Carpathia IV: Episode 201 - Deimos
NCCS Shadowdancer-A
Joust skittered across the ceiling, keeping his distance from Phobos as he made his way to Engineering, still muttering to himself. A tricky business, keeping far enough away that Phobos's excellent senses wouldn't detect him but near enough that he could still hear whatever Phobos said. In fact, Phobos should have known he was following, but he made no indication of it. Malfunction? Inattentiveness? Or did he just not care?
Phobos's mutterings were little more than incoherent rants, as far as Joust could tell. Nothing dark or sinister, but similar to the expressions of dissatisfaction on the bridge. Joust kept in mind that this was probably some sort of malfunction, but he couldn't help but wonder if this was the way that Phobos truly felt.
Phobos: Stupid giant honking plantation masquerading as a spaceship. This thing needs a rail to get from one end to the other. Hee hee. a roller coaster would be fun!
This tickled something in Joust's bat brain and he paused. A roller coaster would be fun. He did not have time to mull on this idea, however, for Phobos disappeared behind the Engineering doors. Joust picked up his pace and entered Engineering himself. Inside, a curious scene. Minnie, Ramei, Quenya, and Sylvar, standing in a semicircle, blocking further ingress. All four had creepy grins on their faces, like a group of cultists preparing to welcome a new initiate.
Minnie: Hello, Phobos.
Ramei: Welcome to Engineering.
Quenya: We have a special job for you!
Sylvar: Right this way, Ensign.
Phobos did not budge from his spot, despite the others gently attempting to usher him into the lab. Instead, he eyeballed each of them suspiciously.
Phobos: Why are you all acting weirder than usual?
Joust approached from behind and, though he enjoyed surprises immensely, he decided on prudence and made a wide circle around Phobos.
Joust: It's alright, Phobos. Right this way.
Phobos squinted, still skeptical, but followed the crew into the lab regardless. Once inside, all appeared empty and inactive and Phobos stopped just inside the door.
Minnie: Now could we have little Phobos out, please?
Phobos stamped his foot indignantly on the floor.
Phobos: What are you planning to do to Phobos? I warn you, I won't allow you to harm him!
Ramei: Phobos, why are you referring to yourself in the third pers...
Before Ramei could finish, Minnie slapped her hand on his chest. She hunched foward, studying Phobos intently, her eyes wide.
Minnie: Deimos? You're Deimos, aren't you?
Phobos took a step back and looked down at himself and patting his body all over, ears twitching on top of his head.
Phobos: Wait... You can hear me?
The others slowly nodded as it became clear that Minnie was right.
Ramei: We sure can.
Phobos: Oh my god!
Phobos, or, perhaps, Deimos, started slithering her hands up and down her body.
Deimos: It's true! I can feel things! I mean, it's still a boy body which is... blech, but it's been so long! Oh, I wish I had a voice of my own! I wonder how I can change this. I... Um...
Deimos froze and looked up, scanning each of the astonished faces in the room.
Deimos: Um... How long have I been talking out loud?
Joust: It's the reason why we sent you here. You need to get checked out.
Minnie: First of all, is Phobos still in there?
Deimos: I forgot! I need to check! How do I check? Hang on!
For a moment, Deimos went entirely still and quiet and again, nobody really knew what to do other than watch. After a few seconds of waiting, her eyes slowly closed and then her, maybe his, body suddenly flopped onto the floor.
Ramei: Um... He's not dead, is he?
Minnie: I doubt it. That's not how he works. Help me get him on the table. He's heavy.
Minnie and Ramei took the shoulders while Sylvar and Quenya took his legs. With some effort and a significant amount of grunting, they managed to lift him off the floor and began to shuffle laboriously toward the table. At the final stretch, just before the big lift to table-height, Phobos's eyes suddenly popped open.
Deimos: He's still in here!
Ramei: Eep!
Ramei lost his grip, suddenly shifting the weight on the other three. Unable to hold on for more than a couple of seconds, Phobos's body dropped to the ground with a calamitous thud.
Deimos: He's kinda grumpy right now. He said I'm ruining his career.
Minnie: Never mind that. Let's get you on the table so that we can examine you first.
Deimos sprang to her feet and, as she jumped onto the table, a chime sounded, indicating a call from the bridge.
Kit: Bridge to Engineering. I have Dr. Leingod on comm.
Minnie: That's great, Kit. Patch him down to the lab.
Seconds later, Artemis appeared on the lab screen.
Artemis: Phobos? Are you okay?
Deimos smiled wide and gave an exuberant wave.
Deimos: Hi Dad!
Artemis: Um... Hi?
Minnie: Dr. Leingod, this is Deimos. She tells us that Phobos is still there, but we haven't been able to communicate with him.
Artemis's eyes widened and his ears folded back on his head. Tilting his head, he leaned forward until his face filled up the entire screen.
Artemis: Deimos? I... um... I mean, it's really nice that you can communicate again. Is Phobos okay?
Phobos: He says he's okay, but we don't know how to make things the way they were or how this happened.
Artemis: Let's get you plugged into the computer.This could be a major problem and I don't want to lose either of you, let alone both. Let's see if we can figure out what's going on.
Minnie: All ready with the connection.
Artemis nodded while Minnie lifted a bit of hair from the side of Phobos's head and plugged in the cable. On the screen, the mind map immediately began to form. Only a few seconds in, and at least part of the problem presented itself.
Artemis: Ho boy. You're just a hair away from maximum storage capacity. Somehow, Deimos, you're now at 50% of the total and your patterns are significantly more distinct than they used to be. When was the last scan?
Minnie: Just two days ago. Readings were only marginally different from previous at that time.
Artemis flopped back into his chair. With a sigh, he rubbed his forehead.
Artemis: Have to admit that I'm torn. As much as I'd like to sit down and talk to you, we have to figure out what's going on before something bad happens. First, we'll wait for the diagnostic to finish. We'll study that and then scan both your outer and inner bodies.
Deimos nodded solemnly and glanced at the diagnostic screen. 46%. Soon.
Artemis: While we wait, though... It's good to talk to you again after all these years. How have you been?
Deimos: Good enough, I guess. It's frustrating having no control over anything and... well, everyone here has probably figured it out by now, but I'm not really into the Exploration Force life.
Joust: That explains a lot.
Artemis: If I weren't preparing for an imminent Vashta invasion, I'd focus solely on separating you two, but I'll relay the information to your grandfather. He might have some insights.
Deimos: I can work on it too. I have a funny feeling that I won't be on duty so much in the near future.
Minnie: It would actually be helpful to have a dedicated AI researcher. We may learn things we can use for other applications.
Artemis: It's worth considering, but let's find out what's going on right now first. We're at 71%, which is enough to be getting on with for now. Let's dig into this data.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Less_End
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
Falke2009
