Derelict / Rise of the Rrellkhan [FT]

[-Raysia-]

OOC: While this thread will continue to go on until all loose ends and conversations have ended, the next "episode" of this campaign has begun in a new thread... mostly starting with just Korma and I.

viewtopic.php?ns=1&f=5&t=17040

Those who are currently participating in this thread are more than welcome to find a way to join up in this new thread.

[Rrellkhan]

Mer'kell smiled, walking back toward Romashkova, "listen to yourself, so caught up in your own logic and primitive scientific approaches to every situation... you use them as a dark glass to filter your eyes from seeing what you do not wish to see. Do you realize how many beings there are out there in the universe, beings as sentient and sapient as you or I, that do not have the opportunity to live in bodies as capable of these? Many of us are beings of extremely high thought, outside of your comprehension. We have to take corporeal form in order to obtain true existence, in order to take our rightful place as affectors in this universe. Those of us who have learned how to take a physical form, do so... many times it is a violent and often temporary exchange... but a few of us... like my kindred Rrellkhan gods, long ago discovered the path to taking a permanent form. As I have already told you, I am a goddess of life, I do not wish harm on anyone, but if I must, I must. Taking this body was a necessity. As for what happened to the original possessor of this frame, well, I doubt she will have survived very long in the form I exchanged with her... she's probably 'dead,' as you would say. I can't say it was unplanned, but she was not selected out of any sort of rage... I just needed her body. One such as this does not come by me out of accident or coincidence... it has been prepared for me since long ago. I seriously doubt I can explain this in any manner such that you can comprehend exactly what has transpired, but if you're going to continue to worry about the past and what happened to this girl that you didn't even know, I seriously doubt we're going to get anywhere."

She then extended out her hand, palm forward. Nothing violent about her pose, except that she closed her eyes, then paused eerily for a moment. Her eyes opened again, and her smile turned into a grin, "well, well, well, you aren't really human, are you?" She retracted her hand, bringing it back down to her side, "I can't hear you like I hear the other humans around here. This isn't even your real body, is it? Where are you, really?"

Her eyes shut again, and her hands turned up level with the floor. After a moment, a visage of a being, human in form, floated up quickly from the body, poking its head through the window at the top of the room, looking straight at Annika, Jace, and Raimi. "You're not in here either, came the voice from the girl below, mimicked by the mouth of the apparition above, just before it snapped back into the body again. Her eyes opened again, smile returning.

[-Raysia-]

As the apparition jumped up and poked its head through the window, Jace whipped out his sidearm, pointing it at the face. He watched the ghost mouth the words spoken by the girl below, his eyes widening. Just as quickly as it had happened, the ghost returned back to the body below. His eyebrow raised, and stuck there, mumbling "uhh... that was... more than a little creepy."

Raimi was completely frozen, blood drained from her face until it appeared white like she had just seen a ghost... which was probably exactly what happened.

Jace hit a comm button, "Bridge, this is Laykress... call the Constable, see if they have any news for us."

A short message was then sent to the nearby foreign police ship, asking them to send any updates they might have on their captured kafer.

[Kilrany]

Showing no signs of fear as Mer’kell approached for a second time, Romashkova’s physical avatar merely gazed upon her impassively as she had during the Rrellkhan’s latest speech. Even as the woman’s ghostly apparition made its sudden appearance and floated quickly upwards to the observation room’s window, she seemed to care little, if even at all.

Patiently she waited for the phantom to return, and still holding the pencil in her gloved right hand, allowed her avatar to release a short, derisive laugh mixed with partial amusement, “Of course you cannot Rrellkhan, I am not Raysian. You don’t honestly believe it was by mere chance that they requested I speak to you on their behalf?”

Like Mer’kell’s display a few minutes before, Romashkova thought it a simple parlour trick, but regardless of this, on the next blink of her eyes a half second later, her normally grey, human-like eyes were abruptly changed to pure white orbs devoid of any signs of ever having possessed an iris or pupil. In that same moment, like a river cascading over a waterfall, her reddish-black hair was washed out from the roots with a molten-silver that reached down to the tips just below the small of her back, contrasting sharply with her black uniform.

Causing her voice then to take on a slightly unnatural, but serene inflection that sounded like a harmonious blending of many female voices, she continued slowly, “Yours is not the only kind to have an understanding of the universe coupled with the ability to manipulate it to their will, nor are you necessarily the most proficient at all aspects of it. You cannot sense my presence here before you, because I do not allow it.”

