Futuristic Unknown Crisis IC (full)

[TrashRabbit]

Mitch made a small motion in front of him and then stopped, "Right- I got all the information, where the patients where at onset, locations, possible exposure maps all that- but you need one of these," He said. He picked up what looked like a stack of small glass tea trays. They had two handles and after her handed them out, demostrated how to hold it so it could be looked through. No information was on the tablet itself, but it allowed the user to see the data stored in the cryfy matrix. Mitch had summoned a map of the station with various layers of information displayed on it- it was nothing if not thorough. It was interactive simply by touch- which implied that even if you couldn't see something in the matrix you could still interact with it- or walk through and ruin.
"Right so- We thought it was a contagion at first too, we've run the whole gambit, bio, digital virus, we got nothing. The affliction moves at a regular pace, approximately twenty three minutes between onset- Its one at a time. The public is terrified this is a Jiian offensive- but it feels all wrong for that. But I can take you to the last point of onset- or the first." he laughed, "We're willing to try anything- even NASA."
"Well," Donny said, "We're good enough for the rest of the galaxy so we'll give it a shot."
Mitch smirked.

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin Starr​

Kevin wasn’t sure if he ought to be excited or worried. He was excited because Io was one of the most technologically advanced communities out there, and their pilots used neural interfaces, just like he did. He was worried because lives were on the line, and if this illness did affect cyborgs, and at a rate that dramatic, there was a chance he was vulnerable. He looked at the information, thought about it all, and spoke up.
“Well, it’s only the cybernetic-augmented portion of the population being affected, right? Those without augments and those who’ve gone full consciousness upload and no longer have organic components, they’re all safe so far?... How do you handle rejection?... The body rejecting the cybernetics, I mean. I have a prescription for my meds, and only a few people out there don’t reject cybernetic implants. Given that the everyone afflicted has a biotech interface of some kind, ruling out rejection seems like the next step... Sorry, I know I’m not the doc, but I am augmented. I know a few things.”
He said, almost sure they already ruled it out. And if the onset was that precisely timed... it seemed deliberate. Like someone, instead of something, was triggering the symptoms on demand.

 

[TrashRabbit]

"Man I wish it were that," Mitch said, "you know I'm allergic to rejection drugs?" he pulled up a visual in cryfy, "It seems indiscriminate. If you got a piece of crystal tech in your head- its coming for you like Russian roulette. This is the first patient, 01 for her privacy if you will, full synthetic, over two hundred years old. One of our oldest children of the dead- nothing lasts forever so it was suspected to be malfunction or wear at first. But patient 02? Biological in all the ways that might count for you folks- cept her brain. Not a usual setup- they fried out piloting during the war and opted to replace their nervous system and brain one hemisphere at a time. It involves some memory loss but not as catastrophic as activating a child of the dead. They are mostly organic- I mean," He laughed, "We really don't put much value in our percentages. I'm one of only six meat Popsicle over 25. But the point is- you wouldn't know she had a cyber brain. Patient 03 was also predominantly biological with a cyber brain, 04 was only 17% organic, 05 was synthetic. Crystal tech has a low rejection rate and what meds these folks were on don't over lap in any meaningful way," He said and pulled up vendiagram featuring just that info. "There are 263 patients at the moment and in the last nine hours, those with partial cyber brain have also started to succumb. The bottom line is so far only unaltered organic brains seem to be unaffected."

 

[CelticSol]

Eppie Cross
​

She really knows she should be paying attention to the matter at hand, as it is what she is being paid to do, but she’s never been at such a loss for words.

She looks around her and just... Wow.

The group speaks with Hekkiah’s contact and friend but Eppie finds herself looking around at the garden that surrounds them. There is not an airlock to be seen anywhere, only beautiful vegetation in a thousand shapes and giving off sweet fragrances she has no name for. Everything is at once green, but sleek and high tech, not a hard line in sight. It’s clear they are inside, but she feels a breeze run through her newly pastel pink hair. She reaches to an unfamiliar flower at her side, running her fingers along the velvet-like texture. Glowing trails appear where her fingers just touched, and she laughs breathlessly, awed.

