convey the relevant information within a reasonable time period.

Instead, he stepped up to the pair and held up a hand, inviting them to pause. He began making intricate gestures symbolizing the multi-layered archetypal structures of the Cybertulpa's personality and attributes. Swarms of microscopic utility-foglets poured out of his headdress and shoulder pauldron, invisibly at first, but congealing like a mist as they joined together arm-in arm and formed into something that resembled a creamy-white panther with a pearlescent sheen to its skin.

"It is too dangerous to go alone. Take this." The Cybertulpa had the physical strength that its size suggested, though far less mass. It could guard them with enhanced senses including chemical and microbe detection, eyes that could fire lasers or electroplasma that conveyed a stunning jolt, as well as molecular-edged claws and teeth. It also maintained a sensory connection to Zosimos, so he would know if they encountered trouble.

With the lion's share of his utility fog thus committed, he would have to resign himself to using the provided laser pistol should he and the shelter-construction team come under attack.

 

[Karo]

Great, the kid can't even protect herself.

Victoria looked down at her watch again before the sound of a laser blast caught her attention. Seeing the burning hole in the ground, she pinched the bridge of her nose, her annoyance clear.

"Just- leave the shooting to me. I'll get someone to teach you this week." Tori returned to her watch, tapping a few buttons. A blue matrix shot out, spreading quickly over the clearing and rushing off into the forest. It returned back a few seconds later and coalesced onto her watch, which lit up in the northwest quadrant. Syncing the watch to her map, a blue dot appeared on the foldable screen, approximately… three kilometers away. Bingo.

She was about to set off towards the beacon when Zosimos approached. While his gestures made little sense to Tori, she was able to gather that he was creating something for them. Unfamiliar with his abilities, she watched with curiosity as a panther appeared from the mist that had gathered in front of her. She cocked her head to the side, the corners of her mouth twitching into a small smile. Zosimos was full of surprises.

"Thank you for this, Zosimos. We should return in a few hours. Now," she turned back to the direction blinking on her watch. "Let's go, Clem." She didn't check to make sure the girl was following before heading off into the forest, head buried in her map.

 

[StarlightStarbright]

"Yes mam..." Clem visibly shrunk under the judgemental gaze of Victoria. If Clem did a bad job on the expedition, would she be kicked out and sent home? No, Clem had to avoid that at all costs. "Yes mam!" She repeated with more enthusiasm, a determined look in her eyes.

When Zosimos came into the picture, Clem's gaped at the strange towering man with a look of wonder and curiosity. Until now, Clem had never seen a human so tall as Zosimos; she barely reached his shoulders. Can she grow to that height one day? When do humans stop growing anyways?

The gestures Zosimos's hands made Clem did not understand in the slightest. When the misty panther manifested itself in front of Clem, her confusion morphed into that of pure amazement. "W-wow!" She gasped, and immediately crouched down beside the lion, scratching between its ears. "That's amazing! And since it's not a real animal, it won't go crazy like most animals do when near me!"

Clem was so preoccupied with giving the panther the petting of a lifetime that she almost forgot about Victoria. Clem however soon noticed that Victoria was already leaving, so she and the panther rushed to the scientists side. "Thank you!" Clem gave Zosimos a cheerful smile, and waved farewell to him. Clem hoped to get to know Zosimos more. He was so cool! And she's pretty sure he's an archeologist or historian of some sort, right? Maybe he can teach Clem more about her human roots!

 

[Analog]

Oblivious to the conversations taking place behind them and having only half-listened to Memphis' instructions, Ezzat had all but dropped to hands and knees as they explored along the edge of the treeline. To think, they were barely even inside the forest and already there was so much diversity! The scientist had collected a variety of samples, from soil to plant to invertebrates - and some currently unidentifiable substances they assumed to be fecal matter. It was all quite exciting!

But of course Ezzat had still been ordered to assist with camp, and that they did. They made space along the treeline, shifting rocks and logs (after scrutinizing them for critters) and marking off a general area in the dirt for the camp's perimeters. By now the many containers and sample pods strapped to their belts were rattling with rocks and other natural forms of matter and Ezzat was practically a living maraca as they ambled along the trees finishing up their task.

