Metis told me that they did some nanite testing on themselves with Adrastea last week here during the lockdown. I was wondering if you knew how I could access those results and run some tests myself.
[ he. has other reasons to see io specifically but he's trying to work up to that, give him a sec. ]
[ they move to go ahead and pull up the results on a screen poised on an armature nearby, pulling it closer for the both of them to see. adrastea, metis, as well as lucien's sample results are all verified and there. there is also a written copy of these results notated down, pulled from their journal in a doctor's legible print. a digital copy and a physical copy, both mirroring each other perfectly. ]
Thanks. [ he's just reviewing them closely to see if there really are no differences, don't mind him. ]
...I know it's silly, but I'd like to test my own nanites and blood just to know what I'm working with. It's been proven nothing changes, but a second sample can't hurt. [ ... ] There's no way to test the blood of someone who's actually affected by whatever this thing is that's possessing people, is there? Like when they're in holding.
[ there is indeed no difference im here im the scan wooOOOoooOOOOoooOOOOO
io just strokes their jaw a moment, thinking... ]
A larger sample group would do nothing but benefit us, so, best to do so. I can add to this as well. [ because why not. ] And as for getting a sample from the affected... If we receive their permission, we can take a sample and have it scanned as well. Just to cover all of our bases for any potential vectors.
[ making a few quick notes in their book. ]
Did you wish to do the blood draw yourself for our own sample? Or would you like assistance?
Depending on who's next, I can try to ask. Everyone has to know by now what we're up against and what we're trying to solve here. [ observing the zero differences...hm. ]
...I've never done a blood draw on my own. [ and he sounds hesitant to ask for the assistance, but. ] It shouldn't be that bad, right?
I don't imagine people would disagree considering all that we've seen on Sundays.
[ the hesitance has been Spotted, but io doesn't seem to react towards it immediately, just tilting their head a little in thought. ]
It's not so hard. I could instruct you, if you would prefer to draw your own. [ he has taught younger!!!!! ] Can draw mine first and let you copy. But it is easier to have some help.
Yeah, but if it's someone I'm not as close to it'd be kinda weird demanding that I borrow their blood, you know? That's why it all depends.
[ ...HMMMM. ]
...I would prefer to do it myself, but I've been told by enough people that you know exactly what you're doing and I shouldn't worry about it. It's kind of why I also wanted to talk to you about this. [ gestures to his metal arm. the screws really have been in his actual arm for over a week now. yikes. ]
Considering what see are up against, I think at least some would allow it... but we can cross that bridge when we get to it.
[ they look at that arm now though, brow furrowed a little in concern. shomaaaaaaaa... ]
We can get those removed. I can apply a local anesthetic to the area... shouldn't hurt during the removal, and we can give you a bit of time in the pods afterwards. Or I can just wrap it up if you'd prefer...
A lot of it is...working up to actually being okay with any sort of removal or change. Which is stupid, given it's a bunch of screws in my arm and it actually kinda hurts sometimes, but...I don't know. It's...a lot, even if I know I should get it removed. I thought about doing it myself but I don't think I can do that either.
There is an autonomy over yourself that I want you all to have when you come here... spare parts... screws... plates... the change is always jarring, it is never not something that feels invasive or strange.
[ tapping their metal leg briefly in thought. ]
Ganymede, they aren't very fond of any procedure, so I tend to talk them through it all as I work. You would know each step along the way, and I would not proceed without your say so. Even if it is one screw, that would be one less hurting you.
I would like for you not to hurt.
[ and bc this is still w3 a small void appears (but no need to toss one back in return, this is a ty treat.) ]
It makes sense. [ ... ] Autonomy's really important to me. So, you can see why I always want to make sure I know what's going on and how it works. Walking through each step doesn't sound bad.
[ and he's about to say something else and there is a void!
there is a void, and there is...well.
...there's this. he's silently watching, kind of freezing in place as he looks on and the thing is, he's seen a lot of hard memories from people this week. and yet there's still no way to prepare yourself. when it ends, and when io and the little girl drift off and everything's over honestly his only response is to sit here trying not to cry, THANK YOU. unfortunately shoma is one of my characters that actually holds some emotional intelligence despite being tsundere. ]
Received a letter from my father asking for me to come home from the frontlines. But like all letters to the battlefield, it was... late.
He was dead when I arrived, left me a letter entrusting me with his wards, a group of wise... independent children. Everything went to shit after that... a sickness took hold from years before, people dying left and right. I had no choice. There was a doctor from the capital there already, but the Kin were without a doctor they trusted themselves... who knew his ways.
I fell into step, as he'd have wanted. And as I wanted... to save them.
It's hard to say no in the face of a crisis like that, I think. [ he hates this, actually. ] Especially when it feels like you're constantly trying to catch up because you arrived later than you meant to.
