Futuristic Unknown Crisis IC (full)

[theunderwolf]

Mako had no idea what the strange cartoon creature on Donovan's wrist was. She had to say, she'd like to hug it if it were friendly. That was one of the best things about the universe, creatures that wouldn't eat you if given the chance. Once she was convinced that they wouldn't eat her, she never passed up the chance to make a new little friend. More on topic though, she could notice the papers disturbed Donavan but she prefered them for important things. What bothered her about data files or holograms were that you couldn't smell the ink, or the person that made them. They were fine for mundane tasks but for important things like records, she'd prefer to smell it. She hated to keep doing this to Donovan though, he was quite caring she just had her secret to keep and it wouldn't stay secret of he go a hold of her blood or had to, PaashhShhh stop the tides, perform any major surgery on her. "I can stitch myself up and well," She stared into his eyes with an easy confidence, "No offense but I'll never be injured enough to need you." She said it with a smile, trying to make it clear this wasn't a slight in any way.

 

[TrashRabbit]

Aleksi Donovan​

“A lot of people in the federation military said shit like that,” He said folding the piece of paper in half slow, so that synth skin of his hands made a good fwip sound against it. He didn't break eye contact. There was a steel jungle of will inside of Mako- she could walk through a hurricane or a burning cruiser with that same steady confidence. And it served her well. On any other topic he wouldn't have pressed the issue. But luck and confidence only got you so far, caution and a good medic sometimes is what got you home instead. “And,” He said in that way that humans sometimes used conecting words as weapons, “They usually were too busy bleeding while I shoved their insides back in for me to say I told you so.” He folded the paper in half again so it was a tidy square he could tuck into the neckline of his his underarmor(tm). “For your sake I hope it doesn't happen. You're not invincible Mako.”

He didn't break eye contact- because even without knowing it there was something primal about holding her eyes- like you just knew better than to blink or run. But she was comely enough that the thought never made it all the way from his hind brain to your prefrontal meats. So he always take a couple slow steps back when disengaging.

He pointed at her- not a solid point but a messy I'm motioning at all of you at once point. “Not invincible.” He repeated. He didn't wait to let her get the last word before finally turning around to- nearly trip over a box and enter the mech bay.

“Isiah,” He said amiably, “I've come for blood~”

He took a sample quick and the machine took a while to beep and he could still feel Mako somewhere behind him- he refused to look. Isiah was a land mine of allergies and he rattled them off in a long list and ended pointedly with, “And bees.”

He clapped Isiah on the shoulder, “Don't worry we got epipens. And if enough of them sting any body it does the same thing. So its not like anyone is really off the hook not being allergic- you know?”

this was probably not the most comforting thing to say but there was probably a reason Donny was a field medic and not an actual nurse. He gave him another pat and then turned to the team at large.

“Alright Whackos,” He said loud, using the flight commanders favorite term of endearment for them, “I want eyes in the dome asap, we got people still sheltering in place out there and I wann know where- That's on you; Kevkev. Finch and smith cooked up plan A, you read it- its got a lot to do with masking escapees with pheromones. Manny, we need an aplicator, other wise we're just going to be smearing it on like sunscreen and I've looked at the math and that just wont get the job done. our priorities are people out first, bee containment second. We also need samples, so if our Suits are going to be adequate containment Holly and Mako will head out to the hives. That's plan A- but first get me the goods,” He said pointing at Kevin. As the remote pilot recon was mostly his rodeo.

Nothing he laid out should have been news- it was a par for the course plan A that never ever staid in place very long but always seemed very sensible. That was thing about plan As they were always sensible- Fighting an entire bee was however not sensible by nature and he sensed from the moment the words left his mouth plan A was a futile human attempt to not look foolish in the face of absurdity.

He looked over at Cathal and the security team, "You missed one," He pointed back at the airlock where a single box waited. this was going to be another box lugging mission for Cathal and security- same for Eppie. He'd need help putting together the pheromone wash and whatever delivery system they'd need- that's why Preston was here honestly, chemistry was his only redeeming factor. It was never bad to have extra non-preston hands around.

[Zipper- Mission start!]

