OsakanOne
Retired Member
YE-26, Unknown Day, Classified Location, 6:19pm
The two walked down a corridor together, its walls plated edge to edge of metal with inlets, pipes and grates like the exterior of a starship hull. Separating them was a medical bed with a large container strapped to it. Within, some sort of appendage that had bonded to an amputated Lorath hand, suspended in orange liquid. Rippings of a Star Army of Yamataian uniform.
Kaou marched spiritedly, pale knuckles white as she gripped the bed adjusting for its wonky trolly wheels. Her eyes twinkled brilliant blue with a kind of mischief only older women knew as marked by the folds around her eyes, her lips drew into a giddy smile as if she’d been propositioned by someone she’d only read about in magazines. From the looks of things she hadn’t slept in days.
The two shuffled into a cramped elevator, Kaou’s finger to her lips before she selected a sequence of buttons, slid her identity card around her neck into a slot in the wall and pulled on a large red handle marked ‘emergency’.
The lights sunk into dark red in the metal box as a klaxxon sounded and their descent began. She was trying not to laugh, fingers in her ears as the cord of her ID badge connected her to the wall, forcing her to lean awkwardly.
The colonel frowned sourly as the red shifted to a brilliant greenish blue as the klaxxon fell to silence. The floors were now being counted with strange letters and minus numbers, as if the counter didn’t know how to handle what was happening.
“That’s what I’d like to confirm. We’ll know in a few hours.”
The two walked down a corridor together, its walls plated edge to edge of metal with inlets, pipes and grates like the exterior of a starship hull. Separating them was a medical bed with a large container strapped to it. Within, some sort of appendage that had bonded to an amputated Lorath hand, suspended in orange liquid. Rippings of a Star Army of Yamataian uniform.
“Doctor…?”
“Kaou. Doctor Kaou Renata.
“Kaou. Doctor Kaou Renata.
Kaou marched spiritedly, pale knuckles white as she gripped the bed adjusting for its wonky trolly wheels. Her eyes twinkled brilliant blue with a kind of mischief only older women knew as marked by the folds around her eyes, her lips drew into a giddy smile as if she’d been propositioned by someone she’d only read about in magazines. From the looks of things she hadn’t slept in days.
“You call that a survivor?”
“A few cells are still alive: Its more than I need.”
“How did you manage to identify it?”
“A few cells are still alive: Its more than I need.”
“How did you manage to identify it?”
The two shuffled into a cramped elevator, Kaou’s finger to her lips before she selected a sequence of buttons, slid her identity card around her neck into a slot in the wall and pulled on a large red handle marked ‘emergency’.
The lights sunk into dark red in the metal box as a klaxxon sounded and their descent began. She was trying not to laugh, fingers in her ears as the cord of her ID badge connected her to the wall, forcing her to lean awkwardly.
“The supercomputers tripped haywire when we tried to run the identifier so we’ve had to simulate and do things the old fashioned way! Where the hell did you find it?!”
“I can’t tell you. What I can tell you is you’ll be receiving the remains of a second sample in the next thirty days.”
“What??”
“I said you’ll receive a—”
“I can’t tell you. What I can tell you is you’ll be receiving the remains of a second sample in the next thirty days.”
“What??”
“I said you’ll receive a—”
The colonel frowned sourly as the red shifted to a brilliant greenish blue as the klaxxon fell to silence. The floors were now being counted with strange letters and minus numbers, as if the counter didn’t know how to handle what was happening.
“The universe might be a much much smaller place than we thought.”
“What do you mean?”
“A person normally has around 19,000 protein coding genes depending on the cell, right? Our friend here has 200,000.”
“So it has a unique genetic origin. But it is genetic.”
“Sort of.”
“The hell do you mean sort of?”
The elevator came to a firm stop that rattled all inside, the doors rolling open as Kaou extracted her ID badge from the slot in the wall. A subtle adjustment to her glasses.“What do you mean?”
“A person normally has around 19,000 protein coding genes depending on the cell, right? Our friend here has 200,000.”
“So it has a unique genetic origin. But it is genetic.”
“Sort of.”
“The hell do you mean sort of?”
“That’s what I’d like to confirm. We’ll know in a few hours.”