"All clear!" Ezzat called over to Memphis once they spotted the man sat at his terminal, "Do be sure not to disturb or destroy anything, won't you? I did my best to survey the area for any lifeforms that might be inhabiting our would-be-camp and it seems as though the place is largely undisturbed by any hunter-species large enough to be a potential threat, but if you happen upon anything - be it little or large - do inform me!" The scientist was waving a finger in the air as they spoke, "We can't go around disturbing the local flora and fauna willy-nilly!"

They got to their feet proper then, dusting off their dirtied knees, not that it did much good what with having been scrambling around on the ground only moments ago. They joined Memphis then, ducking their head down to squint at his terminal.

"Say, why don't you let Zosimos handle this?" Ezzat asked with a grin, already anticipating irritation from the other for their incoming suggestion; "Let him build us a base with his little utility-foggy-lots, wouldn't that be interesting? Living temporarily in a probably-sentient, living camp?" It was an absurd notion of course, for despite how useful those utility-foglets were it was very unlikely that most would be comfortable residing in a structure made entirely of them, especially when they weren't connected to them themselves. Ezzat, of course, would have been intrigued.

"Ah! Speak of the devil and thus he arrives!" The scientist turned to notice Zosimos returning after seeing off Victoria and young Clem, and they smiled widely at their comrade. "Memphis says he has it all under control - what a diligent fellow, hm?" Ezzat then grabbed a handful of several vials from their belt, each labelled and marked by colour and symbol. "Would you care to see my dirt samples? I believe I've found several examples of a variety of protists!" If Ezzat could rely on anyone to let them gabber on about their findings they were confident that Zosimos was indeed that person.

 

[Reliance]

When Ezzat shouted the all clear, Memphis used one hand to give them a thumbs up and the other to gesture over the terminal screen, moving blocks of code and functions around, swapping and rewriting symbolic architecture, as he built his desired program bit by bit.

When Ezzat continued to say that he should avoid doing any harm to the local life, Memphis knitted his brow together in thought and let his hands retreat to a neutral place on his knees. The landing, no matter how elegant, was sure to disturb some species or another. They were milling about, making noise, introducing scents, sartorial fibers, lasers, cybertulpas, and the like. They were here with a shared goal but each of them had different agendas, some of those among them had to manage personal interest against the shifting priorities of their niche role on the expedition.

"Ezzat, I don't want to mess you around. There's going to come a time we have to crack a few shells but I appreciate the reminder to be delicate. How about I program an explicit subroutine to avoid anything above the first trophic level, and to send you a short wave radio burst if they find something complex. If you're within five miles of camp you'll hear about it."

Which seemed, to Memphis, as good a bow you could put on a situation but Ezzat wouldn't be Ezzat if they didn't needle you now and again. Memphis felt his heartbeat thud in a transient spike of blood pressure. What rose to the surface from his emotional depths wasn't a frustrated frown, but instead the cut of a playful smirk.

"I bet if you told Zosimos you want him to make you a tent out of his fog so you can snore and shed skin cells and fart up and down it... why I bet he'd give you a hug. Try it out and let me know how he takes it?"

As Zosimos joined them Memphis finished his program, initialized the maintenance bots to their new task list, and shut off the terminal.

"Not just under control but all done. If either of you see something that could be done better, jump in."

Memphis nodded Zosimos's way in a show of recognition which he knew was not native to Ta-Neteru but which he was certain Zosimos was used to by now. He left for the few minutes it took to drag his chair back to the ship and leave the terminal behind. He came back with a pack.

"Did Ezzat tell you their plan to put you to work? If not I'm sure they're about to. As for me I'm going fishing. With a net! Strictly catch, catalog and release."

 

[Karo]

Victoria led the way, the cybertulpa following by her side. Occasionally she would talk into her watch, noting the different kinds of plants they encountered and marking their whereabouts on the map. Other than that, she was silent, making little effort to speak to Clem. She was wholly focused on finding the water source as quickly as possible.

