(11:40:50 AM) Blueshift_North: <Ikiryo> Dpppler purs
(11:40:52 AM) Blueshift_North: <Blueshift_North> "You feeling better?"
(11:42:01 AM) Ikiryo: "My leg still hurts a lot." She shakes her head. "Mum says it will get better though."
(11:43:39 AM) Blueshift_North: "Well, that's good. I hope it doesn't take too long."
(11:44:49 AM) Ikiryo: "The healer hear is very nice. She says I'll get better soon." She giggles as Doppler licks her face.
(11:46:01 AM) Blueshift_North: "Glad to hear it."
(11:47:22 AM) Ikiryo: "Sorry I was mean miss machine...you are nice."
(11:48:20 AM) Blueshift_North: "No problem? You hadn't met me."
(11:49:24 AM) Ikiryo: She holds out her arms. "Can I hug you? That way you'll know I don't hate you."
(11:49:55 AM) Blueshift_North: "Sure." She rolls her eyes a little, and leans in for it.
(11:50:56 AM) Ikiryo: The little dryad gives her a hug, Doppler jumping to North's head.
(11:52:31 AM) Blueshift_North: "Well, it was nice meeting you.  Doppler likes head and shoulders, for the record."
(11:53:18 AM) Ikiryo: "She's really cute."
(11:54:24 AM) Blueshift_North: "She does that.  She's also one of the smartest people I know." She stagewhispers.  "Don't tell her I said that, I don't want her to get a big head."\
(11:56:58 AM) Ikiryo: Doppler purrs.
(11:57:16 AM) Ikiryo: The dryad giggles. "Alright~"
(12:00:42 PM) Blueshift_North: "So, what do you do for fun around here?"
(12:01:44 PM) Ikiryo: "Me? Umm...I explore the forest mostly. Sometimes I watch movies."
(12:02:22 PM) Blueshift_North: "Any real interesting places in the woods, or like, weird things? OR good movies?"
(12:04:00 PM) Ikiryo: "There are lots of cute animals..." She goes quiet. "...I wonder what happened to the wolf puppies."
(12:05:58 PM) Blueshift_North: "Do you remember where their den is?"
(12:06:40 PM) Ikiryo: She nods.
(12:07:29 PM) ***Blueshift_North pulls up a real basic aerial map of the area near where they were.
(12:07:41 PM) Blueshift_North: "Can you point to it? I can go check on them?"
(12:08:31 PM) Ikiryo: She pokes a part of the map. "They are there, under a big log. I found them there when I was raining."
(12:10:23 PM) Blueshift_North: "Alright, well.  If you'll excuse me, I'll go check on them."
(12:11:43 PM) Ikiryo: "Alright...thank you miss machine."
(12:12:52 PM) ***Blueshift_North smiles.  "Feel free to call me by name.  It's Blueshift North, so if you don't want to say Miss Machine, you can use any part of that." She slowly goes to stand, and heads for the door.
(12:13:41 PM) Ikiryo: "Oh...thank you Miss North."
(12:14:53 PM) Blueshift_North: "No problem.  I'll tell you what I find." She streches a little, then heads out, kitten perched on her head.
(12:18:27 PM) Reise: Meanwhile, out among the trees...
(12:18:36 PM) Reise: (12:19:14 AM) Reise: "Consorts?" she echoes. "That's a new one to me."
(12:18:37 PM) Reise: (12:21:21 AM) Ikiryo: "Dryad Navy specialisation. Terraformers work with the enviroment, Consorts are Biological Experts. Normally used as non-lethal troops, since they can induce sleep." She puts a bit of stress on 'Normally'
(12:19:57 PM) Reise: "So while this looks biotech in origin, it's obviously meant as a lethal weapon of some sort. Some kind of...almost parasitic time bomb."
(12:22:03 PM) Ikiryo: She nods. "I'd agree with that...which means someone made it. For what reason, I don't understand."
(12:26:04 PM) Reise: "Hm. And it was out here attacking a little girl, first, before Blue even showed up, so it's not just some anti-Mechanicus weapon past its expiration date~"
(12:28:42 PM) Ikiryo: "...we don't even have the facilities to make such things even if we wanted." She shakes her head. "This just gets more and more confusing."
(12:31:06 PM) Reise: "That's certainly one word for it."
(12:33:52 PM) Ikiryo: She raises an eyebrow at Reise.
(12:34:31 PM) ***Blueshift_North meanwhile appears down the road
(12:34:44 PM) Blueshift_North: crossreferencing her map and the current location.  She waives.