 

[TrashRabbit]

Info Dump for scouting​

The Beyonce bio dome is approx ten square miles, or 6400 acres, and predominantly temperate in nature though various green houses sheltering numerous growing zones exist. The HQ is in an air lock on the opposite side of the facility than the ventilation and tunnel that lead to New Seattle. Exiting the cargo bay into the dome is a gravel road over hung by trees- it looks like a fairly normal if very lush teraformed planet. There are several buildings, most of which house large animals of a variety that is startling, everything from miniature giraffes to a lone sabre tooth tiger. This is a genetic engineering Co-op's menagerie and it shows. If you can dream it. it's probably here. The scientist and animal care takers are sheltering in various air tight buildings for you to discover/decide/find. The hives themselves are a good two miles towards the center in a flower field, in between a vinyard and maintained forest. The flowers are gaudy and engineered but don't look out of the ordinary.

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

Cathal McKay

"We have missed nothing," Cathal protested, sounding mildly offended. "We haven't finished, Donny. Do you. Do you need to go back to kindergarten? I think you need to relearn some words." He made his way to the last box, still complaining that he did nothing but help Donny, and what did he get for it? What? It was the sort of loud complaining that Cathal frequently indulged in, with absolutely no real feeling behind it.

He set the last box down, obnoxiously, in the middle of the medbay. It was probably the last thing his team would have to do until they packed up, unless they decided it was safe enough to send Holly and Mako in, and then they'd have to go in and clear out the dome of everyone who was not a bee.

"Alright, every body who's not part of robot recon and pheromone application, come help me beat Cris at poker. I don't have to win. I just need somebody to beat her."

 

[Camden]

Pier Santana
​

Isaiah stood pale-faced, stuck in place. "Ah, better luck next time." Pier said with a slap on the back. "Looks like you lost the genetic lottery." Isaiah just stood rooted in place, shellshocked. Pier shrugged and walked over to the fabricator, carrying a small white plastic box with a "warning - volatile contents" sign. His robot hand gave Donny a thumbs up as he crouched down and carefully inserted cylinders full of multi-color liquid into receptacles in the back. He walked over and punched a few lines of code into the machine's interface, and then chose a blueprint. The arms sprouted to life, and a container with a spray nozzle and a few latches was created, with one of the cylinders inserted into a holder. Pier picked it up and inspected it, satisfied, he left the machine to its work, three more to go. One for each of Kev's bots. He brought over the current arm to Kev and demonstrated how it worked.

"This sprays 2-Heptanone," he explained. "Volatile, don't get it near fire. Bees avoid it, and if they inhale too much of it, they're basically drugged." He gestured to a universal connection cord coming from the back. "This is where you plug it into the robot, I don't know how you control your stuff but if you squeeze your fist and angle it downwards-" he mimicked the motion he was explaining and continued, "you should get a good stream."

Once the other three arms were done, he started fabricating the sprayers for those of them that didn't have USBs. The machine worked steadily, connecting wires and circuts, shaping custom parts, creating rubber handles. Once the body was done, the machine would gingerly place a cylinder of pheromones into each ammunition section, labeling each with a warning sign. He fabricated five of these, as that was as many as he could make with the chemicals he had brought. With his last of ten containers, he fabricated a spray that would attach to his exoarm, replacing the hand. He always preferred to rely on machine whenever possible, and wondered why Kevin would bother controlling the robots, instead of just installing a simple AI. That was his problem however, Pier wasn't going to take it up with him. Yet.

"Bee guns, come and get your bee guns!" Pier called to the other occupants of the airlock, waving around a crate. "Five lucky participants are going to get some firepower!"

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin Starr​

Kevin figured he was first in. However, he didn’t remember hearing about people still being in the dome. Weren’t a few dead already? Well, they’d have to hurry. Kevin would’ve gone right in if Pier didn’t have applicators for him.

“Uh, direct neurolink, I just... I normally set the triggers to be-... It’s not important, The Sisters know what to do.”

Kevin said, sort of feeling like Pier was just going to roll his words right over. Billy took the applicators and started attaching them, starting with Beta. Kevin was sure he wouldn’t need more than Beta and Delta, but being overprepared was always better than being unprepared. Tina double-checked the programming side, making sure that the drivers and intent triggers were installed properly.

“Ready. Dive.”
“Alright, Tina.”

Kevin walked into the Neuropod and hooked in. Beta’s hands were his hands. Beta’s mechanical sensors replaced and augmented his senses. Beta’s applicator felt like those Spider-Man web shooter silly string launchers. He’d sort out his feelings about it later. Right now, he had a job to do. He walked over to the small personnel airlock, and entered. For a moment, nothing new, just a little more pollen. Then the door opened, and he saw the inside of the dome. While there were bees everywhere, they seemed pretty widespread right now. He didn’t see any big swarms yet. But it probably wouldn’t be long. His first priority was finding survivors. They wouldn’t be in the bee field, they’d all run away from there. Also, he’d probably make the bees angry if he went there. So, he started running to the left.

