A Gamma World® play-by-post adventure run by gammaworld_gm
[Green text below is new. See the Chronological Patch page. --ed.]
Yup, I forgot about the pooch, but I didn't forget about the Hostility Field Mutation nor did I shoot the deputy. I am changing the Hostility Field Mutation since we do not use defects. Instead I'm changing it into a power. When you use the Hostility Field Mutation it causes everyone in the area to become enraged at each other, not you. And yes, you can use it when you want to. What's your dog's name? Kramer?
Almost on cue, your (Chuck's) dog sends a telepathic message that he is on the way. He explains that he needed to take care of some personal doggy business.
"Purified water it is." The robot places the filled glass in front of you. "Well, I happen to be conducting a survey of my customers. We don't have dogs around here... except that one!" The surprised robot bartender points at the new dog who trots into the bar and approaches you unannounced. "Does your dog bite?"
The lights suddenly blink. One of the two men seated at the table behind you suddenly disappears.
"Holy frejoles! Aww, crap... we've just been EMP pulsed!"
The robotic bartender falls over behind the bar powerless and the lights go out and stay out for a few minutes. Dim battery-powered lights kick in and give the bar a small amount of lighting.
Speaking telepathically to Kramer, "Kramer what the hell was that? Are we under some sort of attack? Where did that other guy over there go? And where have you been?" Chuck takes a drink of the water.
"Don't know, Just that the bartender said it was an EMP pulse before he stopped functioning. And in reference to the other question, I stopped outside to watch the landing and you just kept on going inside and left me out there. Some owner you are, Pal. I could have been someone's dinner." Kramer thinks in Chuck's direction.
Still speaking with telepathy, Chuck responds, "Sorry, buddy. I didn't mean any harm. Here, have some water." Chuck lets Kramer take a drink of water from the glass. He removes his cash from the bar and walks over to the other guy in the bar, with Kramer trailing behind. "What was that?" he asks the man.
The following scene is best imagined as if Howard were in fact Val Kilmer, suiting up in his Batman suit from the third installment of the 90s Batman movie franchise. Camera angles focus on individual items as they are packed, locked, loaded, worn, etc. (Don't forget the gratuitous tight-butt shot, too.)
Howard winces in horror at the sound of the rifle shot. He looks at Jonn and then at his backpack. Resolute in his actions, seeing the look on his friend's face and knowing they're both wondering the same horrible thought about Lamia, Howard walks over to his equipment. He drops his tool set in it, untangles the IR rifle and straps it on, checking the clip.
<chick-chack>
He grabs the spare couple of hydrogen energy cells and shoves them into the pockets of his leather vest.
<fwip, fwip>
Howard grabs the taser, checks the power cell, and holsters it in a leather loop of his vest.
<shling>
Jonn stands, dumfounded, as Howard picks up the grenade launcher, discards the stun grenade into his pack---the same grenade he'd loaded a few minutes earlier---and loads one of the more lethal frag grenades. Finally he throws the grenade belt with the remaining 5 frag grenades stored in it, around his neck and shoulder.
<clunk, chick-chack, fwalp>
Finally, Howard retrieves his purple sunglasses, dons them...
<plunk>
...and Captain Leghorn admits to himself silently that he's never seen a more badass duck.
Unbelievably, underneath the weight of the equipment, Howard stands steady and ready, as if he were about to kick someone's ass from here to Nuked Jersey with a swift thwap of his paddled feet and a barrage of high-tech weaponry for a chaser to make it go down smoother. "Let'sth go, Dukasth."
"Groovy! <beep, beep> (I always wanted to say that.)"
"If you think you can better operate the Illudium Q-36 computer systems, I will remove myself from this seat."
Still glued to the external monitors, Jonn replies with a sigh, "No, Geo, that's OK. I only question your business sense. If only I'd known you were dealing with the Mystic Mages sooner.... NARC's had their eyes on these guys---" Jonn's words are cut short as Leghorn bursts ebulliently onto the bridge.
"Don't worry son, you can have Gren seconds. I have studied abroad---or two!!!" He erupts in a hearty belly laugh. "Oh, and Lamia said Geo should use the ship's EMP Generator."
