Carpathia IV: Episode 105 - The Letter S
Bridge, NCCS Shadowdancer
Upon returning to the camp, Aire introduced Sassinesa to Doctor Teagan. Busy as she was, she agreed to perform the procedure on Sassinesa's mouth. There was no need for Aire to explain the benefits of having a friendly demigod on their side. She knew. It was a simple procedure. She had the tools. She only needed some time, of which there wasn't much. Nevertheless, she immediately ushered Sassinesa into a tent and began to work. Outside, Aire and Ryuu had a chat about their new friend while Teren kept watch nearby.
Aire: You asked him if he was reethalit? What do you know of them?
Ryuu put his paw on his forehead and plopped his butt on the ground.
Ryuu: The galaxy's most annoying civilization. It's a wonder they developed space travel at all, considering they have no attention span. I don't even know how they propagate themselves, considering they are known to get distracted in the middle of sex. The good news is, at least, is that they are entirely pacifist, but mostly because if they ever had an actual war, it would be over in five minutes once everyone forgot what it was supposed to be about.
Aire: Sassinesa did sound like he was highly fed up with them. In a way, I think that's a good sign. He could have done all sorts of horrible things to them if he set his mind to it.
Ryuu: Kind of funny, really. Usually it's mischievous demigods who irritate their adopted species. It looks like the reethalit ended up irritating him into submission.
Ssssssssssssssssssssssssss...
Aire glanced at the tent, wondering what sort of procedure that Sassinesa was having. It sounded like some of the equipment might be failing, which would be understandable considering it was at the bottom of the sea not long ago.
Aire: What do you think of Sassinesa so far?
Ryuu: No red flags. He seems more frustrated than anything else. The evil ones are rather rare and they're usually not very good at hiding it. I think it's well worth any risk to try to make friends with him.
Ssssssssssssssssssssssssss...
Aire: Commodore Amaranth always said it's always best to give a shot toward new friends. I'm inclined to agree.
Ryuu: Me too.
Ssssssssssssssssssssssssss...
Aire couldn't take it anymore, neither the noise or the worry that something might be wrong with the medical equipment.
Aire: What is that?
Aire turned and marched to the tent, whipping the flap back. Just behind the flap was Sassinesa with a huge, toothy grin on his face.
Sassinesa: Ssssssssssssssss!!!
Aire took a step back, momentary alarm plainly visible on his face before he quickly neutralized his expression.
Sassinesa: I can say S again! It's been so very long!
Sorchae, looking uncharacteristically frazzled with her droopy eyes and frazzled hair, pushed her way past Sassinesa out of the tent.
Sorchae: Simple procedure, really. A little snip here, a little wavey wave there with the... um... You know. The thingy. Fortunately, he heals very quickly. Anyway, got to check up on Teek and then do another injection for Minnie in 15, so if you'll excuse me.
Aire filed this encounter away in his brain, for it seemed he would have to order Sorchae to bed soon. Nevertheless, he decided that Sassinesa was who required his focus right now.
Sassinesa: Those damned squirrels wouldn't help me, you know. They didn't understand what was wrong!
Aire: You seem in pretty good shape now. How do you feel?
Sassinesa did a little dance... or jog... or something, in place and swung his arms around.
Sassinesa: Great! You have a good doctor. It's been very kind of you to help me out.
Aire: Happy to lend a hand. So, that ability of yours, to learn a language quickly. That's quite useful.
Sassinesa: Oh! But that's not my main ability!
Sassinesa held his paws out and moved them in little circles, as though he were a magician doing a magic trick.
Sassinesa: Eyes on me! One... Two...
When Sassinesa said "two," he was still there, waving his paws around. The next moment, it was as though he just winked out of existence. Gone. Vanished. No poof of smoke. No flourish. Just gone. For several seconds, Aire looked around until he heard a voice from high in the treetops.
Sassinesa: Three!
Aire looked up and, sure enough, there was Sassinesa, squatting on a branch.
Aire: Teleportation?
Sassinesa jumped from the branch and spread his arms and legs wide, gliding down, circling Aire several times as he went, until he landed back to his previous position.
