RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 20] Strangers (Essai Dreamworld)

Wardroom

"Physical attacked? What about when they tried to shoot both me and Bors? Or was that just another thing that one should call that an attack a stretch?" Misato was truly dumbfounded, She had reported the attack before, but it seem to be swept under the rug for some sort of diplomacy. "And just for the record Ma'am I never suggested that we call in a fleet, it just seems to me that we are taking this a to lightly."

Wardroom

Hanako raised an eyebrow. "Can you elaborate on that? Was it with lethal or non-lethal weapons? Are you sure it was sent by the planet, or could it have been just an opportunistic resident? If it was not a lethal weapon, I think I know what kind of currency it was trying to steal."

Wardroom

"It was some sort of stun blast Ma'am. I hit it with a heavy stun blast from my NSP and it stopped. It hit Bors with its first blast and was turning to me when I fired." She paused for a moment as she let the rest of what Hanako said sink in. " What do you think it would have been after?" She was terrified that she could guess the currency she held.

Wardroom

Chieko noted the Itto Hei and Itto Heisho when she received Kale's reply and sent another note to him. "Be open-minded and ready to hop to," she smirked while listening to Misato's recommendation - one she could not endorse without additional information. The scientist then nodded at Hanako's response.

"I'm mostly in agreement with you, Shoho," the academic began, "however, even I find it difficult to see the psychoactive substances in the air as a courteous gesture. Also, the probable perspective of us as like algae does not guarantee true respect for individuality."

"My recommendation would be: sue for peace, but know thy adversary. Any entity with this much power is better a friend than an enemy. However, should they not have our best interests in mind, we should have a mandate to dig as deep as possible in case their intentions prove less noble."

Wardroom

A slight smile appeared on Bors's face as Misato started talking to the ShoSho, and thought to himself that finally someone was talking some sense.

"I can vouch for Misato-hei here, they used non lethal weapons.." He stopped himself from adding a sarcastic comment about how maybe he was actually dead and he was in hell judging from current company, "At least not lethal to us, the stun weapon that it used may have been deadly to his kind."

"Even if it was an opportunistic resident, it knew that we were drugged up and easy targets, so this situation has to have happened before. I say we ask that Ambassador of theirs what was with that nice welcoming present of theirs. I mean it wasn't in the air yesterday when we went out, and it wasn't this morning or at least I didn't hear anything about it from the atmospheric scans we did before we went out... there were scans right ShoSho?"

Bors added on reclining in his chair a bit, his arms still crossed fingers drumming on his bicep.

Wardroom

Junko had caught Bors’s glance as she had made to return to her seat. The big Nepleslian’s response had been proper and correct, but it didn’t take a genius to guess what he might be thinking. Misato’s ongoing silence had concerned her too and she was starting to think the situation hadn’t been fully resolved yet. But then the two began participating in the debriefing. She nodded as they spoke, both pleased to see the two jump back into their duties and in consideration of their comments. They had fair points, though so too did the Shosho and other crewmembers. Not wanting to think about her own discomfort - Junko was no fan of public displays, especially not ones of animosity - she focused on the situation at hand.

“Ma’am,” she said at length. “I don’t know too many of the particulars of our current situation, but if one of the concerns is getting the planetary AI to recognize our status, would getting Charisma involved be helpful? Or for that matter any PANTHEON integrated AI? It might provide a more useful scale for communication and sharing. And as for security, in addition to Charisma’s own capabilities, I’m sure our 06Cs and the rest of engineering could provide some redundant physical and software firewalls.”

Kale found himself nodding along with the new officer's words. He could immediately think of a couple of things they could do. Rotating encriptions and a nasty little thing called a polymorphic virus came to mind. The latter was a digital weapon based upon a traditional biological virus. Namely the common cold. Any unauthorised technology it came into contact with would be ruthlessly crused as the virus crashed and corrupted files. The things were damn dangerous since the virus code constantly mutated itself. It was especially deadly to minkans, however it might be the only defence against this planet computer if it turned hostile. He would discuss it with his superiors after the briefing.

Wardroom

Sienna's eyebrows raised higher and higher in astonishment with each crewman's contribution, barely able to believe what she was hearing. Not only had she not realized that Misato and Bors had actually been attacked on the planet's surface, but she could scarcely accept the fact that some of those gathered sounded genuinely convinced that the mind (or minds) behind this place could possibly be willing to offer them anything without a cost none of them would be willing to pay.

The new officer's suggestion finally almost made her guffaw in disbelief. Unable to stay silent anymore, she raised one of her bruised hands in the air. "Whoa, hang on a second," she protested. "I know everyone here is really proud of all the slick gadgets and gizmos y'all have aboard this ship. I know y'all are real confident in your supercomputer brains and all that. And it ain't like it's unjustified, I admit it's impressive to me, too. But let's put our feet back on the ground here, huh? That drug in the air made everyone here, robot parts notwithstanding, go almost totally off their gourd. Half of us wound up in the infirmary. I've even heard some of y'all whispering about the ship being compromised last night while we were all snoozing.

