Move 18 (Chapter 1.18)

[yhlee]

(Thanks to zuhrovet for keeping the Station Moongray Timeline updated for everyone's ease of reference.)

Year 361, Month Three, Day Seventeen (Monday), ~0515

Iawa is with Istradez in Medical. The chart indicates that Istradez (CORRECTION: "Imsayed") has mild concussion that is apparently aggravating a pre-existing head injury. Istradez moans, then his eyes open. He blinks blearily before focusing on Iawa. "This isn't the ship," he says intelligently, sounding hazy.

Next thing Iawa knows, Istradez seems to come fully alert and attempts to sit up too quickly. "My brother--!" He seems apt to scramble out of bed and after Mikodez unless prevented.

Mikodez, just outside Medical, is bearing both Fluffy the Vraselian pseudo-dragon and Crowned With Eyes (CWE for short) the newly hatched mothling. He is being confronted by Alaric, who brought four caffeinated drinks, one additionally dosed with a sleeping drug, and who is hinting strongly to Mikodez that CWE needs to be united with the adult moth on the Bumblebee. Sulen has, by chance, grabbed the sleeping-drug-enabled drink, and was not prepared for Alaric also showing up to deal with Mikodez--a command-and-control snafu, apparently; Sulen has not yet drunk the drugged beverage, although it's not clear that they have understood Alaric's attempts to warn them from doing so.

The last response in that thread, an exchange between Mikodez and Alaric:

"I know, right? I had no idea that the term was so literal either until it started chatting," Alaric said, happy both that Mikodez was being distracted and that someone else was actually enthusiastic about this. "I'm not sure exactly what it looks like because it's in its own compartment and we're communicating over a primitive text interface, but it does seem friendly enough. Mostly it wants to bring Remi's baby moths with it when we leave, and fortunately Remi wants to bring them too. So, one the one hand it's yet another bit of terrible behavior by the authorities, but on the other an exciting scientific opportunity."

Just on cue, CWE the mothling hums happily and launches itself out of the pack, followed by an angrily whistling Fluffy, who seems to think the mothling is escaping property.

Virmad has received permission from Ashari to check on Gerae. The camera has revealed that Gerae is agitated and pacing the room. He does not appear to have any weapons, although given his talent for legerdemain, this is not an absolute certainty. If Virmad enters, Gerae will prostrate himself in a frankly embarrassing fashion and beg for an update on Fluffy's status, and oh by the way is Virmad's leader Ashari really going to slit Gerae's throat and leave him for the fishes?

Sasha overhears Gerae's plaints as she makes it to environmental. Her first inspection reveals that the filters are, indeed, poorly seated. Judging from the cruft around them, they were probably messed up even before Alaric and Remi started banging around the Bumblebee making modifications. While she's busy with that, Yehan [running as NPC] messages her and says that she's done with her meeting with Ashari and is now overseeing comms.

Comments

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[yhlee]

The mothling's tendrils ooze liquid-looking shadows that dissipate in the air. Meanwhile, Fluffy objects to being manhandled by making a tea kettle whistle at full, ear-splitting volume.

A nurse stomps toward the entrance of Medical, pokes his head out, and yells, "If you can't keep the noise down, I'm going to call Security!"

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[pengwern]

Mikodez dodges around Sulen, Alaric, and CWE’s radius to ask the nurse urgently, “Can you at least tell me when my cousin wakes up?”

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[yhlee]

The nurse scowls at Mikodez. "I'm not telling you lot anything until you make the noise stop."

Fluffy chooses that moment to redouble her shrill whistling.

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[pengwern]

Mikodez lets his eyes go huge and tragic for a breath, until he registers that the nurse hasn't shown any interest in the very visible mothling. It's apparently fine for escaped aliens to roam to corridors, as long as they don't disturb patients. ...Sounds about right for Nirai.

Given Sasha's interest, he has to keep ahold of Fluffy, but aliens are more interesting than disgraced Rahal. He slumps and turn away to check on the mothling and Sulen's positions, then pivots back to face the nurse, saying, "Thank you for allowing my crewmate Jaghan in to check on him. Please keep them updated so I can be notified."

He stalks off after CWE, sneaking a handful of pseudo-dragon treats out to offer to Fluffy, the kind that he identified as being especially tough to chew through. He even tries to hum, disregarding the nurse's glares, since the hatchling did respond to that back in the visitor quarters.

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[yhlee]

Indeed, the nurse's reaction to the mothling seems to be "Yeah, yeah, wildlife on the station as usual." Which suggests that this isn't the first time a newly hatched mothling has gotten loose.

In any case, the nurse only sniffs and ducks back into Medical without dignifying Mikodez's plea with a response.

The mothling is wriggling happily in Sulen's fabric, as though scritching itself, and ignores Mikodez's humming. Fluffy, on the other hand, snaps at the treats so quickly she almost chokes on one. It at least causes her to pipe down for the nonce.

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[slybrarian]

Meanwhile in background, Alaric finally manages to figure out how to get his lokwar to record video. He looks up to see everything appears to be contained.

"Oh. Ah... I don't suppose you could let it loose again?" Alaric says to Sulen, waving a hand as if to mime them letting the mothling free. "It's just you don't see interactions between space-based and planet-based life forms that often."

