Includes Lysette's cybernetic ailments and their diagnosis with Kehari?, and their eventual progression towards repair. Then, an interesting, saddening encounter with Sweet William for the new Space Hyena.
Lysette pulls herself almost to standing with you, more or less resting on most of your backside.. "Interesting fellow, but seemingly quite distracted.." she churrs..
Kehari watches System go and then leads you through the glass door of Cyber. "Yeah, he doesn't empathize very well and he can be fairly single-minded at times... Ah, hello," she says to the ferret manning the front desk. "My friend here is recently arrived, and it looks like most of her hardware is failing or failed outright."
Lysette almost pretends to walk with you, her legs following yours a bit, as she's tall enough to mirror with a margin of safety and conformity! She leans a little over, smiling to the Ferret, and looking up to you a moment after.. "Will.. they just take me, without insurance, or a plan, or..?"
The ferret giggles quietly and steps out from behind the desk. "You /are/ new here aren't you?" she says, showing the two of you down a pristine white hallway to a treatment room. "Don't worry, we'll take care of you even without money."
Lysette's ears flush.. "Well.. well, shouldn't I give something in return? I don't want to feel like I've abused you..!" she responds, as she follows along on the hallway, drifting back up like a balloon eventually.
Kehari grins and leads you down the hallway and steps inside the treatment room. The ferret powers up some scanning gear and several shiny chrome arms unfold from the ceiling and zero on a tall white table with a thin, soft latex cushion on top. "We're always happy to have new folks come to work here, if you like, but this is what I do," the ferret says with a kind smile. "You're not abusing me by asking me to do what I like."
Lysette follows along, as if she had a choice! Her eyes follow the arms, her long manefur rising up just a bit as she observes the odd automation. But, its not beyond her range of thought, just more developed than she's seen. She leans forward, whiskers flicking out a bit as she sniff sniffs.. "Oh..! Really?.. You do this just because you like this?.." she blinks softly.. "W.. well, you really don't need it for anything else? At all?" she asks, still a little confused at the concept.
Kehari grins up at Lysette and reels her in again. "Nope. We have everything we need. What good is money when you can make almost anything? Remember, no resource pressures. People work because they want to, not because they have to." The ferret tech nods and smiles, agreeing. "It helps me feel useful, and I like it! Plus I get to meet a lot of new people."
Lysette bumps in against your back, her ears flicking back as she bumps, but giggles.. "I.. I guess, no good at all?.. But.. I guess I understand, but its still hard to comprehend. Its.. impossible, seeming.." she responds. She smiles to the ferret.. "Maybe I'll do something similar one day here, but I guess.. well, no deadlines or anything, these days.." she giggles.
The ferret grins and nods. "Yup, no rush. So, what're we in for today, besides a malfunctioning flight pod?"
Lysette murmurs.. "Well, almost everything on me isn't working well.. I need eye work, new jacks probably, new panels and interfaces for whatever standards you're using, a new nano-colony system, as its pretty much expended in its colonization mode, and almost _nothing_ is reporting back, and.. well, there's a _lot_.. I'm going to be here a lot, I fear, before I get back in any real shape.."
Lysette reaches up, and pushes her rusty glasses back with a smile. "Just.. at the least, get my eyes to work, for now, and maybe an adaptor jack so I can hook up to things I can read output from, aside from my projectors."
The ferret blinks slightly. "Panels? Good grief, what did they do, robotify you? Hop up on the table, honey, let's get a look at you..."
Lysette blinks, and blushes softly.. "W.. well, its lower tech, I guess, I know it could be done differently, but it was a standard failsafe.." she offers. "I can't really hop.." she giggles.. "I have no relationship with gravity, I'm afraid, at all.." she nods, and looks to you for help as she tries to work her way around to your front, and to the table, hands holding shoulders, turning about, spinning her!
Kehari grins and takes hold of you with a second extruded tentacle, helping you onto the table's surface and holding you gently against it. "Er, I'm not going to interfere with the scan am I?" she asks the ferret, who shakes her head. "No, just hold her there for me," the tech answers and pulls a floating screen down, tapping at some holo displays as a couple of the arms start travelling down your body.
Lysette's very easy to pull around, only offering wind resistance really! One might imagine she could be knocked around to some terrible speeds, if she was not careful.. She blinks, looking back and forth between Ferret and Vixen. The scan reveals quite a bit, a haze of bots through her, some still holding parts of her crystallized, but nothing too terrible.. just a general malaise through her of dead material in blood and tissue, only perhaps a tenth still actively doing anything to keep her maintained - and, without those, she'd probably not be in terribly good condition. The wiring, the silicon and equipment displaces strands all the way through her, spine wrapped, a rather large bundle at her hip. One ankle is entirely replaced, both legs have simple nerve like extentions - there's.. quite a bit of netting, all the way through.. well, more.. sensitive places. Her heart has artificial valves, her lungs internal springs of sorts, and scaffolding on either side grafted to her lungs. Her jaw is fractured, ne .. Her jaw is fractured, near where her tooth is missing.. (continued! give me another pose after this. :))
[OOC] Kehari waits. :)
The wiring to the hyena's right eye is missing one of three cords, but the whole arrays are almost dead, making her eyes both dull - they're projecting status, reports, readable across her vision. Her eyes themselves are indeed myopic, though! She didn't have that fixed, apparently, preferring her glasses! Though, her glasses are terrible rusty things, now. Her backside is mottled with equipment, bio-electrical receptors, powered by the hyena herself, processing, data storage, hookups for the braintapes, inputs, outputs, inputs for nano-colonies and injections even. Through the back of her skull thick wires bristle into a thousand points in her brain, blunt, primitive - one wonders if she's not brain damaged from such a complete invasion, nothing spared..! Her ears have similar hookups, receptors.. and, in her throat, her larynx is modified, artificial cords beside the original, the effect of a speaker if she wishes, but the chips embedded in her brain are damn primitive. She appears to be abou .. She appears to be about 30 percent functional, computer wise, and that's even lesser thanks to improper connections, broken and faded in the melee of restoration and storage. She's pretty close to walking undead, but the pain she should be feeling is blocked at the brainstem, only coming through dull in the end.