I think I get it. If someone promised me a way to find a way to save people like that, I'd probably willingly sign on for a space tour, too. [ but of course he still isn't sure that happened. not with how things have turned out so far for the senior crew. ] If...if it was a sickness from years before, then there has to be a way to stop it again, right?
[ also char lmk if you want a return memory idm i'm just basically dead on the ground crying about this poor man. ]
...Io, if you didn't really sign on to be here, do you remember how you got here at all? There has to be a way back if we can try to remember that much.
...that sounds incredibly frustrating, to put it lightly. [ like he's obviously upset dead people stay dead at home but damn that sounds worse actually. ]
Whoever brought you here implanted not only false memories, but has been steadily erasing your other ones for some reason. And I think that's a major key in figuring out what we have to do next. Like...what's being hidden? What did you guys once know that someone desperately wants to hide now? Digging's what we have to do, but only if we're digging in the right direction.
I can only say it likely wasn't anything good... but it would have been helpful to us now in this situation we're in. Fact that I can't remember what happened to my old team... I'd give anything to remember. Even a speck.
Seems like showing us those old logs you've found in and around the place does help, though. So there's something in them jarring our memories. It's piecemeal, but that's better than what we ever had at the start.
I can show you what I have if nobody else has caught you up entirely. A lot of us feel the same way, that we have to keep showing you everything we can in order to try and revive the locked memories, more or less. I don't know how it all works, and I don't like the side effects, but...you know.
[ gotta do what you gotta do... ]
It's going to be one of those things though where I think...the key's hidden in one specific thing. And we're only going to find out if we press. [ and speaking of press, io will then get to see something. for your reference this memory will be seen in a little bit of a fuzzy manner in that a.) the girl in the white cloak isn't visible to throné and anything she says seems to come from mizuki, b.) the dialogue from tama and aiba cannot be heard, and c.) there are parts where they're just examining the house that you don't have to pay attention to/moments where mizuki is talking to ryuki/date that aren't important and you can ignore. yeehaw. ]
[ well that sure is a fucking unpleasant memory, homies hate that memory jumpscaring the both of them. io just takes a moment to parse through all of that because... boy it's a lot. and hell, he's been through... so much already. watching this is kind of just a kick in the teeth. ]
Oh Shoma...
[ the voice is gentle, no pity, just a quiet sympathy that, if anything, just wants to help somehow, even if the moment is gone, even if there is no helping it. ]
[ it's a lot! he's sorry io!! he actually looks briefly apologetic for the way io had to bear witness to...all of that. especially after having to relive his own unpleasant memory of loss.
so he kind of sucks some air between his teeth, nervous for a moment as he thinks of what to say. ]
...yeah. She's my big sister, she's always been everything to me. [ a pause. ] You have your people to get back to, and she's mine. Even if she's not coming home for a while, I have to get back in one piece to wait for her.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ he. has other reasons to see io specifically but he's trying to work up to that, give him a sec. ]
no subject
[ they move to go ahead and pull up the results on a screen poised on an armature nearby, pulling it closer for the both of them to see. adrastea, metis, as well as lucien's sample results are all verified and there. there is also a written copy of these results notated down, pulled from their journal in a doctor's legible print. a digital copy and a physical copy, both mirroring each other perfectly. ]
What sort of tests did you plan on running?
no subject
...I know it's silly, but I'd like to test my own nanites and blood just to know what I'm working with. It's been proven nothing changes, but a second sample can't hurt. [ ... ] There's no way to test the blood of someone who's actually affected by whatever this thing is that's possessing people, is there? Like when they're in holding.
no subject
io just strokes their jaw a moment, thinking... ]
A larger sample group would do nothing but benefit us, so, best to do so. I can add to this as well. [ because why not. ] And as for getting a sample from the affected... If we receive their permission, we can take a sample and have it scanned as well. Just to cover all of our bases for any potential vectors.
[ making a few quick notes in their book. ]
Did you wish to do the blood draw yourself for our own sample? Or would you like assistance?
no subject
...I've never done a blood draw on my own. [ and he sounds hesitant to ask for the assistance, but. ] It shouldn't be that bad, right?
no subject
[ the hesitance has been Spotted, but io doesn't seem to react towards it immediately, just tilting their head a little in thought. ]
It's not so hard. I could instruct you, if you would prefer to draw your own. [ he has taught younger!!!!! ] Can draw mine first and let you copy. But it is easier to have some help.
no subject
[ ...HMMMM. ]
...I would prefer to do it myself, but I've been told by enough people that you know exactly what you're doing and I shouldn't worry about it. It's kind of why I also wanted to talk to you about this. [ gestures to his metal arm. the screws really have been in his actual arm for over a week now. yikes. ]
no subject
[ they look at that arm now though, brow furrowed a little in concern. shomaaaaaaaa... ]
We can get those removed. I can apply a local anesthetic to the area... shouldn't hurt during the removal, and we can give you a bit of time in the pods afterwards. Or I can just wrap it up if you'd prefer...
no subject
A lot of it is...working up to actually being okay with any sort of removal or change. Which is stupid, given it's a bunch of screws in my arm and it actually kinda hurts sometimes, but...I don't know. It's...a lot, even if I know I should get it removed. I thought about doing it myself but I don't think I can do that either.
no subject
[ tapping their metal leg briefly in thought. ]
Ganymede, they aren't very fond of any procedure, so I tend to talk them through it all as I work. You would know each step along the way, and I would not proceed without your say so. Even if it is one screw, that would be one less hurting you.