Eppie fancied herself well travelled - between her expeditions on the Erudite and NASA, it was impossible not to be - but she has never been to any Ioian settlements. And this? This is like nothing she’s ever seen. Not in pictures, not even in her wildest imaginations. The man before them appears as human as the rest of their crew, and yet, everything about this place is alien to her. Wonderfully, beautifully alien.

Kevin’s voice pulls her from her wonderment, asking intelligent questions she could never articulate surrounded by all... this. But she pays close attention, or tries to, as Mitch answers them. A lot of the tech jargon goes over her head, and she bites down a little bit of the frustration tied with that. While she fully understands how technology plays a large role in cultures and alien life, she just didn’t grow up in a tech saturated environment like what this planet had made their norm - she didn’t even grow up in an environment with comparable tech to homeworlds of the rest of the crew. For fuck’s sakes, New Eden still used the internet and radio to transmit messages, and -

Wait.

Eppie backtracks on that thought. Wi-fi and radio could send out signals. On Mars, they used the radio to communicate with the bees, and the Hive reacted to the signals of the radio. This place is likely centuries and centuries beyond even thinking about wi-fi and radio - the extranet or whatever equivalent they had like rendered it useless and antiquated. Would they have even considered that it could affect their technology at all? Would they have even checked for it?

“What about radio?” Eppie asks, speaking up from her spot at the back of the group, as she had fell behind to look at their surroundings in amazement. Realizing Mitch can probably not see her, given she barely breaks five foot, she ducks under Cathal’s arm to come to the front of the group, “Whatever is affecting these people could be a frequency broadcasted through radio, or it could be that it’s being transmitted through wi-fi signals. I know they’re more than a little outdated for you guys, but have you checked those?”

 

[TrashRabbit]

Mitch made a face, "What about- the what? We don't have wifi?" He said. Thus confirming her suspicions- He made sort of a helpless shrug at her, "I'm not a scientist, or a historian. I fly ships and yell at people."

"Eppie I'm buying you a beer," Donny said. He pulled out his scanning equipment and started running the basic tests. "There actually is a weak radio signal- nothing is being broadcast though. Just dead air." He leaned over and showed it to Kevin, and then Eppie.

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

Cathal had been to Io once before, about fifteen years ago. It was still very shiny and intimidating, but really the most important thing was that the warrant on his old crew for stealing a lot of very expensive medicines had expired three years ago, so he was mostly not wanted.

Cathal leaned over Eppie to look at the readings on Donny's scanner. "Do they have wifi? Show me the wifi, Donny, we have to see the dank memes." He gave Eppie's shoulders a little squeeze as he spoke, because she was so clever and he was proud of her. "What other fun old timey tech can we check out?" He lifted his cryfi viewer and waved it around, too fast to actually look at anything through it, but fast enough to make everything it showed appear in vibrant streaks.

 

[TrashRabbit]

"Siri, search for granfather clocks," Donny said directly into his scanner- which did not work that way or have an AI.

 

[CelticSol]

Eppie Cross
​

“Make it a mojito and you’ve got yourself a deal, Donny,” She peeks under Donny’s arm to see the screen with the radio waves, feeling Cathal looming over her head to check it out as well, “Maybe... Maybe they do it in bursts? Like, put on the frequency for long enough to affect people, then shut it down?”

 

[TrashRabbit]

Without many other leads Mitch approves for Mako to head into the interior of the space shuttle, agreeing to take Donny to the medbay himself and setting anyone who wanted to go with Mako with a Guide. At the exit to the garden he introduced her to tall bulky synthoid without a discernible head, "This is my intern, Anastasia Infinite Jumbotron, She's just gonna shadow you. Interpret if you need her to."