Oh! The panel on her side seems to hook up to an artificial electromagnetic balance system just behind it, but its still a panel, LCD, manual adjustment, biocovered but a genuine solid piece too.
The ferret just whistles low as the scanner's output unwinds on the display. Kehari herself looks from the display back to you, almost in disbelief. "Whoa," the vixen says softly. The ferret tech shakes her head. "This is quite a job, all right..." the tech says, collating the scanner output and making a list of things to fix or replace. It's quite a long list, with your eyes at the top of the list. "OK honey, here's the damage." The tech turns the screen so you can better see it. "You're pretty much fully invaded, and I know you don't want to be here long enough to fix everything, so we're gonna do your eyes now and I'm gonna bypass your old interfaces and install something that'll let you interface with the Mess's infosystems, er, wirelessly."
Lysette's eleventybillion years old, or so, who knows? Its surprise she's alive at all.. but the screen still draws a frown from you.. "Its.. Oh dear, not much did survive, did it? My projectors are only reporting a few systems, but I was hoping the others were just disconnected, not busted.." she comments.. and, looks at the screen, her eyes a little wide a moment, until the right eye breaks again, and goes black, much to her annoyance. She whines, and doesn't fix it right away.. "Oh, I knew I'd have to come back here a bunch.. But that's okay.. The Mess.. has a wireless system? Those tend not to be so reliable, though, and is it secure?" she asks, blinking softly, looking from ferret to vixen, her hands softly wringing together.
Kehari actually looks fairly worried. She's not even sure how you're up and about at all, evidently your nano-colonies are pretty robust! She rests a hand comfortingly on your shoulder as the ferret tech chuckles. "It's plenty secure, don't worry. Nobody really uses a physical connection except for very large bandwidth requirements. I don't mean to alarm you by saying this, but I really urge you to return soon. There's a lot of stuff in here that, well, just isn't healthy for you anymore. We can do a lot better, and what's still working in there is on its last legs, OK?"
Lysette's nano-colonies rate as old school Rod Engines, not at all electrical, super-redundant! They're actually damn simple, meant to break down and yet keep enough running for it all to work, not designed to be efficient, though she's pretty much close to empty and unworking right now. Her ears rest back, red as she nods.. "I can see.." she sighs softly.. "Oh, oh well.. much of it is pointless now, anyhow." she offers, her ears flat, her head a little down as she looks away. "Come back with me later? Or, help me, back at your labs?.. I can guide you, for some of it, I know what's going on in there.. I put most of it in, I designed some of it custom.." she offers.. She looks a little up to you, and smiles faintly.. "I prefer my plugs, but.." she laughs.. "Maybe its just the tug, its hard to imagine.."
Kehari smiles down at you as she gently runs a hand over your headfur, between your ears, as the ferret turns to a panel to answer a chirp. "Either or, hon. They might be a little better equipped here, but I can probably borrow what I need."
Lysette laughs softly.. "I'm comfortable with you, and I can collaborate with you, you're very much the same in many ways.. You.. don't have any jacks of any sorts, Kehari?" she asks, reaching out to touch your middle as her legs hold her on the table. She grins just a little, missing tooth expressing her perfectly.
Kehari grins easily and shakes her head. "Nope, I'm fully connected through the local infospace. After my various bits merged, I exist as much as data as I do as meat." The ferret turns from the summons and says, "Fabrication is bringing your grapple over. It should fit your needs pretty well. Did you still want a wireless link? I can probably modify your grapple into a physical link, but you'll need to request a local port if you want to jack in."
Lysette giggles just a bit to you.. "A shame.." she sighs softly, but smiles. "I'm data, I'm sure, I exist and work as it, but its all held so physically its hard to think of it as so separate as you do. But, the wireless is going to change that a bit, if its more than just voice and light data transmission.. I'd offer to hook up to you, otherwise.." she chuffs. She turns to the Ferret, smiling.. "Alright. Will you hook it in at my left arm, where the other was?" Sure enough, there's a couple of jacks which go all the way through the other side of her arm. One can look right through her there.
Kehari chuckles and holds up a hand, a finger, a finger whose glove seems to flow and expand around to form... a jack. "Oh, I didn't say I /couldn't/ jack in, just that I usually don't have to." The ferret takes the clean white plastic box from a courier drone and sets it down, then opens it up. "Hmmm... I'm gonna have to modify this a little..." she says, fetching some measuring tools and getting a good set of measurements off your left arm.
Lysette blinks softly, reaching out to touch the jack, and circle along the metal edge.. "Oh.. oh wow, you've quite a bit more control than I thought, if you can draw real solids like this.." she chuffs.. "Oh, that's so awesome.." she shivers, grinning to you. She offers the left arm to the ferret, her tail wagging behind her on the table. "But.. is it the same as, say, a solid *click* into your spine? Did you ever get to live those days, or was it like, totally before your time, such crude things?"