The barest hint of a pause followed before she went on, “I do not personally care about the life of the woman you displaced, I did not know her, but the Raysians requested my involvement, and had her consciousness remained, I would have been in a position to offer you a body of equal or even greater stock in trade for her return, for I value their friendship. With that not possible however, any such offer would now be utterly worthless, wouldn’t it, Rrellkhan. So then as you request, let us move on. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to truthfully part with the knowledge of how many deities happen to be in your pantheon now would you?”

Romashkova had her doubts that her latest ploy would be any more successful then her first, but she felt she had nothing to lose in this situation, and if she could confuse or startle Mer’kell even slightly, it was worth her time. Her natural paranoia and pessimism simply didn’t allow for the concept of simply asking directly without any attempt to throw the Rrellkhan off as much as possible, not that she’d actually believed a word said to her so far anyway.

-----

In the time it took for the apparition to rise and poke its head through the window, Romashkova’s holographic avatar had already snapped out of existence, and Annika’s arm returned to her side. This was naturally the only probable reason for why Mer’kell would have promptly missed her presence, and looked only upon the two Rasyians and the lone Reaper.

Unlike Laykress or Raimi, Annika was unable to display any sense of unease at what she’d just witnessed, for despite her nature, this was still not exactly an everyday occurrence to have simply dismissed without any consideration. She did not however make any attempt to take aim at the ghostly figure, and instead only tracked it for those few moments with her head.

[Rrellkhan]

Mer'kell sighed and rolled her eyes as the Kilrany avatar went through her own imitation of the Rrellkhan goddess' display, (her reaction being very similar to if a hollywood magician were to show up at Hogwarts). At the end of Romashkova's spiel, she laughed, "my dear fool, you've gone through all the trouble and timewasting of subterfuge just to ask me a question that I would readily answer? Have I not been telling you of the great Rrellkhan since you first walked into this room? If you want to know more about the gods that you should be serving, you need only ask. Your transparent cloak, playing as a nervous peasant girl, only proved your own cowardice."

She took a deep breath, then paced perpendicular to the avatar, as if dictating to a scribe. "The gods of Rrellkhan are also known as the Eleven... in case you can't figure it out from that, that means that there are eleven of us that rule the people, ten others like myself. I am the goddess of life, the one responsible for preparing the new hosts. The one who led the glorious rise down below in your city was the lord of the ravagers, the god of battle. The nine others, well... you obviously aren't interested in learning our entire structure, but they are the lords of the sciences, earth, water, air, stars, kinetics, protection, energy, and doctrine. So, any other questions that you'd like to gather up every tiny little bit of bravery to ask me?"




^{ooc: notice: there may be a slight retcon-style adjustment to the Rrellkhan... as an advanced warning, the 'many beings' that Mer'kell spoke of as being restricted from the opportunity of a corporeal existance, will eventually be ...well, "uploaded" (for lack of a better word) into the people that have up-to-now been acting like drones... the messages from the spores have mainly been just preparing the bodies to receive these beings.}

[The Cosmic Balance]

Gurgen paused a moment before touching the stunner to the Kafer's wrist again, looked at the readouts, and frowned. This is all wrong, he thought.

Checking the date stamps on the data files, he noted that the information he had on the Kafer species was approximately 350 years old. That wouldn't be long enough for serious changes in behavioral psychology to occur. Consequently, he could be reasonably sure that this Kafer's behavior was, in fact, aberrant.

Stimulation improved a Kafer's mental acuity; after several sharp shocks, a Kafer like this one should be not only fully alert, but quite intelligent. Looking at the neurological displays and noting the creatures open eyes, he was sure that this was in fact the case. But a Kafer would also be extremely belligerent; it would be testing its bonds, attempting to look around the room, and otherwise trying to figure out how to slip its bonds. This Kafer was remaining still, almost docile. It was acting as if it was somehow psychologically restrained – but what could possibly be restraining it?

Putting down the stunner, Gurgen checked the data the Raysians had made available, as well as that which Fergg had picked up by monitoring Raysian communications channels. Those infected planetside were displaying something very much like amnesia. Could that be the issue here?

