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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Aug 29, 2016 6:04:38 GMT
"Matter of principles," said Volodja. "Having pleasure at the cost of someone else's comfort doesn't suit even me. Since I lack material evidence or means to deliver them to you, I have only words. I used to think that I am good with them, but have learned that actually I am not. But that won't stop me from trying again if I have to. Your first piece of evidence - this island here. Once again you are expanding he guilt of particular individual to the whole human- and Votankind. By doing that, you show that you have lot of common with both humans and Votans. Our histories are full of cases when a group, community or whole nation is labelled. I have to say that there is no such a thing as collective guilt, because most of the people are just trying to do what they always had done - to live by their daily routine. They are doing their own little good or bad deeds. And those who are more active than majority...They should be measured on the scale of their individual contribution. For example...Which sample should I use?" Volodja fidgeted in the grip of the giant plant trying to find more comfortable stance and a bit uncommon example to present. When he picked one, he continued talking: "Oh yes! Nazis are always popular topic, so we are going right to the top of the Third State and speak a bit about Göring family. Hermann Göring - a German politician, military leader, and leading member of the Nazi Party was sentenced to death in Nurenburg because of crimes against humanity. His brother, Albert Günther Göring, was a German businessman who helped jews and dissidents to survive in Germany during the Second World War. So what do you suggest? Hang both brothers because they happen to be brothers and ignore their individual actions? That would be unfair, wouldn't it? That is why I suggest to go to the second piece of evidence, presented in this green courtroom by the prosecution and leave the first one to be a subject of a separate trial." Once again Volodja Uljanov felt as Josef K. in "Der Process" ("The Trial") by Franz K. (Kafka). Unlike Josef K. who was arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor to the reader, Volodja U. knew exactly why he was on trial, but it was still a surreal experience, because Volodja U. wasn't personally responsible for crimes, both humans and Votans were accused. At least not much. And just like in Josef K.-s trial, the end was left open. After that literary excursion, Volodja proceeded to the second piece of evidence and said: "I agree that it is wrong trying to change the face of Earth. But I can also assure that both humans and Votans already received punishment for that. Their worlds are laying in ruins and survivors of apocalypse are sentenced to gather scraps of it to stay alive. Nature has been more vital than we can imagine and found it's ways to exist despite that cataclysm. There are not only new species who are suitable to survive in changed environment conditions, but there are also oases where old life forms are preserved and locals are trying to keep everything as it was and is. I visited South America recently and we discovered one of these places. So we can say about Terraforming evidence that crime was followed by immediate punishment and we can't agree that someone should be punished twice for the same crime. Especially when not all were saying "Yay" when Terraforming happened. Lot of them would have said "Ney" to that, but nobody asked their opinion and that makes them victims or witnesses, not criminals." Volodja Uljanov caught his breath and continued: "Now the last and hardest part for me. Destructive actions of humankind... I am damn far from supporting Lysenkoism, because...I apologize for repeating myself - trying to change the face of our planet in that spirit is a wrong thing to do. Besides - Trofim Lysenko failed. I could also blame nature for earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and diseases since lot of humans are died because of them and say that the Nature strikes back. But I don't like that kind of rhetoric which talks about fight between nature and humankind because by my opinion, humankind IS part of the nature and trying to fight nature means fighting themselves and these things, I mentioned are part of the nature as well. As a next step I could also point my finger to works of Thomas Robert Malthus who stated that sooner or later population growth will be checked by famine and disease, leading to so called Malthusian catastrophe where people return to subsistence-level conditions once population growth has outpaced agricultural production. In simple English it means - more people means less food for everyone so every occasion which reduces amount of resource consumers should be welcomed, but his theories were criticised by brighter minds than mine. I could also add that that whole humankind doesn't think in same terms about their relationship with nature and has different approach to it. Some of them have tried to conquer it. Some are trying to preserve it. Some people consider nature to be hostile by the nature. Some consider it to be friendly. Some people are thinking that nature is neutral. Despite of all differences I believe that human- and Votankind as a whole deserves another chance after we survived the apocalypse...We need a new life beyond Thunderdome." __________ "Excuse me for a second," said Sophie. "Have to check on Volodja. Will be right back." She slipped out from Sandy's ego device which was squeezed into Volodja's clutch and appeared back to Volodja's mind. "How are we doing?" Sophie asked. "Not good, I am afraid," replied Volodja. "I lack solid arguments. And other means to represent evidence about good intentions of the humankind, than words. Any sign of Sandy?"
"She is stuck in her own EGO device and she is really upset, so nothing good to tell you. But I will keep trying to talk her out from her present condition. Wish me luck.""Same here. Wish that I wasn't that flawed as I am, but I will keep trying to convince Viral to listen voice of the reason despite of my lousy chances and chaotic argumentation."
Sophie returned to Sandy's EGO device and said: "Bad news are that Volodja has only words to defend himself and rest of our family against the power which captured us and holds in a point blank range. Worse news are that he is running out of logical arguments and due to the lack of communication channels, he can't represent illogical ones he has. Good new are that if we fail the trial then our end will be painful, but at least it will be short... Volodja decided to fight to the end against all odds. He doesn't consider himself a hero. He doesn't try to encourage us with snappy one liners. He actually considers his argumentation to be chaotic. But he also tries to act despite of his flaws because he knows that he has to. And use any means he has in his possession. He doesn't give up yet, although it would be easiest way out. And if fighting against oneself and showing stubbornness against giving up is considered to be an act of heroism, then both Sandy and him are heroes indeed, although Sandy seems to be forgetting that at moment." |
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Post by Sandy Bell on Aug 29, 2016 14:43:12 GMT
In the virtual space of her EGO device, Sandy Bell wiped the tears from her big blue eyes, shaking her blond head to clear it as she said hesitantly, "My Volodja.... he's in danger?"
Not waiting for an answer, Sandy's wounds began to fade until only the scars remained, then her body began to fade from the EGO as well. Soon she had disappeared from there and found herself in darkness travelling face forward at a tremendous speed until there was sudden bright sunlight and a sensation of falling. With a loud splash, she found herself in a green ocean that stretched out in all directions without anything else to see from horizon to horizon.
Sandy found her surfboard floating next to her, grabbing it to buoy her while she treaded water as the green tinted sun above shined warmly on her pretty face, shaking a tan fist and screaming to the heavens, "Viral! I know you can hear me! Give me back my body! I could hear you, and you claim mankind has raped Earth! How is what you are doing any different with my body? You took it without my consent! You ripped out my EGO implant against my wishes! If it's NOT a rape, it certainly is a crime against nature! I want my body back - and I want it NOW!"