The two had been walking for about fifteen minutes when suddenly, the panther began to snarl. Tori drew her gun, motioning for Clem to get behind her. The bushes in front of them began to shake and the panther's snarling grew louder. Tori moved her finger onto the trigger, ready to fire.

Suddenly, a large, rabbit-like creature lurched out of the bushes. Unlike a rabbit, it had sharp horns on its head and large fangs, like a saber tooth tiger. In an instant, the panther had tackled it, wrestling with it through the foliage. The two creatures fought mercilessly for a few moments before the panther sunk its teeth into the neck of the rabbit, killing it instantly.

Tori breathed a sigh of relief, keeping her gun drawn as she approached the dead animal. Up close, she could see that it had been foaming at the mouth. Tapping the screen of her watch, an orange matrix shot out and scanned the rabbit before a message popped up.

"Interesting. It seems this creature was infected with some type of virus that made it go rabid." Tori pulled a vial attached to a large needle from her pack and stuck it into the animal, drawing its blood. She examined it in the sunlight before stashing the vial in her pack.

"Alright, let's keep going."

 

[StarlightStarbright]

Clem flinched and covered her eyes when Victoria shot at the animal. Clem hated death, she felt it an unfortunate part of life, to have said life taken away when least expected. She knows she wouldn't want to die right now, there's so much she wanted to do...surely that creature didn't want to have died either.
"Poor thing..." Clem mumbled, staring sympathetically at the mammalian corpse. The creature reminded her of a larger herbivorous species back on her home world, the one she has a stuffed animal of in her pack. "At least it didn't get too close, otherwise..."

The Panther rubbed its face against Clem's hand. It's unknown if it was trying to alleviate Clem's distress, or urge her to not lose Victoria from her sights. Regardless, Clem eventually realized she was falling behind and sprinted up to Victoria with the panther in toe, missing huge faded hoof-prints by the bushes.

"...What planet are you from?" After a period of tense silence, Clem blurted out a question, hoping to start some sort of friendly chatter. Maybe if she talked to Victoria, they would eventually become friends? That's how that works, right? "I'm from Merth CM. It's in the E-18 Galaxy. From what I remember it's...more than one million light years away from where we are now...Is your home closer?"

 

[Karo]

"I was born on Gaia 10 in the Messier 81 galaxy. It was the planet most similar in composition to Earth, that is until Gaia 11 was discovered and colonized in the P-12 galaxy." Victoria looked around her. "It looks a lot like here, only the colors are more muted and the air is thinner," she added, brushing aside foliage in their way as she walked.

Of course, Tori hadn't lived on Gaia 10 for over a decade now. Her father chased funding for his studies from planet to planet, even galaxy to galaxy. After his death, she'd landed in Midlothia 9, where the University of Kimlam gave her a grant to conduct her own studies. It was nothing like Earth– the sky was yellow and the dirt deep red, like blood –but the university was renowned for its planetary studies. But Tori wasn't fond of small talk and Clem didn't need to know her life story, so she neglected to mention it.

"Gaia 10 is about 700,000 light years away from here. So, considerably closer."

Victoria's watch began beeping, indicating they were getting closer to the water source. "Alright Clem, keep your eyes open. If we're going to run into any more wildlife, it would be at the water source." Tori drew her gun and slowed her pace, listening intently for any signs of life.

 

[Zarko Straadi]

Zosimos gave the two women a nod and a Da Vinci smile. Clem's reactions were especially pleasing. Whatever complaints the Ambassador might have about the girl, was this mission not at least as much about sense of wonder and the joy of discovery as data and academic monographs?

Once the ladies were on their way, it was time to get on with the project of setting up camp. Zosimos made more gestures, this time conjuring a cybertulpa in the size and form of a dragonfly. It lifted off on prismatic wings, sweeping back and forth across the clearing, generating a topographical map of the site with LIDAR and using ground-penetrating radar and gravimetrics to make sure they would not be building on top of covered ruins or hidden underground spaces that could collapse under them.