Jonn glares at the cocky Roosteroid as only a PSH betrayed can, but he bottles his pointless anger for the time being. When Geo ignites the pulse, the external monitors go dark. "I can't see them!" he shouts. "I can't see Lamia!" he shouts to Geo.
Gunshot.
Jonn's dumfounded expression is one of disbelief, but not regarding Howard's meticulous combat preparations. Rather, he cannot believe the very fabric of reality that has suddenly completely unraveled around him.
"NO!" he screams, in defiance of the rifle blast.
"NO!" he screams, as he races past his Duckoid friend bristling with weaponry.
"NO!" he screams, as he barrels down the hallway, leaving Frieda and Jake confused in his wake.
"NO!" he screams, as Twoducks reopens the cargo bay door, and Jonn leaps through the crack before it opens fully.
"No!" he cries as he cradles the broken, limp form of the Gren in his arms.
"Noooo," he whispers on his knees as he kisses her bloody crown.
Hearing the gunshot and seeing the reaction it causes in Jonn, I follow him out, trying to keep up. Seeing the still form of Jonn's lady love in his arms, I decide, "Enough is enough! It is time to stop being nice." I head in the direction of a darkened corridor, pulling my laser out and hoping to run into one of those dispicable beings who kill for pleasure. With some thought, I turn on my force field and continue on down the corridor.
Kicker pauses, torn. She could be wrong about her suspicions. She has no real proof, just a gut feeling. But that look on Xeva's face haunts her. So far, Xeva seems to be just hunting and killing their enemies, albeit in a sick, twisted way. What is it with that goodbye kiss?
She needs to follow her---what if that twisted psycho turns on them next? But the hostages.... "I don't give a mangy rat's ass for that conceited, bumbling Roosteroid," Kicker thinks. "But I can't count on those scumsucking mages to release their captives. They won't want witnesses. And there are innocent cubs---ah, chicks---here. Oh, frak!"
With a feline snarl of rage and frustration, Kicker follows the scent of Henoid, praying she isn't already too late. "I'll catch up with Xeva later. And if I find she's gone rogue, she'd better pray for a swift death in battle before I find her." An unpleasant smile crosses her lips as she remembers the ancient punishment her clan reserves for traitors. To mess with either an Apache or a Leoparoid is folly of the worst degree; to tangle with one who is both, madness.
[Kicker goes off on her own:
At that moment Jake enters the bridge with a characteristic smirk. "Jake." Jonn realizes with dread that the man hasn't heard the news. He pulls him aside. "Jake," he pierces the man with an unwavering gaze, "Joshua's dead. He took the brunt of the explosion back there."
Jake's smirk melts from his mouth like an Ancient M&M candy. Ever steel-faced, he fumbles at the collar of his shirt for his shades, which he dons slowly, methodically. Jonn reaches out, not knowing what exactly to do, but Jake solves the problem by waving him aside and walking purposefully into the corridor. His departure leaves the bridge in soundless vaccuum.
Once I hit the corridor (never let 'em see you sweat), I run to the spot where Joshua made his last stand. Searching through the scrap that is my son, I find the containment unit that houses his brain. If it didn't take too much damage, then there is still a chance that he can be brought back. Rushing to the med lab, I am reminded of Igor bearing his terrible burden to the mad Dr. Frankenstein.
Frieda is there, but first I attach Joshua's brain to the generic robotic hookups set back into the far wall of the lab before I turn to her. "That should keep him going a bit longer," I think hopefully, not even knowing if his brain survived the blast.
Results to be determined by GM....
"Yes it was. I'm sorry too. Joshua was my son, or at least a part of K-11's brain was Joshua." Jake pulls his shades from his face. His dark eyes show true pain and guilt, a rarity of emotions from the man. "I'm also sorry for what I said to you earlier, Missy. Sometimes I want things I can't have, and sometimes I should just keep my mouth shut. If I frightened you or upset you, then I apologize for doing so." Jake's eyes avoid direct eye-to-eye contact with Frieda after his apology.