A few minutes earlier, Viral listened to Volodja's words with narrowed turquoise eyes and tightly crossed arms until he finished, whereupon she raised one pale green forefinger to her lips in contemplation of what he said, then replied, "You are more eloquent than you give yourself credit for, Manling. Perhaps we cannot see the trees for the forest. Perhaps not all humans and Votans are to blame for the brutal treatment of our mutual home. Perhaps..."
Viral paced back and forth in front of Volodja, still held nude tightly bound by her plants, then suddenly she winced in pain, rubbing her temples with both pale green hands as she remarked, "Your lover makes a good point as well. Both of you have given us much to ponder on."
With a casual gesture by Viral, the plant released Volodja and he fell to his knees in front of her as she outstretched her pale green hand and asked, "Please hand me the device so we may return your lover to you."
Somewhat reluctantly, Volodja trusted his instincts and reluctantly handed Sandy's EGO device to Viral, who then placed it against the back of her neck. The EGO device was immediately surrounded by green ichor and began to sink back into place. Within the virtual space of Sandy's EGO device, Sarge, Sandy's EGO psyche grabbed Volodja's EGO psyche Sophie around the waist giving her a kiss worthy of a Nineteen-forties movie matinee's leading man.
Before Sophie faded away to Volodja's EGO implant, Sarge said with a grin, "You need to get to safety now Sophie, but know this: I love you more than I have words for!"
As the EGO implant reattached itself, Viral stared intently at Volodja as she stated in a firm tone, "Know this Manling, we are the island and the island is us. You have one hour to leave us, or you and all your fellows WILL die! You may even take that reprobate scientist with you, for he is no longer our concern. As we said, you two have left us much to think on, and as we do so, we will first cleanse this island, then the ocean around us, and maybe, inevitably, Mother Earth herself, if she so wishes. A thought from your lover's memories stays with us: If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Share that thought with your fellow humans and Votans, and perhaps - just perhaps - we can all coexist peacefully."
Suddenly green waters poured out of every orifice in Sandy's nude body soaking quickly into the soil at her feet as the pale green color faded from her skin and the green streaks disappeared from her blond tresses. As Sandy dropped to her knees in front of Volodja and he held her tight, the last vestige of Viral left Sandy's body as her turquoise eyes returned to their normal blue hue.
After kissing him passionately and as they continued their nude embrace, Sandy said with a warm smile, "I always wanted to be with you naked on an island paradise, but this isn't at all what I imagined!"
As the manbats flew away, the sharkadiles returned to their swamp, and even James the huge insectoid shambled away, the winds died down while the bright sun broke through the gray clouds surrounding the island and the house became quiet. Lena Marr skipped to the inside window and peered out, flattening her small chalk white noise and placing her hands' palms against the window pane. She watched the nude lovers embrace before quipping, "Looks like all the action is over, or... maybe it's just beginning!"
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Post by Taffer on Aug 29, 2016 22:51:22 GMT
"If your stare was emitting photons, you'd already burn a hole in my head," Lu said as she was preparing the spaceship for takeoff.
"Just a crew resource management," Taffer answered calmly, "You're piloting, I'm supervising. I'd switch our roles, but since we landed on this island, you seem to be less attentive to details, that's why I chose to let you do that job while I'm checking after you. Sorry for being frank, just trying to keep us alive with all those people we've accepted on board."
"Ready for takeoff," Lu said dryly.
"Set the stabilization factor to low. We're stuck in wet sand, remember? Stabilization set to low will be faster to compensate a major shock from the initial impulse you'll have to apply to get the ship free from the sand. We'll increase the factor after that to make the flight smoother."
"Done," Lu muttered, "Anything else?"
"Ready for takeoff," Taffer repeated Lu's words and added, "You're doing great despite of my best efforts to throw you off your stride."
His latest phrase was meant to lighten the mood, but Lu merely shrugged as she pulled the ship out of the grip of the sand it was stuck into and turned it towards one of the emitters' location.
"Do you expect me to blow that device to pieces once we find it?"
"Only as a last resort," Taffer answered, "We'll need it to send a message to Vigilant. Then if we succeed in reprogramming it, we might simply disable it to make us a window to fly out through. Haven't you heard our conversation with Vo when I explained it?"
"Maybe," Lu answered evasively, "Here's your device. It's underground as you probably guessed."
The ship landed right at the edge of the jungle where a big pile of dirt and rocks were marking the place of an explosion that buried the emitter and its power source underground.
"I think even your Pulverizer wouldn't allow u to get to the device fast enough," Taffer remarked as they exited the ship, "In fact, I'm tempted to use the Riot's weapons to try and dig a tunnel."
"Dash, are those precise enough to complete this task without damaging it?" He asked his EGO.
"Builds your roofs of dead wood.
Builds your walls of dead stone.
Builds your dreams of dead thoughts.
Comes crying laughing singing back to life, takes what you steal, and pulls the skins from your dead bones shrieking." Em Dash's evil whisper sounded in his head.
"I think you've outdone yourself with this one," Taffer mentally answered, "but this speech didn't answer my question at all. I'd prefer numbers or at least a verbal explanation."
But as if on cue, a loud shrieking sound broke out of the ground which made Taffer command his squad to take up a defensive position. The ground shook and a burst of dirt was thrown out of the pile, followed by roots and vines which emerged from the ground and formed a grotto clearly leading downwards.
"Someone's inviting us to a trap," Taffer noted, observing the newly shaped tunnel, "I'd rather put a pack of gas grenades into it before anyone descends there."
"It's not a trap," Lu said gloomily as she came closer to its mouth, "Someone wants us out of this island as fast as possible, that's it."
"How would you know that?" Taffer's voice sounded slightly irritated as he started to feel that Lu and even his EGO knew something he didn't and they refused to share. Lu silently pointed into the jungle. Taffer raised his Carbine to look in the pointed direction through the scope, but the only thing he noticed was a glimpse of an animal running away. The way it was familiar to him as he recognized it probably was that cat-like beast he saw earlier. When he looked back to Lu, he didn't see her where she was a minute before and Em Dash reported she was already descending through the tunnel. Taffer ordered Constantines to return to the ship and watch the scanners while he followed Lu down the tunnel thinking of all those curses he would spit at her when his suspicions came true and he had to rescue her from the yet unknown danger. But contrary to his beliefs, Lu turned out to be right about the safety of the tunnel as the only thing they found out there was a fully functioning shield emitter device. Soon it started pulsing in sequence with the signal sent from the Riot, thus emitting the information towards Vigilant's location about the submarine going away from the island and the disease it was carrying.
"If I have to guess about their course and current location," Taffer continued in his message, "I'd think they will visit some other lone island to test their virus first. Their goal is to destroy all Votans, not the entire life after all so I expect them to test it first in the safety of some isolated space. As for the wounded men from Sandy's squad, I wouldn't trust this contraption to work as a relay to the portal. I prefer sturdy direct connections when it comes to people's life. So we'll start transferring wounded men after we get out of this protecting dome. Hope to hear again from you soon Kaj."