Kehari grins and nods, tapping the jack-finger against her glittering technotattoo, at a tiny port there. "Not quite in my spine, but yeah. I did more headwork than bodywork, see." The ferret, meanwhile, works behind you two, installing the mount on the grapple.
Lysette giggles a little.. "I've plenty of headwork! But, no, my body _required_ all this work, really, for what I was doing.." she nods, reaching out to tap where you tap. She reaches out to your head.. "I've run thought processes on computer, ghost brain/personality before, but I've not that much computing power left anymore. When I used to be able to get the central emulation to myself, it was really wonderfully enlightening to jack up to that, and have five minutes mean like, a whole day of thought to you.." she shivers softly. "Well, really, it was meant for several thousand minds, but just one at a time.. Well, most of the time was spent in the upload and reload in those five minutes, but twenty seconds with such expanded base, and a break from normal time regulation is beautiful, if scary too at first.."
Kehari says, "That's half of me, now," smiling and tilting her head against your hand. "The part that was HARI expanded within my data volume and is as much a part of me as the meatbrain under your hand. It's exhilarating."
William exits the Quick-Transit System. William has arrived.
Lysette laughs warmly.. "Meatbrain.. what a way to put it.." she chuffs, second hand rising, cupping your cheek as she leans forward. "I think its beautiful, and the result of all you've done, what you've become, you are beautiful. I think I've felt it before, the complete access.. but, I came down from that, after those good twenty seconds. I feel lucky I was able to touch on it, for just a moment.." She giggles happily, stroking a thumb across your forehead. Kehari and Lysette are inside the medcenter's Cyber department.
The ferret tech takes Lysette's arm with a murmured instruction and starts attaching the grapple, running the attachment studs and data lines.
William is, himself injured. He comes into the general area, inhaling, looking around, bandaged throat to hips under his perfect white shirt. His limp, dead tail is held in his arms.
Lysette's arm drifts from Kehari, left, fingers spread.. the grapple attaches quite easily if its designed right, the pins hooking in with a sudden *click* *whirr*, the smaller ones only slowly fixed in place - her nanites are pretty well dead, after all, and they repair slowly, even if this new, fresh, and available, unlike the other ruined components. She might be able to smell William injured, etc, etc! She'd be terribly worried.
Kehari smiles down at Lysette. "Well then, we'll just have to make you beautiful too," she murmurs, ears twitching as she hears a little commotion outside the shop. She turns and blinks at William, looking more confused than worried. "What in the..." she mutters...
William smells of blood. Strongly. He even smells of his blood, a weird, sad taste, half metallic, half dust. There are scratches on his face where the bandages don't reach, and his tail is as limp as a dead fish "Hullo?" He sticks his head around the corner "H...hello?"
Lysette blinks softly.. and looks behind Kehari quietly, drifting up from the table as her legs loosen, and she rises up.. "Oh good gods.." she whispers.. "Here, I can help him.." she coos, lifting up her left arm, nudging a little aside on the vixen, and she *grapples* for the first time, drifting over to William, an arm out to him.. "Here! I'll get you in quick, dear!" The Space Hyena is _utterly_ separate from the field of gravity. When she touches William, so is he, if she gets a good enough grip! Her field can extend to a similar weight to hers!
Well, _if_ she touches William, that is! Her aim is accurate.
Kehari scrambles for Lysette, trying to grab her before she gets ahead of herself. "Whooooooa no, hang on there," she says. "William, in here please..."
William gives a startled squeak as the claw appears. His tail flops spastically, as though attempting to respond, but the bones of it appear shattered. William himself tries to dodge, as Kehari moves, and looks at you both, maroon eyes grieving.
Lysette's probably along the way pretty quickly - eek.. Lysette will say she just ends up near William, drifting at his side.. She unhooks, and rehooks down, planting firmly to the ground, offering a hand to William.. "I'm sorry.. here, let's go in, I'll help.." she asks, waving Kehari over to help too.
Kehari walks over and takes William gently by the arm. Curiously, she doesn't seem particularly worried given his horrific condition. "William, what happened?" she asks the boy as she guides him to the room's patient table.
Lysette helps, drifting along, grappling into the distance with her left arm, curling her right low on William's back for support.. "What happened?.. I'm trained in this sort of thing, I want to help.."
William gives Lysette a very cautious look "Don't touch me," he says quietly, his voice faintly English, polite. Then he follows Kehari, going to sit up on the table "You're floaty," William informs Lysette, and winces, hugging his tail "I got attacked. Now my bones feel all weird."
Lysette blinks softly, and withdraws her arm carefully.. "Oh.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you.." she offers, drifting easily, hand tapping up to knock the side of her head once or twice - her right eye looked pretty much black before, but after a moment, it looks normal, if dull again, like the other.. "Who would attack another person here?" she offers, with a whine.
Kehari chides William, "Don't be rude, she wants to help you. Up onto the table..." She grins crookedly at Lysette. "Oh, you'd be surprised. Just because there's no resource pressure doesn't mean there's /no/ pressures here... Now, William, tell me what happened."
William eyes Lysette cautiously, then says in his sweet voice "You haven't hurt me. I'm just all sore and broken inside. I got beaten up." He lowers his head and murmurs "The Museum had a fight with the Library. But no one believes me. All the reference catalogues got out of place. I had to work for hours and hours." As Kehari scolds him, he looks at Lysette "I'm sorry, ma'am."
Lysette follows next to the table, her head resting on it as she drifts low, near to her knees, looking up at the odd and bloodied form of William with a whimper.. "Can I get you gauzed up at least in the interim?.." she asks.. "Oh.. I'm still sorry, I was just.. I jumped, I should have let Kehari handle it.." she smiles a bit.. "Don't be sorry.. don't worry.. I'm Lysette, dear.. I'm, well, new, or reallllly old.." she grins a little, broken tooth exposed, hopefully giving a little empathy from the similarly damaged state.