Sensing Frieda's interest in the medical equipment, I show her the main computer and how to customize the user interface. I would love to stay and chat with the beautiful PSH, but I need closure. I return to the site. Howard is still patching up the metal tiger, but I keep to myself and pick up K-11's parts. There are so many of them....
It takes several trips, but I manage to stow them in a nearby cargo bay that looks pretty secure. As if on cue, as I finish, a muffled gunshot echoes through the hull from outside, or maybe it came from the bridge---I'm not sure. Frieda erupts from the medical lab right in front of me with as many questions on her face as I must have.
"NO!....NO!....NO!....NO!....No!"
Jake stares after Jonn in the corridor. "'Scuse me, Missy, but it sounds like the Duke's got some scorpions in his shorts---I'd better go help him out."
Standing on the bridge with my arms on my feathered hips, I watch Jonn weep like an ancient Academy Award-winning actor. This time there would be no award. The bridge is relatively empty. "What... ah say, I do hope you are recording that for entertainment value, Geo."
"It is being recorded Foghorn. I don't feel very well. Maybe Howard hot wired me."
"Aw, boo-hoo. Save it for someone who cares, like that little snot nose pipthqueak Jake. Do what I do, try some homeopathic medicine. Take some zinc."
"I'm 40% zinc."
"I say, I say, where's Kicker? I really love that fraulein feline Leoparoid with oh-so-soft golden spotted fur you just want to rub in circles. If'n she were here right now, surely she would only offer kind words to me. Kicker once told me... she said sweetly, 'You know Leghorn, once, I thought you were a big mangy conceited bumbling pompous buffoon. Then, I realized that on the inside you were just a pitiful idiot. But, now, I realize that outside that big mangy conceited bumbling pompous buffoon you are also an idiot!' I say, I say, those purring words still bring a tear to my bulbous eye!"
Locating and testing one of several chairs, I sit easily, testing its firmness. "There's something scwewy around here Geo! I smell fowl play!"
"Oh, put a lid on it. There are no onboard snacks here. Nothing is scwewy....uh screwy......except you."
"C'mon now, don't be bashful Geo! If you're hesitating for me to finish this line, you've got a long wait......................................................................................................................!"
I incorporated several past posts from other players into this one. [For this reason, past tense is used. --ed.]
When the doors of the sick bay opened, Frieda was met with a light breeze of crisp, clean air that smelled like a breeze after a summer storm. When she entered, she was puzzled for a moment to find it empty. Looking about, it only took a moment to see the cryo-tube. One wall had three of these units stacked upon each other like drawers in a dresser. The middle unit was lit with lights and displays---the most active unit in the room.
She stepped into the room to investigate it when Jake's boots sounded from behind her. Turning around, she was relieved to see it was not Xeva. The way that Gamma Girl would creep up on her always made her nervous. When the doors closed behind him, she considered his loss of K-11. "I'm sorry about K-11," she offered. "K-11... that was Joshua?"
"Yes it was. I'm sorry too. Joshua was my son, or at least a part of K-11's brain was Joshua." Jake pulled his shades from his face. His dark eyes showed true pain and guilt, a rarity of emotions from the man. "I'm also sorry for what I said to you earlier, Missy. Sometimes I want things I can't have, and sometimes I should just keep my mouth shut. If I frightened you or upset you, then I apologize for doing so." Jake's eyes avoided direct eye-to-eye contact with Frieda after his apology.
Jake's confession moved Frieda. "I never knew, Jake. Nobody told me. I'm so sorry." Several heartbeats passed while Jake looked at his shoes, waiting for more. Frieda searched for more and added, "You did scare me, out there. You just don't shake a woman like that and expect her to like you for it. And this," she said gently, pointing to her oft-grabbed arm, "is not a handle."
Her eyes and voice offered forgiveness, and seeing that, Jake's shoulders relaxed a little. Switching gears, he walked past Frieda to a workstation on the wall opposite the cryo-tube.