His next message was addressed to his teammates at the compound with the report on the current progress of his squad. At the same time, he kept his tensions with Lu to himself, still hoping they would ease up when this mission was over.
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Aug 30, 2016 9:16:57 GMT
Voldoja Uljanov nodded in agreement, holding Sandy's naked body. Then he added with a sigh: "Unfortunately we are about to be expelled from the Garden of Eden but I must admit that Viral has shown more mercy towards us, sinners than Jehovah to Adam and Eve. They were expelled immediately. And unlike them we are still wearing garments of innocence. I do enjoy the sight, but..."Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings." I guess that we have to accept at least quarter formal dress code, when we show up in the compound. After everything just happened I won't dare to pick any of figs, though, so we are going to share remnants of my clothes." After some tearing and knotting and other activities, Sandy Bell and Volodja Uljanov looked like Tarzan and Jane in the jungle, ready to leave this tropical paradise which almost turned to be their scaffold. And that threat wasn't over yet if they didn't managed to leave the island on time. That is why they had tu rush towards the compound hand in hand and once they were there Volodja kicked the door open in old fashion manner and gallantly let Sandy enter first.  "The Great Blabbermouth has returned," greeted Marcel Lestrange. "Pleasure to see you, Mademoiselle Bell!" "Don't underestimate the power of words," replied Volodja. "Sandy and I managed to buy us an hour long truce so we all could get out of here. Doctor Euthanasius is included to the package. That was best we could achieve." "I am afraid that hour might not be sufficient, my young anti-survivalist friend," said Euthanasius. "We are still surrounded by electromagnetic shield which prevents our leave and there is no way to switch it off within an hour. Unless you have other ideas..." |
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Post by Lena Marr on Aug 30, 2016 13:58:39 GMT
As Sandy Bell and Volodja Uljanov entered and after Volodja and Marcel Lestrange exchanged words, Lena Marr uttered an exaggerated yawn and stretch that opened her lab coat for everyone to see, as it was the only clothes she had on, saying cheerfully with a wicked grin, "Greeeeeat! Good to have you back safe and sound, Volo and Sandy, as I for one thought you goners! In fact, having you two back has made me so excited I have to go pee, so I'm off to the little girls' room! Back in a mo!"
Thinking on how a female showing her boobs is a great distraction from what she is really doing, Lena hurried out of the room before anyone could say anything to stop her, but went no further than the lab next to the control room. She immediately went to a computer console there, then retrieved two small devices from various cavities in her body: a computer data storage stick and password code breaker. Inserting the code breaking device into the computer, she had to wait only a minute before she had hacked into Doctor Euthanasius' main computer bank.
"Doris!?!?!" Exclaimed Lena in disbelief under her breath as she then inserted the data disk, "Really Dr. E.? You couldn't think of a better password than Doris? Come to think of it, I thought you had a thing for the creepy cross dresser. Why else would you keep her-him-it around, as it certainly wasn't for the service, unless you were getting some OTHER kind of service from her-him-it."
"Whatchadoin Lena?" Said a small voice in back of her, that Lena immediately recognized as Lady Christianna's, but which still made her jump.
"Just checking my e-mail BGF! But shatko, can't seem to access it from here," Answered Lena, her wicked grin firmly in place on her attractive chalk white face as she palmed the data stick after it had completed its task of copying all Doctor Euthanasius' records related to the Votan killing virus.
A pretty pout crossed Lady's own Castithan face and her large pink eyes narrowed in suspicion as she informed Lena, "Ready to move."
"Well about time. Lead the way BGF!" Lena rolled her unblinking sky blue eyes as she pocketed the computer chip in her lab coat's pocket with one hand while putting her other around Lady's shoulder, allowing herself to be escorted back in to the control room.
As Lena went back to her place next to her lover, Marcel Lestrange, Lady sidled up to Atticus Batman and whispered, "Lena's up to something. Being too nice. Too cheerful."
Lena on the other hand leaned over to Marcel and began kissing and nibbling on his ear, while in between whispering, "We are going to be soooooo rich!" Then she told him her plan as to both the virus and the antidote in her body through their EGO's private channel.
At the same time Lady and Lena were whispering to their significant others, Private Perkins ran up to Sandy asking, "Glad to see you Sub-commander! Where is Sargeant Rocke and the others?"
Realization of the magnitude of the question quickly dissipated her former glee at being reunited with her lover like a breeze disappears when the wind suddenly stops blowing and Sandy found herself unable to look the young man in the face, so her blue eyes stared at the space between his feet as she answered, "They... they...didn't make it."
"But... but you did... how... ?" Blurted out the private, the only other survivor of her squad.
"I... shouldn't have," Sandy said sadly, then still not looking the young man in the eyes, turned and walked to a corner and sat down, oblivious to what was going on around her as her dismal thoughts and regrets overwhelmed her.
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Aug 31, 2016 8:57:40 GMT
"Perkins," said Volodja Uljanov. "I think that instead of asking how your commanding officer survived you should ask what happened next. I am grateful that Sandy is alive. And actually you should be too, because without her we wouldn't had this discussion right now. Her voice was that decisive factor that gave us an extra hour we can use to leave this place. Your teammates didn't die in vain. At least if we manage to get out of here in time. We should concentrate on making our leave possible. We have our technical geniuses who are capable to drain our shield or do something similar."
After that Volodja joined Sandy in her corner and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, whispering: "I know how you feel right now, but remember that we should not only mourn our losses but also think about things we achieved and are going to achieve yet...I would have been lost without you. Love you so much."
"Nerd is right," marked Marcel Lestrange. "They died so we could live and leave this place and making some scrip...And save all Votan civilization during the process. Mademoiselle Bell and Nerd do not know that among Doctor Euthanasius's staff was a transvestite who took a chance and escaped with a lethal virus which is capable of destroying all Votans. I always thought that there are worse people than death dealers who do not have principles. These are death dealers who actually have them, like this Doris or Boris who spoke about cleansing the Earth. I can not let that happen. Lena is a Votan, Sacre Bleu! Lot of my business associates are Votans and their peril has a negative impact to our income. At least if we will not leave this island on time, so put your minds and hands into work, people! We have a possible pandemic to stop!"
He put his hands around Lena (using a chance to feel her under the lab coat she wore) and whispered to her white ear: "We can not make any money if we can not reach to our customer base. And if the time runs out and we are going to be attacked again then we can not make money at all. So I really hope that eggheads have something in their minds."
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Post by Atticus Batman on Aug 31, 2016 11:18:50 GMT
As Sandy Bell and Volodja Uljanov entered and after Volodja and Marcel Lestrange exchanged words, Lena Marr uttered an exaggerated yawn and stretch that opened her lab coat for everyone to see, as it was the only clothes she had on, saying cheerfully with a wicked grin, "Greeeeeat! Good to have you back safe and sound, Volo and Sandy, as I for one thought you goners! In fact, having you two back has made me so excited I have to go pee, so I'm off to the little girls' room! Back in a mo!"