William is covered in spider webbing, which appears to be gauze, but underneath, he is still injured. Sluggish, cold dark red blood stains patches "Don't apologise," he says softly "It isn't your fault. Who are you? Lysette? I'm old too. I'm older than System, he says."
Kehari places a hand on William's shoulder, comforting him, speaking quietly. "It's all right," she says to the hyena with an apologetic smile. "William's a bit different as well, despite his outward appearance. You might even say he's strange, right William?"
William's voice is quiet, meek "Some people say I am."
Lysette smiles a bit.. "I'm Lysette Baden Mitza.. I drifted for.. Well, I'm guessing half a billion years, maybe, for all I know. Its almost impossible to say.. But, really, I've only spent twenty three years awake.." she offers, bowing her head on the table a bit.. She reaches out softly, looking for acceptance.. "Could I?.. What is that on you.." she asks, her ears rising, a little red.. "I think we're all a little strange, arn't we?" she offers, smiling..
Kehari grins down at Lysette, resting a hand against the small of her back. "William?" she asks softly. "I'm not sure the people here can do much for you. Wouldn't your employer be able to fix you up? He did give you your tail, after all."
William takes Lysette's hand. His fingers are room temperature. He says "A spider spun it onto me to stop me leaking." When Kehari speaks, William turns his head back "He's scared. He got hurt and he's hiding. I don't want to go to him. People might follow and hurt him."
Lysette's tail curls curiously at her back, her position a little odd. The gravityless hyena uses her muzzle to hold herself on the table, her left hand's new grapple anchoring her to the floor, the girl bent in at her knees as she reaches out softly.. She curls her fingers to William, and smiles, sighing softly.. "Look, I can help you, if you let me.. There are things I can do here, even if I'm not as advanced, to patch you better than the webbing, and set you into healing cycles, William.." Lysette's tail wags up towards Kehari slowly with the hand on her as she watches on.
Kehari considers for a moment, then shrugs. What's the worst that can happen? She waves to a passing drone, and shortly another hemispherical drone comes over with an assortment of medical supplies.
William says, awkwardly "I don't know how to heal. Can you explain it?" He is not doing anything in the least suspicious. In fact, the teenager seems tired, almost defeated "Do whatever you want to me. I don't mind. Try things."
Lysette places her feet on the ground, slowly rising as she holds William's hand. She looks at the broken humanlike one, and smiles.. She looks to the healing supplies, and giggles just a bit.. "Actually, I'm a little gratified - most of these I recognize outright.. My bioengineering was some of the best possible, and we were so dull in so many other things compared to here.." she comments to Kehari.. She strokes the back of William's hand with a finger.. "Lay out dear, let me get a good look.. We'll undo the webbing and do a covering your body can take in and heal on its own.."
Kehari grins at Lysette and steps aside to give her access to William. "Some things are universal," she says.
William lies down, and closes his eyes. The webbing has been recently, and fairly expertly applied. Investigation reveals that his system is not in the least normal - it has a covering of skin, delicate bird-bones, and veins. There is nothing else, really, save for pools of quicksilver inside him. Someone has set shattered ribs. Someone has moved damaged fragments back into place. His tail is, however, so seriously damaged that the nerve endings are cut. William seems perfectly, utterly trusting.
Kehari murmurs, "Make sure the quicksilver there doesn't touch your skin."
Lysette blinks softly.. "Oh.. dear, you seem to be quite.." she trails, reaches over to the same scanning system used for her, setting it to run while she carefully adjusts some of the webbing.. "I'm very sorry.. Would you want any pain killers?.. This must be terrible.." she trails, down to the tail, her ears back. "This can be fixed.. Its just.. terrible to look at, William.." she sighs softly. She looks to Kehari, smiling faintly.. "I wouldn't want to cross contaminate his nanocolonies with my own, or vice versa, that gets messy. I'll be perfectly careful."
Kehari smiles a little sharper but simply nods and leaves it at that.
William says dreamily "Yeah, not...I don't want to spread." He takes a breath, obviously seriously pounded - it's as though great weights had been dropped on him, then his body had been torn. William peers at the scanning system - which reports that he does have a heart, although it does not beat. It reports a number of things, in fact, which begin to be contradictory early on. For example, it states that William is entirely made of teeth and blood. It also mentions that he is entirely made of viral matter. And it places his age as seventeen, and his species as purely human. William's eyes are worried "Okay. Do...er...whatever you want. Um. I don't think painkillers work on me."
Lysette looks up a little, then down to the screen.. She hooks a foot under a bar of the table, and holds herself onto one foot as she reaches forward to the tray, instruments gathered up easily, a few placed to William's side as she looks across him.. "My.. you're.. What.. are you?" she asks, she coos, looking a bit back to him.. "Actually.. like that, you shouldn't be too hard.. to, well, fix.. you've evolved into a somewhat more uniform body than I would have expected.. But, the nerves are still broken at your tail. You've been engineered heavily.." she smiles a bit. "You scan as fully engineered, in fact. That's amazing to get such a high percentage. Viri usually are not terribly efficient, honestly." she mrmrs, and leans over. Its not clear exactly what she's doing, but there's a tug William can feel at the base of his tail.. another, another, four, then a twinge of sensensation as she brushes a clear fluid over the bits of alteration.. "Your body will grow nerve over these lines, or should.." she chuffs, .. she chuffs, "And they will work for now.."