“Kevin to base, no signs of survivors or large swarms yet. Moving south to search.”

His sensors scanned back and forth, looking for big heat signatures. There had to be people in here somewhere... Wait. There were also animals in here, too. He hadn’t seen any yet, but they existed.

“Base, are we going to evacuate animals, too? Haven’t seen any, but I know they’re here somewhere. And... I don’t know if we have the facilities to hold them?”

 

[TrashRabbit]

Mission control
​

Goody had been pouring over the Beyonce schematics since the debriefing, maps, structural integrity and commercial safety standards were his specialty and hearing Kevins request was half a beat from having that information already gathered. He was also mission controls PIC underneath Chaya- and Chaya had a habit of keeping off the coms unless something serious came up. She spent her time babysitting the coffee pot and the scientists scrambling away- shooting down obviously stupid ideas left and right as they were called out.

“Control to Star,” came his unfamiliar voice- in so much that the voice he was using today was unfamiliar. Goody cycled through artificial voices like a dog in perpetual search of his own tail. His choices never sounded particularly they should not belong to him but on the same hand, you never really could put a finger on the one he'd used before that you liked better anyway. His voice was always very male and rather soft spoken and even, which was one of the reasons he'd been left on com duty for most of his stint with UCC. His response came over the same channel kevin had used, the UUC universal channel open to the rest of the team as well, versus kevin's personal channel. “I'm uploading Beyonce schematics to you now and the lock down protocol. You are en route to the main facility which is atmo tight in case of a dome rupture. New Seattle confirms their communications were with survivors there. Also I don't know know about the animals, if you see any good ones can you take pictures? For science. Official, science.”

He paused for a moment then added, “People are our first priority, once the bees are contained the salvage of the facility will be left to the Mr. Mark & Mark Co-op and New Seattle. Commander Hezekiah just looked at me funny- so don't light the bio dome on fire. Over.”

Goody got away with some of the worst com protocol if only because he had the steady artificial composure of an old world flight adviser. He just always sounded very professional- not sterile professional but the kind of customer service rep you wanted to buy a coffee because they honestly cared.

 

[Camden]

Pier Santana
​

Pier set the box on a table and wandered back over to the fabricator. He fired up the fabricator again and inputted a long string of chemicals. Isopentyl acetate, 1-hexanol, n-pentyl acetate, 2-nonanol, and thirty-six more assorted compounds. He had been reading up, and this should create a mixture that would agitate the bees, causing them to attack whatever it was sprayed on. He didn't anticipate needing a weapon, but it was better to be prepared then to be caught up by a bee tampering bio-terrorist. Plus, the irony of beeing attacked by the thing you were using to cause mayhem? Perfect.

As the machine worked, Isaiah regained his composure. He watched the fabricatorfor a second and then wandered over to Tina and Billy, over by Kevin. "So, did the three of you design this system?" He asked, referring to the control system for the robots. "It's fascinating. Pier is great, but this is more my line of work," he explained, gesturing to Pier who was watching the fabricator, exoarm running through his hair.

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin, of course wasn’t really super cognizant of his real body. The Neurolink pod was a bit like a sensory deprivation chamber, specifically intended to help immerse him in his false, mechanical body. So he didn’t even know Pier was there as he responded to goody.
“I see the facility. Moving in.”

Tina was a little quicker on the draw than her sister and said one of her trademark short sentences.
“Tweaked, not invented.”

Billy nodded before she elaborated.
“Yeh, this shit is standard for mining in a lotta places. Kev an’ ‘is Dad used to mine with this same sorta fing. ‘S starting to catch on in the disaster relief sector, too. They always had RPICs, just makes sense.” She said, and it was Tina’s turn to nod.

 

[Camden]

Isaiah Jacobs
​

"Astounding. And this is common tech?” He walked around, inspecting the inactive robots. "Why don't you just fit them with AI? You could still control a primary one, and command the secondary ones to help the primary one."

Meanwhile, the fabricator finished mixing the complicated pheromone. Pier unscrewed the cap, and wafted the air above it towards his nose with his free hand. Proper protocol for smelling chemicals. "Banana, perfect," he said to himself. He took out a sticker that said "keep away from face" and plastered it on the front. Then Pier twirled the canister and handed it to his exoarm, which placed it on his magbelt, a simple if useful item that held items without all the hassle of clasps.