(12:35:44 PM) Ikiryo: The dryad jumps slightly, looking deeply uncomfortable around the power armour and North.
(12:36:48 PM) ***Blueshift_North is heading off deeper into the woods, clearly with a purpose.
(12:38:06 PM) Reise: "Hey, Blue. Bye, Blue." She watches for a second. "Alright. Rimema, stay put. I'm going to check what she's up to and then we'll be back for the investigation."
(12:39:28 PM) Ikiryo: "...wait, what?"
(12:40:47 PM) ***Reise is already walking off after Blueshift.
(12:42:52 PM) ***Blueshift_North isn't that far off, and clearly isn't used to walking in forests, as she slips on some moss, and falls against a tree.  "Ack."
(12:43:58 PM) Reise: "Don't you have like radar vision?" she quips, helping Blue back to her feet. "How's tricks?"
(12:45:46 PM) Blueshift_North: "Forests are complicated.  Anyway the wolf had cubs and I agreed to find them because I apparently cannot resist the request of a small child."
(12:46:56 PM) Reise: "Hn. Hope they're alright; momma wolf's been dead for a week or so. Still working on figuring out what and how."
(12:48:30 PM) Ikiryo: The forest looks rather pleasent and mostly harmless, lots of light filtering down from above.
(12:48:47 PM) Blueshift_North: "I mean I just figured it was some kind of bad vine monster.  Anyway it's not that far out, I'd suggest going by myself but you'll probably want a look at it for. . . clues, or something."
(12:50:16 PM) ***Blueshift_North waives at the dryad.  "You can come to, if you want?"
(12:51:55 PM) Reise: "You're learning," she jokes. "Maybe a chance to find what got the wolf. I was having a chat with Remima and we both agree it looks more like a bioweapon. If it were a monster it wouldn't have attacked you and just died, so I'm thinking magic-driven weapon."
(12:52:12 PM) Ikiryo: She heads over towards them, looking deeply uncomfortable.
(12:56:36 PM) ***Blueshift_North leads the way towards the indicated spot on the map.  "That could make sense, magic is headache inducing. I just figured it worked like a worm."
(12:58:58 PM) Ikiryo: It doesn't take them long to find it. A massive tree, fallen over and making a shelter with a rock.
(12:59:17 PM) Reise: "A lot of unknowns still, unfortunately." With her visor active, she scans the area for any pups.
(1:03:12 PM) Ikiryo: The pair hear small mewling sounds from some bushes nearby...
(1:03:33 PM) ***Blueshift_North heads for the bushes, cautiously.
(1:03:59 PM) Reise: "...Mewling?"
(1:04:24 PM) Reise: "Did you bring your cat tagalong?"
(1:04:41 PM) Ikiryo: A pair of wolf puppies pop thier heads out of the bushes, looking at the pair.
(1:05:20 PM) Reise: "...Well, there they are."
(1:06:17 PM) Blueshift_North: "One, I don't bring Doppler anywhere, Doppler goes where she pleases."  North sends proof of survival to Kizzie.  "Can either of you do like, a bioscan on them to make sure they don't have vines?"
(1:06:33 PM) Ikiryo: Remima raises her hand, drawing stone from the earth. "Get back from them!" Reise notices...thier eyes are not moving right, they are empty.
(1:06:55 PM) Reise: "...Well shit." She scoots back.
(1:07:54 PM) ***Blueshift_North takes a step back, and deletes the send,  Benefits of shitty plant wifi.
(1:08:38 PM) Ikiryo: The puppies rise up...revealing they are part of the same creature now, a horrible abomination of fused meat from wolves and some other local wildlife...
(1:09:03 PM) Ikiryo: They are still mewling pitifully.
(1:09:05 PM) ***Reise makes a gagging noise that's audible outside the suit. "Corellon's sweaty balls..."
(1:09:15 PM) Reise: "Freeze it, Blue!"
(1:12:12 PM) ***Blueshift_North flicks her wrist at it, her arm pulses with pale blue light, and the temprature plummets, the creature itself icing over almost completely.
(1:12:34 PM) Ikiryo: Remima brings up her massive stone and smashes it down on the frozen abomination, shattering it into pieces along with the vines inside it...
(1:12:44 PM) Ikiryo: "Holy Luna...that is..." She sounds sick.
(1:13:40 PM) Reise: "Dead," she supplies. "Or...re-dead. Poor pups..."
(1:14:29 PM) Blueshift_North: "Reise could you send Mediha a scan on this? I think we might want an expert's opinion."
(1:16:29 PM) Ikiryo: There is a small sound coming from the large log...scratching.