"HELLO!" Annastasia Infinite Jumbotron said cheerfully to her, "YOU MAY CALL ME PRINCESS"

"Her intergalactic common is pretty good," Mitch said and then gave the young girl a high five. PRINCESS took big strides, like a bird puffed up with its own importance as she lead the way down the hall. It was made of the same semi opalescnent material- with gold flecks flickering to life beneath the surface now and again, each panel hexagonal. The hallway, without out doorways, opened up into ever increasingly open spaces, with balconies, and built in benches. The people- the people were of every conceivable shape and size, organically and in synthetic structure. The plain glistening white remained the backdrop of the interior but living plants huddled into every available place and those that wore clothes did so elaborately and in neon colors- bulky knits and delicate trailing lace, pom poms seemed to be in. Through the view finder the cryfy lite up the world in exuberant colors. There were what appeared to be games, and work stations and digital amalgamations you could only conceive must be some kind of interactive art. PRINCESS lead you past a number of restaurants and tea shops and to a quiet under pass.

The most noticeable thing about the area is the visible metal elements supporting the over head foot path. It is by and far the only metal you have seen on your walk here. Its easily identifiable as good solid aluminum.

"THIS IS THE PLACE," PRINCESS announces.

 

[theunderwolf]

Mako had absolutely no idea what was going on but she gave Eppie a thumbs up and began looking for more information, going through what little they had on image before following the very loud princess whose voice probably just ruined Mako's ponytail. She followed the robot, not really... appreciating the place. She was sure it was all quite nice by galactic standards but PRINCESS's massive body and gold flairs would get her killed in the wild. Mako appreciated her design but couldn't help but feel that it was all a little impractical. Something that was practical though, was her senses, and after sifting through them Mako tapped her ear piece to stream to her support staff.
"Lacy, thoughts?" She said, surveying where the incedent had occured.
"Yeah, You can see a few panic signs, there was definitely some kind of disturbance here. Its some Sherlock Holmes shit," Mako quirked her head, not getting the reference, "But police senses say that there's too many knocked over plants and skid marks on the ground for such a clean place. Also check those metal supports, they seem... out of place."
Mako nodded and deactivated the call, following the various panic signs as shee slowly surveyed the area. Then she got it, the faint smell of something burning, defntly burnt but she couldn't quite place exactly what.
"Hey princess," She said, wary of the massive robot, "What's the deal with the aluminum struts? They seem out of the norm here. And was there some kind of explosive reaction to the incident? Anything that could cause a burnt smell?"

 

[TrashRabbit]

"THE STRUT IS A STRUCTURE ELEMENT THAT WAS ONCE APART OF OUR GENERATION SHIP," Princess intoned. "Witnesses report-" Her volume had suddenly dropped to a more sensible level without any explanation- Mitch had contacted her after listening to Cathal do an impersonation while en route to the medbay. "-That there were no visible signs in either the cryfy or reality. Records show no report of fire." She put her hand on the strut and pauses for a long moment. "Come. Come with me!" She said suddenly and lead them not to far away to another strut, this one shooting upwards in a long arc across a food hall. "There was another incident here." she tapped the strut affectionately. While there is not a crowd forming, what few people are out and about are unabashfully looking at Mako and Eppie.

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin Starr​

Kevin frowned a bit. Old radio signals?... Hm. Yeah, his equipment was picking it up just fine once he tuned it... He paused. Why would he bother with Medbay? If this signal had anything to do with the crisis at hand, finding a source was much more important.
"Tina, you see that radio signal? Can we triangulate it between me and the ship?"
"Yes... Planetoid, station core. Coordinates inbound."
"Got it. Thanks, Tina."
A quick browse of the cry-fi tablet's map confirmed it all, and made it pretty clear people just didn't go down there. Nobody even talked about it. So it was the perfect place to set up something in secret. Something like a murderous radio broadcast.
"Mitch, I hate to cut and run, but if this radio signal has anything to do with the current crisis, I gotta go find it. So unless you object to me going down to the planetoid down below, I'm going. And... It'd be nice to have a security member along. Miloj, Cathal, who wants in?" he said, hoping Mitch wouldn't freak out and say it was off-limits or forbidden or sacred ground or something. He was also hoping Mitch wouldn't worry about the security needed... And hoping that whoever came understood that Kevin wanted someone to watch his back and be ready for a fight. He hoped for a lot.