As data came in, Zosimos began modeling potential configurations of the mission's set of shelters and temporary facility buildings, according to a set of parameters: minimal environmental impact, defensibility, path-efficiency for movement of people and equipment between structures, and factors of environmental comfort such as shading, exposure to sun and wind, and aesthetics. The structures were not designed to incorporate meaning-structures such as sacred geometry, feng shui, or astronomical alignment, so he reduced priority for those elements.

With a thought, he transmitted the data-packet to Memphis' computer so that he could select from among alternative configurations, or not, as he chose. The data offered rendered 3D models of the different configurations, starting with a top-ten list of designs that had the most overlap of functions, with indicators showing which designs leaned most toward defense, reduced environmental impact, path-efficiency, or comfort. An internal app offered a set of sliders Memphis could use to select from among the larger dataset by adjusting the importance of the different parameters.

Returning to join the others, Zosimos could pick up just enough of their conversation to deduce that they were likely making jokes at his expense. However, their expressions and body language did not indicate malign intent. "Ah! Speak of the devil and thus he arrives!" Ezzat said.

Zosimos raised an eyebrow. "If a devil can hear the sound of your voice, it is already present."

Instead of replying to the other comments that came his way, Zosimos snapped his head in the direction the women had departed.

---

Sakhmetneferu, his panther cybertulpa, detected a sizable heat source in infrared heading their way in an apparent stalking pattern. She gave a loud growl. Normally, the sound of a large predator would be enough to send another animal, even another predator, on its way. This animal started into a charge, so Sakhmetneferu moved rapidly to intercept.

The combat was brief but fierce, before Sakhmetneferu presented her kill to the ladies. Observing via her sensorium, Zosimos sent an instruction to gather biological data even as Victoria drew a sample of the creature's blood. The cybertulpa sniffed the air near the creature's face, seeking to detect any aerial viral particles that might pose a threat to the women. Detecting none, she poked the corpse with her fangs, this time injecting nanites based on Zosimos' own medical nans, in order to begin an analysis of the creature's genetics and epigenetics, and seek out the virus and any other dangerous pathogens the creature might be carrying.

With her vial in hand, Victoria promptly continued on her way with Clem in tow. Zosimos sent an additional instruction to Sakhmetneferu to have the injected nanites extract materials from the creatures to grow a transmission structure when they completed their analysis so she could follow along. After their departure, a creamy-white stalk sprouted from the corpse, then bloomed into a small flower-like structure that was actually a transmitter-receiver dish.

As Victoria slowed her pace, pistol at the ready, Sakhmetneferu came up alongside her and gave a "Mrrrp!" A hologram appeared above her head showing a geodesic structure with a stem and several leg-like structures at the bottom: the virus' protein sheath, alongside a rotating image of the animal moving through its run cycle, shifting back and forth from normal view to a translucent view revealing the creature's skeletal structure, circulatory system, and nervous system with anomalies highlighted. Victoria's watch pinged. "Data Packet from Cybertulpa Sakhmetneferu: Accept? Y/N"

---

Back at the campsite, Zosimos snapped out of his fugue as Ezzat made an enthusiastic offer to share access to his soil samples.

"Apologies." He then gave the biologist a smirk. "Victoria would see your protists and raise you a fauna encounter," he said, producing the same hologram. In like manner, Ezzat's watch also pinged. "Data Packet from Zosimos: Accept? Y/N"

In addition to the imagery, the data packet also contained a preliminary AI analysis of the creature's biology.

ABSTRACT:​

​

This creature appears to be the result of quasi-symbiotic co-evolution of the North American black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) with the Shope papilloma virus. Though records of both the virus and the animal species of origin are fragmentary, the morphology of this creature has statistically-significant degrees of overlap with remaining images of Lepus californicus consistent with evolutionary ancestry. The horn and saber-tooth structures are keratinous carcinomas generated by the virus, which appear to have evolved toward becoming less lethal to the animal and more useful for attacks that can spread the virus through penetrating contact.​

​

According to ancient records, the animal species was a herbivorous ruminant. However, co-evolution with the virus appears to have produced a descendant species that is larger and more powerful than its ancestor, and transitioned to an abnormally aggressive carnivorous form.​

