Lieutenant JG Nera Ay - The Raeyen Series?
Jonathan
((USS Magni, Selene, Solace System))
Their survey of the densely forested moon, which they now knew was called Selene, had involved some curious and outright unexpected twists and turns. Plants that shouldn’t exist together, animals with strange adaptations, a world that glowed when exposed to a single drop of rain.
Raeyen, the young woman who had taken them captive temporarily, only to later have to rely on Ay and the rest of team to survive an attack from a Viperax, one of the more dangerous of the moon's inhabitants, and the result of an overzealous scientist's genetic experimentations.
Raeyen’s bloodwork had shown that even though she was visually around 30, she was genetically 5 years old. And then there was her name, Raeyen IV. Pieces of a puzzle floating around, slowly being jammed together to hopefully form a coherent picture.
At this point, it was just a suspicion, but evidence to support that suspicion was slowly mounting as Tam piloted the shuttle towards the moon's colony.
DeVeau: Raeyen, how long ago did you say your people had to start doing the genetic experiments here on the moon?
True to his word, Ay had fed the blood sample into the replicator after they’d analysed it, turning the ampoule of red liquid into a scattering of particulates.
Raeyen IV: We arrived thirty years ago. ::Considers:: The genetic experiments began shortly after on infected and uninfected livestock, 2-3 years after the facility’s construction finished.
Tam: You have made a mountain of progress in 30 years.
Nera: It’s impressive work, your scientists must have been exceptionally talented.
The degree of progress it seemed they’d somehow made it that time was astounding, really, almost unbelievably so. They had plenty of time to mull over that particular concept, with the Magni taking a leisurely route towards the settlement.
Ay cocked his head to the side, feeling DeVeau’s gaze linger on him for a moment. She had suspicions and was being rather tactful about getting the answers.
DeVeau: And….when you did these experiments, you were trying to find cures for that virus as well as improving livestock?
Raeyen IV: Yes, resistances to Nova Terran born viruses, and then those found on Selene. ::fidgeting with her own gear:: Then some experiments to enhance the nutritional value of certain creatures.
Tam: I suppose running fish could create more muscles to fest upon.
Nera: And taste, let’s not forget. With the right tweaks, I’m sure the scientists could have intensified the flavour as well as the nutritional value.
As an explanation, it made a lot of sense. The plants coexisted so well and thrived so noticeably because they’d been engineered to resist Nova Terran and Selenian viruses. That didn’t explain why all the animal life they’d come across so far was odd, however.
One Viperax?. Sure, that could be explained away as an experiment. But so many different examples, and she'd given the impression that the Viperax was a whole species at this point. It was becoming clear that the genetic work had gone beyond what was being said, and Ay could fully understand the reticence. At the end of the day, they were still strangers who’d swooped in out of nowhere.
DeVeau: Did they ever do any experiments on…humans?
Experiments on sentient beings was a little bit of a sore topic for Ay. While he may have been born after the occupation ended, so many of the people he’d been surrounded with as a child, those key adult figures, had been very much alive during that time, and still bore the physical and metaphorical scars after its conclusion.
If human trials had occurred on Selene, and he had a distinct impression they had occurred, he hoped at least it had been done willingly. If not, it added an irrevocable stain to the beautiful world.
Tam: It wouldn't be the first time.
Nera: Tell me about it ::mumbling::
Raeyen took her time to answer, focusing more on the map and the shuttle's controls than anything, which she seemed to work with a startling degree of proficiency, even though she’d only recently been shown them.
Raeyen IV: Yes…
Even though he’d been expecting it, the answer landed with all the grace of a tone of somewhat explosive bricks. Tam, wonderful woman that she was, somehow managed to keep a light, even jovial demeanour.
Somewhat.
Ay kind of believed it.
Tam: Oh, what type of experiments? Antivenom development or Viperax experiments?
He cracked a slight grin at the absurdity of the remark. If anitvenom had been the focus, he doubted the Viperax bite would have been so close to fatal.
Nera: I think if venom resistance had been the aim, then that bite wouldn’t have been so nasty ::looking at Raeyan:: You mentioned viruses on Nova Terra, where the experiments related to that? To build a resistance to it?
DeVeau: Response
Raeyen IV: One of the viruses evolved and spread to the crew, it killed our lead scientist and infected half of the population. ::She explained:: That’s when Dr. Ahreka Chalet took over and the studies on people began.
Tam: That sounds like a difficult time.
Nera: That’s awful, I’m so sorry
She looked incredibly tense as she spoke about it, whether because the memory was still so painful, or because there was something there she wanted to keep back.