Thinking on how a female showing her boobs is a great distraction from what she is really doing, Lena hurried out of the room before anyone could say anything to stop her. After she left and Volo had filled us in on what this "Viral" had said, I said, "Dak it always pours! We need to get our shtako and find a way to regroup with everyone immediately! Somebody find Lena and make sure she hurries up! I will go find Vo."
However as Lady went to find Lena and rush her, Vo contacted me to inform me of what Taffer's latest message about what Taffer's squad was up to and about how Murdock's stealth team had followed my orders of getting to the Garilu's wreckage, found some severely wounded survivors and had even managed to get the Garilu's communications working enough to get a message to Taffer. Then Taffer managed to cram the stealth team and wounded survivors on the Riot with his 4 person squad. So I filled Vo in on what "Viral" had said about only giving us an hour and how Doctor Euthenasius informed us that it would take longer than an hour to disable the shield generators enough to get us all off the island. So whatever Taffer or he were planning they didn't have much time to do it if they wanted to save everyone. I also told him I would have the "Good Doctor" get me the schematics to the shield generator and then I would have my EGO send it to him so he could hopefully use the information to help Taffer find a way to disable the generator sooner.
Shortly after my communication with Vo, Lady and Lena came back into the room. As Lena went back to her place next to her lover, Marcel Lestrange, I watched my lovely wife walking her way back towards me. When Lady sidled up to me, she whispered, "Lena's up to something. Being too nice. Too cheerful."
I whispered back, "As long as Lena is breathing, she is ALWAYS up to something, even when she is unconscious. Knowing her, the newest "Get rich quick" scheme involves somehow making money off of something that she managed to get her thieving hands on from someplace in this lab or compound. However before we can worry about that, we need to get everyone out of here!"
I then hugged my wife lovingly and protectively to me, as I looked around the room again. Sandy had just retreated to a dark corner of the room because of Private Perkins' concerned but un-thought-out line of questioning and before I could say anything Volodja had already quickly corrected the bewildered Private Perkins and filled him in on the importance of tact and how the main focus and concern should be on the living. Of course Marcel Lestrange had also added his two cents, as he always seems to do when Volodja Uljanov is involved. Then Volodja had of course quickly gone over to console his distraught girlfriend.
So it was of course time for me to say something again. So I said sternly and commandingly. "Look! Our priority is on getting all the living off the island. So quickly gather everything that is needed. Vo contacted me via EGO with an incoming transmission from Taffer. They found the shield generator and are working on disabling it as we speak. I am certain Taffer already has the Vigilant orbiting the island from a safe distance. So as soon as it is down, the Vigilant and the Riot can evac everyone from the island.....and I don't just mean Taffer's team, Volodja's stealth team, and our team here...."
Then I turned to Sandy and said sternly but somewhat soothingly (for me) "You need to get it together. Not only for yourself, Volodja and even Perkins but for all your remaining team members."
When Sandy's eyes slowly looked up towards me questioningly from her corner where Volodja was trying to comfort her, I continued with, "Yes, I said: 'Your remaining team members.' You see, after I met up with Volodja's team, I sent them to the Garilu to look for survivors while I found Volodja to bring him back here with me. According to Taffer; Murdock and the stealth team, that Volodja had entrusted to Murdock's command, found some of your team still alive and got them back to the Riot where Atika is doing her best for them with what little they have onboard. They are severely injured and I do not know how many survived, but there are definitely some survivors and they will be anxious to hear if THEIR Commander made it out alive and that commander would be you. Besides, as soldiers usually stick together, I know they will want to make sure you are coping with and getting over what happened at the Garilu, just as much as you will want to do the same for them. So take a moment to let that sink in and hug your heroic fool, for he once again somehow managed to save us or at least buy us some time with his silver tongue, while the rest of us get ready to get ALL of us the hell out of here!"
Then I turned to Doctor Euthenasius and said sternly, "AND YOU! Don't think I forgot that ALL of this is YOUR fault! So get me the schematics to the daking shield generators immediately! Then get Sandy, Volodja and Lena something better to wear than rags or a too small lab coat and you BETTER figure out an antidote for the 'Votan death' virus soon, if you don't already have one!"
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Post by Lena Marr on Aug 31, 2016 14:36:31 GMT
Marcel Lestrange put his hands around Lena Marr (using a chance to feel her under the lab coat she wore) and whispered to her white ear: "We can not make any money if we can not reach to our customer base. And if the time runs out and we are going to be attacked again then we can not make money at all. So I really hope that eggheads have something in their minds." A pretty pout crossed Lena's chalk white face as she put a hand in Marcel's crotch gently massaging his manhood there through the cloth of his trousers, mentally saying to him through their EGO's private and encrypted channel, "Just remembered Atticus has super-duper hearing, so we better not talk out loud about this." Then she suddenly stopped what she was doing to look at Marcel with wide unblinking sky blue eyes and raised her white eyebrows high as she thought to him, "Don't worry about me, as I have the antidote to the Votan Eradicator Virus in my tummy - hmmm, maybe I should have somebody else name the virus! Neither here nor there, however, you DO realize that if my plan is successful, your Votan business associates - or at least a good portion of them - are going to be toast! Including those in the Bay Area and the Tarr Family in Defiance, although Datak may already be dead from the Storm Divide virus we shared. I mean, to get top scrip for the cure, the Votan community have to scared shatko-less enough to pay anything, so that probably that means millions of Votans have to die worldwide. You okay with that?" "Are you okay with it Lena?," Countered Marcel. Lena thought for a moment, then thought back to him, "Absolutely! MY own race never did anything for me, nor did any of the other Votans. My own Castithan mother must have abandoned me as an infant at the orphanage slash brothel in Lima, and the Castithan ruling class left me there as a child to rot, when they weren't using me as a sexual toy for their amusement. The one Votan there who pretended to be my friend was that Indogene scientist who was trying to seduce me to become his lab rat - and he succeeded, torturing me for weeks before I managed to cut his heart out! No, no love lost from me for the Votans, and actually, if it weren't for you Pooh Bear, I'd find a way to engineer it so it killed humans too, for they aren't much better as a whole than the Votans! It would mean a bigger pool of scrip for the big antidote payoff, but I would NEVER risk your life, because I... love... you... I really love you... however, if you ever... EVER... betray my feelings like that Indogene did, I'll cut off your balls and wear them for earrings!" Atticus Batman gave his commands, but Lena only half listening for she was concentrating and then pondering on Marcel's reply to her frank admission to potential genocide and declaration of love for him, but her alabaster ears perked up when Atticus said to Doctor Euthenasius, "Then get Sandy, Volodja and Lena something better to wear than rags or a too small lab coat and you BETTER figure out an antidote for the 'Votan death' virus soon, if you don't already have one!" Lena's wicked grin appeared, and ran over and grabbed Sandy's tan hand with her chalk white one, pulling her behind as she left the room while exclaiming, "Don't bother about us Dr. E! I spotted Doris' bedroom when Marcel and I were playing hide and seek with you! Besides, cross-dressers have the BEST clothes!" Soon in Doris's bedroom closet, Lena found that what she had thought true as to transvestites was NOT true of all transvestites, for most of what Lena found there was in a word - frumpy! She did find a nice tropical floral camisole style dress, and once she cinched up the middle to be more tight fitting and tore off the sleeves and frilled neck, then attaching string straps, thought it at least presentable. After retrieving the data stick from the lab coat pocket she had been wearing and tossing the coat over her shoulder, she also found some over-sized sneakers that she put tissue paper in the toes to make fit, and quickly donned the outfit. Only then did Lena turn to find that Sandy had found an over-sized t-shirt, trousers, and even a pair of boots two sizes too big to wear. As Sandy poked another hole in a belt with a pocket knife she found there so as to keep the pants up, for she was curvaceous where Doris/Boris was not, Lena wrinkled up her pretty nose when she saw what Sandy was wearing, uttering in distaste, "Sandy, you have to be kidding me! Figure you to go into a closet of pretty clothes and find the UG-LI-EST thing to wear there!" Sandy merely stared blankly at Lena for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders as if to say to each their own before they both went back to the control room to see how far the others had gone in securing their escape from the island.  |
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Post by Vo Kshaa on Aug 31, 2016 18:54:12 GMT
"Got your plan Taf," Vo answered as he listened to what his friend explained to him. "Hope it will work. I wish I could share some of my luck with you. One more thing. How's Lu doing?"
