Event

[mnemosynecrew]

EVENT

WARNING
WARNING

mnemosyne emergency

an unidentified mass has appeared
heading in our direction at 384,400 km per hour
approximately 3 standard miles in length

WARNING
shields deployed
weapons armed
all crew, brace for possible attack

The alarms are blaring again; a shrill, repetitive wail that's almost become a background hum with how often it seems to activate on the Mnemosyne. Unidentified mass? Like an asteroid? A ship? Space junk? Whatever it is, it's heading towards the ship - and once the imaging feed from outside opens up on the CL-10s, it's clear that it's not just a mass. It's a presence.

A single eye, the size of a shuttlecraft, flickers at the edge of the visual spectrum - a bright blue that catches the faint light of distant stars. No. Not just an eye. The entire creature - if 'creature' is even the right word - looks back at the ship. It's enormous, but strangely graceful, drifting in the vacuum of space with a fluidity that defies the laws of motion. It's not like a ship, nothing with defined angles or rigid shapes. No, the way it moves is mesmerizing, almost hypnotic - its form so alien, it defies any conventional language to describe it.


A rush of emotions - almost like a wave - slams into the crew. At first, there's a sense of greeting. It's not aggression, not even a threat, but a deep curiosity. Confusion follows, the weight of the creature's thoughts pressing against the minds on board the Mnemosyne, as if it’s trying to make sense of this new thing in front of it. It's not hostile, but it's so... large. The thoughts are like a flood of information too big to contain. Its mind is overwhelming. Its presence is overwhelming.

Then, almost immediately, there's an apology - soft, almost embarrassed, like a giant gently realizing it may have startled something much smaller, much more fragile. The mental touch it extends is almost a caress, hesitant, unsure. As though the being recognizes that its mind and the minds of the crew aren't compatible in scale.

Its presence diminishes just slightly, becoming less imposing; more delicate, respectful. Then there is a strange moment of stillness. The whole ship feels seen in ways it hasn't before. The crew can sense it - this creature doesn't want to hurt them. No. It just wants to understand.

As the seconds stretch into minutes, something even stranger begins to happen. The creature begins to mirror the movements of the ship. Not in a mechanical way, but in a fluid, almost playful fashion. It doesn't pursue but rather matches pace with the Mnemosyne. The way it shifts its limbs is with the grace and elegance of an ancient being who has mastered the art of subtlety.

A pulse of mental energy, like a heartbeat, radiates through the crew again. It's gentle, this time, like the creature is apologizing once more, sensing the crew's discomfort. The flood of emotion begins to soften, as though it's trying to find the right way to approach. Something about it is pure curiosity - deep, boundless curiosity. Not unlike how a child might marvel at a new toy.

Congratulations! The Mnemosyne has made its first new alien contact in this part of space.

---

Welcome to the first mid-month event! The alien is friendly, if a little too huge, and will only communicate via emotions rather than words. The ship will have its shields deployed the entire time - and if people read the data collected from the creature, it has the same unknown element to it as the traces left after the collision that shut off the power systems.

On the 19th, it will leave the Mnemosyne and open a strange portal to swim into and disappear - which also explains its sudden appearance and how L3TH3 couldn't find a source of the blast.

Comments

[tarakan]

[ Hilbert does mind the sound. Or at least, he is curious about it. He steps back to see what Rin is watching before he lightly judges, ]

Please tell me you are not watching television while working.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

I am not watching television while monitoring non-critical data collection.

[Dry as the inside of a dessicator, Rin. They also make no effort to minimize the playback currently happening on the screen, or turn down the volume. Hilbert gets a nice view of the current diner scene.]

[tarakan]

No wonder you have had problems with the algorithm recognizing alien as octopus. You are distracted.

[ If you're doing science, even inessential science, give it 100%! ]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[This has Rin bristling, turning to almost-but-not glare in Hilbert's direction. After they just shared their data (the ship's data) with this asshole, too!]

No, the algorithm is having problems because it hasn't been trained to recognize newly discovered alien lifeforms and doesn't have human neural tissue to apply intuitive pattern recognition and prevent false identification, complicated by our limited sample size for visual training.

Unless you think you can do better.

[tarakan]

I can certainly do better than algorithm, [ he scoffs. In between Hilbert's tone of voice here and his dismissal of L3TH3's efforts over the network, one thing is becoming very obvious: Hilbert has a VERY low opinion of technology.

Weird stance to have on a spaceship, but go off we guess. ]

If we had sample of alien creature, things would be different, but field notes will have to suffice.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

Then write it yourself.

[The algorithm doesn't get deleted, Rin isn't that petty, but they do make a point at glancing towards Hilbert's terminal and pausing the backplay of the footage that it's working on. They don't have to glance, because they've got their own CL-10's neural interface for it, but they want to make their point.]

Even if the nebula wasn't a contamination hazard it would be stupid to try and sample from a thing that could snap the ship in half by flinching the wrong way.