William blinks, repeatedly, as the hyena girl works, evidently rather surprised that, well, anyone _would_ be helping him. A charming smile, boyish, settles on his face, and his tail flicks, in a somewhat more controlled fashion. William leans back and puts his hand over the stinger, carefully, then straightens and flexes. After a moment, he says "I...am Sweet William. I am a Secretary. The Secretary. Oh! I'm engineered? Really?" He considers "What does that mean, ma'am?"
Lysette giggles just a bit.. "Oh, I can tell you all about it.. Sweet." she smiles. "Viriengineering is wonderful! You've been modified down to the point where you register as fully viri infected, and that's not a bad thing - the viri are engineered and produced to match your system, and your cells will naturally reproduce them, meaning that once you've got the first treatment, it perpetuates itself! I don't know, they seem to have changed your circulatory and digestive system massively.. What do you eat? You should have a little before too long, you're going to need it to heal, dear.." she smiles up, then looks back down to the tail, as she reconnects internal arteries and plumbing, the air smelling a little burnt for a moment, but it goes largely unfelt.. "You're going to be sore for a while, either way.. Maybe you should call in sick for a day or two from your Secretary job?"
Kehari clears her throat carefully and just listens, keeping a close watch on William, looking at him with a purpose.
William's tail is begining to writhe slightly, the more touches it recieves, the more it responds, but unlike William, it does not seem to be sweet and kind. Something about it moves aggressively, then sinks, waiting as it is reconnected appropriately. William listens to Lysette and looks across at Kehari. Then William says "Oh! I see. I...I have StrangeVirus?" He seems to be trying to get around this idea. William says immediately "No I don't." It's a statement, his lips part, struggle "I have a ...no I don't." It's as though every time he comes close to grasping the concept, it wriggles away. Then he says "I eat sweets. I can call in sick?" The boy blinks "Are...you sure?"
Kehari places a hand on Lysette's shoulder now and looks to William. "You should ask your employer about calling in sick, but I think some recuperation time is in order. Perhaps you should mention that to him. I also think," she adds, turning to address the tail of all things, "that if you want to continue this relationship, you should stop thinking what you're thinking." Odd and ominous, that.
Lysette smiles.. "Oh, I'm sure you could call in sick! And generally, the viris are called retroenginnering viri, William.. Don't worry, you don't really have much of anything anymore, you're done changing, dear, so its just residual which keeps you secure." she offers.. She watches the tail, but sees no evil in nature, being a biologist. She thinks it moves beautifully, from all appearances. She begins to hook it in at the base, attaching flesh to flesh again, here and there, until she can coat it in a clear substance which dries quickly, and breathes like a regular skin.. "I imagine I'm still a little crude compared to most upwarpians in my techniques, but you will be better, William.. Do you like Watermellon? I would share one with you, if you'd like? Or ice cream?" she asks, smiling.
William nods "I will. Yes. Maybe I should take a holiday. I was thinking...the Star Lemur colony, I really do like Zee - it gave me a hat." He brightens, then looks down at his tail in bewilderment as Kehari addresses it, and pats it. The movement seems to keep it quiescent. William looks back up at Lysette "I am retroengineered viri. Alright." Finally, work seems complete, and William examines his tail curiously, a much happier expression settling on his tired face "Doesn't hurt nearly so much now. Um. What is watermellon? I do like ice cream."
Lysette smiles a little.. "Watermellon.." she giggles. "Its a large.. fruity thing, green on the outside, red on the inside, which tastes really good, and is easy to eat." the big toothed hyena smiles.. no, grins, exposing her missing tooth. She offers William a nose bump, where Kehari pats the tail, and reaches out.. "I think the webbing should do for the rest of you, if you're feeling okay with it? It seems to be acting as a second skin, yes.. And, its more like viral engineered person, dear! You're not a viri in and of yourself, you're a secretary, and those are supposed to be nice for the most part." she giggles. "Would you want to do ice cream then? I'll share a cone with you.. Or, between all three of us, Kehari?" she asks, her tail sweeping.. "A sundae? Vanilla? Chocolate? Mint?"
William smiles "Red on the inside sounds nice." He peers "What happened to your fang?" At the nose bump, William's newly healed tail arcs up suddenly and hangs, over his shoulder, stinger quivering slightly. William eyes it a moment, then says "I think I feel much better." He brightens "Yes, I am okay! Thankyou!" The tail does not strike, however, remaining where it is. William says "I _am_ a Secretary. Not a virus." That obviously pleases him, and now he brightens "Yes, please. Anything. Whatever madam Kehari likes."
Kehari eyes the tail sternly as it arcs up, her eyes staying on it for a moment after it stops moving before turning to Lysette with a smile. "Mint chocolate chip is my favorite."
Lysette giggles.. "Its very nice, I agree, William.." she trails, and blushes a little.. "Oh, when I first got knocked off the gravitational plain, I got hit by the side of a whole building that was ripping from a planetoid.. Its.. kind of weird, its a lot to explain, dear.." she smiles a bit.. then grins outright, to expose it.. "I don't know if I want to fix it.. not just yet.. It feels neat.." she giggles, and wiggles a bit of her tongue through it! "That's right, not a virus! Poor dear.. Stay safe, you know? Don't let people beat you up like that, go to your friends, they will help you, I'm sure.." she continues, reaching out to take
William's hand again. "You're welcomed.." she whispers towards him, then looks to Kehari, with the bright smile of having actually done something good here. "Mint chocolate chip!" she chuffs out, though, "Honestly, absolutely, I mean it, my favorite, but noone else wants to eat that as a sundae or whatnot with another person, it feels like!"
