Log: Entering the 'find out' phase

[lastdecember]

CHARACTERS: It's a party, everyone's welcome!
TIME: 8/11/2524, immediately after the latest Status Report and for a few days after that
LOCATION: JAIL (the ship's brig, down at the very front of the ship) -- network text options also available!
WARNINGS: Talk of attempted murder, both past and potentially future


Given the ongoing operational crisis, there are three courses of action that may be considered; indefinite confinement (resource-intensive), re-initiation of cryo sleep (inefficient due to crew size), or psychological evaluation with restricted access and monitoring (most efficient course).

Final determination will be made by the Security Division.

From his cell, Wolfwood reads and rereads L3TH3's message over and over again. It's better than he'd been expecting, but he'd resigned himself to being put back into cold storage and only seeing daylight again at his court-martial. Now it's sounding like he's going to be allowed to remain part of the crew -- so long as those assholes in Security agree -- but with monitoring, and psychological evaluation.

Even clenching his hands into fists doesn't stop the shaking. He can't bring himself to regret what he did -- especially not after learning the miserable state the captain's in -- but if he'd known that the punishment for his actions would be a short leash at a doctor's whim? He might have made different choices.

Signing up for this mission might have been a mistake.

Comments

[lastdecember]

"What d'you think is gonna happen to us all if I don't?"

If there wasn't a wall of hard light between them, Wolfwood would be right in Hilbert's face. He can't fight the asteroid field, or whatever else might be out in the damn nebula, he can't fight the ship's computer, but he can sure fight this guy right here. He has to fight somebody, because what's the other option? Sit back and wait for terrible things to happen?

"We still don't know what broke the damn engine. If we get hit like that again and Drake's quarantine fails, we're all dead."

[tarakan]

"There are plenty of reasons for us to die in space that do not involve quarantine. Shields could fail. Oxygen could fail. AI could decide that resources are best diverted to those in cryo and sterilize us all."

Hilbert rolls his eyes, keeping his tone neutral as he points out, "We have been awake a month. We know nothing. At least get something close to answers before you go on pointless mission you think will help."

[lastdecember]

This, right here? This is why he didn't tell anyone his plan before executing it! Nobody else on this damn ship seems to understand the danger that the captain's life represents!

"I don't answer to you, asshole." He'd only break his hand if he punched the glass but he's still thinking about it. "You want to hide under your desk and wait for somethin' else to fail, you go right ahead."

[tarakan]

"If anything was going to fail, it would be due to your actions. How did you think you could breach quarantine without being immediately infected and then sterilized yourself?"

As far as Hilbert can see, this plan only ended up with one way if Wolfwood succeeded: him dead as well. And frankly, it's ridiculous to waste resources like that. With a crew of ten people, it's foolish to put yourself in harm's way.

[lastdecember]

So much for not pacing. Wolfwood takes a step or two in one direction and then a sharp pivot around, a wild animal in a cage confronted with a threat.

"I didn't breach quarantine, you idiot!" One of those angrily gesturing hands is going to hit the barrier at some point -- the man's spitting mad. "I turned off the damn air! I thought even a doctor would know the difference between opening a door and suffocating somebody!"

It would have been a slow, terrible death, but Drake's been slowly dying for twenty years now. It would have been a mercy to let him die, in Wolfwood's opinion, and nobody will be able to convince him differently.

"The only way it would've broken quarantine would be if some moron like yourself came through and flipped a bunch of switches without known' what you were doing!" Which could have happened, if Jiaoqiu hadn't been so careful undoing Wolfwood's work. "I knew what I was doing!"

[tarakan]

'Goodbye, Lieutenant. Enjoy your last half hour of oxygen.'

Those words from Hilbert's memory bounce around his head at Wolfwood's outburst. He doesn't let it show on his face, though. Hilbert's had decades of perfecting his poker face, of repressing any attempt at an actual emotion. So he remains quiet, letting Wolfwood let it all out before he continues, keeping his voice carefully controlled and neutral.

"Captain Drake has entered symbiotic state with the virus. They keep each other alive in horrible feedback loop. It has mutated his body to the point where the captain cannot move. I wonder what else it has mutated. Lungs, perhaps? Amoeba was able to survive in outer space, with lack of oxygen."

[lastdecember]

"And perhaps he's growin' a double dozen more legs to put on a damn tap show!"

What's the point of perhaps? What's the point of imagining how things could be? There'd been an emergency, and action needed to be taken! He really just doesn't understand why nobody else seems worried about the same things he's worried about!