Turning back to the Kafer, he spoke through the voder: "Do you remember your name, or have you forgotten it?"

A surge of neural activity on the displays was accompanied by a cry from the other room.

"Doctor," came Monash's voice, showing signs of distress, "The person on the other ship is trying to tell the person on this ship something. I can't make it out, but it... it feels like an order of some kind."

Gurgen wasn't pleased by the stress in Monash's voice. Snapping off the voder, he called the bridge: "Captain, I need one of the med techs called back onto duty and sent down here. It's nothing serious," he added, to allay K'larkk's concern. "I could just use the extra help in this situation, that's all."

"Any preference?" K'larkk asked in turn.

"Whomever's next on the duty roster," the Boljonian physician replied. "N'rss, I think," he added.

"I'll send him down there right away," the Captain said.

Gurgen turned back to his patient and snapped his voder back on. "So what is it," he said softly, "That your master doesn't want you to do...?"

[The Kafers]

I am Rrellkhani. No memories exist from before I was Rrellkhani. But why not? Haven't I always been Rrellkhani? What I was before I was Rrellkhani doesn't matter. Then I was something else once. Lies. No, obviously not lies. I was young once – I must have been. I am not young now. My past is gone. It is irrelevant. How can it be? It is. Only what I am now matters. I am Rrellkani.

No, I don't think I am Rrellkhani. I am Vah.

This strange snake-like creature was talking to it, the Vah realized. He could barely make its words out against the argument forming in its head.

"Do you remember your name, or have you forgotten it?" the snake-creature said in perfect Gah.

I never had a name. Only the gods grant names. I am Rrellkhani; if I serve-

No! I am Vah. I must have a name. I would have been given one when I underwent Gvach*-

There is no Gvach*. I am Rrellkhani. We Rrellkhani are named by our gods-

There... are... no... gods!

Pain lashed at its brain, punishment for the thought. Blasphemy! Wrong thought hurts! Think no wrong thought!

But the thought that the Vah mistook for its own, the thought projected across the void of space, was not the thought of the one who had first taken this Vah under its control aboard the now-destroyed Iron Spear. It was not Jel'dhan, Lord of Ravagers, who whispered into its mind, but another – another that did not yet know that pain was the path to enlightenment for the Vah. In pain there was Truth; in calm there was Death – of one sort or another.

To punish a Vah who had succumbed to the sin of blasphemy with pain was to invite further blasphemy. Indeed, it was to court disaster.

Thought – and Truth – tore through the Vah's brain as the pain stimulated it still further.

I... am... Vah... not... Rrellkhani!

[The Cosmic Balance]

Monash screamed.

Gurgen turned to look outside the isolation chamber, into the main infirmary. The canine was holding her head in agony, whipping it from side to side.

"Monash!!!" he snapped. "What is it?!?" As he spoke, he attempted to retreat from isolation as quickly as possible to rejoin the stricken Hanjin.

"She's hurting it!" the canine female cried. "It's thinking thoughts it shouldn't think, and she's hurting it!"

Looking back at the Kafer, Gurgen saw that it, too, was writhing, although no where near as severely as Monash. He glanced up at the display and saw repeated spikes in brainwave activity. The activity was especially intense in those areas of the Kafer brain that managed sensory input and in those areas where instinctive learning was centered. But academic interest gave way to alarm; the Kafer's metabolism might not withstand a second bout of overstimulation so close to the first.

"Captain, I need N'rss right now!" he snapped. "Medical emergency!"

Before the bridge had a chance to respond, the outer infirmary door opened and a burly, buglike creature rolled in. "Doc, I'm here!" it croaked.

"Help Monash!" the Boljonian hissed, nearly reverting to his native tongue. "I'll handle this one," he continued, turning back towards the Kafer.

Its brain activity was surging, racing. It was rapidly pushing itself into a state of overstimulation, whether Gurgen wanted that or not. He reached for the hypospray, only to hear the creature speak at last.

"No! No... sedative!" it snarled.

Gurgen shook his head. "If you stay like this, you'll die," he explained.

The Kafer howled in anger. "I... don't... want... it... here!" it roared. "Get... it... out-of-my-head!"

[The Kafers]

"What," said the snake-like alien, "Is in your head?"

He is your enemy. Do not trust him. You are Rrellhanki-

No, I am not!

Whatever. Do not trust him.