Lysette's tail wags with a *click* *click* *click*, "But that's because you can't modify it too much, its too good on its own.." she giggles.
William winces faintly - clearly having a tooth broken does not sound pleasant to _him. However, his tail seems to trust the two ladies, and there is no further threat. William says "Er, I will try. Um." He seems, if anything, a little boggled by Lysette's kindness, and gives Kehari an odd, thoughtful look. William then says "Oh. Well, I have never had a sundae."
Kehari laughs happily at the little coincidence. "See, I like busy ice cream. Plain old vanilla is just so boring!" She grins at William and adds, "You'll like it, it's sweet."
Lysette smiles a little to William.. "Aw.. I'll be all fixed eventually.. I kind of feel like my broken tooth right now, though.. I'm broken, barely working at all right now.." she sighs softly.. "It just seems fitting, until my body works right once more.." she offers, her gaze falling a little. "I'm just glad I'm still alive." Lysette giggles.. "Well, Vanilla alone is, you're right, that's why that must be topped if you're going to have it.. I like busy, too, so much to add, or have, and mint is so good.."
William is, now, obviously far more cheerful than he was when he first entered. He trails along behind people, happy to follow and experience whatever they are suggesting. William adds "I do like nice sweet things. I thought the Beast would be sweet, but he turned out not to be. I'm glad you're alive, Lysette. I like you." William considers, then says "L for Lysette."
Lysette giggles.. "L for Lysette.. I can tell you about me, if you want a card for your library? I'll write a book some day, I think my old planet deserves it.." she smiles, her ears resting a little red on her head. "I like you too, William. I hope you never get hurt again, but if you do, come to me, I will help you, I promise." she smiles... And, she helps, and instantiates a bowl of chocolate chip mint, and three spoons! When she touches it, though, it floats up with her an inch before she pushes it back down again.. "Here, icecream after the doctor is just what's called for!"
Kehari glances aside at William as we walk along. "N for No," she says to him. "C for caution, and W for wait..." She brightens a little and takes one of the spoons with a grin. "Mmmmm, doctor's orders!" she says, and digs into the big bowl.
William says softly "I would love a card for my Library." His expression is thoughtful, almost cautious, and he tilts his head, as though thinking. Then William says, thoughtfully "I think you and Kehari should _not_ visit the Library." His voice has gone quiet, almost conspiratorial "No. I think you should...stay here, in a nice place, with nice things. Then I can visit you when...when I have a coffee break." He reaches out for the bowl of icecream and pushes his spoon into it before looking at Kehari "N is for yes," he says, something like real sadness in his voice "As always." And William levers icecream into his perfect mouth, eyes widening "Cold!"
Lysette's ears rest a little back.. "Oh.. The library is dangerous? Why..? Maybe you should work elsewhere, somewhere safe, I'm sure someone would like you elsewhere for that job, too.." she chuffs softly.. "I'll make you a card, and a book." she smiles a bit.. "Wherever you work. Maybe I'll make one for you, too, Sweet." she continues, holding the bowl down.. She looks a little curious when N comes out as for yes.. then blinks, and smiles.. "Yes, take it slowly..! Has it been a while for you?"
Kehari smiles around her spoon at William's reaction and reaches for another scoop. "Go slowly William. Too much cold can hurt a bit. Brain freeze and all that..."
William struggles a moment, staring at Lysette. His mouth opens and shuts, and he says "No I can't. I'm dead. I've been dead for centuries. I am a disease vector, and I am highly infectious - I've taken steps to ensure I'm not catching out here because, essentially, none of you are worthy of the thing that lives inside me." William has the most peculiar look on his face "I exist, in the main, to seduce, rape, kill, and eat. I'm very good at it. I should have eaten Kehari after I used her, but I couldn't bring myself to. I'm getting sof-" William's tail _quivers_. It hangs behind his ear, sting touching his skin. William's voice changes, childish, lovely "What's a brain freeze?"
Lysette's lips part a little.. her faded eyes watching the mixed being before her, as she listens to the explanation.. "You're.." she trails, looking a little down to her hands a moment, then up to William.. then, over to Kehari, her eyes a little watery. She _knows_ something important just happened.. but, as William's voice changes, she knows that.. the moment has passed.. and, she holds William's hand with a little squeeze.. "Its.. Its when your blood cools from the ice cream too quickly, and it hurts in your head.." she whispers, lifting her spoon, and blocking her worry with a mouth full of mint and chip. Was all that.. true, she wonders?.. She doesn't think it good to ask the innocent seeming boy.. She will ask the vixen, instead..
Kehari slams down on her reaction, outwardly finishing her spoonful of ice cream while her heart skips several beats in her chest and settles down to a nice rapid pace. "Language, William," she says primly as she reaches for another scoop of minty goodness. Her free hand reaches out to rest on Lysette's arm, comforting without words.
Lysette looks back to Kehari.. and dips her spoon down, her ears a little red.. But, she smiles softly to her, before glancing to William with a slow whistling breath in through her broken teeth, her smile coming to be warm.. "Thank you.. For, staying with me, even though you were afraid. It all worked out for the best.."
William says instantly "I'm sorry, madam Kehari." He does sound sorry, as well, and he suints at his spoon and then pushes it into the icecream "Hmm. I like this. It's sweet. I like sweet things." He tastes the confection, movement unconsciously sensual, then squints "Huh. Peppermint? Tastes a bit like some leafy things in a cafe in Top. That was called spearmint. I liked that too." He then beams at Kehari "Yeah, it did."