 

[TrashRabbit]

Mitch shrugged helplessly, "Yeah sure, but you gotta watch out for the Bugs, okay? There silica based. They live in the planetoid- that's the whole reason the lower levels are sealed off-" He pauses like there might be more but then said; "They eat complex metal polymers." He tapped Kevin's suit meaningfully, "Otherwise they aren't very dangerous to Meat Popsicles."

"Oh boy," Donny said around a lollipop- he had these in supply in case of "Kids" but they all knew that he ate them mostly, "Sounds like fun. Take Miloj, Cathal would find a way to bring one home."

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

"Rude. They might make good pets. And we'll never know now," Cathal said, trying and failing to steal the lollipop out of Donny's mouth. "Don't let the bugs eat you."

 

[Daimao]

Miloj
​

Miloj nodded his head towards Kevin, shifting the weight of his body armor, and resting his rifle on his shoulder. "Let's go, Kevin. I wish to do the squishing of bugs," he said with a grin.

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin Starr​

“Thanks guys. We won’t be long.”
Said Kevin to everyone as the tablet led him and Miloj to the entrance of the old planet core. Honestly though, he wasn’t sure why or how the bugs were still around... They could probably eat most of the station. Once the two were out of earshot, Kevin started talking on Miloj’s private channel.
“Having you around for bugs is nice, but... Really, I’m worried we won’t be alone in the planet core. Radio signals don’t come from nothing. And I’m pretty sure they’re beyond bugs, too. Someone is behind the signal, and if they’re intentionally using it to kill people, then they’re probably down here, and won’t give it up without a fight. I’m hoping it won’t come to that, but I know it could. So... I appreciate you having my back on this one.”
He said, as they finally approached the door to the core, and entered the airlock.
“So, who’s on point?”

 

[TrashRabbit]

The service tunnels opened up for the pair as they followed the signal deep into the depth of the hyper advanced station. Beyond the service tunnels was a layer of tunnels and decks and old closets that looked like punks or kids still ventured. Deeper still they passed a strange shrine- the votive could have passed for Christ but there was too much glitter. Beyond that the gravity got iffy, the atmo thinned out. Beyond that was one old airlock that still worked, and It lead into what looked like the inside of a derelict federation ship- it lacked the sophistication above. New io was built on top the dead husks of the generational fleet that brought them there, a warren of ancient ship hallways and modified spaces. The old engines were still in this one. But the signal came from still deeper.

 

[CelticSol]

Eppie Cross
​

Eppie follows Mako to the interior, catching up by skipping into a light jog. At Mako’s side, she feels slightly better about being on the station, since, judging by the tense set of her shoulders, she seems as uncomfortable as Eppie. Though she is fascinated and awestruck with the technology and alien-ness of the planet, she can’t shake how... unnerving it all is.

She is all for advancement with technology, but she’s still not quite accustomed to how far ahead the rest of the galaxy is in comparison to New Eden, and this station is a whole new level of that. For Eppie to have a mechanized prosthetic after her accident, which is incredibly common after amputations in the rest of the universe, was unheard of for her entire planet, and she only got it at all because some voyagers manufactured it in exchange for free service from her father. And her prosthetic seems almost outdated in comparison to some of the cybernetic augmentations she sees in the Ioanians they pass by.

Especially given that those with cybernetic brains are slowly shutting down and dying, the whole situation settles over her skin like an ill-fitting suit.