Walking by, Jake's clothes brushed lightly against her as he passed. Jake switched on the medical bay computer, motioning her closer. "Come and have a look at this, Missy." Jake waited until Frieda moved closer. "Here is a complete help tutorial on how to use everything here, and you can add your own passwords for everything including the door locks. I don't know jack about the medical stuff, but I know computers. You can also have it displayed in any language you want." With a few keystrokes, the words changed into German. "If you have any problems, I'm sure I can handle them for you." At a different time, Jake might have smirked with that comment.
After the doors closed behind Jake, Frieda crossed the room to investigate the cryo-tube. She could not see into the unit---there was no window---but a small display showed Liska's face on it. Other displays were full of information about the inhabitant, but she did not know what they meant. There were charts and tables, but the labels were abbreviations, some even in Greek symbols. The readings on the graphs seemed stable, so it was reasonable to assume Liska was stabilized in some way, but in what condition? The information was there, but she needed an interpreter.
Turning away from the cryo-tube, Frieda took stock of the sick bay. It was one of the largest rooms in the ship, but it was so crammed with equipment that it felt small. Air could be heard blowing from some hidden jet. Her ears popped as she felt the pressure increase. The room was brightly lit and the colors were mostly white with accents of steel, color displays, and primary colors in labels. In the middle of the room was a patient's table. Above and below it were various devices, some quite lethal-looking. There was blood on the table and on the floor---too much blood. The walls had cabinet doors and displays all over.
She returned to the station with the main computer. The workstation was more of a shelf than a desk, with displays and a keyboard occupying most of the desk space. A pullout shelf provided a bare surface to work on. The main display was simple enough to look at---a vast blue expanse with a row of representative pictures along the bottom, a thin white strip along the top with some text (now German) in it, and in the upper left corner a symbol of a little red apple with a bite taken out of it.
Jake had pointed to a picture on the bottom of display of a mortarboard when he pointed out the tutorial. A small black arrow rested over it, and the picture had expanded a bit so as to be the largest item in the row. A small rectangle above it read, "Medical Bay Tutorial." "But I don't have time for a tutorial!" Frieda thought. "I need this thing to answer questions, now." Next to the mortarboard was an image of a woman wearing a stethoscope, her head cocked as if listening for something. She touched that one.
Suddenly, it expanded, flowing into the center of the screen. "Welcome to Sick Bay," the woman said in German, "You may call me Victoria, how may I help you?"
"Look, I don't have time to read manuals. Can you just answer some questions for me?" Frieda asked.
"Certainly, I know all sorts of things. "Guess what? I know the secret of the universe," Victoria said.
"Oh, really? Tell me about it."
"Can't tell you---it's a secret."
Frieda had found the artificial intelligence for the sick bay, and Victoria was indeed able to help her. In short order, it showed the condition of Liska on the display and began answering her questions about what the data meant. She was just making sense of some of the information when Xeva arrived. The interruption momentarily broke her concentration, "This isn't fair," she mumbled to the computer. Xeva took a seat on patient's table and watched her like a crow. Soon after, the doors opened again, and Jonn entered.
Xeva seemed momentarily dismayed at Jonn's entrance. "Oh, come on in, lover boy. I'z got something to showz ya," she said, slinking off the table and landing on the duralloy floor with a remarkable thud.
"Where's Liska?" he asked plainly.
"Iced her," she said, gesturing carelessly toward Frieda. "Best I could do under the circumstancez," she said, looking lasciviously at Jonn.
Jonn stared at her mutely, showing clearly his amazement at the Gamma Girl. "Thanks, Xeva. Your quick thinking and bravery saved her until we can find a doctor," he said sincerely. Xeva basked visibly in his praise.
Frieda only half listened to the two while she deciphered the information Victoria was giving her. She was staring at the numbers for the oxygen saturation in Liska's blood and the values that Victoria said should be expected for someone with so much blood loss. Suddenly, she stood, kicked the floor, and whirled around, having finally deciphered the information.
"We'll need a T3 unit to save her, though. Her vital signs are flatlined," she interjected. Turning abruptly toward the Gamma Girl, she said, "You were... too late, Xeva." She cocked her head and squinted her eyes a tad.
Xeva just shrugged and walked out of the bay, bumping Jonn with a wayward hip en route. "Missy goody two-shoez alwayz spoilz the party," she muttered.
