Lt. Katsim Peri - "Come Again?"
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Amanda Nordstrom
Aug 15, 2022, 11:37:23 PM8/15/22
to USS 'Oumuamua
((Science Lab 2, USS Oumuamua))
Berglijð was his name. The Suclese had names just like they did. They had feelings. Wants. Desires. Needs. From what she had been able to glean, the Esse sap was a need. Not a need that was really a want, but an actual requirement for his people. Why? She didn’t know. That was what she, Brodie, and Toz would hopefully discover.
To do that, they in turn needed Berglijð’s help. Perhaps they could come to some sort of answer without it, but it was far more likely and possible with it, and so when he arrived on the ship, Peri was so very relieved. None of this would be easy, but it would be *easier* with him. She was glad he’d trusted them enough to join them on the Oumuamua. When he first arrived, he seemed quite ill at ease, his sails furled tightly, the tension evident with every motion. Eventually, he settled down a little, but he lifted two of his wings to shade his eyes, a motion that Peri hadn’t noticed right away, so focused was she on the problem.
Katsim: All right. So…we know that your people need the sap...
Her eyes shifted to the creature who had come on the ship as she moved over to a console.
Katsim: Maybe now that the translator has had more time…can you give us more information? Oh…doctor, could you…could you scan that appendage?
Berglijð: Toucher, the sap keepth the affliction subdued. It was by chance a sign clade should stop.
The sap…it staved off the illness that plagued them, but she didn’t understand the second part. She knew what a clade was, but what was a ‘sign clade’? Nearby, Toz suddenly put herself into motion as she nodded, then began to work with the leg she had procured.
Katsim: Sign clade? The Eesse?
She glanced back to the Suclese, trying to understand.
Katsim: What does your affliction do to your people?
Brodie: Response
Berglijð: Nay, it is a sickness of the very corpuscles and hidden areas of the control box. From generations henceforth, the affliction worsens until the stillness sets. No movement, silent. For 800 cycles, my clan has toiled on this rock. Only to form a bastion against the flood, not stop the waters entirely. Methinks one cannot dam the sea.
Peri stared at the creature for a moment, her mind shifting through the words he had said and what the meaning might be. It suddenly dawned on her that he had shaded his eyes and the light was hurting him. Immediately, she called out -
Katsim: Computer, dim the lights by twenty percent.
There was a chirp and the room got dimmer, but not so dark that they couldn’t see, just not quite so bright. Peri was still trying to fathom what Berglijð had said when Toz spoke up.
Toz: Lieutenant, commander, the material in my earlier report was incorrect. It appears that the leg is part Suculese and the metal is a… straw of sorts.
Katsim: A straw?
So the straw was there to suck up the sap…
Brodie: Response
Toz: The sap is drawn up and placed directly into the storage device we were observing on the Eesse ship. If you’ll take a look and let me know if I’m right, I think we’ll have a least some answers.
Peri stepped away from the console where she had taken a position and moved over to look at the screen that displayed what Toz had found. Frowning, Peri peered at it.
Katsim: So the leg..is organic, but the straw is not. It’s something that’s…added, then? Not a natural part of their anatomy?
Berglijð/Brodie/Toz: Response
All right. So that was…interesting. Peri was still trying to process through what Berglijð had told her, and inquired further, her normally soft voice going softer still with uncertainty as she turned back to the Suclese.
Katsim: Okay. I’m…did you mean that the sap keeps it at bay but it’s not a cure?
She hoped she’d been able to interpret what he meant.
Berglijð/Brodie/Toz: Response
Katsim: And it affects…your cells and the brain?
Berglijð/Brodie/Toz: Response
So would that be a blood disorder or a neurological disorder? Actually, the former could be true without the latter. Peri knew enough about anatomy in humanoid life forms that there was usually some sort of blood-brain barrier, and that a weakness or ‘leaky’ barrier was sometimes the reason for certain neurological disorders among other diseases. However, the Suclese were nowhere near humanoid. Did they have something similar, though? They would need to get more information.
Katsim: I’d…really appreciate any insight, Doctor…Counsellor.
They were getting several pieces, but the puzzle still didn’t have enough of them to make a big picture.
