ataraxion | o2 ☢ and all the fruits again would fill the garden

[ bruce does not much like posting on the network. mostly because it involves people looking at him, people not his team. but betty asked, and there's not a whole lot he won't do under that particular duress.

so he taps on a video feed, trying not to let how much this whole mess feels personal show on his face. ]

I know we're all tired and run down, but there have been some developments. Bet-- Dr. Ross and her colleagues have discovered some. [ he pauses, sighs. ] Some disturbing news. In the interest of full disclosure and transparency-- [ and isn't that politician double speak. he sighs, starts again. ] Sorry, habit. I'll try and speak plainly: none of this is reassuring, but we all at least deserve answers.

The creatures-- [ his mouth twists at that, but he doesn't stop speaking this time. ] appear to be a product of some kind of experimentation. Overwhelmingly-- by a margin of eighty percent-- their genetic makeup is simple, baseline human, but there's another twenty left that appears to be a cocktail of lion, dingo, and crocodile. Their organs were... largely human in appearance, with tweaks here and there. We can't tell you how or why just yet, but we can tell you they weren't doing well even before we got there. Based on the sample brought back by Mr. Clarke and his team, there was a high rate of malnutrition, as well as clear evidence of cannibalism. Whether that was by necessity or not, we can't say. What we can say is that they were most likely dying before we got there-- their cells were deteriorating, in what if I had to hazard a guess would be a side effect of whatever process made them into hybrids. There was also a shared high rate of some pretty nasty infected wounds, and I'd recommend anyone who was bitten or scratched and hasn't already done so should stop into Medbay and make sure they'll heal cleanly.

[ his back straightened during that little speech-- science is easy. now it's just bruce, and he takes off his glasses and cleans them on the front of his shirt, slumping a little again. ]

I wish I had more comforting answers, or even just complete ones. And to keep the hits coming, the computers in the newly cleared labs were wiped clean. We're looking into digging harder or establishing a timeline, but it's slow going. If anything new turns up, someone will make another announcement. Until then, it's hurry up and wait.

[ and as a slender hand reaches into frame to squeeze his shoulder, bruce cuts the feed. ]

t e x t | 95 % locked

What I'd like to know is when the data was wiped, personally. It would make a difference in approach.

[ understatement. ]

/ t e x t | 95 % locked

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So there's no way of telling if there's more labs hiding deeper in the ship holding nasty surprises like this one. [sigh] Great.

Any way of knowing if these things were... human before their DNA was put in a blender, or if they were grown? [either way it's horrific, and that's clear in Shepard's voice, but twisting an aware human being into something unrecognizable puts whoever did this on a whole new level of messed in the head.]

Not for sure, no. But I wouldn't bet on there being just the one surprise. [ he lifts one shoulder, sighing himself. ] Great's the word for it.

[ pressing his lips together, bruce nods and looks down for a moment. ] The animal DNA was... layered over the human, essentially. Whatever they were when we found them, they started out human.

Shit. [Everything summed up succinctly into one word.]

And of course the data's all missing.

No evil genetics lab is complete without missing data, right?

[ that was actually a joke ALERT THE MEDIA. ]

[it's kind of sad how accurate that is, though. esp in Shepard's case.]

You have no idea. [she can still appreciate the lulz, though.]

Oh, I uh-- I think I can imagine.

[ CRAWWWWWWWWWWLING IN HIS (BRIGHT GREEN) SKIIIIIIIIIIN etc etc etc and so on. ]

I've got a bad feeling that Cerberus is going to be involved somehow.

[Or some parallel-universe Cerberus-equivalent.]

I don't know. Cerberus crossed a line with the Reaper tech, but I think even the Illusive Man would hesitate to create something as twisted as what these things were. [Considering she hasn't seen Sanctuary yet, she doesn't know how very far the Illusive Man has fallen.]

[She lets out a disbelieving exhale.]

You must be remembering things differently than me, then.

[For all she knows, things could've gone differently for this Shepard.]

[o snap they didn't have this conversation yet, did they.]

...What do you remember?

[Oh, this is going to get awkward fast.]

Maybe we should do this in person, Shepard.

[YUP]

Okay, yeah. Guess we should see what page we're on. Your quarters or mine?

...yours. I'll be up from Engineering soon.

All right. I'll be here.

o2 ☢ and all the fruits again would fill the garden

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