I would like for you not to hurt.
[ and bc this is still w3 a small void appears (but no need to toss one back in return, this is a ty treat.) ]
no subject
[ and he's about to say something else and there is a void!
there is a void, and there is...well.
...there's this. he's silently watching, kind of freezing in place as he looks on and the thing is, he's seen a lot of hard memories from people this week. and yet there's still no way to prepare yourself. when it ends, and when io and the little girl drift off and everything's over honestly his only response is to sit here trying not to cry, THANK YOU. unfortunately shoma is one of my characters that actually holds some emotional intelligence despite being tsundere. ]
...what happened to her? After that.
no subject
[ they watch the memory fade with an unhappy twist to their expression. ]
I was working on a cure... she was the first to receive it after I tested it on myself.
no subject
Those are the circumstances you were talking about, aren't they? Why you had to take over for your father.
no subject
Mm...
Received a letter from my father asking for me to come home from the frontlines. But like all letters to the battlefield, it was... late.
He was dead when I arrived, left me a letter entrusting me with his wards, a group of wise... independent children. Everything went to shit after that... a sickness took hold from years before, people dying left and right. I had no choice. There was a doctor from the capital there already, but the Kin were without a doctor they trusted themselves... who knew his ways.
I fell into step, as he'd have wanted. And as I wanted... to save them.
no subject
I think I get it. If someone promised me a way to find a way to save people like that, I'd probably willingly sign on for a space tour, too. [ but of course he still isn't sure that happened. not with how things have turned out so far for the senior crew. ] If...if it was a sickness from years before, then there has to be a way to stop it again, right?
[ also char lmk if you want a return memory idm i'm just basically dead on the ground crying about this poor man. ]
no subject
There was.
And I already found it. I spent days dying and dying again and I found it and they ripped it from me... to be here.
[ turning to just kind of give the screen a long hard stare. ]
I never signed up for this... I'd have never left them. My town. My children. Even wretched Dankovsky.
no subject
...dying like. Actually dying? [ sir? he's so fucking concerned. ] That's...
[ ....oh this is bad. ]
...Io, if you didn't really sign on to be here, do you remember how you got here at all? There has to be a way back if we can try to remember that much.
no subject
[ a tight smile ]
... and I don't. I was searching for a courier, running after him... it was a mess. And then I was here.
[ to the part... about a way back haha. ]
But there must be. Of that I've no doubt. Just a matter of digging out the solution...
no subject
Whoever brought you here implanted not only false memories, but has been steadily erasing your other ones for some reason. And I think that's a major key in figuring out what we have to do next. Like...what's being hidden? What did you guys once know that someone desperately wants to hide now? Digging's what we have to do, but only if we're digging in the right direction.
no subject
I can only say it likely wasn't anything good... but it would have been helpful to us now in this situation we're in. Fact that I can't remember what happened to my old team... I'd give anything to remember. Even a speck.
Seems like showing us those old logs you've found in and around the place does help, though. So there's something in them jarring our memories. It's piecemeal, but that's better than what we ever had at the start.
[ team medbay... ]
no subject
[ gotta do what you gotta do... ]
It's going to be one of those things though where I think...the key's hidden in one specific thing. And we're only going to find out if we press. [ and speaking of press, io will then get to see something. for your reference this memory will be seen in a little bit of a fuzzy manner in that a.) the girl in the white cloak isn't visible to throné and anything she says seems to come from mizuki, b.) the dialogue from tama and aiba cannot be heard, and c.) there are parts where they're just examining the house that you don't have to pay attention to/moments where mizuki is talking to ryuki/date that aren't important and you can ignore. yeehaw. ]
no subject
Oh Shoma...
[ the voice is gentle, no pity, just a quiet sympathy that, if anything, just wants to help somehow, even if the moment is gone, even if there is no helping it. ]
She means quite a lot to you...
no subject
so he kind of sucks some air between his teeth, nervous for a moment as he thinks of what to say. ]
...yeah. She's my big sister, she's always been everything to me. [ a pause. ] You have your people to get back to, and she's mine. Even if she's not coming home for a while, I have to get back in one piece to wait for her.