He had done everything he needed to do, and he was a bit bored now. He was a bit low on metal now, but he could just recycle the guns when they were done. That was the beauty of engineering. That didn't help him now though. An idea hit him. He could take the design for an external insulin pump, but instead of insulin, it would use Epi-pen fluid. Obviously it wouldn't pump nonstop like an insulin pump, just when it was needed. That should help Isaiah's peace of mind.

He went over to Donny's station and grabbed one. Of course, Isaiah could just administer it manually, but if everyone was incapacitated, or he was being chased, he might not have time to. As Pier walked back over to the fabricator, he ran over more possible problems. Epi-pens usually had to be administered at the source. That wasn't possible with a pump, so maybe there could be a little tick like thing, connected to a tube that connected to the Epifluid. That sounded inefficient, and as an engineer, he hated inefficiency. Whatever. He pocketed the Epi-pen, it would probably turn out to be useful later.

 

[TrashRabbit]

Kevin's recon
(greystone137)​

The facility was a broad three story building with solar panels and an obvious green house inside of it like a tiny garden shaped nesting doll inside of a bigger garden. Out side of it were three long necked suarapods crunching on tall trees. Inside the glass walls there were three blue shirted people waving at at the mech. There were several channels of short range civilian communication channels active- and their activity increased as he approached.

Kevin didn’t expect dinosaurs, but they seemed unaffected by bees, so they were fine. The civilian comms, though... “Tina, put me on their frequency.” “Tuned.” “This is Kevin Star, RPIC for UCC rescue squad. I’ve got a robot body and a pheromone applicator, ready to extract you.”

"This is Joan Moonchild," Said a young mans voice, "That is the best news I have had all week! please advise."

Let me into the airlock, and make sure everyone’s ready to go. Also... If you have any information on the bees, or where other survivors might be hiding, we need that. Badly.” Said Kevin, maneuvering over to the airlock. Beta was ready to spray down these... Were they scientists, or just workers?

The air lock to the facility opened. "I'm one of the beekeepers, but I've already told the emergency controllers from before everything I know" Joan said, "It started when we were harvest in this years queens. We have a couple special hives going out there and an agreement with another Co-op for a queen exchange. we only had on bee suits-" he trailed off darkly like he had been there. When the air lock sealed behind Kevin three blue shirted workers met him- one was a small brown Joan, a nervous woman with very blue hair and a gen mod kit that made her skin a bit opalescent, the third was an older man with white hair and slight bend in his back

“It’s okay. You can think about it later. But if you have information on the, Uh... gene mods? Yeah, the modifications the bees have. That would be important. But for now, if you have everything you need, I’ll hose you down with pheromones and we’ll walk right on out of here. The bees won’t get too close, and if they do, they’d fall asleep.” He said, and if there were no objections, he’d go ahead and spray on the pheromones.

"Oh that's Clever," Said the blue girl, her name was Kimberly Hak.
"I don't know I just tend them- " Joan continued, "they didn't have any special needs. Except the big hive- the Queen is bigger than both my fists. You could pet her." The spray applied as planed, except no one warned them it would smell like a bananna and leave a lingering hacking cough. It wasn't long down the path from teh facility that a swarm began form.
"You said this stuff would work right?" Said Kim.

2-heptane was a poorly understood alarm pheromone also used by bees for paralyzing hive pest like mites. 2-heptane was nothing against the bees of mars and they descended enmass.

Kim screamed and ran- the old man was not as lucky quickly covered in a three piece suit of bees. Kev's robot was descended on like he was Egypt and this was a plague of locusts. bee's in every sensor, bees in every crack- and the noise from the sudden microvibration was deafening. This was a virtual death by bees, and the bot's internal temperature itself was going up and up and up. Joan stood by helplessly and unscathed. you can fight some bees and then post all this while I'm at the party if you want

The pheromones weren’t working, at all. The beekeepers were getting attacked! Smoke grenades, that was proven! He pulled the pins on two, and didn’t dare remove them from the robot’s vest. So, a cloud of smoke formed, quickly. He descended on the old man, seeing the bees start to fall off of him. “C’mon, to me! We gotta move, quick! I have enough of these, but barely!” He shouted, gathering the beekeepers into the cloud as he picked up the old man and started running coolant. He knew he wouldn’t be able to do that again if the bees got to him. So he took the keepers and he ran. Like a coward. He wasn’t sure he’d make it all the way. But he had more smokes. Maybe he’d get them close enough that they’d make it in.