"Now, trying to make nice with this thing sounds like a grand idea, but for crying out loud, let's be realistic, huh?" she continued, sliding forward on the booth and lowered her feet to the ground. She stood up and looked across the room down to Hanako, unbothered by her haggard appearance. "I know I'm just a guest here, so I don't honestly expect y'all to listen to me. But y'all are outmatched here. This thing is way more advanced than us, and I'd be willing to bet it's a lot older and smarter than you think. And anything with any reasoning ability isn't dumb enough to give up that kind of advantage. Y'all think you can diplomatize with it, but I say you're just inviting more trouble. Whatever this thing wants, it's gonna get if we stay here long enough, and I guarantee we'll be getting the short end of the stick."

She folded her arms across her chest in a manner that was firm yet oddly unassertive at the same time, shifting her balance slightly to her left leg. "And no offense," she continued, looking towards the brown-haired officer, "but throwing the ship's computer in the mix just sounds like taping a huge red 'kick me' sign on our backs. You gotta have seen and heard what this place has done to us already. Don't gift-wrap the ship for it, too."

Wardroom

Takeyu listened to the conversation going on, not really having an opinion given how he had been cooped up in medical the entire time, it was quite an irritating thing to be honest.

His ears perked up at the mention of the usage of weaponry on board the ship, but then settled down as he folded his arms over his chest and continued to listen.

Wardroom

Sune listened to the discussion, he was a bit mystified by Hanako's refusal to see any of the events as an attack.

"The attempt to infect our ship was an attack. Albeit an unsuccessful one. It was premeditated and deliberate.

As for the chemicals in the air, that may be part of how they keep those who are here malleable. I doubt that they released the chemicals just for us.

The attack by force or forces unknown on two of our crew members, could have been the work of an individual, but we should not be quick to disregard it.

There is still much that we do not know about this planet. At present it is my opinion that these Essai are a clearly a threat. But we lack sufficient data to make a full assessment.

I strongly urge that we consider ourselves in a hostile environment and act accordingly. We need to take reasonable security precautions when we set out again."

Wardroom

Sienna exhaled a quiet sigh of gentle relief as Sune spoke up. Finally it sounded like good sense was starting to spread. Satisfied, she backed up and started to lower herself back into her seat.

Her rear end hadn't quite made it to the booth when she hesitated, frozen half-seated in midair. Her facial features dropped a little bit as a sudden realization hit her, and her eyes flicked up at Hanako again, a hint of suspicion and alarm flashing through them for a millisecond.

The Shosho had been conspicuously absent during the madness. She surely must have been made aware of the bizarre happenings this morning, knowing that Nekovalkyrja had some sort of telepathy. She couldn't possibly be completely in the dark. Sienna still could not clearly recall what had happened herself, but she had pieced together at least some of what had happened, and all of the various accounts she had overheard had placed the ship's captain nowhere near them at the time. And now that she seemed reluctant to even admit that they were in danger when even a child could tell that they were, it left Sienna considering several bothersome possibilities. One, Hanako was far more naive and idealistic than she'd originally thought. Another scenario was that she was entirely incompetent as a military leader. But the third possibility was what truly disturbed her.

What if Hanako herself was under control of the alien world?

Wardroom

Ayumi, who had been silent due to the fact she did not feel her opinions were really warranted when she hadn't been part of the ground team, felt the sudden overwhelming need to speak up. Sienna's speech had made her want to speak, but Sune speaking up also gave her cause to voice her opinion.

Slowly she stood from her place, keeping her eyes down, "W... With all due respect, Shosho, Chusa," Ayumi began, her voice quiet for a moment before she could get herself to speak louder. She was not used to speaking in any group situations, certainly not to commanding officers, her nerves showed, "If whatever is in the air lowered inhibitions of the crew to the point that one NH-33 was so clouded in her judgement that she seriously injured herself. A guest to the crew," She bowed slightly in Sienna's direction, "Became so paranoid she injured another crew member, this may be normal air to this planet- But in addition to crew being fired on, and the entire crew experiencing strange dreams last night, I can only come to the conclusion that this is a dangerous place to be. Extreme caution needs to be taken. We should not rule out the fact that, for all the NH-33 body now has a way to defend against the air, the planet may find other ways to affect our inhibitions and behaviours."

Ayumi's face was beat red by the end of her speech. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her, but they were shaking. She offered a very deep bow in Hanako's direction before sitting down again, wringing her hands under the table.

Wardroom

As more information passed between various members of the crew, Chieko felt more and more like she was sitting in the middle of a situation that was getting more and more polarized. Those in another of the groups having been shot at, did give her some momentary pause; however to her this only underlined further the need to learn more. Sune then seemed to come the closest to what the scientist would prefer to see, though understandably with more of a security oriented frame of mind.

The academic floated her way over to the lunch bar to pick at what was left, bringing it to the main table once her tray was full. The Minkan set her food down on the table, then pulled the chair out, before floating around it and pulling her legs up before landing on it. Once sat down, she used more force manipulation to pull the chair in.

Wardroom

Izokia was doing an excellent job of keeping out of sight but after seeing Ayumi speak to the other crew members and actually show signs of fear, Izokia realized she didn't need to be as paranoid of the other crew.

