The Mnemosyne Crew (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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themnemosyne2024-11-17 01:50 pm
mnemosynecrew) wrote in themnemosyne2024-11-17 01:50 pm
Event
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.
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.
no subject
You don't actually think it does, do you?
[If so their estimation of this new visitor just dropped by several percentage points.]
no subject
no subject
[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
[ 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
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
[ wait. ]
If creature moves. But surely, must move to begin with. There is nothing interesting here.
no subject
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.
no subject
[ 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. ]
no subject
[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.
no subject
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.
no subject
[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.]
no subject
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.
no subject
That would explain the curiosity and the prodding, I guess.
no subject
no subject
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?]
no subject
no subject
... If something is potentially dangerous you operate from the assumption that it's dangerous and then downgrade to less extreme precautions as new evidence is uncovered.
[They let silence drag for a little while before begrudgingly adding]
Except protocols can't account for things they don't know exist, so of course they're impractical for this.
no subject
I highly doubt this will be the only new thing we encounter. The idea of grappling with things that do not exist...that will continue.
no subject
[Rin doesn't actually sink lower in their chair, but their slouch grows more pronounced with the degree of unenthusiastic resignation in their voice.]
New protocol for 'what the fuck', entry one, space octopus. Might give you a brain tumor but it's probably friendly. Continue on course.
no subject
[ okay captain pedantic ]
no subject
[They can't out-pedant this, they're really really not a biologist. But they can apply stubbornness in any and all situations. Case in point: They're changing all the datafile names at this very instant.]
no subject
[ Hilbert's tone of voice is very much 'I'm right and we both know it.' ]
no subject
It would. For a moment Rin looks mutinous. Then they cross their arms and settle down in their seat.]
Just - analyze the data. [They're still not changing those file names. And they're going to unpause that show now. That's what they're all here for, right? Not for arguments on species identification that Rin may or may not have been about to lose. If they don't look it up in the ship databank then they don't have to admit whether Hilbert was right or not.]