[NOVA] The Doctor Is In (K 1.4)

WPTunes

Ksenia, you're in the common room, stretched out and comfortable. Any old soldier worth her salt knows to eat, sleep and relax whenever the opportunity presents itself. You've had enough sleep and you don't eat, per se, so that leaves relaxation.

Did you review the full briefing data after your time with Dinah? Find anything that presents a particular security concern? (If so, what is it?)

Regardless, you're there, in the common room, when Dr. Su Gaumata walks in. Ze's a he today, dressed in zir usual too-dapper-to-be-stylish way. What are you reading when ze enters the lounge?

Rich

[Ksenia]

Of course I reviewed the full briefing data. Since I can't waste my time playing video games without broken-heart love advice from Dinah, I might as well be productive. The big concern based on the reports is that the auditory hallucinations happened no mater where they were. That means it is psychic intrusion, not audio at all. It's all in out heads.

Last time something was in my head, I completely freaked out. It was, like this most likely is, an alien psychic experience. In short, I'm getting a little worried. Nothing I can do about it, but I am.

How can Gaumata be prettier than me, and then really handsome, all over the course of 24 hours. I'm still laying down when the good doctor comes in, but I look over. "Hoi, Doc." I'm reading on my tablet. It's an ancient fantasy series about a pair of friends in a magical city called Lankhmar. I can't decide who I like better of the two. Probably the big brute. Opposites don't always attract, you know.

WPTunes

The doctor moves with that gliding gait of zirs, predatory and balletic at once. Ze smiles on seeing you, and you have the impression you wouldn't have seen that smile without the mysterious and subtle changes wrought in the group by last night's party.

"Ms. Cribbage? I wonder if you have a minute? I... have some concerns, and I'm hoping you can ease them somewhat."

Rich

[Ksenia]

Well, that's not what I expected. The smile I mean. Gaumata is so weird and beautiful and intimidating all at the same time. I really don't know how to take him, her or whatever. I think they like it that way, just messing with people like that.

I won't disrespect the doctor by continuing to lay there, so I sit up, a little at attention. I return the smile, though it's awkward since mine is late. "What are your concerns?" I get right to the point.

WPTunes

Ze sits, stillness as fluid and strange as zir movements. "I am not normally so frank about my few shortcomings, Ms. Cribbage, but Ezekiel... convinced me to talk with you. If I may be blunt, I am not a person with physical gifts or a tolerance for hardship. I fear I will be a liability on the exploration party, and I wish to ameliorate that, not least for my own well-being."

Ze waits for your response with a pained expression.

Rich

[Ksenia]

Church ordered the doc to get help? That's a little funny, but I don't show it on my face. I don't want to hurt zir feelings, this seems to already pretty awful for Gaumata.

"First of all, you can call me Ksenia, Doc." I offer that bit of informality as an olive branch. "Do you know whar you'd like to work on?"

WPTunes

"Thank you, Ms. Cribbage, perhaps after some time longer I shall be less formal with you."

"It is very difficult for me to incorporate new physical skills, given the in vitro modifications made as part of the Pandaka Project. My physical sex is not fluid solely by choice, but by the demands of my unique biology. If I don't choose to shift for a period of some days, my body will begin the change on its own, in a less... organized manner. Having to reinforce skills on a new body every few days is not conducive to mastery." Now that ze's gotten going, candor doesn't seem to be a problem.

"I do have a fully eidetic memory, however, and a gift for pattern recognition that places me in the top one-thousandth of a percent of humans, modified or no. How can I use what I do have to help us survive?"

You suddenly realize that ze wasn't bullshitting for effect last night. Ze just doesn't go into the field. At all.

Rich

[Ksenia]

"Was the sex, ah... changing part of the Pandaka Project's goals? Or a by-product of the process?" I ask out of the blue, probably overstepping bounds, but if ze's being forthcoming, I'm curious.

Gaumata has never had a gender before? Or, well, just one of them. That's hard to process.

WPTunes

A hint of zir normal hauteur returns. "Yes, Ms. Cribbage. Pandaka was a developmental experiment, designed to enhance brain development by providing a constantly shifting hormonal stimulus during childhood, through early maturity."

Having provided zir answer, the doctor continues. "Did you have any thoughts on my question?

Rich

[Ksenia]

I answer flat, no tone, just offering my expertise, "Well, I'm happy to train you on the use of assault weapons. It is the quickest way for you to become deadly."

WPTunes

Ze sighs. Not dramatically, but in genuine disappointment. "Perhaps this was a poor idea, Ms. Cribbage. Would you not consider the use of assault weapons to be a physical skill? Ezekiel suggested that you might be more creative in finding a way that the gifts I do possess might contribute to the security of the mission."

Rich

[Ksenia]

"Oh. I see. I thought you were asking for training," I huff a laugh. "You want to know your assignment. I get you." I sit back, relax a bit. The idea of training zir wasn't my cup of tea anyway. "I've read your file, Doc. You've got some psi powers along with all your other benefits. I think you can act as a comms officer, and our canary in the mine, so to speak. Mei, erm, Ensign Mei, Sung, Sanchez and I will be in the field. That's a decent fire team. But the range of this threat is seventeen K. We'll need someone who can coordinate with the ship for pick-up, and keep Church, Lourdes and the captain in line. I mean, shit, Doc. That's why I thought you were here from the start."

WPTunes

Su Gaumata seems disappointed, but not angry. "I had... hoped... there would be a way to be uniquely useful aside from evaluating and understanding the emitter. Some way to help on the way through an unfamiliar atmosphere and landscape. I am... unaccustomed to being the least useful person in any situation I find myself in."

Ze stands. "Ms. Cribbage. Ksenia. My life will be in your hands, planetside. I have already been an order of magnitude more forthcoming with you than I generally am, so I will leave you with one last fact. One thousand, two hundred and forty-three women volunteered for the Pandaka Project. Twenty-seven years later, I am the last of their progeny to survive. Just a data point."

Ze turns to leave.

Rich

[Ksenia]

"Doctor, I appreciate how open you've been. I'm sorry I misunderstood... well, this whole conversation. I assure you that I have no intention for the Pandaka Project to end on this mission." I hope that helps soothe any ruffled feathers, I don't want any friction. But yeah, I'll let the good doctor go.

WPTunes

--End Scene--