She shakes it off, running a hand through the pink of her hair as they reach the scene. She spots the aluminum struts, raising an eyebrow to how starkly they stand out, though Mako asks the question forming on her tongue before she can. Princess leads them to another strut, and as Eppie surveys the area, she finds that she and Mako have attracted a bit of a crowd. They hold up devices Eppie assumes are recording them, and she winks to a group of them clustered together, who erupt into giggles.

Coming to Mako’s side, Eppie lays a hand on the taller woman’s back, “Aluminum is a really good conductor. Princess said there hasn’t been a fire, but maybe some sort of electrical circuit fried. Do you smell anything here, kitten?”

 

[theunderwolf]

Mako looked up from the scene for a moment and for the first time noticed the crowd of people gathering around them. Were they looking at Princess? No, that wasn't it... were they looking at her and Eppie. It felt really weird and Mako shivered a little. She didn't like the attention really. She was always demure on her home planet and didn't enjoy large groups. It was even worse on a planet full of humans with recording devices. She shivered and leaned into Eppie's hand a little, letting it rub her on just the right spot. The nickname made her go a little pink, like Eppie's hair, but she tried to focus. "Yeah," She said softly to the small scientist, "Something definitely burned here it's subtle but I think it could be an overload. You ever seen anything like this?" Mako looked over to the now giggling crowd then down at her small friend, "You're pretty popular, do people always gather like this for your picture?"

 

[CelticSol]

Eppie Cross
​

Eppie notices the subtle shiver when she lays her hand on Mako’s back, but before she can withdraw her hand, fearing she made the other woman uncomfortable, she leans into the touch, relaxing ever so slightly. She’ll admit it’s a little odd to see Mako so tense, and not in the same way Eppie typically sees - muscles pulled taunt, a sharp glint in the eye, a predator ready to pounce - but almost nervous. If a little contact steadies the other woman, then that’s what Eppie will do.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, no. I wasn’t and am not much of a techie, and what little mechanic knowledge I have would be considered grossly outdated anywhere but New Eden,” Eppie shrugs a little helplessly, but slides closer to speak quietly and privately to Mako, “If we’re right about the radiowaves, then it’s likely whoever is behind what is going on - if someone is directly causing it - is trying methods that Ioanians would find outdated. Hacking is probably a much more prevalent cybercrime than overloading a circuit. How that ties to radiowaves, I’ve got no idea.”

Mako points out the crowd, and that there are those in the crowd who are recording Eppie, which prompts her to shift both of them subtly, so that Eppie blocks the view of Mako from the crowd, picking up that Mako isn’t much of a fan of the attention. Trying to be soothing, she runs her hand up Mako’s back gently, though her tone and countenance is casual, “People wanting my picture has been a little more common since Mars, but I’ve gotten a lot of public attention since I got put in charge of handling Team Nine’s social medias and all that.”

 

[TrashRabbit]

Donny & Cathal​

“But if she’s a robot, does she have a volume setting? Can we mute her? How does this work, Mitch?” Cathal asked.

“Dude. She is fifteen,” Mitch said, voice filled with polite murder.

“Most fifteen year olds need mute buttons. I did.”

“You know most of us stop using verbal communication after the age of five right?” Mitch said. Donny pushed the lollipop around his mouth and let Cathal fight his own battles.

“That sounds horrific,” Cathal said in alarm.

“Well so does teasing a child,” mitch said opening the med bay doors with a small hand motion.

“In my defense, I thought she was a normal robot,” Cathal protested.

Mitch looked to the ceiling for strength.

“Remember when Chaya said “Don’t embarrass me or I’ll kill you?”” Donny asked him quietly, then patted his shoulder and kept going.

“If she didn’t want to be embarrassed she shouldn’t have let me come. She knew who she was sending.”

“Team nine; organically sourced from back water planets,” Donny said.