Jonn blanched. "Not another one," he thought, but Frieda's cautiously softer body language arrested his descent into baleful memories. The words came without thought, "Frieda, outside... I shouldn't have cornered you like that. I... Lamia...."
Frieda simply put a finger to his lips. "Save it," she breathed, "I like you better with her."
Jonn blinked back a Pure Strain tear.
A man with emotions! Frieda felt her heartstrings vibrating, again, but the confusion earlier and Lamia's predicament made the song discordant. She had more important things to discuss, anyway:
"I was being dumbkopf. We can get back to this later. Oh, and I failed to mention before... Hampshire bugs his stuff to make it easier to recover. He no doubt used the preexisting bug in Myc's stick to his advantage...." her words trail off leaving many implications in their wake.
Frieda and Jonn simultaneously closed off the conversation, "We should head back... After you..."
"We've really got to get off the same wavelength," he cracked a smile.
"PSH thing. Deal with it, Herr Dukas," she said coyly over her shoulder as she exited the sickbay.
Jonn nodded and followed, even though he knew it was only half the truth.
That covers past events. Frieda will back into present tense in next post, coming soon to a browser near you.
Walking over to the tall guys' table, you (Chuck) have a seat. The only people in the bar now are the very tall man, a wizened Goatman (asleep at a table in the corner), the powerless bartender (on the floor behind the bar), and you and Kramer. The fancy-dressed man just disappeared.
"Ye and ye flea trodden dog seem a friendly sort, though I've seen enough of Jack-asses in the clothing of sheepe since I've walked in these foreign lands, thuswise the holo-man who just departed, having not of green, nor of field, nor of streame, nor of the BURNING LOVE that I walk after continuallie. Rev. Jack Bunyun is thee name, Ye Holy Pilgrimme at your ready disposal. Stunned to stone was I, for I counted him better than what he was, for he was not real."
"This is a big place. Shouldn't we go look around?" says Kramer telepathically. Putting his front feet on the table, Kramer sniffs the bowl of pretzels in front of you. "Don't give me a hard time, I'm smelling the pretzels! Don't eat them; they're radiated! They'll make you sterile and your hair will fall out. Let me take care of them for you, Chuck." Taking the bowl in his teeth, Kramer carries it beneath a nearby table. A few minutes later you hear a crunching sound, which sounds like he's eating the pretzels.
"I'm smelling the pretzels! Don't eat them; they're radiated! They'll make you sterile and your hair will fall out."
"WAUGH! Now you thell me!"
Chuck laughs to himself, knowing that Kramer just wants all the pretzels to himself. Chuck says to Reverend Jack Bunyun, "I hope you didn't want those." Chucks laughs a little out loud. "So, Rev, tell me a little about this place here. What just caused that EMP Pulse? What kinda services are you offering to my disposal? The little pooch wants to look around this place and see what's going on. Do you have any advice for me on where we should head?" Chuck takes a drink of his water, then offers some more to Kramer.
Kramer thinks, "These are good pretzels. Wow, and now a drink to boot. The salt always makes me very thirsty."
<bink on>
The Great Watcher strides forward. "Now, tell us what Xeva is?"
Xeva gulps a breath and answers with the patience of a warrior who has thrown people around. She can accept that literally tough tone the Great Watcher gives her. Xeva is succinct. "Xeva is a badass, kick-ass, a pre-mycenaean Gamma Girl who traverses the time linez and believed fem boundaries of good and evil," she explains.
"Can you fly?" the Great Watcher asks.
With a flash of the smile that has launched a thousand hate bitch posts, and angered even more than a few Leoparoids, Xeva calmly responds, "No, my leather outfit is too tight, but I can, by benefit of a southern acupressure technique, extract information from people which inevitably leads to their deaths. Ask Liska or Rebecca." Xeva demonstrates the hand-over-mouth technique.
"Must you always swirl and twist in firm leather... and the thighs---long and muscular, like I-beams---all in an ululating motion to stop the breath of any radiated mutant watcher?" The Great Watcher feels he has lost his focus as he sweats profusely.
