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01 | Video/Action | Day 108
[It's been a week since Anita's arrival in the Cape, and all that time, she's managed to monitor the network without actually making herself known, taking the opportunity the blackout and the defunct network had provided her to move around town unnoticed and get the lay of the land. By now, she's more or less settled -- she has housemates she gets along with reasonably well, one of them a stray Allison brought home after no less than two days after their arrival. She has a potential ally in a man she's still not entirely convinced isn't a yeti, and a woman who practically reeks of magic but without that undertone of malice.
All things considered, there's something of a silver lining to this new situation, though she certainly has plenty of choice words for their captors if she ever gets the chance. She's determined to make that opportunity arise sooner or later.
When she addresses the feed, she's sitting on the front steps of House 10, arms resting on her knees.]
I haven't been here long, but I think I've got most of the details by now. [People had been helpful, for the most part.] The food supply is low and it sounds like people are doing whatever they can to help supplement it. I hear people hunt. I'd like to get in on that, but it would help to know what's available to us in the way of weapons.
[She has her knives, and her guns with their limited ammo, but she's never been much of a trapper despite being vaguely outdoorsy. She'd done a lot of field work during college that had required her to spend time out in the woods and knew well enough how to forage, but hunting anything that wasn't, you know, monstrous was entirely new. Animals couldn't be all that different, could they? Just... smaller. Potentially less vicious.
Right.]
Do we have the resources to replace or even forge spent ammunition, for instance? Or do we get to play pioneer and do it the authentic way?
[You know. Bows and arrows. That kind of thing.]
Any kind of feedback would be appreciated. If I'm going to be stuck here, might as well pitch in and do what I can to help.
[The feed ends. She'll be sitting outside of House 10 for awhile if anyone comes by or wants to pester her, and later in the day, she can be found at the docks, doing a little investigating.]
All things considered, there's something of a silver lining to this new situation, though she certainly has plenty of choice words for their captors if she ever gets the chance. She's determined to make that opportunity arise sooner or later.
When she addresses the feed, she's sitting on the front steps of House 10, arms resting on her knees.]
I haven't been here long, but I think I've got most of the details by now. [People had been helpful, for the most part.] The food supply is low and it sounds like people are doing whatever they can to help supplement it. I hear people hunt. I'd like to get in on that, but it would help to know what's available to us in the way of weapons.
[She has her knives, and her guns with their limited ammo, but she's never been much of a trapper despite being vaguely outdoorsy. She'd done a lot of field work during college that had required her to spend time out in the woods and knew well enough how to forage, but hunting anything that wasn't, you know, monstrous was entirely new. Animals couldn't be all that different, could they? Just... smaller. Potentially less vicious.
Right.]
Do we have the resources to replace or even forge spent ammunition, for instance? Or do we get to play pioneer and do it the authentic way?
[You know. Bows and arrows. That kind of thing.]
Any kind of feedback would be appreciated. If I'm going to be stuck here, might as well pitch in and do what I can to help.
[The feed ends. She'll be sitting outside of House 10 for awhile if anyone comes by or wants to pester her, and later in the day, she can be found at the docks, doing a little investigating.]
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[Shiala grimaces and looks away. It's unpleasant thinking about it now, and she'd really rather not, but she can appreciate the value in the question.]
I sustained some minor injury, but I'm... recovering. I've had more serious mishaps, certainly.
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[Better than the alternative.]
The attack could have gone a lot worse than it did.
[And that's saying something, really.]
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It could have. For that, we should be thankful. Next time, we will not be caught unawares.
[She grits her teeth.]
Certainly creatures like... that aren't known where I come from, though hardly impossible, either. If it isn't dead, I hope it's at least intelligent enough to realise we're not easy prey, and should be avoided.
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[She makes a dismissive gesture out towards the water.]
Seems like it's in bad taste, given all the tentacles.
[To be fair, most of her jokes are in bad taste.]
It's possible that it's learned. I've never seen one in person before this place, but they definitely exist where I'm from. Most 'monsters' or preternatural creatures are intelligent and have good survival skills. If it lived and it knows it's outmatched, it just might mind its manners.
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If it's intelligent enough to reason, then it's intelligent enough to calculate, to plan. If this is the case... it's a very dangerous creature that we find ourselves faced with.