​

GENETIC SEQUENCES FOLLOW:​

​

Animal [unclassified]:​

CGGATCAATGAGG...​

 

[Analog]

Ever ready to delve into specifics of what counted as 'disturbing' the life here, Ezzat's eyes were darting around about the world in front of them as they listened to Memphis, though any speech the scientist had in mind promptly dissipated when Memphis went and threw Ezzat right into the fire with his response concerning Zosimos' fogglets. After a split second of conceding to their defeat, they barked a sudden laugh at their companion's teasing. Watching Memphis drag his chair back to put it away, Ezzat's grin remained in place, suddenly quite interested in fishing.

"Fishing-" They began only to swiftly return their gaze to the being still in front of them, their smile disappearing completely, their mouth agape and eyes wide. "Fauna contact!" The vials jumped in their hands as the individual struggled to keep still, eyes glued to Zosimos' hologram, and when their watch pinged they almost dropped their samples, fumbling about in a haphazard effort to slot them into their packs before they accepted the information packet.

Almost immediately Ezzat began pacing, back hunched over their watch as they flicked through the information that had been sent to them, excitedly ramblings falling from their mouth almost as fast as their own neurons were firing.

"An ancient species no doubt evolved to become an entirely new species - and with the aid of such a slowly evolving disease, this symbiosis must have been prevalent for millenniums in order to have steer a previously herbivorous animal into a carnivore!" The scientist stopped suddenly, brows furrowing as they looked over at the one who'd sent them the information.

"My dear Zosimos, I believe there is a potential error with your information - it's a common misconception that Earth rabbits are ruminants - this is likely due to the many similar species on other planets wherein their hind legs often feature hooves-" Once again their eyes were lit with excitement, their shoulders moving up as they hunched more, stepping closer to Zosimos as if they were a giddy child sharing a secret. "But my dear fellow, I'm almost entirely certain that Earth Lagomorphs lack these hooves! My hypothesis has long been that the Earth order of Lagomorphs are not in fact ungulates like their alien look-alikes!"

With a giggle of excitement Ezzat turned back to the hologram, hastily pushing their spectacles up so fast that they almost jabbed themselves in the eye, their focus entirely on the image of the carnivorous rabbit. "Does this come with more details about the specimen?" They asked without looking up, and though they'd stopped pacing, a foot was tapping away quickly at the ground.

Unfortunately (for Ezzie) it was likely that the creature was now dead and since it was diseased obtaining it was probably not an option for the sake of safety. At least they had Zosimos' information to rely on - and then once they were certain they had as much information as possible they decided they'd likely scamper off after Memphis to assist in the recording of fish. It was a shame they couldn't be in multiple places at once, able to witness the varieties of life and record them all! Then again, having multiple Ezzat's around would have probably not been so enjoyable for their exploration companions.

 

[StarlightStarbright]

"I've never seen a planet with such an abundance of green plant-life. Back in my home planet, the flora is mostly purple due to the greater use of retinal instead of chlorophyll." Clem acknowledged casually. On first glance, one would probably not expect Clem to be knowledgeable in biology to such a degree. "I've never seen such blue skies either. On Merth CM we have a lot of green Aerophytoplankton. The atmosphere is so thick with them that it makes the sky itself look green."

Memories flooded Clem's mind: memories of her fathers forcing her to wear respiratory breathing equipment on the rare occasions she was allowed to go outside. 'As a human, you're very fragile! We don't want our dear daughter to grow sick from the aeroplankton!' They would coo at her. And yet, on the rare occasion that Clem saw a human traversing the streets of Ansass, they didn't need to wear any special equipment to breath!

Clem used to think that those humans were special in some way...or maybe she just told herself that to make herself feel better. It wasn't until Clem snuck out of the house to board The Iris that her assumptions were proven wrong. She almost had a panic attack upon first breathing the air of her planet with her lungs alone; she thought she was going to die at first. Then nothing happened, and Clem only felt pathetic for her ignorance.