Kehari just smiles and slowly eats another spoonful of ice cream. "You see, William? If you treat people nicely, you get treated nicely in return." She sounds for all the world like a schoolmarm or a nanny, gently instructing.
Lysette smiles softly, still a little quieter than she was before.. "Oh! No, is.. it peppermint, or is it spearmint? I'm not entirely sure, now that he asks.." she considers, looking to Kehari.. Then back to William.. "I like sweet things, too. Maybe you can show me.. a cafe? We could go there one day.." she offers, her tail starting to slowly wag again after the shock.
William says "Yes, madam Kehari." He pokes at the icecream, eating a little more than his fair share. Then he smiles brightly at Lysette "I know some terribly interesting cafes! Soon I should go though. I need to see a man about a dog."
Lysette blinks.. and giggles.. "I've not heard that used in.. well, who knows how long.." she giggles to the phrase! "Tell me more about them later?.. I'll be around, for your coffee breaks.. Don't worry, I won't interrupt your work, I'll make you a card for next time, I promise..!"
Kehari nods to William, not remarking on his little display of glutony. "Take care then, William. Would you do me a favor?" She replaces her spoon in the bowl, apparently finished.
William smiles at Lysette, all warmth, so perfectly balanced, neither saccherine sweet nor too restrained. He nods enthusiastically, then stands and looks at Kehari "Yes, ma'am?"
Kehari wipes a bit of moisture from the spoon on her thigh. "Let your employer know I'll be coming by to speak with him on a matter of some import, would you?"
Lysette finishes up the ice cream, struggling a bit more than either of you, scooping it up and catching it in the air before it can leave her.. "Oh! Take care, William!"
William squints "Okay!" he chirrups, and then heads out, tail much improved. William enters the Quick-Transit System carriage. William has left.
Lysette drops her spoon into the bowl after, and begins to drift from the table.. "Kehari.." she asks, the fur along her back evidently bristled below her robes.. "Did.. did he mean what he said, before?.."
Kehari sighs heavily once William leaves and sags in her seat, resting her forehead on her fingertips, eyes closed. "Come on," she mutters as she gets to her feet. "This isn't the place for this conversation."
Lysette quietly wraps her arms around your shoulders.. "Alright.." she responds, quietly.. "Whatever is best, dear.." she continues, her ears quietly wilted in worry.
Kehari grips your hand firmly and makes her way from the lab, stopping by the front desk to get a trim brushed-metal case before continuing on to the tram.
Secundus Pyramid Habitation Room This room is shaped as an isoceles triangle, the entire length of one external wall of the pyramid forming the base of the triangle, sloping inwards so the ceiling occupies a smaller area than the floor, the other walls rising at perfect right angles from the floor. The walls, floor, and ceiling are panelled in a slightly glossy white tiling in a substance that looks and feels vaguely like ceramic, brightening in the room's light. This <light> comes from the external wall, which looks as if it is made of a sheet of silver covered by a layer of translucent crystal, a portion of the silver blazing like a tiny white sun, giving the illusion of looking through a frosted window at a midday sun.
The room looks spartan but is actually fairly well-furnished. A large grey bed lies against one wall with a slightly glossy black blanket with a textured dot pattern covering it, under which is the slight rise of pillows to designate the head. Against another wall is a black rectangular basin with low sides, perhaps three meters long and two meters wide. A grey oval platform of sorts rests in the middle of the room with its long axis parallel to the exterior wall; it lies on the floor and is slightly bowl-shaped. Just in front of the oval bowl, between it and the exterior wall, a flat grey plane hovers in mid-air about a half meter from the floor. The only other feature of the room is a simple white metal door set in the center of the <right> interior wall, labelled to its left as 'Entrance'.
Lysette follows along, holding, drifting, looking to the case, very quiet for you..
Kehari sets the case down by the door and sighs heavily, flopping over backwards on the bed. "William is a Strangehost," she says into her hands. "Did he mean what he said? Probably the first part, maybe the latter part. He might have just been lying to get a rise out of me, but part of me doubts it."
Lysette's ears rest back as she listens.. "A strange host?" she responds, not comprehending well yet.. "The virus that re-wrote him, right?" she continues, breathing slowly, deliberately.. "Oh.. I feel so bad for him.. He really.. meant all that.. it was something he was, or.. well, is? Why would he lie?.. He's so.. so, innocent.."
Kehari shakes her head and stares up at the ceiling. "That quicksilver looking stuff you saw inside him? That's Strangevirus. It changes people, makes them mockeries of what they were. Takes them and twists them into bizarre shadows of their former selves. Don't feel bad for him, the sweetness is all a lie, a ploy to make people care for him so he can use it against them. Your reaction was exactly the sort of thing he wanted."
Lysette raises a hand to her muzzle.. "W.. what? No, wait.. That can't be right.." she whispers, pulling closer on your back. "No, he told me.. he told me the truth, though.. If just for a moment, he did care for me, rather than.. just used me, to make me care for him. He warned me.. You heard it, he's not all bad like that, he just can't be.. I.." she whispers.. "He.. would have eaten you?.." she continues, her ears back..
Kehari considers that and nods slightly, acquiescing the point. "That's true, he did say he didn't want us in the Library... That's an oddly good sign... He's not completely evil, he's just..." She sighs. "He's Strange. You might consider him insane, but that's only an approximation. Even insanity can be interpreted and predicted." She rolls over to look at you, quiet and serious. "Yes, he very well may have eaten me if our... encounter hadn't ended the way it did. It's OK though, I've taken precautions to protect myself against infection by Strange, and I'm fully backed up."