"Your sister is pretty fine Vo," was Taffer's reply, "She's become a little anxious with all what happened here, but I'm sure she'll be okay once we gather on the Vigilant. Don't worry about her. I'd call her to talk with you, but she has just run off outside telling me she doesn't feel well in cramped spaces."
"It's not only about me worrying about her," Vo said with some uncertainty in his voice, "Chances are high she'll be important in creating the cure for this new virus. So please… keep her safe and don’t let her run off."
Once Vo finished the transmission, he returned to the room where his team were gathering and addressed Atticus.
"Taffer has informed me of his plan and it's following. With those schematic you've sent, he figured turning off one of the generators won't make much difference as their fields overlap with each other. But he managed to mod it to work in antiphase, which gave us three holes in the protective dome at the places where the strength of field created by his generator becomes equal to each of other generators which fields are overlapping with his one. In short, we have a way out, but the spaceship is already full and he sent the Vigilant to intercept the submarine that left the island or at least search for the traces where they could moor it. So he's going to fly out of the dome and use their portal to transport wounded men to the Vigilant, and then return back to the island to pick us up. He asks us to use this time gather information we can about that virus so that our good Doctor could start working on producing the cure right as we transfer him to the Vigilant's lab. And that's what I'm going to do right now."
With that said, he walked up to Doctor Euthanasius and said to him, "Doctor Euthanasius our friends have made us a window through the shield and will come to evacuate us soon. On our main ship, we have a laboratory which hopefully contains the equipment we'll need to create the cure for the virus. There's another thing that might be helpful. This selectivity of the virus which was designed to infect only Votans seems familiar to me. In fact, EMC had already created one with similar property, so-called Votacide. The thing is, my DNA was modified so that I could work as a healthy carrier of that virus. If this one is a modified version of the old EMC one, it makes me a good test subject for the cure. Moreover, there's a person whose system produces an antidote for any variant of the EMC Votacide. Our systems are fully compatible with each other so I can be injected with her blood safely. But when it comes to testing of the virus and the vaccine, I insist it will be me and not her."
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Post by Taffer on Aug 31, 2016 20:33:32 GMT
Meanwhile, Taffer went out of the tunnel and looked around searching for Lu. He found her quickly as she was standing nearby and staring into the jungle just like he saw her before. Once again he saw a swift movement behind trees, but he didn't pay much attention to that as he thought they had very little time to fulfill all parts of his plan.
"You didn't hear what we were talking about with Vo," he said as he went closer to her, "So I'll repeat my plan to you. We'll fly out of the barrier to exclude any kind of interference when we use the portal. Then we'll transfer all the wounded through the portal to the Vigilant. Then we'll get back to pick up the rest of our team and get away from this island again. Now let's go take our pilot seats because we really have very little time to pull all this out."
"You will fly," Lu muttered as she kept standing still and staring into the jungle.
"What?" Taffer stopped in place surprised to see Lu not following him.
"You will fly anywhere you want, I stay," Lu stated in a matter-of-fact way.
"What the jek is going on with you?! We all have less than an hour to scram out of here! Staying is a suicide!" Taffer found himself losing his self-control which he found inappropriate for a person in charge, so he took a deep breath and asked Em Dash to contact Lu's EGO and find out if she can help in reasoning her.
"I'm under direct command of my host," he heard Klimi's voice which he noted was more high-pitched than usual, "And I'm going to ensure she's not going to be restrained in her actions even if it takes treating you and your men as hostile!"
"Great, just great," Taffer muttered as he took another deep breath and took a step closer to the Irathient girl.
"Lu, as you may see we don't have much time," he said as he took another step closer, "So it is your decision and if you really want to stay then…" His hand rose quickly and landed on Lu's neck, taking advantage of her stationary position. A small syringe appeared in it, the one with a code lock on it with numbers 036 already set. Lu grabbed his hand and pushed it away from her but found out that it was now holding her hand firmly. Her eyes darted in the direction she expected her Decoy to appear, planning to switch places with it but to her dismay not seeing it there.
"… then I have drag you out of this strange place by force at least to the point where you'll be no longer under the influence of whatever is trying to pull you into this jungle and you'll be able to rethink your decision," Taffer finished.
"Now what was THAT?!" she asked feeling her body becoming weak to the point she had to sit in the ground.
"A nice set of nanites that will disable your EGO for about two days," Taffer answered calmly, "The weakness will go away in two hours. You'll feel completely normal, just without your EGO abilities. Your EGO will return in two days without any damage to it. You see, I've promised to your brother that I'll keep you alive and I'm going to keep my promise even if I have to pull you to safety by the feet. Now the best thing you can do to avoid the latter will be to let me help you on your feet and walk with me to the Riot. Then you'll have your much deserved rest in one of the cots on our ship. Ah, and you owe me a million scrip for this injection. Just kidding on the last one."