"Well," Donny said over the coms as Kevin hit the airlock, "Fuck." The old man was swollen like an over stuffed burrito. Joan was hyperventilating nearby looking unscathed. Kimberly had run the other way and was no where in sight. Donny was ready at the airlock when it opened with medpac and epipen in hand and began to work quickly. It didn't matter if you weren't alergic to bees, if you got stung enough the anaphylactic shock would come for us all.

 

[Camden]

Pier Santana
​

"Predictable," Pier said simply, standing off to the side. He took some quick notes regarding the barely operable Beta and the stung-to-pieces old man. "I thought taking a more natural approach to be best, but like I expected, these bees don't seem to be very natural." In reality, it was mainly due to the fact something that hardly works in the first place as an injected liquid, wasn't going to be useful as an aerosoilized spray. The fact that the martian bees were stronger than any pest 2-Heptane had been tested on didn't help.

"Oh well." He said, picking an overheated bee off of Beta. "That's why it's called a field test."

He grabbed some rolls of blue paper and a few pencils out of the space he shared with Isaiah, and sat on their operating chair, using his compacted riotshield as a writing surface.

Meanwhile, Isaiah was still standing over by the Neuropod, watching the commotion over by the airlock that leads into the dome. "What the hell happened?" He asked in shock, running over. He was especially worried about the man who looked like he had turned into a waterballoon. "The bees did this?"

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

Cathal McKay

Poker

"You ever play poker before?" Cathal asked Eppie, pulling up a seat for her at the little folding table in the middle of security's tent. It was close enough to the medbay that if Donny shouted, they'd hear. Cris already sat at the table, shuffling a deck of cards with the logo of a New Vegas casino embossed on the back.

Setting down her last crate and looking up to Cathal’s call, she finds the security gathered around a small table, with Cathal patting the seat beside him expectantly. She heads over, and sits with a wry smile, “Have I played it? Definitely. Am I any good? Now that remains to be seen. Kind of more of a blackjack kind of girl; lady luck favours me better than a poker face.”

"We can't play blackjack with Cris. She counts the cards," Cathal said, frowning at her. "I'm sorry I'm better at math than you," Cris said, continuing to shuffle.

"We're all shit except for Cris," Finn told Eppie. "Sometimes she stops paying attention, and then we can win."

“Counting the cards is the best way to win blackjack, though,” Eppie says, sending a wink Cris’ way, “Never got the hang of it with poker, so I guess I’ll just need to hope she stops paying attention so I can get the jump on her.”

"You wish," Cris said, and started dealing cards.

Cathal reached into his pockets and started pulling out candy, spilling into the middle of the table. "You can't eat the pot until we're done," he told Eppie. "That rule is literally only there for you," Finn said. "Sssssh," Cathal said.

Eppie eyes the cards dealt to her, then the candy pile, and holds a finger up for the others to wait. Pulling her duffel bag into her lap, she shifts through the pockets until she finds what she’s looking for with a triumphant ‘aha!’. With a satisfied smirk, she lays down a small bag of chocolates on top of the pile, “I intend to win this back. Mama’s getting her sugar fix tonight.”

"Oh, shit," Cathal said. "The game is on."

Eppie is quiet for a moment looking through the security team, “Okay, who goes first in your guys’ version of poker? Do you guys have a way of deciding?”

Cris set the deck down and picked up her own cards. "Dealer's left," she said, and looked at Finn while Cathal divided the candy so that everyone had their own more or less even piles to bet from. "Then around back to me."

"I'm checking," Finn said.

"You always do that," Cris said.

"So now it's your turn," Finn told Eppie, ignoring Cris and leaning over to adjust the volume on the big radio they had set up.

"Oh, is that your boyfriend's new voice?" Cathal asked Finn.

"Can you not," Finn drawled.

Eppie snickers, casting another look at her cards, trying her best to keep her expression natural and failing miserably, “I’m gonna check, too.”

Cathal, who had yet to look at his cards, immediately put a large handful of chocolate into the middle of the table.

"You're an animal," Cris told him, and added a smaller handful of candy next to his, and then set out three cards face-up on the table.

Eppie adds a very small handful besides theirs, her lips pursed thoughtfully as she peeks between her cards and the cards on the table.

They continued on for a few more rounds, Cris blank-faced and methodical, Finn reserved, Cathal acting like he was clearly winning, until Cathal announced, "I ran out of candy."

"I guess that means it's time to see how much you lost," Cris said.

Eppie still had a decently sized pile before her, but not due to any capacity for winning, and much more to do with the fact she bid modestly. Her eyes flick up to Cathal, then to his now non-existent pile, then to his face with an incredulous look, "We've only gone through five rounds?"