Mitch chuckled.

“All I know how to do is run away from kangaroos and sell stolen shit. I’m not cut out for fancy places like this, Donny. I’m sorry.”

“Your great with Locusts and Bees and we love you,” Donny said- but was then forcefully introduced to the Doctor- who looked more like a statue of a cyber construct than a person. Donny shook Dr. Enrique Cho's hand and nodded as Mitch interpreted for him. Enrique gestured as he communicated but Mitch was right- their language was confined to the cryfy almost entirely.

“¡Gracias! Lo odio,” Cathal whispered to Donny as he watched Mitch translate.

Enrique quickly laid down the situation and Donny found himself using the cryfy viewer to follow along. Enrique quickly switched to sending him typed English instead of using Mitch. Mitch looked relieved and sat on on the stool Enrique had been using. The beds of the med bay were laid out neatly in rows- and Donny was certain that this front area was not typically used for patients but the Ionians made everything they did look effortless and caring for two hundred plus coma patients was no exceptions.

Donny shifted through the medical data slowly. Despite being so advanced there were only so many biometrics a human could possess- even altered humans. He took careful note of how organic and inorganic biometrics were displayed and discussed on equal terms- there really was no division of expertise on new Io when it came to medicine. He didn’t feel completely stupid- but he also pulled out his own medical scanner and took his own data. Enrique watched him quietly. Just like the new Ionian biometrics his came back clean- well except for the fact their cyber brains were no longer regulating their vital process. Donny chewed on his lollipop loudly. If this was his rodeo. He’d scan the brain next. They must have scanned the cyber brains. He dug through the dense mess of info and found that they had “scanned” the cyber brains- but only digitally. They had checked the software. And they had checked where the implant meshed with the organic spinal column but they had not scanned the physical brain.

“Oh ho ho,” Donny said to himself, “ Do you- Dr. Cho, do you have an MRI?”

This took several minutes of showing him a scanning tool and Donny saying nope. Until they hazard upon the right one.

Enrique kept insisting that the physicality of a cyber brain had little bearing on its functionality unless it was cracked and that a crack would show up on the diagnostic. And so Enrique left him to examine the results himself.

Donny stood with his hand on his chin with Cathal looking over his shoulder.

“So- I have no idea what a cyber brain is actually supposed to be like.”

“No idea,” Cathal said. He pointed at part of the reading. “What are these squiggly little bits?”

“Uh- Iunno,” Donny said honestly. The best thing to do he decided was scan another patient. “These squiggly bits are either standard or the problem- I could kiss you.”

“I mean I’m not stopping you,” Cathal said.

Donny didn’t acknowledge that and jogged over to Mitch and showed him the read out on his tablet, “Hey, hey Mitch is this standard?”

Mitch peered at it for a moment, “Remember when I said I was not a doctor?”

“Yeah- same- but are these squiggly bits standard for this tech or are cyber brains smooth?”

“Smooth- they gotta be smooth or the signal can’t carry across the surface- fuck,” Mitch said, “We must look like idiots.”

Donny shrugged non judgmentally.

“I’m a certified idiot and I figured this out,” Cathal said.

“Your a genius trapped in and idiots body,”Donny said consolingly

Mitch got up quick to talk with Enrique and after a few moments, Mitch told them, “Dr. Cho wants to try a treatment we’ll let you know how it goes.”

Donny gave a thumbs up and sent a file of the engraved squiggles on the cyberbrain to the team; “First one to crack this gets a dollar”

“A whole dollar. They’ll be rich,” Cathal said.

“More than Nasa pays me in a year,” Donny said forlornly. Cathal patted him on the back.

 

[Daimao]

Miloj
​

"Is no problem, Robot Boy," Miloj said in reply to Kevin's thanks. His helmet slid over his head with a hiss and Miloj dropped his carbine from his shoulder and held it at the ready when they entered the airlock. "I'll take the point," he said simply as he stepped in front of Kevin. "Wouldn't want anything, bug or otherwise, to eat you, yes?"