He helped Lu up and they started their way towards the ship, Taffer's hand still having a firm grip on Lu's shoulder. Lu wasn't opposing, just her lips were moving fast, clearly spitting some Votan and Human curses.
"Attila could you please help me with this patient," He said when they boarded the ship, "Yes, it's Lu and yes, she's not feeling well. Something is affecting her mind and keeps her focused on trying to reach the jungle and stay there which I can't allow her to do. I have her EGO disabled for two days and she's a little weaker than usual which will subside in a couple of hours which I expect to be long enough for us to get away from this island so she'll be no longer affected by it. So please stay with her and don't let her get off the ship or sabotage anything. Murdock and Atika, get ready to transfer our wounded men through the portal to the Vigilant once we get out of the protected zone. Then we'll get back to pick up the rest of our team."
With that said, he jumped into the pilot seat and started the engines, steering the ship to where the gap in the protection field should be according to his calculations.
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Post by Marcel Lestrange on Sept 1, 2016 6:22:12 GMT
When Lena left to find herself something else to wear instead of the lab coat, Marcel Lestrange stroke his thin moustache with his pinky. He was busy calculating. His methodical mind could foresee that if the virus will be released soon, then even when they have a cure to offer, there will be huge amount of victims no matter what. Making first batch of antidote, testing it on subjects, contacting Votan authorities and convincing them with a little presentation, negotiations about prize and other details, mass production and distribution the antidote - all of that takes time and costs Votan lives. But none of these lives can be written to Lena's and his account because they did not released the virus. Quite opposite - they will come out with a solution to end the pandemic and losses are unavoidable if they wanted to offer working solution to the problem. One can not make an omelette without breaking eggs. A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is already unemotional statistic. Blank numbers on a sheet or a screen. At least when you do not think about lives behind numbers. But who thinks a bout millions of lives belonging to people one does not even know? Usually nobody. Marcel thought about them but he was sure that if that Boris...Doris...whoever starts pandemic then nobody could do a thing to prevent perish of millions. Plus... Plus that tiny but important fact that misfortune of others is fortune for someone who knows how too use the situation and has means for it. That is how pharmaceutical industry used to work. And not only work but make billions. Nothing unethical in getting rich by providing cure or relieve to diseases. And when to think about it...then paying customers do not perish that easily because they are closer to the governmental feeding through than the rest of the population. Nothing Lena and Marcel can not change because even if they bother to insist that everyone should be treated equally for some irrational reason, someone will always find a short cut to avoid waiting in the line because distributors of amenities always have power to decide who they prefer.  "It is going to be a profitable and clean business," decided Marcel cynically. "There are couple of possible weak spots though...like getting competitors if the virus is released. Competition might be the heart and soul of economy but only in theory because some why lot of people dream about having monopoly because monopoly is more profitable for seller than buyer. But we can handle that problem with an iron fist which is covered by soft velvet glove. The second problem is...Good-doers who might to try to prevent spreading the virus. Except that once the virus left this island it is not going to be that easy. Also we can enter into vaccine business if necessary, so we are going to get a profit from this virus business anyway. Win-win situation," concluded Marcel with devilish grin on his handsome face. |
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Post by Kaj Oenfer on Sept 1, 2016 12:23:33 GMT
"If I have to guess about their course and current location," Taffer continued in his message, "I'd think they will visit some other lone island to test their virus first. Their goal is to destroy all Votans, not the entire life after all so I expect them to test it first in the safety of some isolated space. As for the wounded men from Sandy's squad, I wouldn't trust this contraption to work as a relay to the portal. I prefer sturdy direct connections when it comes to people's life. So we'll start transferring wounded men after we get out of this protecting dome. Hope to hear again from you soon Kaj."
When the Vigilant had received that message, Kaj responded with, "Very well Taffer. We will try to locate this sub immediately. I will also notify the Sick Bay to have their medical teams ready for incoming wounded. I do hope we hear from you again soon as well."
Once the communication was terminated by Taffer Kaj ordered the Vigilant's AI, Lexy, to start scanning the waters around the island for the sub's engine signatures. After several LONG minutes Lexy came back with, "Cap'ain! My Cap'ain! I founded it! We has a Space-DRUMS installed on me and Engineering was able to help me alter them to work as aqua...aqua-tic sonars! SO I can brings up the sub on our view screen!"
When the image of the modified sonar was projected on the view screen, they could clearly make out what was the image of the sub. Lexy then said, "It also lookses likes they is goin southwards!"
Kaj responded with, "Very good Lexy, keep track of them and let us know if they head towards any of the southern islands. Just keep working with navigation. So we can follow the sub from a safe distance if needed. That way we can keep them in range."
A little while longer Lexy's holographic Avatar appeared next to Kaj and the 6 year old Castithan girl in the flight suit excitedly jumped up and down saying, "Cap'ain Kaj! Cap'ain Kaj! They did! The sub did turn towards an island! Let's me bring up a map!"
When the map appeared on screen, Lexy continued with, "Is a very old map from before the Pale Wars so the odd island near Efate' isn't on it, but as we was near Port-Vila it is not hard to use that as our startin point! Now looks at MY mappy! It looks like they is goin to the southest...um southern(?) most island on this map. It is or was called Anatom when this map was put in my data-base. Not sure if it is still called that thoughs! Anyways that is where the sub...oh look at my viewscreen again! The sub is rising AND docking at Anatom now!! Uuummmmm Cap'ain Kajy. Sensors shows that this island has a similar shielding system as Doctor Eth...Euth...Eutha_____Um Doctor E.T.'s island!!!"
Kaj Ordered navigation to stop following the sub's signature to keep from getting close enough to be detected by it's occupants or whoever they may be meeting on the island of Anatom, and to head back towards Il' Vate, according to Lexy's map, also called Efate'. Then he told communications to send the co-ordinates to Commander Taffer aboard the Riot as soon as they were in communication range again.
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Post by Atika Constantine on Sept 1, 2016 12:42:49 GMT
"Attila could you please help me with this patient," Taffer said when Lu and he boarded the ship, "Yes, it's Lu and yes, she's not feeling well. Something is affecting her mind and keeps her focused on trying to reach the jungle and stay there which I can't allow her to do. I have her EGO disabled for two days and she's a little weaker than usual which will subside in a couple of hours which I expect to be long enough for us to get away from this island so she'll be no longer affected by it. So please stay with her and don't let her get off the ship or sabotage anything. Murdock and Atika, get ready to transfer our wounded men through the portal to the Vigilant once we get out of the protected zone. Then we'll get back to pick up the rest of our team."
With that said, Taffer jumped into the pilot seat and started the engines, steering the ship to where the gap in the protection field should be according to his calculations.
Attila quickly went over to help Taffer get Lu to an empty cot, being smart enough not to hit on his ill teammate while he was helping her. Then he sat down right next to her to keep a close eye on her as ordered and to keep her company as a sick person could always use a friend and the knowledge that they are not alone in their time of need. He even offered her a cup of teas as he and his sister were taught that it's always tea time. 