Berglijð/Brodie/Toz: Response
Berglijð was his name. The Suclese had names just like they did. They had feelings. Wants. Desires. Needs. From what she had been able to glean, the Esse sap was a need. Not a need that was really a want, but an actual requirement for his people. Why? She didn’t know. That was what she, Brodie, and Toz would hopefully discover.
To do that, they in turn needed Berglijð’s help. Perhaps they could come to some sort of answer without it, but it was far more likely and possible with it, and so when he arrived on the ship, Peri was so very relieved. None of this would be easy, but it would be *easier* with him. She was glad he’d trusted them enough to join them on the Oumuamua. When he first arrived, he seemed quite ill at ease, his sails furled tightly, the tension evident with every motion. Eventually, he settled down a little, but he lifted two of his wings to shade his eyes, a motion that Peri hadn’t noticed right away, so focused was she on the problem.
Katsim: All right. So…we know that your people need the sap...
Her eyes shifted to the creature who had come on the ship as she moved over to a console.
Katsim: Maybe now that the translator has had more time…can you give us more information? Oh…doctor, could you…could you scan that appendage?
Berglijð: Toucher, the sap keepth the affliction subdued. It was by chance a sign clade should stop.
The sap…it staved off the illness that plagued them, but she didn’t understand the second part. She knew what a clade was, but what was a ‘sign clade’? Nearby, Toz suddenly put herself into motion as she nodded, then began to work with the leg she had procured.
Katsim: Sign clade? The Eesse?
She glanced back to the Suclese, trying to understand.
Katsim: What does your affliction do to your people?
Brodie: Response
Berglijð: Nay, it is a sickness of the very corpuscles and hidden areas of the control box. From generations henceforth, the affliction worsens until the stillness sets. No movement, silent. For 800 cycles, my clan has toiled on this rock. Only to form a bastion against the flood, not stop the waters entirely. Methinks one cannot dam the sea.
Peri stared at the creature for a moment, her mind shifting through the words he had said and what the meaning might be. It suddenly dawned on her that he had shaded his eyes and the light was hurting him. Immediately, she called out -
Katsim: Computer, dim the lights by twenty percent.
There was a chirp and the room got dimmer, but not so dark that they couldn’t see, just not quite so bright. Peri was still trying to fathom what Berglijð had said when Toz spoke up.
Toz: Lieutenant, commander, the material in my earlier report was incorrect. It appears that the leg is part Suculese and the metal is a… straw of sorts.
Katsim: A straw?
So the straw was there to suck up the sap…
Brodie: Response
Toz: The sap is drawn up and placed directly into the storage device we were observing on the Eesse ship. If you’ll take a look and let me know if I’m right, I think we’ll have a least some answers.
Peri stepped away from the console where she had taken a position and moved over to look at the screen that displayed what Toz had found. Frowning, Peri peered at it.
Katsim: So the leg..is organic, but the straw is not. It’s something that’s…added, then? Not a natural part of their anatomy?
Berglijð/Brodie/Toz: Response
All right. So that was…interesting. Peri was still trying to process through what Berglijð had told her, and inquired further, her normally soft voice going softer still with uncertainty as she turned back to the Suclese.
Katsim: Okay. I’m…did you mean that the sap keeps it at bay but it’s not a cure?
She hoped she’d been able to interpret what he meant.
Berglijð/Brodie/Toz: Response
Katsim: And it affects…your cells and the brain?
Berglijð/Brodie/Toz: Response
So would that be a blood disorder or a neurological disorder? Actually, the former could be true without the latter. Peri knew enough about anatomy in humanoid life forms that there was usually some sort of blood-brain barrier, and that a weakness or ‘leaky’ barrier was sometimes the reason for certain neurological disorders among other diseases. However, the Suclese were nowhere near humanoid. Did they have something similar, though? They would need to get more information.
Katsim: I’d…really appreciate any insight, Doctor…Counsellor.
They were getting several pieces, but the puzzle still didn’t have enough of them to make a big picture.
Berglijð/Brodie/Toz: Response
-- Lt. Katsim Peri Chief Science Officer USS 'Oumuamua M239008AD0
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