ataraxion | [Voice]

All right. I’ve got two things.

So if gettin'... um... close to people makes us bleed less, it seems like now would be a good time to get people together to spar. So I’m offerin’ now, if anybody wants to meet in the gym or whatever.

[Because that should work just as well as holding someone’s hand or hugging them, right? And it’s much less weird and embarrassing--Firo's sure that the ship's intending to torture them even more with the "solution" to their problem and he'll do his damndest to get out of it.]

And the second thing I got... Well, it’s kinda gross, so I won’t show it right here. You’re welcome.

[He hesitates, realizing he really should have rehearsed this at some point. How the hell does he explain this?]

I got an eye in my locker. Thought I’d ask around and see if anybody wants it, ‘cause I sure as hell don’t want this thing hangin' around and watchin' me sleep. Somebody said Medical might be interested.

And no, it’s not all gross from sittin’ around. I’ll show you if you want.

[By all rights, it should be kind of gross, given how long ago the jump was. This eye is a bit... special. As most immortal eyes are.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I believe Xenogen was interested in collecting specimens like that from the lockers.

Xenogen, huh? They're the... creepy monster stuff people?

The official description involves alien life.

But yes, essentially, creepy monster stuff.

Ah, see--I know this guy was human. The guy it was from, I mean. Not an alien and I'm not sure how much of a monster he was.

They gave you the eye of someone you know?

[Somehow that's even more disturbing than random eyeballs.

He lived the sort of life where there were degrees of strangeness to eyeballs.]

Yeah. I was, um... holdin' onto it right before I got brought here, so it'd make sense.

[He thought so from the beginning, but the fact that it's not decaying has pretty much confirmed that. How many other immortals have lost an eye?]

As much sense as anything here makes, I suppose.

[Obviously everyone holds onto eyeballs]

Yeah, really.

[Thank you, sir, for not reacting in a way that makes him feel weirder than he already does.]

So, can you tell me exactly what they do to these things in Xenogen? What they're lookin' for, I mean. I'm guessin' they don't just poke it over and over.

You'd have to speak to them yourself, but they have various scanners.

Scanners. Okay. No idea what those do, but I guess they know what they're doin'.

We always seem to have a few experts on board.

Yeah, really. If it weren't for me bein' here, I'd think the boat was lookin' to collect a lotta brainiacs for somethin'.

[He's pretty sure his head is empty enough to balance out the brains of several experts.]