SHUT UP!

"Thoughts," croaked the Vah. "Not my own," it explained. "Heard you... talking to... the other one – Monash?"

The serpent-physician looked down at the voder attached to its isolation suit, realization in its eyes.

Say nothing! Stop talking!

NO!!!!

"Someone in my brain... Female... not Vah," it said, fighting to get the words out.

"Yes," replied the alien. "There's another being on a nearby ship. It claims to be a god."

OBEY OUR GOD!!!! SILENCE!!!! DO NOT SPEAK TO THE ENEMY!!!!

"There... are... no... gods," the Vah said, and then winced in pain. It's mouth split open vertically and its pedipalps waved feebly in the air in sardonic mirth. "It... it... it... doesn't like it... when I... say that."

"Whatever makes those thoughts in your head?" asked the serpent-thing.

The Vah nodded its head once in affirmation.

The alien physician looked at the screen, looked at the Vah, seemed to reach a decision, and swung a panel around to face the wincing Vah.

"I'm going to have to sedate you soon," the snake-creature began.

"NO!!!!" roared the Vah.

"I have no choice," the creature answered, pain in its eyes and voice. "If I do, I will not let you awaken until I have eliminated the means by which this other is getting into your head. But I need information. Just help me for a minute."

DO NOT HELP THE ENE-

SHUT UP!!!!

The Vah nodded.

"Do you hear voices," asked the alien, "Or just get thoughts?"

"Thoughts," the Vah replied with difficulty. It knew that it was very close to system shutdown, but it struggled to stay coherent.

"Are there visions, other sensations?" the snake-being asked.

"No," groaned the Vah, "Just... thoughts. Like... my own, but... not... my own."

The serpent-physician looked at the screen and pointed at some bright spots on the display. "I think that those spores you inhaled are doing this. Do you remember inhaling those brown spores?"

"No," the Vah said, "But I... I was in... a suit." It hoped the snake-thing could understand.

"Yes, we found you that way, in a fighter," the alien said. Then its face took on a peculiar aspect. "Why did you flee the ship?"

"The... missile," the Vah replied. "The one... that... blew... the ship... up. After... those... gnakshik!... took... it." Its eyes lolled dangerously.

The alien doctor looked like it was about to say something, thought better of it, and then asked: "Do you remember anything before that?"

"No," replied the Vah, "Not... not... not even... my... name."

The serpent creature looked at the screen, seemed to come to a decision, and then shot the Vah in the arm with the hypospray. A yellow light suffused the Vah's vision, turning purple and spreading out across its consciousness like a flood.

TRAITOR! BLASPHEMER! MONSTER! DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!!!!

SHUT UP... SHUT... UP... SHUT...

[Kilrany]

Causing a smile to form on her avatar’s face, Romahkova released an amused chuckle at the attempt to antagonize her, which played out like a short melody in her harmony of many voices, “Are you annoyed Rrellkhan, that your abilities are so easily explained and replicated by one you thought so lowly and common? The ‘coward’ whose body was always hers, rather then stolen from a defenseless woman?”

Calculating the variables, Romashkova flicked her wrist, sending the small pencil arcing through the air to land on the table it had come from, where it bounced once before the attached leaf helped bring it to a stop. As she did this, she caused her eyes and hair to revert back to their previous appearance and colouring as quickly as they had changed in the first place.

Returning her voice settings to normal, she was about to speak when she paused abruptly and tilted her head to the side for less than a second before she straightened her head and continued in an even tone, “I have clearly underestimated you Rrellkhan. I’m sure you must understand the doubt one would have at anyone abruptly appearing and proclaiming them self a deity, let alone one of many. However, while I now consider you to be a being of great power, I still do not consider you any sort of divine being, for if I went by your definition, all those of my kind would also fall under that category, and I find that concept somewhat absurd.”

Returning her right hand behind her back, she went on, “Now then, contrary to what you may have come to believe, I do wish to hear anything you’re willing to tell me on your people. You’ve already managed to convince of a great deal, so please continue, I would like to hear about the organizational method among you and your counterparts.”

-----

Given the seriousness of the overall situation, it was perhaps difficult at this moment for either Raysian within the observation room to take a step back and consider just the scene playing out below. Annika’s nature coupled with a simple indifference towards Raysian lives however made this an easy task for her, and hidden by her expressionless exterior, she was deeply amused as the two strong-willed personalities clashed against each other.