"Go big or go home," Cathal said confidenty.

"You know what? I strive to have that sort of confidence."

"Don't encourage him," Finn said.

"I don't need to - look at the raw empowerment, Finn. He's so sure of himself!"

Before anyone could respond, they all heard the clamor around the door, and the three security agents each other a guilty glance for not paying more attention to the radio before they all bolted for where Kevin had brought the two scientists in.

"<Was anybody listening to the radio?>" Cathal asked, switching to his native pidgin Irish-Spanish.

"<Yes,>" Cris said, and the three of them pieced the parts they'd heard together, Cris and Finn in proper Spanish, Cathal in his pidgin, all of them signing along, until they thought they had a pretty good picture of what had happened.

They arrived to find Donny working furiously on one badly stung scientist, with Kevin's robot looking rather worse for the wear and a second scientist standing nearby, small and brown and completely unscathed. Cathal frowned at him.

Why hadn't the bees gone after him?

He ignored Pier talking to himself and instead asked Kevin, "The smoke worked though?" His thoughts were still worrying over the fact of the scientist who wasn't stung, like a dog with a toy full of peanut butter, but Cathal tried to pass it off to his subconscious until he'd managed to get something out of it. "Do you have more? We're gonna need it."

Cathal wasn't looking forward to it, but he was pretty sure it was going to be his turn to go in and get people out next.

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin Starr​

Kevin was trying to relax. He'd just come out of bee hell. And he left someone behind. He had to go back in. He didn't want to answer anyone's questions. He just wanted to go back.
"Billy, load Delta with more smoke grenades, and a backup coolant tank. And... remove the pheromone sprays. They don't work."
Kevin was about to hook Beta back into its scafffold when he overheard Pier. Kevin's blood ran cold. Test run? It started getting hotter. He'd been sent out with unproven equipment? His fingers began to twitch, and the machine's hands balled into fists, the sound of steel screeching on steel cutting through the cargo bay. He staked the lives of innocents on a goddamn science experiment?
"PIER! I RELIED ON THESE DAMN THINGS, STAKED LIVES ON YOUR FUCKING EXPERIMENTS! SOMEONE IS ALMOST DEAD, AND ANOTHER WAS LOST IN THE CONFUSION! IF I'D USED MY SMOKE GRENADES FROM THE START, HE WOULDN'T BE HURT! SHE'D BE SAFE! AND YOU-... You... You wouldn't be a murderous bastard. I hereby revoke your rights to all non-fabrication mechbay equipment. I'm heading back out there."
Kevin would normally apologize after an outburst like that. Kevin wouldn't apologize for doing what he felt was right. He didn't actually have the authority to restrict Pier. But he didn't care. Beta was back on its scaffold. Delta was loaded, and his mind took over. He stormed out of the cargo bar without another word. The sisters were silent. Kevin didn't get angry often. And even when he did get angry, it wasn't like that. He had to compose himself. He hadn't wasted much time, but every second mattered. He had to run. He had to find that last beekeeper. He... He couldn't fail.

"Tina, you ever-"
"No. Lines crossed."
"... I can see that... I... I fink I'll load the others with more smokes. Why'd he want anuvver coolant tank?"
"Unknown. Isaiah, later."
said the sisters Delaisser, dismissing Isaiahs remaining questions about AI and such. They had work to do, and after Kevin's explosion, they weren't in the mood for small-talk.

 

[rubycats]

Holly Jones​

Holly had looked at the scene unfold in confusion and was surprised when Kevin exploded towards Pier, but her thoughts were centered around Joan. Walking towards the man she looked her over but found no evidence of harm, "why aren't you injured?" Holly knew the man was shaken but he must have an answer. If the man knew something now was the time to find out before anyone else went out there.

 

[theunderwolf]

The famous red planet smelled of iron, even inside the airlock. As soon as her boots hit the floor she could taste it in the air. She liked it, despite herself. It reminded her of the scent of human blood, sweet and metallic. Of coure her blood had iron in it too but in slightly lesser amounts. She was immediately restless, not expecting the wait she had been on the edge for nothing. Now left with nothing to do she found herself sucking a honeystick and watching Cathal play poker. The first thing that she noticed was Cathal. His sister had plenty of stories but it was definitely interesting to watch him at work and play. He lived up to his sisters description and she had talked about him so much that Mako felt that she already knew the man. Poker was an odd game but her built in lie detector was making it easy to read who was bluffing. Pansy had made her promise not to play though, she had been kicked out of a casino or two for "cheating". Wasn't her fault that human body language was like reading a children's book. The only truly surprising thing so far was the honeystick. Honey amazing and storing it in thin plastic sticks was absolutely delightful and Mako wanted to never be without them. They even came in different flavors! So far the blueberry ones were her favorite. It was nice when learning scents led to discovering new foods, a frequent but beloved treat. After finishing her last one she went to see the returning search party. Kev was yelling but she was more concerned with the survivor. Joan looked shaken but Holly was right to ask, any information needed to survive was need to know. "We're happy you aren't," She added to her collegue's question, '"But if you know a way not to be stung we'd love to find out. "