(1:16:59 PM) Reise: "I was just about to ask you to call her, given it's your ship," she replies. She's midway through collecting what she can when she picks up the scratching noise. "...Another one?"
(1:18:00 PM) ***Blueshift_North goes to check the inside of the log. "Well like, I figure we should send her samples."
(1:19:01 PM) Ikiryo: Inside the log, dirty and tired and witn a twisted leg is another wolf puppy...
(1:19:19 PM) Ikiryo: This one has moving eyes and doesn't smell of rot.
(1:20:16 PM) Reise: "Oh thank the gods," she sighs, letting Blue withdraw the pup.
(1:21:13 PM) Ikiryo: Doppler pops her head out of a pocket, climbing into the log to lick the pup's nose.
(1:21:40 PM) Ikiryo: Remima looks about the area, rocks orbiting her like small moons.
(1:21:55 PM) ***Blueshift_North offers it a safe place to come into her arms.
(1:23:54 PM) Ikiryo: It doesn't look like it can move on it's own, it's injury keeping it from walking.
(1:24:09 PM) ***Blueshift_North reaches in, to pull it out.
(1:24:28 PM) Blueshift_North: "The vines apparently hate legs."
(1:24:34 PM) ***Reise completes her scans, then links up to the Serpent and uploads her data to it, tapping at a small AR window to compose the message to Mediha. [Hey, it's Reise and all those weirdos. Running into some curious shit on one of your colony worlds. I'd appreciate your expert opinion on what the fuck is going on here.]
(1:25:42 PM) Reise: Her message complete, she dismisses her armor, using her ring to blink herself back into normal clothes for Remima's sake. "They were crushing Mama Wolf's bones, the vines were. New dents and ridges where they'd wrapped around, acting like muscles."
(1:27:27 PM) Ikiryo: Remima nods. "...the puppies..." She blanches. "They would have been too small for that."
(1:28:14 PM) Reise: "Must be why they were mushed in with other...stuff," she says, carefully not looking at the frozen remains.
(1:28:41 PM) Ikiryo: [From: Mediha - Sweet Pelor, the fuck is that? I was eating]
(1:30:12 PM) Reise: [Oh hey. Sorry about that. We have no fucking clue but those vines were trying to use the corpses to kill us.]
(1:30:40 PM) ***Blueshift_North gently strokes the wolf pup's head.  "You think I could do a wide area scan of the planet to see if it controls large areas of biomass?"
(1:31:17 PM) Ikiryo: [That is...fucking rancid...I'll need to check databases.]
(1:31:39 PM) Ikiryo: The wolf pup settles into her arms, Doppler curling up with it.
(1:32:50 PM) Blueshift_North: [Hey.  I managed to find one of them.] She sends the message to the young Dryad.
(1:33:55 PM) Ikiryo: [You found one? Thanl you!!]
(1:34:17 PM) Reise: "That...is just too adorable. Pets suit you, Blue." She sighs. "Mediha has no idea right now, she's going to look things up. As for the planet...I'll take some time to go through my scans so you have something unique to look for. Unless you want to, of course."
(1:37:03 PM) Ikiryo: Remima frowns. "...I'm going to order people to stay out the forests until this is resolved. This is...we don't know if they'll infect people and I don't want to."
(1:37:11 PM) Blueshift_North: [I'll come by and let you two spend time together.]  She looks a little embarrassed.  "What, oh shut up.  Anyway I was thinking just like.  Base planetary scan to make sure there's not a mass of this in the deep forest, and we don't have to worry about like.  The forest trying to eat us if we try to find the source."
(1:40:48 PM) Ikiryo: "You want to scan the forest...for plants." Remima raises an eyebrow
(1:41:18 PM) Blueshift_North: "Well for these particular plants."
(1:41:37 PM) Reise: "That's why I said to use the scans I just took," she says. "Otherwise how would you even know? That's just the point."
(1:56:20 PM) Reise: A minute passes before her commlink dings. "...And there's that." She spawns another AR window. "Suit computer's done with the analysis. It's no full suite, but looks like there's five or six chemicals that shouldn't be there that you can scan for."
(1:59:44 PM) Ikiryo: The scan pops up for North...there are patches of this all over the place...though all clustered within roughly 200km of the colony.
(2:01:25 PM) ***Blueshift_North forwards the map to the military Dryad.  "Here's some clusters of that crap.  I think we need to figure out if this is naturally occurring or engineered."
(2:02:21 PM) Ikiryo: [I'll see what I can do]
(2:02:54 PM) Ikiryo: Remima sighs. "...I am seriously out of my depth. The most I'd had to deal with here has been the occasional argument."