While she did perhaps have a greater insight into Romashkova then she had with Mer’kell, it was still plainly clear to her that both were quite stubbornly clinging to their own beliefs, with each ultimately considering the other to be the inferior, causing the old saying, ‘the pot calling the kettle black,’ to spring into her mind.. It was an observation she readily passed on to Romashkova, who begrudgingly accepted it as ‘painfully accurate,’ as she grew increasingly annoyed with the arrogance of Mer’kell; the natural result she figured of trying to talk with a religious fanatic.

-----

<Can you trace its source?>

<No, I’d need you and another to properly triangulate, and so far I can’t even make out what exactly it is, trying to isolate the noise itself is proving difficult.>

<Keep on that then, if she can feed off power, I don’t want to risk bringing any unnecessary systems online right now just for this.>

<Acknowledged.>

[The Kafers]

"The spores appear to provide a telepathic conduit into the host's brain," Gurgen explained to Captain K'larkk. "They allow the Rrellkhani 'gods' to project thoughts into the victim's mind that are virtually indistinguishable from their own, as well as to control the victim's sensory input."

"So they are able to make an infected person see, hear, feel, taste, smell, or think whatever they want?" asked the Captain.

"On that last point, they can't suppress unwanted thoughts – but they can inject thoughts of their own in an effort to confuse, contradict, or belay the victim's thinking," the physician replied.

"How did our guest manage to break their control, then?" K'larkk wondered.

"Kafer knowledge is different from that of humans," Gurgen observed. "The spores are designed to erase the victim's memory, but not its learned skills. In humans, this has the effect of leaving the victim an effective amnesiac, but with full possession of all their professional abilities. It works that way for Kafers, too – but there's a hitch."

"Much of human social identity resides in the same parts of the brain as human memory; wipe the memory, and you destroy that person's socialization as well," the Boljonian doctor explained. "With Kafers, however, most socialization lessons are effectively stored as unconscious or rote memory; when the spores wiped our friend's identity away, they still left it fundamentally a Kafer."

K'larkk – who was no longer speaking over a comm link from the bridge but instead had come down to the infirmary for this conference – quirked an eyebrow. "So they couldn't change its stripes," he said.

"Exactly. Too much of the new Rrellkhani socialization was at odds with its old Kafer identity," Gurgen added. "Our patient was able to realize that an external entity was trying to change it into something it was not. The spores ran into the limits of their programming."

The Captain looked at the sedated creature. "So what now? You want to remove the spores?"

Gurgen nodded. "I think that the struggle between this creature's racial 'self' and the Rrellkani 'overmind' will eventually kill our guest if it's not resolved. That alone calls for action."

"So what then?" K'larkk asked. "Will its memory return?"

"No," the Boljonian said sadly. "That's gone forever. The Kafer will need to develop a new identity, just as certain amnesia victims do."

"Do we send it back home for that?" the Captain asked.

"It wouldn't be able to survive if returned to its own culture," Gurgen said. "We'll have to engage in rehabilitation ourselves."

K'larkk eyed his ship's physician. "That's quite a burden for us to be taking on, Doctor. We have other obligations."

"I know someone who might be willing to take the task on for us," Gurgen replied, "As well as an interest in doing it. I'll be happy to contact her, if you approve."

[Rrellkhan]

"Our organizational methods? It's quite simple, really. We teach the people to focus their skills on specialized tasks. We give most, if not all, stewardship over something or someone. Everyone is given the taste of the power of the Rrellkhan. As they prove themselves capable, they progress to a higher responsibility or authority. We are a race that feeds off power. When we have developed our strength sufficiently, we intend to extend our power and influence to the entire galaxy, and beyond." She smiled as she slowly advanced toward Romashkova, "miss, wouldn't you even be tempted by the ability to extend beyond your original constraints? Do you even have the capacity to conceive doing something other than your routine tasks? Something other than your original... programming? You could be great. You could have power. You could act for yourself."

[-Raysia-]

Jace sighed audibly, "I knew it would come to this soon enough."

Raimi raised an eyebrow, "what, the goddess-girl going out and recruiting? She could just be playing at Romashkova. This is starting to be pretty entertaining, actually," she said, a smile growing across her face.