She won't let that happen again. From now on, Clem refused to be kept in the dark. She wanted to know everything.

The beeping from Victoria's watch snapped Clem out of her reminiscing. "Ok!" She chirped her reply, straightening her posture and scanning her surroundings. Clem had to keep watch and make sure any sort of fauna were at a reasonable distance away from her. She didn't want to cause Victoria any trouble in case one of them got too close and went loony.

As the duo slowed, Zosimos's cybertulpa waltzed up to Victoria, emitting a low chuff from its nonexistent throat. Clem was fascinated by the moving image of the Lagomorph that displayed above its head. Clem would have booped the nose of the hologram if it weren't for her greater reasoning telling her to keep her hands away, lest Victoria give her a look of disapproval.

....Oh well! She can just shower the panther with attention instead! "Thank you!" Clem softly cooed at Sakhmetneferu, scratching under its chin and behind its ears.

 

[Diana]

No one seemed to notice or care that Ambassador Nitau'li made absolutely no effort to help with the clearing of the base camp area. He did not help unload the shuttle. He did not hover around to criticize the jobs of everyone around him. In fact, that lack of his critical voice lurking around getting on everyone's nerves should've been a clue in to his absence. (It is more likely the crew felt blessed he was not be a plague on their duties and thus had no intentions to seek him out!)

But then, where was Ambassador Nitau-li?

⍙⟒ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⋔⏃⎅⟒ ⌰⏃⋏⎅⟟⋏☌ ⋏⟒⏃⍀ ⏁⊑⟒ ⏃⋏☊⟟⟒⋏⏁ ⌇⟟⏁⟒. ⋔⊬ ☊⍜⋔⌿⏃⋏⟟⍜⋏⌇ ⎅⍜ ⋏⍜⏁ ⌇⟒⟒⋔ ⏁⍜ ⏚⟒ ⏃⍙⏃⍀⟒ ⍜⎎ ⏁⊑⟟⌇ ⌰⍜☊⏃⏁⟟⍜⋏'⌇ ⌇⟟☌⋏⟟⎎⟟☊⏃⋏☊⟒. ⏃ ⊑⏃⌿⌿⊬ ☊⍜⟟⋏☊⟟⎅⟒⋏☊⟒ ⏃⌇ ⏁⊑⟒ ⟒⏃⍀⏁⊑⌰⟟⋏☌⌇ ⍜⎎⏁⟒⋏ ⌇⏃⊬. ⏁⊑⟒ ⌇⟒⏃⍀☊⊑ ⏚⟒☌⟟⋏⌇.

Transmission signal... out of range. Storing until next cycle.

Snapping shut the tiny communicator in his hands and stowing it away in his long elegant robes, the Bereen was a silent shadow in the forest following the trail of Victoria and Clem. He made no effort to call after them or make his following known. He didn't even try to intervene or help when natural wildlife made an attempt of attacking the pair. The Bereen merely paused - listened - and continued his silent persuit when they began walking once again.

Up ahead the dirt of the forest floor transitioned to cracked and crumpled up mix of ancient tar and concrete. The ladies were coming up on what used to be some sort of medical center, but the forest had now completely reclaimed the area.

 

[Karo]

Victoria listened to Clem discuss her planet, somewhat impressed with her knowledge. She hadn't expected the girl to be so educated on the ecological realities of her world. Perhaps there was more to the young girl than meets the eye.

The cypertulpa made its presence known with a small sound. Tori looked to the hologram above its head, pleasantly surprised by the information it displayed. It was much more than she would have learned with her blood sample. The information captivated her, and she silently studied it. Her attention was grabbed by the sound of her watch going off, showing a data packet available for download from the creature. Tori pressed "yes" to accept it and instantly a flood of information appeared on the screen. She smiled to herself. She'd have to remember to thank Zosimosfor sending the cybertulpa with them, and probe him about his other technical abilities.

The two neared a clearing where a large, dilapidated concrete structure came into view. It was quite primitive compared to the buildings she was used to seeing, but from its size and the ancient medical seal on its side, Victoria could tell it was once considered state of the art. My, how life had progressed.