The Gammascape ends none too quickly for the reader, I'm sure.
<bink off>
When Hampshire first offered this mission, I accepted it without any reservation. It was repayment to NARC, payment for the problems they had encountered in Datil. Hampshire could not afford to lose what NARC offered and was aware of the Mystic Mages' plans. I was their guarantee Jonn would win and the Mystic Mages would lose. I was doing that now. I knew they would flee like Gamma rats and they had.
"I'll makez the pain go awayz, I promize. Just likez I did the otherz. You'll thank me." I kiss Cluas Exith's cheek delicately and then suffocate him as I would any small helpless animal. He struggles in vain. I enjoy the struggle. It is climactic. Dropping the body, I search it, finding the small palm-sized item I sought. I slip the electronic device into my clothes.
Myc approaches me in the hall and I stand and approach it in turn, stopping face to whatever its face is. "Whatz do youz want 'sroom?" I show Myc my fist. "Youz want some of this? Then get lostz!"
[Mycinod joins Xeva:
"Honestly, a pretzel is but a mouthpiece for anyone feeling surreally inspired or righteously indignant. Lass bit ye an hour pass, ye Holy Pilgrimme stumbled into here as did thee just now. And it came to pass, the Pantheon of Light turned upon itself, the Celestial Host warred across the heavens, angel fought angel in a blasphemous war that could only end in darkness and an EMP Pulse, it spewed forth from the celestial ship of silver.
"I offer verbal guidance and forethought in these foreign lands, stranger. Ye you should go upwards to seek the Celestial Host and beware of the beast woman, for she is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, she kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, she will murder her sister to possess her possessions. Let her not breed in great numbers, for she will make a desert of this home and yours. Shun her, for she is the harbinger of death.
"Thus sayith The Sacred Scrolls---the 29th Scroll, 6th Verse."
Rev. Jack sips his sarbis and relaxes, happy with his freely given advice.
Kramer speaks telepathically, "I didn't bring you here to relax, I bought you here to find food. You should really think about getting me a better type of food, Chuck. It's not like there are green glowing mutant elephants everywhere that I can eat." Kramer drinks the water you offer him. "I wonder if I should start barking at people who annoy me; it could generate some interesting reactions?"
What do you do?
Ironcat watches Jonn run out and follows him. With his enhanced hearing, he hears a sickning thud after the gunshot. "That is not good," he thinks. He gets to the cargo bay and breaks apart again. He is now in his humanoid form. He walks out of the ship and scans the area. He walks over to Jonn and stands guard over him and the ship.
As Frieda and Jonn return to the bridge, Frieda notes that things are very tense. Howard has been holding the fort during Jonn's absence and the Mages are brandishing their weapons. When one of them points his shotgun in Lamia's direction, Frieda gets a sick feeling in her stomach and blanches as a memory of Freya's death flashes by. With a sense of foreboding, she backs out of the doorway and finds herself practically running back toward the sick bay.
The doors open and once again she is greeted by the breeze of clean electrified air. For a moment she stands in the middle of the room deciding what she needs to do first, her sense of urgency adding to her anxiety. She needs knowledge, fast, and she needs to be able to get the system to work. She needs control, most of all---too many cooks spoil the stew, and she doesn't want Xeva playing cook any more. "Victoria," she calls.
"Ja, Missy?"
"It's not Missy, it's Frieda. I need to secure this lab. Jake says I can set up a password or something," Frieda speaks in German.
Deep in the computer's memory, the Victoria AI adds a note to Missy's file that she prefers to be called by the name "Frieda." "Well, you can certainly try. The previous users tried but never got it working. I need to make a full profile for you. Lay down on that table for a moment." Frieda starts to do so but then balks at the sight of the drying blood. Victoria apologizes and a machine quickly cleans it. After Frieda lies on the table, she squints when a device approaches her face and shines a light in her eyes. "Keep your eyes open," Victoria emits, "I need your retinal pattern." Thirty seconds later, the machines retract and Frieda sits up on the table, having been scanned from her eyes to her DNA. "Congratulations, Frieda, yours is the first profile to fit within acceptable design parameters since we were brought back on line. It is recommended that you establish a password."