Jace glanced down at the tiny Roma on Annika's hand, "try backing off a little bit on the competition. I don't think making fun of her is really doing anything except giving her the opportunity to exploit your weaknesses. Be careful." He knew full well that the advice would probably be ignored with a roll of Romashkova's eyes, but he still thought to put the suggestion out there.

[Kilrany]

Retaining a mostly indifferent expression, Romashkova did allow an eyebrow to rise slightly as Mer’kell mentioned programming, but replied merely with mild curiousity, “So you believe me to be brainwashed, because I do not so readily accept you as a deity?”

She then shook her head slowly before continuing with a more even and deliberate tone, “I have all I need Rrellkhan, there is nothing you could offer me that I do not already have … well that’s not entirely true now is it? You can continue to offer me information on your people, that would be something I don’t already have, but would greatly appreciate.”

She allowed a smile to briefly play across her face then as though the last addition amused her, before adding evenly, “I would point out though that my question on organization had been aimed at you and your fellow Rrellkhan, not those you have brought under your care. I was curious if you followed a hierarchy of any kind, or if you merely acted as a sort of council of Gods, making decisions as a whole. Regarding those recently taken under your care though, I don’t suppose you’d be willing to tell me where they are right now, would you.”

-----

Recognizing through Annika that her presence was requested, the Reaper’s right hand rose from its side once more since it had been lowered during the appearance of the ‘ghost,’ and the miniscule holographic avatar of Romashkova returned, “I would have to agree Commander Laykress. As already noted, she is clearly more intelligent then I would have given credit to a being claiming Godhood, but at least the ruse did show that she does still in fact have several abilities locked in that little room of yours.”

The barest hint of a pause followed before she added, “I am curious though as to what weaknesses you think I posses that she could exploit in this situation? My physical avatar is expending no more energy then your ordinary human being, it would be less, but I wish to keep up the appropriate thermal signature and electromagnetic field for an organic of that size. Not to mention other certain precautions I’ve taken.”

[The Cosmic Balance]

The operation would be relatively simple. With dormant spores readily available for study, a culture of nanomachines designed to attack the spores and nothing else would be synthesized; this would be injected directly into the brain through the sinus cavities. In a few hours, every one of the spores would be destroyed; restorative nanomachine cultures would follow, to repair any physical damage to the creature's brain. At that point, the Kafer would be free of Rrellkhani influence forever.

As Gurgen prepared to inject the initial neutralizing dose into his patient, he wondered whether the alien "goddess" in custody on the nearby Raysian ship would realize what was happening – and, if she did, how she would react to having one of her servants taken away from her...

[The Kafers]

The Kafer awoke.

It knew that it had slept a very long time; while not precisely feeling refreshed, it was a lot less weary. It was still in the same place it had been: A medical laboratory of some kind aboard an alien ship.

Turning, it saw the strange, serpent-like alien who had spoken to it – how long ago? The alien, in turn, seemed to notice that the Kafer was awake as well. It glanced at a nearby display, seemed content with what it saw there, and then tapped a disk at its throat.

"Can you hear me clearly?" it asked in perfect Gah.

The Kafer nodded affirmatively.

"How are you feeling?" the serpent-physician asked. The Kafer gestured non-committally.

"Do you need stimulation to converse?" the alien asked.

"No," the Kafer responded. "How do you manage to speak Gah so well?"

"The translator," replied the serpent-being, gesturing at its throat.

"Yes," the Kafer replied with slight annoyance, "But those have never worked this well before."

"This is a much more advanced model than any you've encountered," the alien replied. "And we have better linguistic records on your species than most civilizations. We've known about you for a very long time."

"I've never heard of a creature like you," the Kafer protested.

"We don't always make our presence known," the serpent-physician replied. "We're generally traders, and your people don't usually engage in trade." The Kafer noticed the use of the term "your people", which in Gah translated into the exact name of his race – the Vah. There was an easy level of understanding and cultural sophistication in this alien that made the Kafer wary.

"I need to know if you had any strange dreams," the alien asked, "Or if you're getting impulses – thoughts – that may not be your own."

The Kafer considered this, and then shook its head. "No," it said, for further emphasis.

"Good," replied the serpent-being. "I removed the spores from your brain that allowed the Rrellhanki 'goddess' who calls herself Mer'kell to manipulate your thoughts, but I want to make certain there are no residual effects." The creature pointed to a button on the frame of the bed. "This is a call button; please press it if you need anything at all, and definitely if you have any thought or impulse that you think may not be your own."