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[pengwern]

Mikodez isn't going to even look at Sulen's expression. He continues to address the iridescent protuberances on Fluffy's head as he soothes her into the cage and flips the cloth down. "Why don't we do that in a closed environment."

Unbelievable Istradez is also less interesting than aliens. This way, he could lie easy with Iawa at his side, while Mikodez squeezes a few last secrets from Alaric and Remi. Recalling the baby moths Alaric mentioned earlier, he asks, "Where are the rest of these?"

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[slybrarian]

"You're right, we should return to the ship," Alaric says, feeling terribly clever. More so than usual, that is. "We've got a moth biome set up in one of the rooms, and I'm sure we can set something up for Fluffy there as well. The other mothlings are still in Remi's lab, last I heard."

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[venndaai]

“Please,” Sulen says with feeling. They slide a little towards the entrance to the medical center, trying to get a glimpse of Iawa while still not taking their eyes off Mikodez. They nod at Alaric. “Could you go see if our injured friend is able to walk back to the Bumblebee with us? Avrayen and I will stay right here with the... animals.”

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[pengwern]

"That is our itinerary for the next few?" Sulen couldn't be dispatching Alaric, the apparent moth expert, away from the mothling just to keep an eye on him, could they? They might have brought one of the Kel at least, if the crew of the Wasp thought Mikodez was a problem. Unless the Kel were off on another task.

Mikodez studies Sulen warily until an idea strikes. Eyes shining with bureaucratic fervor, he says, "Will you use your Rahal powers on the moths?"

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[venndaai]

Sulen stares at him. Hopefully it's a good generic intimidating Inquisitor stare to cover up the fact that Mikodez has finally broken their brain. To be honest it's a little hard to think anything at all while struggling to hold onto a wriggling voidcreature.

At last they say, "How did this thing end up in your possession?"

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[pengwern]

[but it's so happy]

Mikodez answers truthfully. "I found it hiding in the display supplies when I got back to the visitor quarters. Napping? Resting. Not whirring around like a living tangle of seaweed." Sulen has the rigid bearing of most Rahal, though unlike Yehan, Mikodez couldn't use the drift in their high language to pinpoint when they were from. Now Ashari might be a better bet, if they could be found, but he can't count on their acquaintance to date to before their stints in the rebellion.

"Your pardon, then, if I mistook your assignment. Has the Nirai you spoke with divulged more about his research?" Mikodez uses the formality one should show to real Rahal, since revealing Sulen's lack of faction affiliation would do him no good at this point. Seeing their discomfort with the mothling, he says, "I can hold Crowned wi--With Noodles, if you grab the corners of the cloth more firmly. It did stay put in my pack for three hours."

[Mikodez and Sulen to navigate the space IACUC site :D?]

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[venndaai]

"...hold out the pack and I'll try to put it back in, then," Sulen says reluctantly. They want to say "and don't try anything" but that might just encourage him to consider that there's not much Sulen could do to him if he did try anything. At least if this works, they'll have their hands free again. Though they're not exactly comfortable at the thought of carrying the pack of a probably-Shuos.

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[pengwern]

"Just hand me the cloth and I'll drop it back in." Mikodez slides to a position within sight of Medical's doors.

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[venndaai]

"I'll drop it. You hold the bag."

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[pengwern]

Well. Time to see if Sasha had shared. Mikodez holds his pack out obligingly, and starts humming to the mothling again. (He's out of tune and sounds like a creaky hinge, but Crowned-With-Eyes did like it when he tries.)

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[yhlee]

The mothling's humming turns into a sort of delighted-sounding burble and it dives into the pack as if invited to play hide-and-go-seek.

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[pengwern]

Mikodez snaps the cover clasp into place. Is he holding the void creature a little too close to be sensible? But this way Sulen can't see the rest of the pack's contents.

Eyes still on Sulen, he circles down to a reasonable distance from where Alaric entered into Medical, and calls, "Damion, how's Imsayed doing?"

[I LOVE THE MOTHLING LOTS.
Sulen's welcome to drag him back, or nurses, or Iawa, whomever.}

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[slybrarian]

Alaric sticks his head out of the room. He tries to keep his voice down while still pitching it to being heard, and the result is a somewhat annoyed hiss of, "This is hospital, keep your voice down. And go flag down a nurse to get a hover chair and discharge paperwork."

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[pengwern]

Keeping a tight hold on both Fluffy and the mothling, Mikodez slips away from Sulen to the likeliest looking nurse in the antechamber and waits politely for an acknowledgement, ready to switch to 'tremulous but well-prepared infant' in an instant.

[yet ANOTHER skillset I do not share with Miki ;-; but, he has the soul of a bureaucrat! surely that will prevail ;^;]

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[slybrarian]

Alaric shrugs and heads back over to the room where Iawa and Imsayed are. Sulen's probably better equipped than him to make sure Miska stays cooperative anyway, given how well the entire drugged coffee thing went.

Re: [Mini Moth Madness]

[venndaai]

[Oh man, speaking of which, Sulen is probably having a mini crisis right now over not being able to clean up the spilled drink while holding onto an eldritch horror baby and keeping both eyes on a disaster fox baby. I wonder if the station has cleaning robots?]

[messes]

[yhlee]

[The station has cleaning robots but one would have to notice that there's a spill that needs to be cleaned up. Safety will probably take care of it in a bit, although of course Sulen can notify 'em earlier.]