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[Better safe than sorry.]
Plan for the worst case scenario and just cross your fingers and hope things don't go as badly as you think they will.
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[She glances down at her fingers automatically; she's heard that particular turn of phrase before, but "crossing your fingers" seems like a strange way to ensure luck, to her. No stranger than so many other alien phrases, she has to admit, just --- more unfamiliar.]
What sort of creatures do you have experience with, may I ask?
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[She has the degree and everything.]
Some of them I've never had a chance to see in person, either because they're extinct or they're not local, like dragons, but the U.S. has vamps, shapeshifters, ghouls, wraiths and trolls a-plenty.
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[A biologist who specialises in other species? Or maybe not.]
I'm familiar with the term "vampire," at least. A sort of human Ardat-Yakshi, it seems to me. This is the sort of thing you study? Are these other creatures you mention also variations found in humans?
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[She raises an eyebrow, curious. The name is unfamiliar to her, but she's always interesting in learning more about other kinds of creepy-crawlies.]
Yes, some of them are variations. Most shapeshifters, for instance, are a variation of human caused by infection, except instead of crippling them, the infection makes them strong. Faster. Better than humans. Not without a price, though. They're dangerous. The form they take depends on the strain of the infection they get. Werewolves, leopards, rats, hyenas, snakes. Even met a weretiger once. All different forms of zooanthropy.
Witches and psychics and mediums would fall under the category of "variation" too, I think.
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Ardat-Yakshi are the result of a genetic condition among my species. The asari... we don't reproduce the way you do. We meld our nervous system to that of another, with electrical impulses directly through the skin. We share feelings, sensations, memories, search the genetic memory of our partner and use it to randomise our own DNA to produce a child. The Ardat-Yakshi instead overpower their partner's mind, killing them. They tend to be seductive, manipulative, and very powerful, and it's not... it's not unknown for them to be addicted to the kill. Fortunately, they are rare.
[Shiala shakes her head.]
It isn't something we like to speak of, honestly.
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Understandably. Fascinating, though.
[She's clearly someone whose interest in other species and cultures is genuine. She's got a streak of science nerd in her.]
I can see where you'd make the connection between Ardat-Yakshi and vampire.
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[She's met a whole one vampire, so her opinion might be slightly skewed, but oh well.]
But you talk as though... there is a condition where humans are actually able to change shape?
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[She's seen it happen far too many times. However, she nods, confirming.]
Sure. Ever heard of a werewolf? We get weres of all kinds.
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[She frowns.]
The closest thing to shapeshifting I've heard of is the vorcha, perhaps. They're capable of adapting to nearly any environment, any diet, any atmosphere. Violence causes them to become tougher, so they fight frequently when they're young. Even then... it's rare for them to have a complete overhaul more than once in their lives.
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[She wouldn't be surprised to find something like them back home, but at the moment, nothing comes to mind -- but that doesn't mean they don't exist. She'd thought for sure that lamia were extinct, until she met one that jacked her full of venom. That had been a real laugh riot.]
Are they common?
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Ugly and vicious, but hardly more than that.
[She shrugs.]
They're smart enough to hold a gun, but that's about it. You don't see them much outside of the Terminus systems, where they survive eating garbage on space stations or hiring themselves out as mercenaries for batarians or the occasional krogan.
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[Ha. Ha ha. Ha.]
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[She smiles grimly.]
The Terminus systems are too lawless to be a good vacation. You're better off visiting the Citadel. You'll see most species there, but you'd be far safer.
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[After a certain point, paranoia just gets ingrained into you.]
So what's the Citadel?
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It's a space station, a huge and ancient one. It seems to have been built by the protheans, a race who went extinct fifty thousand years ago. It's the centre of galactic government, now.
[She sighs.]
I haven't been there in some time, now.
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[Huh.]
Pretty impressive. Can't believe it's still standing... or floating, as the case may be.
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There are the Keepers. They repair and maintain the Citadel, and always have.
[She shrugs.]
You hardly notice them, to be honest.
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[She shifts her weight slightly, arms folded.]
You miss it?
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The Citadel has never been my home. It is, though, the centre of civilization in the galaxy. It's a far cry from this place.
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