 

[Camden]

Pier Santana​

Pier murmured something like "well how else are you supposed to test something" and "great now I can repurpose those guns", and continued working on his diagrams.

 

[CelticSol]

( Graystone713 )

Eppie sits up from her seat as, with seemingly very little warning at all, the room seems to explode into action, the airlock opening to Kevin, one very bee-stung man, and a very terrified looking boy. Cathal and the security spring to action with all the grace of people very used to crisis, speaking in a language Eppie can't really understand among themselves, discussing the situation. Coming to her feet, she finds Donny is already on the patient going into shock, that Mako and Holly are comforting the hyperventilating boy, and the security, Kevin, and Pier are thinkng over next steps.

She's considering possible ways she can contribute when Kevin rather spectacularly explodes at Pier. Without considering a moment that maybe, if this happened in the first place, some more steps need to be thought of, Eppie's turns to ice as Kevin's robotic body sprints back through the airlock, and she calls out after him, "Kevin, what the fuck are you doing?" Her words fall on deaf ears, as he continues in without a thought. For all of a second Eppie is still and thinks, I should be logical and wait until we have a more solid plan in place.

Then, Bad Decisions Eppie™ kicks into the gear, registering only that an emotionally distraught Kevin has just run into a dangerous situation with not a lot of a plan and not the potential fatal risk of the bees, and jumps into action.

She heads to a spare area, dumping the contents of her duffel bag onto the floor and taking only an ear piece to connect her to the comm-lines. She heads over to Kevin's set-up, grabbing an armload of smoke grenades with a quick, "These are mine now," and dropping them into her bag before dashing to the med-station and snatching an Epi-Pen. Finally, from the area her and Cris and Finn and Cathal loaded up the crates, she snatches a full face oxygen mask and it's tank, and a tear resistant tarp. She secures the mask over her face and flings the tarp over her body like a cloak, hoping the two pieces might protect her from the worst of the stings, then dashes out of the airlock and after Kevin, putting a hand to her comm-line to activate it, speaking before she's even really sure it's on, "Kevin! Wait, I'm coming with you as backup!"

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

Cathal McKay​

With all the commotion, it took Cathal a moment to realize what Eppie was doing, and by then, she was already heading into the gardens. "EPPIE!" he shouted. It was one thing for Kevin in a robot to go back into danger, and quite another for Eppie to do it. "Fuck. Shit. Hell," he said, and darted back and pulled the rest of his suit and his radio on. The security suits had two masks. One had a full face visor, and was designed for space walks and other low atmo situations. The other was a combination of lower face breathing mask and big goggles, and even though it left the top of his head exposed, it was the one Cathal pulled on. There was a hood that went with it, and he tugged it on. It might not have been the smarter choice, but it looked scarier, and sometimes that was important. At least for his self-confidence. He didn't take any weapons--what good was a gun going to do against a hive of bees?--and instead grabbed an extra suit for Eppie.

"I'm going to kill her," he announced. He pointed at Finn as he tore past. "<You're in charge. Do what Donny says.>" He didn't wait for an answer before following after Kevin and Eppie. "Eppie! EPPIE!"

 

[TrashRabbit]

“I-I don't know,” Joan stammered to Holly. And then looking to Mako added, “It happened in the fields- the first time. Everyone....but not me. I ran. I thought it was cause I ran. I don't know.”

Aleksi Donovan​

Donny was very good at tuning out commotion when he worked- a little interpersonelle drama had nothing on bomb shells or the shriek of a dying reactor. He was also speaking very quickly to Goody and then to Dr. Finch as he gave the man an emergency tracheotomy right there on the floor.

He administered a second dose of anti histamine before his head came up from his work- Kevin was gone. He'd heard Cathal go. Eppie?

“Hell,” He said to Finn, then called it in to control. Made it sound like a good plan even.

“Preston, I need you to get a scan of the bees to control. Mako, Holly I need you to get to the hives; take Cris- They're useless without the Queen right, Holly?” She was the biologist after all- he let the implication hang in the air. They were just bees. Bees that had almost killed a man.