"If he survived I'd try somethin' else! And keep tryin', until that poor bastard gets put out of his misery!"

[tarakan]

Hilbert makes a small little tut-tut noise, as he looks over at Wolfwood. He doesn't know how his mutiny plan worked back home. But obviously it had to be better or more successful than this.

(It was not, Hilbert got punked by their communications officer doing a silly voice and a bit of arson, but it doesn't count if you don't remember it!)

"If you keep saying things like that, you will spend rest of your time in bridge—if you are lucky. It is good thing I am not the one to decide your fate. Statements like that, like you saying you will spend all your time doing pointless stunts to try and kill captain when there are only half dozen of us and your attention would be better focused elsewhere? That is waste of crew member."

When Hilbert talks, his voice is calm. There's an icy steelness behind it as he points out, "L3TH3 said there were three options. It was wrong. There are four. Option number four: save us all the trouble of dealing with assassination attempts he admits he will continue to try and simply kill Officer Wolfwood."

[lastdecember]

Just for a brief moment, Hilbert's words find their mark. If he keeps talking about killing Drake will the rest of the crew decide that he's too much of a risk and drop him into an airlock? It's certainly a consequence he'd considered, before all this talk about psychological assessments.

But like Hilbert said, he doesn't get to choose Wolfwood's fate. That's up to Security, and the therapist, and death wasn't one of the options any of them were even considering. Besides -- the ship's only engineer likes him, for some incomprehensible reason. They can't kill him, not officially.

Unofficially? Wolfwood's grin gets big, showing far too many teeth.

"Killing me's not a simple matter." He's stopped pacing, positioning himself toe to toe across from Hilbert just on the other side of the barrier. "You wanna drop this wall and try your luck?"

[tarakan]

"Alas, I am Medical, not Security," Hilbert lightly points out, with a small shrug. If Wolfwood's trying to rattle him, trying to throw him off his game, it's not working. Hilbert has one hell of a poker face and he's keeping it up all the while as he keeps his tone the same cold and slightly irritated. This is a man who is schooled in hiding his emotions, something that's in full effect here.

"I can think of several different methods to kill you. Easy enough to do so. After all, I have your medical records. I know what will work."

Hilbert lets that linger for just a moment before,

"But though I have medical access, I do not have access to cell controls. Even if I wanted to free you, simply could not."

[lastdecember]

If Hilbert's goal was to see how riled up he could get Wolfwood, then he's doing a fantastic job. Threatening to kill him, and then bringing up his medical records was an inspired one-two combination.

Wolfwood's never looked at his own medical records, but now he's wondering if he should. He was just a kid when the Hopeland cell was formed, the ecoterrorists who taught him that humanity was a blight on the face of the planet, who pumped him full of poisons for years to build up his tolerance so he'd be able to carry on their work. The records from the years of psychotherapy that came later, after the cell was arrested, those are probably in there too, aren't they? All those well-meaning doctors with their big bland smiles, trying technique after technique -- some experiemental, and no longer allowed by law -- to turn this near-feral troubled youth into a productive member of society.

He attacked one of them badly enough that they needed a whole new face. Really, it's a wonder they let him enlist on this mission at all.

He slams the side of his fist into the barrier, hard enough that his hand will be bruised later.

"You'd better hope they keep me in here, asshole."

[tarakan]

Wolfwood gets a little sliver of satisfaction. For one quick moment, as Wolfwood slams his hand into the barrier, Hilbert flinches. It's quick and almost easily missed, as Hilbert quickly reasserts himself and his cold demeanor...but it happened. Wolfwood rattled him.

As for the statement about keeping him here...

"They won't," he shrugs. "Too few crew members to detain you indefinitely."

Even if it might be beneficial in this case.

"Stop by Medical Bay once you are released. More than happy to give you basic rundown of medical records—or give you check-up myself."

[lastdecember]

So long as Hilbert is scared of him, Wolfwood's got the upper hand, and they both know it. Don't they?

"Oh, I'll be sure to stop by."

He can't kill the doctor -- he honestly doesn't really want to -- but Hilbert's made an enemy today. This conversation isn't over.

[tarakan]

Unfortunately for Wolfwood, Hilbert's already trying to rationalize that fear response away. Anyone would be shaken up by external stimula. It was an unconscious fear response. Nothing more. Nothing else.

"I will leave you to it, then. You seem in good health, I cannot do anything to further your release? Enjoy time in cell."

And Hilbert will turn and start to leave.