DeVeau: Response
Raeyen IV: …I don’t remember much else of the time, I’d been infected... ::taking a moment:: ...and one of the first casualties.
Tam: I'm happy they were able to save you and that we were able to meet.
It took a great deal of effort to keep his facial expressions neutral at that point. Her phrasing, one of the first casualties, was just downright odd. One usually didn’t refer to oneself as a casualty if they’d just been infected.
Nera: Thank you for sharing that. I can’t have been easy to talk about.
He was beginning to construct a mental chalkboard, filled with little notations about Raeyen and the story she portrayed.
Her genetic age versus her physical age, the odd phrasing. She spoke as if she had been one of the first to arrive on Selene, but couldn’t have been unless she was a baby, or had somehow had her aging rapidly slowed. She spoke like she had memories of the events, which again, didn’t track.
Unless, of course, genetic experiments and human trials had eventually led down a very specific path. Who needed the Samantha Series, when you had the Raeyen Series.
DeVeau: Response
Tam: Are the experiments ongoing?
It was a good question, though Ay also wasn’t sure how long the experiments could have continued without a team of doctors and scientists on hand. Unless everyone else on the colony had picked up the knowledge themselves.
Maybe they had automated machines or written instructions.
Nera: With most of the scientists and doctors taken away by the military team? It’d be difficult.
DeVeau/Raeyen IV: Response
Throughout the conversation, Ay had been busying himself with the more mundane aspects of research, specifically ordering and categorizing the vast quantity of samples they’d collected, and, where possible, queying them in the relevant pieces of equipment.
A full science lab back on the ship, with a team to hand, would have made the whole thing faster, but it made sense to get a head start, since they’d be hanging around Selene for at least a little while longer.
There was still a mystery to solve.
Tam: Do you have other villages? This one doesn't seem to be running at full capacity.
A beep from the central console caught Ay’s attention, so he made his way over to see what had triggered the noise and found Tam focused on scans of the village, a rather empty-looking village at that.
There seemed to be enough space for a few hundred, but the number of lifesigns was significantly lower.
Nera: Not even half capacity. Excursions in the local area maybe?
With the way Raeyen had spoken, he’d been under the impression that people had been arriving from Nova Terra at fairly regular intervals, which would generally suggest the population should be much higher.
DeVeau/Raeyen IV: Response
Watching the screen, Tam seemed to be zooming in on the village, then setting the system the highlight shapes as opposed to regular lifesigns. That seemed to have an effect, as dozens more potential hits sprang up on the screen.
Tam: I had been worried about how you would react to encountering a group with a variety of species. People from insulated populations can find Starfleet's diversity jarring at first.
It had been a major concern heading into the region. Two isolated populations of nothing but humans, who may have been tucked away from the rest of the vast world that was space since they arrived. Ay and Tam at least looked mostly human, if you ignored the ridges.
Thinking back to his previous crew, Ay had to wonder how the New Gaians and Nova Terrans would have reacted if they were presented with a stuttering Ferengi, or an Andorian who clocked in at 7’2.
Tam: I don't think you will have that problem. I am looking forward to meeting your people.
Nera: So am I. Meeting new people and experiencing the culture is, as you might have guessed, a bit of a hallmark of us Starfleet types.
They’d said it enough to begin with, Ay just hoped that she finally believed them, and that the rest of the settlement would.
DeVeau/Raeyen IV: Response
Nera: Have you had the chance to meet many other races before?
Despite the earlier reports of xenophobic behaviour, she’d been remarkably…tolerant. No spitting or name-calling, just suspicion. They must have had some previous experience with other non-human species, to at least develop the tolerance, and not run screaming.
DeVeau / Raeyen IV / Tam: Response
Ay nodded to himself, digesting the answers and filing them away on the mental chalkboard for later reference.
Nera: Well, hopefully they’re every bit as friendly and welcoming as you’ve been ::smirking::
A little humour might help to reduce some of that tension she still seemed to have. Now they’d gotten over the whole gun incident, Raeyen seemed like a perfectly friendly person, if a little guarded.
He half suspected she was feeling intensely nervous right about now, bringing a group of strangers into her home away from home, a move that would no doubt reveal more about herself than she was comfortable doing verbally.
DeVeau / Raeyen IV / Tam: Response
Glancing at the shuttle's readout, they’d soon arrive at the settlement and be able to touchdown and meet the Selenians fully. He still couldn't entirely decide if he should be excited or nervous.
Nera: Anything more we should know before we land? ::pausing:: Oh, does the settlement have a name?
DeVeau / Raeyen IV / Tam: Response
Tags/TBC
Lieutenant JG Nera Ay
Medical Officer
USS Thor
G240106NA2
He/Him/His (Player/Character)