While Attila was seeing to Lu and Taffer was seeing to getting the Riot into the air again, Murdock started to ready the wounded for transfer to the Vigilant. As they were doing that, Atika changed several extremely bloody bandages, placing some of her homemade poultices on the wounds. Then she gave some of the wounded more of her medicinal tea to drink to keep them calmed and relaxed while they were also being prepped for transport.
 
Meanwhile back on the island of Doctor E.T., Vo had returned to the room where his team were gathering and addressed Atticus.
"Taffer has informed me of his plan and it's following. With those schematic you've sent, he figured turning off one of the generators won't make much difference as their fields overlap with each other. But he managed to mod it to work in antiphase, which gave us three holes in the protective dome at the places where the strength of field created by his generator becomes equal to each of other generators which fields are overlapping with his one. In short, we have a way out, but the spaceship is already full and he sent the Vigilant to intercept the submarine that left the island or at least search for the traces where they could moor it. So he's going to fly out of the dome and use their portal to transport wounded men to the Vigilant, and then return back to the island to pick us up. He asks us to use this time gather information we can about that virus so that our good Doctor could start working on producing the cure right as we transfer him to the Vigilant's lab. And that's what I'm going to do right now."
With that said, he walked up to Doctor Euthanasius and said to him, "Doctor Euthanasius our friends have made us a window through the shield and will come to evacuate us soon. On our main ship, we have a laboratory which hopefully contains the equipment we'll need to create the cure for the virus. There's another thing that might be helpful. This selectivity of the virus which was designed to infect only Votans seems familiar to me. In fact, EMC had already created one with similar property, so-called Votacide. The thing is, my DNA was modified so that I could work as a healthy carrier of that virus. If this one is a modified version of the old EMC one, it makes me a good test subject for the cure. Moreover, there's a person whose system produces an antidote for any variant of the EMC Votacide. Our systems are fully compatible with each other so I can be injected with her blood safely. But when it comes to testing of the virus and the vaccine, I insist it will be me and not her."
When Lena and Sandy had returned with clothes on, and Doctor Todt had gotten Volo something to wear as well, Atticus Batman said, "Alright we have our orders. While we await our 'taxi', Vo will help the doctor gather as much information as they can on the Doctor's Votacide virus. Volodja I also want you to help Vo and the Doctor with that if needed. The rest of us will help by gathering any supplies that he NEEDS to take with him. That way we can leave as soon as the Riot comes to get us, since we are working on a very limited time table!" |
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Post by Lena Marr on Sept 1, 2016 13:51:38 GMT
When Lena Marr and Sandy Bell had returned with clothes on, and Doctor Todt had gotten Volo something to wear as well, Atticus Batman said, "Alright we have our orders. While we await our 'taxi', Vo will help the doctor gather as much information as they can on the Doctor's Votacide virus. Volodja I also want you to help Vo and the Doctor with that if needed. The rest of us will help by gathering any supplies that he NEEDS to take with him. That way we can leave as soon as the Riot comes to get us, since we are working on a very limited time table!"
A sly smile crossed Lena Marr's pretty chalk white face when she heard Atticus say that, for unbeknownst to even her lover Marcel Lestrange, Lena had done more then just access and steal Dr. Euthanasius' computer data on the Votan Death Virus, but had also introduced an algorithm altering computer virus of her own devising. The data left in the computer records would appear to be unchanged, but key chemical and math equations in the research would be changed by her hacker's virus to be no longer valid, and only the most learned eye or someone very familiar with the data would know it was changed, and then only after much study. Only if the research was back upped on an server unconnected to the one she hacked or was on a separate data stick like she had transmitted the purloined data to would keep her virus from transforming it into false data. Years of being a contract spy and master thief had taught Lena many skills, but her ability to manipulate information in many ways was the one she was most proud of, for deception was necessary for a spy or a sleight-of-hand thief to survive, and above all, Lena was a survivor.
"Everybody but Pooh Bear thinks I'm just a brainless bimbo with homicidal urges, but I'm not," Thought Lena to the voices in her head, that included not only her EGO psyche, Hope, but those that represented the seven deadly sins. "That's why everybody underestimates me! I'm not just eye candy and a sex toy... although I kind of like being those too! No, I got skills and brains - I'm a genius bimbo with homicidal urges!"
"I hope you are not going to let them waste all that time looking for something that is not there when they are working on trying to rescue you and Mr. Lestrange?" Asked Hope wistfully, although she was pretty sure she knew the answer would not be the one she longed for. "The Protectors wouldn't even be in this mess if they hadn't come to rescue you guys."
"There's a sucker born every minute," Thought Lena in mental reply. "In the 1800's Earth time, an American human named David Hannum said that in criticism of a conman slash showman named P.T. Barnum and his audience. In fact, Barnum was a master of deception; able to pull off celebrated hoaxes which people would pay to see! I find it a hoot that Barnum had the last joke on his critic in that most people think Barnum made the famous quote, not Hannum. See - I know stuff!" Then added, "Besides it will keep the Protectors busy until our taxi comes, and out of my hair!"
"That may be true, Lena, but I hope you're not proud of yourself over this plan of yours!" Chided Hope is a disappointed tone.
The rest of the voices in Lena's head quickly jumped to her defense, except for Sloth that was gently snoring in a dark corner of Lena's mind.
"We should just kill them all, especially Atticus! He is so damn bossy!" Recommended Envy.
"Sounds good to me," Growled Wrath, "I'm still pissed we crash landed on this damn island in the first place!"
"Then how are we going to get off this island and make all our money from the virus antidote?" Queried Greed, "Think this through people!"
"Lena will figure a way off the island without them," Said Pride in a matter-of-fact ass-kissing way, "She is just that smart!"
Lust muttered, "I just want to find a nice quiet place to drag Marcel off to then tear off his clothes and grab his - "
"I'm still hungry," Gluttony wailed, interrupting Lust's graphic description of her planned sexual hijinks.
"Shut up all of you! I'm in charge!" Thought Lena to the loud voices in her noggin, "I might not have been when I was a kid, but I am now, and I'm going to do what I'm going to do - period! We let the do-gooders rescue us, then make sure the Votan Death Virus is released killing enough Votans to make a huge profit on the antidote so Pooh Bear and I can buy our own island and live happily ever after."
"But don't you REALLY want to just release the virus and have it kill ALL the Votans but you, in revenge for the way they treated you and looked down on you your whole life?" Asked Wrath slyly, and Lena would have to admit that the suggestion inherent in the question was very tempting, for deep down in Lena she was livid at how she had been treated harshly by her fellow Votans her whole life, with very few exceptions.