Izokia decided to stand up. She first acknowledged her superiors before speaking "Excuse me, but I have to agree with my colleague and our guest. This planet is not safe for us, I'd go as far as to say its actually hostile towards us." She took a deep breath before continuing. "This planet clearly has some form of organization with a very clear goal. I don't think that the goal is exactly malignant in its intent. I think it would be in our best interests to focus our efforts on finding out why all this has occurred rather then focusing on how we can beat it."

Izokia really wasn't sure why she felt that she should stand up there and make herself heard. But it felt good to add her voice to the group. When she sat down she nodded to Ayumi as a way to offer her some reassurance.

Wardroom

"Other than the Essai Web, what we have seen has been anything but organized. We have seen many species but rarely many of the same types, and no groups to speak of. I disagree that the planet is hostile towards us. It is just manipulative. Clearly it wants us alive, with our heads full of random dreams. I think that robot that attacked Bors wanted his dreams. Maybe even to sell."

"We will leave," Hanako suddenly said, standing up. "You are right that we need to be more careful. I want to keep investigating but this place is easily as dangerous as Urtullan, just in different ways. Having this ship at a safe distance would be the best way to do it. We can send in a shuttle team. At minimum we should be carrying psionic countermeasure devices and masks on our belts. Before we go, we need to speak with the Chelti merchant and the Hidden Sun explorers. Volunteers?"

Wardroom

Natsumi breathed a sigh of relief when Hanako said they would move the ship to orbit soon. She would have preferred a lot farther away than that, but it was an improvement in the situation at least. This time she figured she would stay on the Eucharis, she had just about enough exploring for now.

Anyways, the thought of beaches and such was in her mind now. Seemed like such a better alternative to sitting around this creepy place. She turned her attention back to Sienna. Natsumi wanted to ask her more about what she remembered of what happened earlier but was unsure how to approach the matter. She did not want to grill the woman for information and possibly piss her off, but she did want a better understanding of how much she remembered.

The white haired neko chewed on her lip. She did not know what it must have been like not being able to remember something. Her digital brain accurately and precisely recorded every detail of every moment of her life so it could be recalled and reviewed at any time.

"Are you going to go back down to the planet when the shuttle goes?" Natsumi asked Sienna

Wardroom

Mitsuko slowly regained her composure as the hostile moment passed. She had mostly given up on ever trying to convince the captain to change her mind, so she was surprised when Misato attempted, yet again, to impress upon her just how hostile this place was. She let out a sigh of relief when Hanako finally decided they should leave. However, this did leave one loose end for them to tie up.

"The merchant, r-right." She nodded, looking to Misato at her side, sending her a message. He was helpful and polite, and did not seem happy to be stuck there. We need to talk to Jalen-Chusa, and see if he can be given a ride. Mitsuko smiled. And he'd probably have to bring his merchandise with him. Even his pets...

Wardroom

Deziarra finished her meal and looked around to see if anyone would volunteer for the shuttle. She was not as eager to volunteer as she was when she first arrived, but she was ready to do so if no one else did. With new knowledge and the desire to help the merchant, she felt ready to face the dangers of Dreamworld ... if needed.

"If you don't need me here then I'll volunteer." Kale stated "I have some ideas about how we can upgrade our mainframe defences though they will require a software patch for all of the synthetics here so that the new defenses dont attack you."

Kale shrugged it would be good to install extra armour on the mainframe anyway but if they weren't going to give the planet a rough translation of a kick in the nuts then it wasn't quite as urgent.

"It occurs to me. It was said that the ship was infiltrated last night. I propose that we do a final security sweep to make sure we have no unwanted stowaways before we lift off. Since we didn't detect them the first time."

Wardroom

Sienna shot Natsumi a mildly incredulous look across the table as she finally sat the rest of the way down. "And get another generous helping of that gas y'all just spent however long flushing out of my system?" she asked rhetorically. "Give whatever's out there more chances to thumb through my memory like a cheap store catalogue? Hell no. And if you know what's good for you, neither will you."

Casting her eyes back across the room at Hanako, she watched the Shosho discretely with a hawklike gaze. She had no way of knowing what kind of symptoms anyone under the influence of the planet's nanovirus would be, nor did she know Hanako nearly well enough to notice any irregularities in her behavior. Maybe she was wrong. She hoped she was wrong. But she couldn't shake the harrowing feeling that it was entirely possible for her to be just as subject to the effects of the drug as anyone in the room.

Over the course of the past minute or so, vague memories--recalled sensations, more appropriately--of eerie comfort and satisfaction were coming back to her. She remembered wanting to stay here before she had been through detox. The thought of leaving wasn't upsetting to her in that time, it just wasn't what she felt like she preferred. Of course, now that she was clean, she felt like they couldn't get out of there fast enough. Was that part of the intended effect? Did this planet take captives by making its visitors think they wanted to stay?

Still watching Hanako, she spoke across the table to Natsumi again, her voice lowered. "You ask me," she said, "I say we cut our losses and get out of here. There ain't a thing here worth risking what might happen if we stay too long."