[tarakan]

A think that could snap the ship in half by flinching wrong way would not even notice. Even just brief bioscan, tiniest trace of DNA would be wonderful to work with. It would be like an ant crawling over the foot of an elephant—the creature would not notice.

[ It's obvious based on Hilbert's tone of voice and how he keeps on looking back at the screen, at the creature, that he really wants to do some mad science. ]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

It'll notice if the ant starts biting.

[Rin's arms remain crossed. They're obviously not enthused about any part of that.]

Maybe it sheds amoebas.

[tarakan]

Now that...is not bad idea. Should be easy enough to check, [ Hilbert muses. ] I can look at algorithm and do tiny bit of shifting of code to see if anything can be traced.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Considering the look that crosses their face, Rin didn't actually expect that comment to be any kind of helpful. So they are... dubious, to put it lightly.]

You don't actually think it does, do you?

[If so their estimation of this new visitor just dropped by several percentage points.]

[tarakan]

Oh, probably not, [ Hilbert shrugs. ] But we literally know nothing about this. No shame in running extra test just to see what will happen.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

This is stupid.

[What was that? Rin abruptly 'shoves' the hardlight screens over in Hilbert's direction, giving him access to the whole pile of parameters and specifications for the data currently coming in from the ship sensors, trained on the strange creature where it's currently floating somewhere approximately over the bridge.]

Fine. What numbers does this stupid idea need. It's going to be fucking noisy with the size of those things.

we're just bullshitting some math here, baby

[tarakan]

Give me moment and I can come up with possible numbers. I am medical doctor, of course, so numbers might need fine-tuning, but I am not inept. I have hobbies.

[ It says a lot that Hilbert views something like 'computations' as a hobby. Having the screen shoved at him, he takes a moment to start poking and punching the numbers, trying to see if he can generate a useful field area around the weird space alien in the first place. ]

I only accept real alien amoeba science

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[It's a string of sentences that makes sense, and Rin gets the cumulative implication, but when they stop to think about it, that sure is a weird implication. It makes them think of Preservation, where everyone seemed to have a collection of specialties instead of just the one -

They don't say that, though. They just watch impatiently for Hilbert's fiddling to result in any sort of answers.]

How do you determine if they're from the alien or just naturally present.

no technobabble, we die like men

[tarakan]

Suppose we can compare these scans to deep space scans when the creature moves.

[ wait. ]

If creature moves. But surely, must move to begin with. There is nothing interesting here.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Well that's a new thought. And an unpleasant one.]

It has to move. It can't just sit there waiting for things to come across it, and those... tentacle things. It wouldn't have those if it just drifted in vacuum forever.

[tarakan]

Do you think it uses tentacle things to move? If that were the case, it must move incredibly fast to get jump on space station.

[ Any grumpiness that Hilbert routinely has is starting to fade away as the prospect of a new discovery, of hypothesizing and learning and finding out something neat about this alien starts to take form. ]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

I'm not a xenobiologist.

[They've just seen a lot of movies with aliens and have a pessimistic streak a couple kilometers across.]

Maybe. If the ship's course still has us moving we'll find out. Or if it gets bored and tries to eat us.

[tarakan]

[ Hilbert looks at the screen, down at the alien. His expression shifts a little: it is very obvious part of him would adore dissecting that thing. ]

If it tried to eat us, would do so already. No, this feels like something more. Something different.

[ A small pause before, ]

Do not ask me what, though.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

Sentience?

[They mean this as a joke, too, but another ripple of emotion - WARM/SAFE/SAFE/HAPPY - drifts over them enough for them to flinch. Ugh okay, no joking about that. It's hard to deny the possibility of alien intelligence when that alien is slipping metaphorical fingers into their brain ew ew ew.]

[tarakan]

[ Hilbert also feels that ripple of emotion. His face scrunches up like he just swallowed a lemon before he grumbles, ]

Certainly sentient. It can at least express simple thoughts and feelings.

[ It thought he was cute. Ew. ]

Perhaps it is studying us like we are studying it.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Now there's a thought that makes Rin feel like a bug pinned to a board. They resist the stupid human urge to look over their shoulder.]

That would explain the curiosity and the prodding, I guess.

[tarakan]

There was one emotion I tried to convey that I do not think it understood. Perhaps we both are trying to grow and learn from our studies.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[The last thing Rin wants to do is start cataloging the emotional responses that the creature is both sending and receiving, but if Hilbert's going to start theorizing...

They format a quick recording log and pull it up on Hilbert's screen, with places to tag the general emotional burst sent to and recieved from their outdoor visitor, and data for a timestamp, set down to the millisecond.]

You aren't talking like you think it's dangerous.

[Is that disapproving?]

[tarakan]

I do not know enough to see if it is dangerous or not, [ Hilbert shrugs. ] It could be. Could not be. Silly to make assessment with such little information.