(2:05:13 PM) Blueshift_North: "Yeah well.  Congratulations, I think we have a crisis now.  Also. . . Maybe don't tell people that I found this?"
(2:05:26 PM) Blueshift_North: "I don't want to deal with more problems because I was a robot."
(2:06:25 PM) Ikiryo: She nods. "...I was just an assault trooper in the Navy. Not an investigator."
(2:08:03 PM) Blueshift_North: "Well. Look on the bright side,you're qualified to figure out a safe pattern to deal with them, because you probably had a biohazard protocol, back in the day."
(2:10:23 PM) Ikiryo: She nods. "We did."
(2:15:26 PM) ***Reise worries her lip between her teeth. [To: Blueshift - ...I'd bet my next month's pay from Horizon AND GP that this vine shit is engineered. Simultaneous pockets within a fixed distance from a central hub, though the climate's perfectly the same for *thousands* of kilometers from here?]
(2:18:08 PM) Reise: [Not to mention the obvious bits, like 'waiting to attack people instead of other wildlife']
(2:18:22 PM) Blueshift_North: "Well, good news, we can help with that,  Given their mo I doubt they can parasitize me for instance." [Well, that's comforting.]
(2:18:58 PM) Blueshift_North: "Anyway, look, I need to go make sure that a small child knows that a wolf managed to get through all of that."
(2:19:14 PM) Ikiryo: She sighs. "...thank you." She looks like she had trouble saying it, she's still very clearly uncomfortable around North.
(2:21:54 PM) ***Blueshift_North carries the wolf gently towards the town.  "No problem."
(2:24:46 PM) Ikiryo: It's not hard to get back to town, only getting briefly lost in the forest.
(2:25:16 PM) ***Reise folds her arms over her chest. "Well, with that set aside for now...the attack we asked about from a few weeks ago--with that suicidal band. There wouldn't happen to be, y'know. Footage, of any kind? Some recording?"
(2:27:43 PM) Ikiryo: She nods. "I've got some from the local cameras. We didn't have a full security system set up...I was only part way through it." She bites her lip. "...I'm glad you are here. These people need someone who has more skills than hitting things with rocks."
(2:38:10 PM) Reise: "No problem, really...though you could have probably requested help from Summerholme, yeah?"
(2:39:16 PM) Ikiryo: "...perhaps. They would take time to get here though..." She seems a bit uneasy.
(2:42:27 PM) ***Reise makes a moue and posts her hands on her hips. "Alright, out with it. What's going on?"
(2:44:19 PM) Ikiryo: "With the creatures? I don't know..."
(2:48:40 PM) Reise: "No, I mean overall. To say nothing of Mama Tree back there, you get nervous when I mention calling home, and that ought to be your first recourse. Some things just aren't adding up here."
(2:50:34 PM) Ikiryo: "...a lot of people here are nervous about getting involved in Summerholme business...and it's politics."
(2:51:48 PM) Reise: "What politics are those? The last time we were there, nothing was happening. Is every non-child dryad here a veteran from the war?"
(2:54:26 PM) Ikiryo: "...ah, no. Most were refugees during it." She shakes her head. "Others...well, they are like me. Summerholme is intergrating more and more with technology...they even recently allowed Mechanicus members to land on the planet. With my...issues...I couldn't really stay any more."
(2:55:07 PM) FeldiPhone left the room (quit: Ping timeout).
(3:02:38 PM) Reise: "Ah, I see." She nods, relaxing slightly. "Well, I hope our stay doesn't scare you any more than it already has."
(3:04:08 PM) Ikiryo: "It's not you...it's just..." She shakes her head again. "I was part of a boarding party on a dark mechanicus ship...half-converted servitors, begging to be put out of thier misery as they attacked..." She sighs. "I'm weak, so I ended up drummed out for PTSD...this seemed like a good opportunity."
(3:07:49 PM) Reise: "And I understand that, completely," she says. Her voice goes flat. "More than you know, I think. But the fact remains that it IS us, to a point. Anyway, thanks for letting me in on what you knew for these vine-things...hopefully we'll find out more soon and then you and we can formulate a plan of action."
(3:09:06 PM) Ikiryo: "Right...I...please keep me in the know. I'm not very useful at investigation...but I'm the closest thing we have to police. I want to keep them safe."
(3:10:41 PM) Reise: "You got it. When I hear back from Mediha you'll be the first to know."
(3:11:37 PM) Ikiryo: She bows deeply. "Thank you. I'm sorry for the lack of useful support."