The Kafer considered this, and then asked a question that had been bothering it for some time now. "Why are you doing this?"

"You asked me to get the spores out of your head, and I told you I would," the serpent-creature replied. "I keep my word."

That was simple enough, and yet somehow incomplete. "So what will happen to me now?" asked the Kafer.

"We will observe you to make sure that the operation was a success," the alien physician replied. "Once we are satisfied that you are free of Rrellkhani influence, we will place you in the care of someone who can help in your rehabilitation." The creature paused for a moment, and then continued: "You have lost much of your memory, and with it your personality; you will need to recover a certain sense of who you are – or who you want to be – before you can be independent once more." It paused again, and then added – with an expression of clear sorrow: "We cannot retrieve what was lost; you will never remember those things that have been taken from you. But you can go forward from here, and that is what we intend to help you do."

The Kafer considered this, and then asked again: "But why?"

"It is what we do," the serpent-creature replied. "We help others, even when they might not be the sort to help us in turn. You might say that this is what we choose to do because it is what we choose to be; it defines us, in a certain sense. Once you have learned more about us, you will likely understand what I mean a little better."

Again, the Kafer digested this. At last, it spoke: "Will I be sent back to my own kind?"

"No," the physician said, again with a touch of sadness. "I do not believe that you would be able to successfully live among your own kind again – although I will admit that I could be wrong on that count. I suspect that you have lost too much to survive among your people," and here again he use the exact words that named the Kafer's race, "But you have an excellent chance of being able to live successfully on your own."

"On my own?" the Kafer asked. "What would be the point of that?"

"More than you think," the serpent-being said. "This is a conversation that you would be better off having with the person we have asked to guide you in your rehabilitation. You will be meeting her in a few days."

"Her?" the Kafer asked. "A gnakshik! female?"

"Of a sort," the alien being laughed. "Although I would not call her that to her face. She is hardly worthless carrion."

[The Cosmic Balance]

"The operation appears to have been a success," Gurgen told Captain K'larkk. "The Kafer is showing no signs of external influence or control."

"And the Raysians have declined our offer of assistance," K'larkk said, shaking his head. "I can't fathom that."

"It is likely," the Boljonian physician said, "That they would face less of a chance of recovery in their affected citizens than we face with this Kafer."

"Why?" K'larkk asked with surprise.

"Because the Rrellkhani spores were designed for human brains," Gurgen answered. "As I indicated, human and Kafer brains store information in different ways," he reminded the Captain. "This Kafer lost far less of his identity than those people down on Raysia. He retained his cultural identity, remembering that he was a Kafer and not a Rrellkhani – and even that may be unique for one of his race taken over by these spores. Those people down there don't have anything like that sort of touchstone to ground them; they have been told by Mer'kell that they are Rrellkahni, and that's what they've become. If the spores were removed, it's questionable as to whether they could be reintegrated into Raysian society: They no longer have any sense of what it means to be Raysian at all. They're her people, whether we like it or not."

"What are the Raysians going to do with them?" asked K'larkk, horrified at the thought of surrendering all those people to Mer'kell.

"I doubt they know," replied the physician.

Turning to Fergg, K'larkk asked: "So where are we supposed to meet Garona?"

"She'll be joining up with us at the same NERV Freeport where Delayn's free trader, Forbin's Luck, has put in for repairs," the comm officer replied.

"That's convenient," Captai K'larkk mused.

"Well, that was what she asked for," Fergg replied with a smile. "Whatever worked for us. I told her the NERV Freeport would, and she agreed."

"Well, if there's nothing else here," the Captain said, "Let's ask the Raysians for permission to depart."

"Will do," Fergg said with a giggle.

Raysia, this is SF 143-576-9918 Constable.  We're just a bunch of rubes from the sticks, and this big
city's too exciting for us.  You wouldn't mind if we head out for some place quieter, like a NERV Freeport,
would you?

<Registration data follows>

"I swear I will never allow another Throsian comm officer aboard my ship again," K'larkk groaned as Fergg laughed uproariously.

---

OOC: This marks my departure from the thread (assuming that it's not dead already).

<Link to the Constable's next thread to be added later>