"Looks like this used to be some sort of medical center, probably a hospital. Look, there's the old human symbol for medicine," Tori pointed at the caduceus on the side of the building.

She whistled for the cypertulpa before pointing at the building, instructing it to go ahead and explore. Gun drawn, she slowly edged towards the medical center, listening carefully for any signs of life.

 

[Reliance]

Zosimos's data packets to the terminal were sandboxed for behavioral detection and heuristic analysis, then placed in a silo where they could be reviewed. At some point in the near future if either Memphis or Zosimos took the time to revisit the camp configurations and these files, to compare the two sets of models, they'd find a 70% overlap. They'd also find that the designated vision which the bots were even now laboring to bring to fruition was in their shared top 3.

It was the kind of thing they might laugh about over a cup of hot tea, if either of them were the sort to drink tea while laughing.

Memphis whistled an old blues song to himself as he completed the relatively short walk from the camp, through the bush, to a tributary. It fed into a larger river which, if traced downstream led to the ocean, and if traced upstream led to a secondary tributary. This one eventually connected to the backside of the medical center ruins currently holding rapt the attentions of Tori and Clem. More on that to come.

Standing now just a few feet away from the rush of water, Memphis withdrew a small, cartoonish, plastic and tone-neutral pistol. A small little gun that fit in his hand and could easily drop into his pocket. The top had an aperture, into which he screwed a transparent container of tiny, translucent, orange beads.

"Hehehe." Memphis nearly snorted as he finished screwing the canister in.

Things seemed and sounded much more sinister than they were.

The gun was harmless. The solution in the beads was a colloid of microelectrochemical systems, what the engineers at home liked to call 'smartdust' when they were having a good time. Brimming with sensors and programmable robots. The beads were propelled by air and meant to burst on impact, release the sensors, relay a DNA analysis and additionally serve as a positional tracker with a short lifespan before harmlessly dying off and being shed. He'd be able to collect not just genetic information but data on their habits, their habitats, their movement patterns and ranges.

All that and a bit of fun besides.

A gorgeous emerald Cotinga flew overhead and landed on a branch nearby. Memphis took aim and nailed it right in the ass. It took off but didn't so much as squawk, so he reasoned it was more surprised than hurt. While reviewing the data he saw the Cotinga's flight pattern put it overhead again. The realization struck him at almost the exact same moment as the Cotinga's revenge, a splatter of white against his shoulder.

"Aww dammit!"

It was, maybe, around now when Ezzat might approach him if they weren't already well within eyesight and earshot and find Memphis crouching near the river so he could get a handful of water and wash his hands after instinctively wiping them on his shoulder. After that he was tracking the Cotinga upstream to see if the sensors held up. Maybe double down on this whole revenge thing.

Edit: it's been a few weeks since the last IC post so am going to stop checking but hope everyone is doing okay and that we get to write together again

 

[Zarko Straadi]

Zosimos raised an eyebrow at Ezzat's comment about lagomorph biology. "It may well be that your culture of origin preserved those records more accurately than mine," he replied. "Perhaps when time permits, it would be beneficial to cross-reference our cultures' records and subject the total corpus to textual critical analysis.

"The data packet includes the complete genome and epigenetic information, as well as MRI and muon-scattering scans of the interior structures. However, since the creature is deceased, the electromorphogenetic patterns [1] have been lost. I will attempt to collect data on the creature's microbiome and a nanoscale measurement of its internal structures." As he spoke, he signaled the transmission relay to begin growing mycelial fibers that would spread through the creature's body, gathering information as they went.

"I have also retained the location of the corpse so that it can be retrieved if and when it is considered desirable to do so."

Somewhat incongruously with his current conversation, Zosimos gave a little grin at Clem's enthusiastic affection toward Sakhmetneferu. The cybertulpa rubbed head and body against the girl, then trotted ahead to scout out the structure for the two women. Back at camp, Zosimos tasked his dragonfly cybertulpa to increase altitude and circle the area around the camp, watching for any incoming threats.

NOTES:

1.