Kehari adds, "He would have been sorry, he just doesn't know it yet. I intend to let him know."
Lysette frowns softly.. "I.." she trails.. "I still mean what I said. He can come to me if he needs it.. There's something to him, it can't be all just an act, if there was enough there for him to tell me.." she trails. She closes her eyes.. "Oh.. this is so sad.. I'm so sorry for him.. But, I don't think he can be fixed, there doesn't look like.. well, no, there must have been something left that can be taken, if Strangevirus didn't ruin that much in him. I don't believe in evil.. he's just a different species, Kehari, we might not be able to understand.."
Kehari reaches up to take your head in her hands. "Listen to me," she says softly. "William is a lie. I'm not saying he's pure evil, but don't think for a second that there's a little boy in there that wants to get out. Don't try to reform him. Whatever you do, don't go somewhere alone with him. Enjoy the lie if you like. Sweet William really is kind of fun. Just don't forget what he is. A lie."
Lysette's eyes water a little, looking to you.. "Why..?" she asks, before they close.. "That's.. I don't understand.. What has.. no, I don't want to know.. I'll be careful, Kehari.." she whispers, a little teardrop trailing down the side of her broad muzzle.. "I just.. I don't know.. I just.. There's something there, I know it, if he did this for me.. but, I.. I will trust you, that it might just be.. a fluke, part of another.. lie.." she whimpers softly, slightly heartbroken seeming. She should be thankful, perhaps, to know better.. but she feels really terrible for him, it seems.. Mind you, the teardrops don't really.. fall.. they rise up, out.. then fall to her again.. rise, then fall, slowly making beady paths downwards, her plain broken and reestablished over and over.
Kehari shushes you quietly and draws you down to her, kissing away a tear before it can drip and float off. "He's just a construct, hon," she whispers. "Sweet William isn't even real, he's just a biological shell, a pieced-together personality to let the real William, Strange William, walk around outside Strange and interact, to garner sympathy and friends under false pretenses. Don't feel sad for him. There's nothing there to feel sad for."
Lysette floats down slowly, both eyes opening black this time, the left bristling with static as she looks to you, just barely.. "Its.. hard to believe.." she responds, quietly.. "I'm so sorry.. no, I can't help it.. for what of him might be held hostage by.. whatever Strangevirus may do.. Or, maybe there's nothing, but then.. perhaps he should find peace.. I don't know.. I'm sorry, I don't mean to.." she whispers, and ducks her muzzle under yours.. "Why does such a thing happen here?.. It seemed so perfect before.."
Kehari sighs quietly and nuzzles against your cheek. "William doesn't care about peace anymore. If there ever was a person there, even. For all I know, he could just be a puddle of Virus that decided to get Victorian one day..." She pauses, then shrugs lightly. "The Mess isn't utopia, hon, it's just a really nice place to live. That doesn't mean there aren't bad things here, unfortunately..."
Lysette nods softly, slowly, her head turning to offer you her cheek.. "A.. alright.. I guess.." she responds, a soft hint of resignation in her voice.. "It was nice to help him.. I.." she doesn't finish what she wants to say, though. "I'll learn about Strangevirus more, later.. Maybe I'll do something to help, this kind of thing isn't unheard of.. just, the effects are so dramatic, and its so efficient its amazing.. he was very pure.." she sighs softly.. but, smiles a little.. "Tomorrow.. maybe we'll get my eyes fixed.." she offers.. "If you'd want to go out with me again.." Her eyes flicker, then both, black, yet she still seems to look at you, dully.
Kehari nods slightly. "There's treatments for infection, but they have varying degrees of success. He's so pure because he's so old. Like I said, if there ever was a regular William, he's long gone now..." She noses against you again, giving you a little kiss on the cheek. "And I'd love to get your eyes fixed. I brought tools." She nods her head in the direction of the case by the door.
Lysette leans in softly, almost blindly, and manages first to bump her broad nose to your cheek, then leave a soft kiss there.. She smiles.. "I'll focus on the good things.. I won't forget the bad, but, well, what I do is help the bad things get better when I can. I .. just because William is the way he is, doesn't mean I didn't mean it when I fixed him, everything I said, then.. I'll do things like that, I want to.. oh, it sounds so silly, doesn't it? I just want to be someone who only makes this place _better_, though.. Afterall, its my home now.." she whispers, her smile growing warm again as she stares just off center of your eyes with her blacked out ones. The left one *flickers*, static, snow.. "Tomorrow, Kehari, I'll help you, maybe I can teach you new things, too.."
Kehari grins and nods as she melts her way to nudity again. "That's the spirit. All you can do is try to help people, and helping William put you in good with him, such as it is. Tomorrow we'll get your eyes working again."
Lysette slips from her robe, letting it drift along with her bundled up suit off into the distance. She stretches out, nude, bits of metal and wire exposed here and there, the seams of her hip panel quite blatant, not like designed. She's not bad otherwise, though.. She's a pretty striped hyena. She's sure of that much! She's not shy about you seeing her this way, though she's not like, prideful it seems, just comfortably happy with herself. She grapples over towards the Amber Field, tail flicking behind her.. "We could help together, right?" she chuffs. "If you'd ever need anything to do, that is, we could! I think it'd be great fun.. TOmorrow, though, we'll talk more.. I.. should sleep.." she trails, wondering what on Puzzlebox she's going to dream..
Kehari smiles at your retreating form and mentally flips on the amberfield to catch you neatly and hold you steady in the air. "G'night, Lysette," she murmurs as she cues the lights down. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Lysette's caught by the field, and drifts slowly into it, and down with a little sigh..