"Everything is drastically out of control, isn't it?" Dr. Finch asked quietly in his ear on his personal channel. He didn't answer because he was putting a man on a stretcher and he was still being watched. "Your silence speaks to me on a poetic level."

 

[rubycats]

Holly Jones
​

Holly thought for a moment before she heard what was happening and turned around. She watched as Eppie ran off and Cathal followed her and felt the urge to join them before shaking that thought away and tried to give the man a smile. "Is there any reason you can think of that they wouldn't go after you? Or why the beese starting attacking people in the first place?"

 

[TrashRabbit]

Joan shook his head, "Bees are usually simple- even the big one. If you don't spook them they don't get frightened; they don't sting. Bees die when they sting- you know.....I don't know why. We were just collecting larval queens; we do it every year- is he- is Digery going to be okay?"

 

[Camden]

Pier Santana
​

Pier quickly finished his diagrams. He was hoping to take this slowly, but there was a commotion at the airlock. He ran to the fabricator and held the blueprints under a camera, one by one. After they were scanned in, he rapidly entered some parameters on the control panel, and the machine whirred to life.

It quickly assembled seven innocuous looking discs, with tiny clasps that allowed attachment to almost any surface. These discs, when activated, would create an electrical grid about an inch above the surface they were attached to.

This was achieved using a series of capacitors (which release power) and power cells (which store it). Anything touching the field would receive a voltage of 1000v. This is five hundred times above the lethal amount to a human, 2mAv, which will stop your heart. However, once above that range, voltage simply causes pain if it doesn't go extremely high.

Insects, which do not have hearts to stop, must be burned to death by electricity. The optimal range for this is between 500v and 1500v. Anything above that, and like the humans, it has minimal effect.

This is because you aren't being hurt by the voltage, you're being hurt by the current. And the current produced by 1000v is perfect for frying bugs, while the current produced my 2mAv is perfect for stopping hearts.

At least, that was what Pier had deduced from studying archaic designs from archives thousands of years ago. The field would just merge if he had to touch something within it, I.E. the power button, it was just electricity.

Pier was confident that it would work. With the current technology, he could replicate the heat produced by the current by at least 1000%, and while he wasn't sure about power consumption, he was fairly sure that he could survive at least one swarm. And even if it failed, what we're they going to do to him in his excursion suit, cook him like the bot? Unlikely, the suit was built to withstand the heat from a petroleum based flamethrower.

Pier pulled his red and grey excursion suit on, grabbing a pair of ear protectors and a welding mask. Both went easily over the helmet of the excursion suit, and if the discs worked as designed, it was going to be loud. Pier slapped two on the side of either knee, and then handed the rest to his exoarm. The exoarm placed one on both shoulders, one on each hip, and a final control one on his back. He left the system off for now, since if he touched anything with it on he would transfer 500000v to that something.

The airlock door had just finished closing, and Pier quickly started opening it again. He called to Isaiah, who was still standing by Donny and gave him some orders. "Make more of what I just made, and then get on comms!". That was all he had time for before he yanked the door open and sprinted through, heading after Cathal who was heading after Eppie.

Isaiah headed over to the fabricator urgently and scrolled the panel to "recently made".

 

[theunderwolf]

"I don't know who Digery is but I'm sure he'll be fine," Mako said, "You farmer types are tough. Now go get a drink and we'll take care of this." She finished as she picked up a few smoke grenades for herself and a hood to keep her eyes and face clear of bees. There was a nice hat with a net but she felt off balance enough without it, excellent hats would have to wait. Lastly was her own little equipment piece, her bracerslit. A ultra flexible bracelet that she thought would stretch with her and if the activated it, it would uncompressed into a nice jumpsuit, useful if she didn't have time to disrobe in an emergency that required more extreme shifting. Bee behavior was a mystery to her, but from the sound of it they had to find the queen, which was simple enough. Speaking of... SHe went over to where Eppie, the Xenoanthropoligist (And unintentional laugh riot for Mako) was insisting on coming. "You've got moxie Eppie, I don't see the problem with you coming if you keep up. She said this as her nose twitced around, learning the different scents the first recon team. Even without seeing it, she was getting more and more of an idea of what was in the dome. "Just stay close to me and Holly alright?"

 

[rubycats]

Holly had gotten the suit on when everyone was running around and thanked Joan for his time before she exited the airlock to follow the others, and to collect samples as well of course. She met up with the others.