Hope asked through the telepathic link they shared through the EGO, "What about Lady Christianna? She's Castithan, a Votan, and supposedly your BGF! She and her babies too may die if the Votan plague is widespread."
Lena's cold sky blue eyes uncharacteristically blinked as Hope's words sunk in, for Lady Christianna was the only Votan who she felt treated her as an equal, even after Lena had almost assassinated her. Furthermore, Lady was really the only Votan Lena actually liked, and certainly didn't want to see her harmed, especially by Lena's actions or inactions. Lena wasn't worried about Atticus or his and Lady's children, for they were infused with Grid energy, but then so was Lady since her accident with the singularity bomb and Atticus' rescue of her.
Lena mentally replied to Hope, "Lady will be okay; her and her family too! The Grid energy should protect them, and if not, I'll figure some way to sneak her some of the antidote in my blood! Easy peasy!"
However, in the back of her mind, Lena was beginning to have doubts about her master plan to wipe out the Votan races, as now it might affect HER adversely by taking away her girlfriend, and Lena just didn't have that many friends to spare.
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Post by Luuzuk Kshaa on Sept 1, 2016 20:58:37 GMT
The jungle was still wet from the thunderstorm that had passed several hours ago. She found it rather unnatural that the storm was raging only at the areas close to the edges of the island and not in its center, but it didn’t bother her the slightest — a wind was still a wind and water was still water. Besides, she had several lairs in different parts of the island so she could have her rest in ether calm part of the island or in its stormy part if she felt like it. Her current place of resort was right on the edge of the stormy area and it was one of her favorite places because of those three trees that were growing there. All three of them looked alike and had large leaves on their top which was able to gather a good amount of water in them. But they smelled differently and the water in their leaves was getting different tastes after several hours that had passed since the rain filled them. The one to the left made the water sweet like a pineapple, the one in the center made it salty like blood and the right one made the water taste like rotten flesh. She scratched her head against each of them as she pondered about her flavor of the day, and after she decided that today it would be the sweet one, she effortlessly climbed the left one. Once she got near the top, she pulled one of the leaves down using only her teeth and let the sweet liquid flow right into her mouth. After her thirst subsided, she climbed a little more so she could see the sky. She looked at the direction where she knew her new friend was flying away, probably to never see her again. Thinking of her friend made her feel sad, and she didn't like it when she felt like that for a long time. So she jumped off the tree, landing on the ground almost with no sound accompanying it and licked her paw. Not because it was hurting, but because she always felt better when she licked her paw. I reminded her that she was always in control of most important things and things she was not in control of was therefore unimportant.
As if on cue to support this great idea a new scent touched her nostrils and that scent meant food. She touched tips of her claws with her tongue, making sure they were sharp as always and after she was satisfied with the condition of her weapon she quietly followed the scent she just felt. She continue to follow the scent until she reached a small creek where she saw her prey. Her new friend would probably find some funny name for it like a Wombat-Koala hybrid or something like that. She wasn't interested in names; she was interested in fresh meat. But before she readied for an attack, she circled around her prey for a while to find the traces it left when it came there and smell them more closely. This way she was determining if it wasn't by chance of those type she preferred not to attack. Unless she felt a really strong hunger, she tended not to feed of females with cubs. Killing a female meant its cubs would die and that meant less food to be present in the future. This time she didn't have to worry about that as the animal turned out to be male. She pressed herself to the ground, readying for a jump she knew if she time it right it would end in a second and she wouldn't have to even chase her prey. The trick was to wait until the animal finishes drinking and starts to lick its nose — that would be the moment when its reaction would be slowed down enough to be fatal for it. Just watch and be ready. Just watch and…"Okay people, we're far enough from the shield so it won't interfere with the transportation process. Murdock, it's time to activate the portal and start transferring people to the Vigilant. I'd help too but the weather is still bad around the island so I'll have to stay at the control throughout the entire process. So use the portal and take someone from the Vigilant's medical squad to help if you need it. Remember, we have to make it quick as we'll need some time to return and pick up the rest of our team. Good luck with it, I'll do my best to keep this bird staying calm and steady in the process."  Taffer's voice sounded like another hit of thunderstorm for Lu. Suddenly there was no jungle around her, no prey to kill and no sweet water to drink from those leaves. She was still a weak piece of flesh in a metal can hanging above the sea under the command of the owner of that voice in the comms and with no way to get back. Unless… People next to her were busy with the portal standing at the opposite wall. They came through it here from the island and they were entering it again to travel somewhere further. Would it be possible to use it to return to the island? Most likely. It should be easy in her condition to pretend she seeks medical attention too but she would change the destination just as she entered it. The shield around the island would be the problem though. It seemed it was preventing portals from getting synchronized, so she'd have to wait until they return inside the shield. But then the evacuation would be over and she wouldn't be able to pretend she's going port to the Vigilant. She'd have to think of a way to trick them into letting her pass through the portal while back on island's grounds. Until then she would make everything for them to think she meant no harm. She turned to the Irathient man who was watching her and stretched out with a warm smile on her face. "Thanks for the sweet tea," she said as she glanced over the cup standing on the night stand next to her cot. I'm afraid I fell asleep too quickly and didn't thank you and Atika right away so here it is. And sorry for being a dead weight now, but that's mostly on the head of our commander who decided that injecting me with an EGO-disabling thing was a good idea. Is he always that fast to act on his team mates? Ah, I understand, you know him for even less time than I do. I better ask my brother when I see him." Her smile disappeared for a moment as she felt sad that she probably going to never see him again if her plan comes true. She suddenly found herself bringing up her arm with the back of her hand close to her face. Not understanding why she made that gesture and what she was going to do next with her hand, she turned it around to see her palm and flexed her fingers as if she was interested to see if her fingers operate normally. She continued with a small talk with Attila as she watched the portal with her side vision. As she noted the last patient was transported and Murdock disappeared with him too, her eyes widened in a feign surprise as she suddenly said, "Wait, do you remember Murdock saying he set the portal at the remains of the Garilu for a self-destruct? Because I don't and I can bet he forgot about it with all the wounded men he had to care for! We can't let it to just stand there! I we have those portals then anyone can have them too! If they find a way to tune in, they could teleport to the island without knowing what's waiting for them on the other side! And what is more horrible, they may let the creatures from the island to walk through the portal too! We can't let it happen! I can get through the portal, set it for self-destruction after the next pass and return through it, thus triggering the self-destruction! A lot of people will be saved just in two minutes or less!" As she saw a kind of distrust in Attila's eyes, she added, "Come on, do you really think I'm doing to run off? Look at me, I can barely walk and I can't hold anything bigger that my Order pistol and I have my EGO disabled! Whatever beasts have injured all those people, they will tear me apart if I spend there more than a minute! None of you know how to set it for a self-destruct properly, Taffer is busy piloting so it's only me who's able to do that!"
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