Sassinesa: Nothing like that, no. I can do a localized time freeze for a few seconds.
From nearby, Aire heard something of a grumble, but with an uptick in tone at the end. A questioning grunt. As Teren took a step forward, Sassinesa grinned slyly.
Teren: Were you in Engineering when I pulled Commander Calloway out?
Sassinesa: I like you, Mr. Kitty. Teren, was it? You're sharp and fast and if you'd had more confidence in your abilities, you might have been able to keep up with me.
Teren didn't say anything, but looked rather deflated at Sassinesa's comment.
Sassinesa: Anwyway, would you like to come to my treehouse? I built it near the reethalit control center. There might be stuff there that you'd like.
Aire nodded and was already thinking of who he wanted to send.
Aire: That's why we're here in the first place and it would be good if we hadn't crashed for nothing. Let's see, I'll have Joust lead the team, since I have to stay here. Ryuu, Teren, Amenaru, Kit...
While Aire was thinking, another thought popped into his head.
Aire: Do you have a limit on how many people can come?
Sassinesa: Well, don't bring your entire crew, but there's plenty of space to fit quite a lot of people. Oh! Time to consult Tabby!
This time, it was Aire's turn to be confused, for once again, Sassinesa reached down under his flap and pulled out a tablet. Still, nobody knew where he had been keeping it.
Sassinesa: Why don't I give you my treehouse location. I'll lead you there, but you'll be able to find your way there and back yourself if you'd like.
Sassinesa swiped, twisted, and turned imaginary knobs on his tablet while Kit got out his own.
Kit: I should see if I can download that. It'll also be a good test to see how the universal translator handles the reethalit language.
Sassinesa: That would be useful for you, sure. We can also test your compatibility with the reethalit tech. You know, I tried to contact you several times in the day that you arrived but I never got a response.
Amenaru: We had no incoming communications on that day that I know of. Could be the energy type and frequency isn't something our sensors recognize. Starting small is good. If you and Kit try a little data transfer, we can see what happens.
Sassinesa and Kit each fiddled with their tablets and each of their faces slowly turned more constipated as time went on.
Kit: I can't even get my tablet to detect the existence of yours.
Amenaru, who had been looking over Kit's shoulder the entire time, held out his hand.
Amenaru: May I?
Face scrunched, and without further comment, Kit placed his tablet into Amenaru's waiting hand.
Amenaru: I'm going to widen the range of energy signatures and frequencies that it's usually set to detect. It might take several minutes for it to come up with anything... oh, hey, that was fast.
Kit and Aire both leaned in close to see what Amenaru's scanner showed. Meanwhile, Sassinesa became a jittering ball of excitement with what he was seeing.
Sassinesa: Yay! Tabby's showing me that we finally have two-way recognition! So much better than the one way I had before.
The euphoria didn't last long. At the same time, both Amenaru's and Sassinesa's tablets erupted in a shower of sparks and pungent smoke. Kit and Aire shielded their eyes while Amenaru recoiled, still keeping his grip on the device. Sassinesa, on the other hand, was a tad less composed. He dropped his tablet immediately and leaped high into the air.
Aire: At the moment, it seems like it's a good thing that our systems don't automatically recognize that energy or frequency. Amenaru, did you see anything that might help us upgrade our systems to resist this incompatibility?
Amenaru: I might have caught a few glimpses of things that would help, but I need a pencil and paper right now before I forget!
Sassinesa took the destruction of his tablet with a bit less dignity. Aire was about to ask him if he could help, but immediately noticed the tears in Sassinesa's eyes as he stared forlornly at his tablet's smoking hulk. Finally, Sassinesa dropped to his knees and flung his little paws high into the air.
Sassinesa: TABBYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!
His cry of lament lasted several seconds and gained the attention of nearly the entire encampment. At last, he ran out of breath and faceplanted nose-first right into the dirt with his arms splayed out in front. There, he remained, silent. Only the sporadic rise and fall of his back told everyone he was alive and breathing.
Amenaru: Maybe we can help him fix that?
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