(3:13:06 PM) ***Reise quirks an eyebrow. "Lack of useful support? You saved me at least a day out here, a day in which these things could have spread and attacked more of your own people. I'd call that *plenty* useful."
(3:14:20 PM) Ikiryo: "You did most the actual investigation...I'm limited to working off what  battlefield triage taught me." She shakes her head.
(3:20:30 PM) Reise: "Don't sell yourself too short. You're doing alright for someone who claims not to know what she's doing. Now c'mon, I need a drink after what we found out there, and I bet you know all the best places for one of those."
(3:20:58 PM) Ikiryo: "Well...we don't have too many options but there are a few." She nods
(3:47:14 PM) ***Blueshift_North walks back into the healer's office cuddling the animals.
(3:48:13 PM) Ikiryo: She gets more than a few odd looks as ths does so but no one stops her. Even the healer gets out of the way when Doppler glowers at her and makes a biting motion.
(3:52:16 PM) Blueshift_North: "Doppler, no more biting people."  She scratches behind the kitten's ears in a paradox to what she's saying.  She gently steps inside the room.  "Hey."
(3:52:48 PM) Ikiryo: "Miss Machine!" The little dryad waves
(3:53:32 PM) Blueshift_North: "Nice to see you again.  I thought you might want to see for yourself that this guy." She hefts the wolf a little. "Was okay."
(3:54:09 PM) Ikiryo: "...oh no, his back foot is hurt." She looks at him sadly. "...he had a brother and sister...are they..."
(3:55:31 PM) Blueshift_North: "I don't know.  He's the only one I found." Not technically a lie, she didn't do DNA analysis to find out their family ties.
(3:56:02 PM) Ikiryo: "...they are dead, arn't they?" She frowns harder.
(3:56:43 PM) ***Blueshift_North sighs.  "Yeah.  I didn't want to tell you, because I didn't want you to be sad."
(3:58:46 PM) Ikiryo: "...I mean...I saw thier mum..." She sniffles. "I...I'm not stupid..." She wipes away tears.
(4:00:20 PM) Blueshift_North: "I didn't think you were." She says quietly, setting the wolf down next to her.  "I just didn't think you needed that right now.  I'm sorry."
(4:01:54 PM) Ikiryo: The wolf whines a bit, not really able to move with it's injured leg. The little dryad frowns and gives it a tight hug.
(4:02:26 PM) Blueshift_North: "Anyway, I thought both of you could use a friend right now.  Is that okay?"
(4:02:55 PM) Ikiryo: She nods. "I'll make sure he gets treated well..."
(4:04:18 PM) Blueshift_North: "Good.  I'd ask but I don't think the healer here likes me very much."
(4:04:38 PM) Ikiryo: "No?" Doppler grins widely.
(4:06:53 PM) Blueshift_North: "She doesn't think I'm a person and ah.  Doppler disagreed with her.  Strenuously.  Didn't you?~"
(4:07:36 PM) Ikiryo: Doppler nods, still looking like she ate a canary.
(4:08:00 PM) Ikiryo: "Oh...umm...she's nice. I'm sure she'll help look after him."
(4:09:00 PM) Blueshift_North: "I'm sure she will. People just react badly to me."
(4:10:32 PM) Ikiryo: "...I think you are nice, Miss Machine."
(4:11:45 PM) Blueshift_North: "And I appreciate that a lot.  If you need my help, anytime, contact me, and I'll be on my ship because I make people nervous."
(4:12:27 PM) Ikiryo: "...oh. I'm sure if they got to know you, they wouldn't be nervous." She puts her arms out for a hug.
(4:14:38 PM) ***Blueshift_North hugs her back.  "Me too, but bridging that gap requires both parties be willing, and I can't make that one happen."
(4:15:43 PM) Ikiryo: "...I think the people here are nice."
(4:16:32 PM) Blueshift_North: "I know, but they have to be ready to talk to me, and I don't think they are yet."
(4:16:54 PM) Ikiryo: She hugs tight. "...I'm sorry."
(4:21:42 PM) Blueshift_North: "You didn't do anything.  Besides, you and I both know I'm okay.  And I think Rimema knows it too."
(4:22:17 PM) Ikiryo: "That's good. Miss Rimema is really nice and smart."
(4:26:04 PM) Blueshift_North: "Anyway, I think I should let the healer come in now, I think she's afraid of me.  Also I should probably leave before your mom tries to throw rocks at me or something.  If you ever need me, you know how to get in touch."
(4:27:53 PM) Ikiryo: "Alright. Thank you again Miss Machine!"
(4:29:14 PM) Blueshift_North: "No trouble at all." She slips out the door.