 

[theunderwolf]

"This whole place is... A bit much," Mako agreed cautiously, "I don't see why this level of technology is necessary. Hacking is... way beyond my pay grade though." She tapped her com into what she knew was a channel full of people that did tech. "Donny, Goody? Whoever? I smell something burnt hear and there's some aluminum, is it possible it did some... electric short circuit thiiiing?" She shrugged at Eppie, which had the added benefit of scratching her back a bit more. "I don't know how you deal with the whole social media thing. I don't even have any... accounts?" She was really enjoying the contact but felt odd. She liked the contact and it reminded her of the more contact friendly culture she came from. She blushed and realized she was probably messing this whole thing up. This was a kind of, intimate human thing right? Should she, reciprocate? She awkwardly ruffled Eppie's hair and blushed. "I uh...like the pink by the way how did you get that..." She was obfuscating because how did humans change hair colors, "Shade?"

 

[CelticSol]

Eppie Cross
​

“I’ve always been a bit useless with the whole tech thing, really. I only know my way around computers and the tech on the ship because the company that owned the Erudite paid to get me computer training I’d need to do the job,” She shrugs, remaining quiet as Mako calls in for some backup for their alluminum discovery. Mako’s eyes turn back to her, and she blinks, “That’s not uncommon. I had them on New Eden because it’s literally the only way to stay connected to anyone and anything off planet and out of system, but there were tons of people who weren’t interested or couldn’t figure them out. Once you get the hang of it, though, it’s nice. I get to talk to people about my job and what I’m passionate about on a platform that allows me to be... Well, less formal than a mission report lets me? More Eppie, and less Dr. Euphemia Cross.”

For whatever reason, Mako has a somewhat... awkward expression on her face, and the tension that was in her shoulders has returned to a degree. For a moment, Eppie wonders if it’s her physical contact. She is rather close, and maybe Mako isn’t comfortable with being touched by her? Jesus, she was trying to comfort Mako, but now Eppie just feels terrible for overstepping her bounds. She always tends to get a little too comfortable with people, borne from having a freely affectionate family and friend group, and it’s wrong for her to assume that just because Mako tolerated it a few times in the past that it was okay for her to be touchy.

Beginning to withdraw her hand, she halts as Mako runs a hand through Eppie’s hair, ruffling the newly pink hair almost bashfully. Eppie looks up at Mako with surprise through the hair now dangling in her eyes, but then smiles brightly, relieved she hasn’t made Mako uncomfortable, “A little bit of bleach and some hair dye. Some people have genetic mods to change it, but I’ve never been able to afford something like that, so I’ve got to stick with the good old fashioned way.”

 

[Graystone713]

Kevin Starr​

“Lead on, Guns man.”
Said Kevin, smirking a bit as he followed Miloj in, zapper in one hand, and big awkward Cryfi tablet in the other. He had his wrist display showing the radio’s rough signal strength and direction, the cryfi tablet doing navigation to the location they were looking for via glowing line, and the rest of the screen just looking for cryfi stuff. He knew data and physical space were linked somehow with this stuff, but how escaped him. He wondered if it was mild microscopic radioactive markers, but that would’ve shown up on some other tech. And cloud computing would only make sense if cryfi data existed solely in the presence of the tech, but he heard of files persisting away from it... Then again if a radio could affect it, maybe cryfi files created some kind of electromagnetic impression on nearby surfaces? Hm. He wasn’t a scientist, but the thoughts were interesting.

In any case, Kevin was alert despite the distractions, ready for trouble... He didn’t anticipate the bugs being hostile, and figured on a warning shot being more than enough to send them running... But he expected some kind of manmade trap or an ambush from whoever set the signal. There had to be something... And Kevin was trying his damnedest to spot it before anything happened.