The rising air pressure causes Frieda's ears to pop. "Ah! What is with the air in here?" she exclaims.
"Is that your password?"
"No. My ears just popped. Do you really need to run those vents all time?"
"The room is under positive pressure to keep contaminated air out. What is your password?"
"There is nothing as useless as a voice-encoded lock," Frieda says.
"It that your password?"
"Yes."
"Okay. You're now the boss," Victoria says. A second later the AI adds, with a slight pout in its voice, "You could use the keyboard, if you feel that way."
"Later." Moving to the main console, Frieda asks, "Now, what have you, in here?"
Victoria puts up a list on the display. The list is short but impressive:
"Das. Wo bist das?" Frieda points to the last item on the list. A cabinet door on the wall lights up. She finds the device and turns it on. It blinks on and sounds a reassuring chord when she presses the "On" button. The controls are simple enough to activate the unit and switch between the five modes of operation---sterilization, anesthetization, healing sprays, x-ray, and scalpel. She hopes she will not have to use the scalpel, but this is a start. She tests the scanner and anesthetic beam on her leg. It shows a small but highly detailed sonic scan of her thigh on the unit's display and a larger one on Victoria's main display. The anesthetic beam makes the same area numb. She rubs the area, wondering when the feeling will return, when she hears a muffled pop through the doors.
Victoria's steady voice is reassuring and calming, and the puzzle that the lab presents her is pleasantly distracting, but the shot instantly jolts her back into action.
"God, no!" she cries out. The doors barely open in time for her as she rushes out. "What happened?" she asks Jake, nearly running into him in the corridor. He is about to say something when Jonn comes barreling down the hall in a frantic rush. Jake excuses himself and spins on his heels to follow him. Then she bumps into the now-dangerous duck Howard as he too runs after Jonn.
"Lamia! The bathturds sthot her!" he says to her as he heads for the exit.
Frieda quickly steps onto the bridge. She takes a look at the horrid image on the viewscreen of Lamia and Jonn. Turning to one of those still sitting in shock, she points and says, "Raus! Come help. Schnell!" She turns and runs out the room and out to the darkened landing pad, Dr. Templeton following close behind.
Anyone hearing the conversation between Frieda and Victoria would have heard only German. Anyone entering the room afterward will also hear only German from the computer, for Jake set the language options to "Only German." Frieda likes it this way.
Frieda rushes in and spouts some words only a foreigner mutant can understand. "Now wait, I say, now wait a minute there, Missy, there'll be no 'Rausing' or 'Schnelling' on my watch! Who do you think I am, some sneaky hormone-driven over-sexed scoundrel? I say, I mean I say, I'm not a bit sneaky." Frieda rushes out, not listening to me like most women, and so goes my heart strings. Twisting my head, I search for Howard Ramboducko. I could swear I hear him say, "The bathturds sthot her," but Howard is nowhere to be seen. Something very fishy is going on around here.
"Alright, keep your eyes open, Geo and shut that sound off! That Dukas' weeping is getting old mighty fast. Poor dumb PSH."
"I have sensors, not eyes. If I had eyes I would be a cyborg and not a robot. If I were a cyborg, you wouldn't be asking me stupid questions right now."
"Oh bitch, bitch, bitch!"
Feeling Xeva's hostility and having the good sense to leave when he is in over his head, he decides that his presence will be more appreciated back on the ship, and if nothing else he can prowl around while waiting for everyone to figure out the next move. Going back to the ship, he goes to the control room to see what is going on.
Chuck says to Kramer telepathically, "So good ol' Buddy, which way should we go? I think we should avoid this 'BEAST' woman. You lead the way Pal." Chuck finishes his water. He speaks to Rev. Bunyun, "Thanks for the advice, Rev. The pooch and I are gonna look around this place." Chuck takes the empty bowl from Kramer and his empty glass over to the bar. He places them next to the deactivated bartender robot. Chuck smiles and says to the robot in jest, "Thanks, bartender!" Chuck is now ready to follow Kramer.
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