[The reflection held by the mirror shard warps to reveal vast darkness with a series of strange geometric patterns, glowing, running through it.

The next moment, a yellow glare emerges in the bottom-right corner of the shard-- a lit flare. It takes a moment for the details to resolve after that. It turns out, that those unfamiliar, luminous patterns are running along the walls of a stone chamber, as well as over the contours of the altar standing in the center. Other brief, vague details stand out as the shard turns. Shelves, cut into the walls; something bundled in the shelves. A wooden box, with a glint of gold within.

And then, abruptly, William Tsang pops into view. He’s slightly translucent, and the orange flare light seems to have trouble illuminating his. He looks flustered. And unusually tall, or maybe the holder of the mirror is just unusually low.] Takeshi, [he says.

Then the mirror flips. And you’re looking right into Takeshi’s little orange face. He mostly just seems content with himself, maybe even a touch good-spirited despite the murky and kind of macabre setting around them.]

It’s okay, Mr. William! I’m real short so the arrows went swoof! Over my head!

[SMILE SMILE SMILE.]

But they prob’ly coulda’ bounced off me anyways. I think... [He turns his attention to the people looking back at him through the mirror, awed and proud and all sorts of excited.] Look! Look, we found stuff! On accident.

[William is no longer in view, but he doesn’t sound like he’s smiling at all.] We’re about eight miles East of the bloody ship, a few miles away from the left edge of the edge of the Tranquility’s drag line. I’ll start a fire to mark the spot-- soon. [Presumably, this information is for prospective reinforcements, but William switches back to talking at the boy in a moment.] And I’m coming to get you, so don’t-- touch anything, especially not the corpses. Takeshi are you paying att-- Takeshi, oi! Don’t touch shit, right? All right?

[Parenting 101 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(Now if only he’d remember Takeshi’s adoptive mother was a protagonist in a horror game.)

But Takeshi just nods at the information — and nods more firmly at the warning.]

I’ll be good! No touching!

[But in case William tries to poof off to play catch-up in a physical body... Takeshi's face softens a bit in the light of the flare.]

M’gonna pray for them, though! Pray with me, Mr. William!

[Takeshi slaps his hands together, the mirror between them, and mumbles sincerely under his breath. Something along the lines of, ’sorry we broke in, rest in peace! and don’t haunt me and my friends! sorry!’]

I really feel like this is not the best bloody ti-- [but William is already piping down, either because he is trying to be appropriate during prayer or because he’s trying to allow Takeshi his distraction while he surreptitiously tries to do exactly the catch-up that the little boy is stalling him from doing. The mirror goes dark again, at least for a few moments.

Once you’ve seen the post, feel free to drop in over at the log. You can also see a super detailed description of the dark spooky room by the mods over here!]

[Since coming out of the Jump with four years of new memories and six months of isolation, William has organized his thoughts somewhat. Most importantly: happiness requires survival. Apart from that, some nebulous but helpful facts about manifestations and the way that Clarke Griffin's life sucks unadulteratedly lately. He has this on his mind when he gets to typing.]

william tsang again. i'm a dr. now but you can just call me william.

for the past 3 weeks, ms. clarke griffin and i have been working on using manifestations to replicate equipment and supplies. we've determined that magical effects won't manifest (e.g., potions), but functioning technology can be duplicated to the extent that the person knows what the fuck they're doing. the effects will outlast the manifestation. although we haven't worked a lot on anything besides what the department needs, this probably applies to other stuff you're interested in.

please share your tech specs, but don't leave advanced weapon details unlocked/unfiltered. you may want to direct those remarks to xg, sec, or gunnery. thanks.

do you have an intermediate-to-advanced understanding of biochemistry, physics, and technology as it relates to medicine? let us know. we may have some stuff to share with you. thanks to the regular occurrence of disasters/emergencies, most of our work is focused on triage, mobility, and crisis stabilization. the medical bay is equipped to provide practice.

our current replicable medical inventory includes:

- procoagulants
- handheld cauterization devices (heat, but also laser, chemical)
- defribillators
- epinephrine/injectors

these resources may be extremely helpful while we have our abilities, but dangerous too; again we need you to practice until it works or not fuck around. we may also be able to advance your knowledge thanks to our new abilities. dr. bones mccoy and tadashi hamada are especially tech-savvy, and might be willing to provide more guidance. i will be consulting about manifestations of tech that's more invasive or is of risk disproportionate to the scenarios you're likely to need them in.

again, galadriel is deputy cmo should i be kia/whatever. cheers.

OOC: Corresponding mod note here. You can also fire me questions/corrections via Plurk/PM. Sorry for the spontaneous name-drops, Medbay! Note that ~practice~ involves cloned tissue rather than human experimentation. I can start a log if you like!

This is really bad! This is serious!!

[look how damn serious he is to match the seriousness of this situation]

Everyone's not feeling good, and it's 'cus of this — this stupid ship! Sometimes it makes me so mad...! But we gotta do something 'bout it so you don't get anymore hurting heads and bloody noses. We gotta work together!! Like a team! We always gotta stick together like a team! And I'm gonna help as much as I can; it's like a mission, a real important one, and I'm your team mate, and I'm not gonna let you get hurt anymore than you gotta! So I accept my new job...! I will find you!!

I'm gonna hug everyone who needs the hugs!

[YOU THINK THIS IS A FUCKING GAME]

[ Samantha is very clearly frustrated and physically uncomfortable by the time the camera flicks on again, she shifts on her crutches as she gets back on her mark. Then she's in a perfect shot. Standing just a few feet back, slightly offset right from the camera that catches her upper half. ]

...take one-hundred-fucking-twenty-seven... [ Exaggeration. Hopefully. ]


Look. That Lab E that everyone is trippin' about? It's literally a Door to Nothing.

Hold up, I should— [ Panic. Is she going to have to retake? ] Back up.

I'm Samantha, you've probably seen me crutchin' around. Back at home, I had weird-ass dreams about shit like that void. Figured it shouldn't even exist. Nothing shouldn't exist. It's a freakin' paradox to what my— [ rewind. ] ...to what I can do. [ bad save. ] So yeah, of course I went to check it out.


Well. I really went full body contact. Except I remember shit-nothing. 'Bout to put my hand through, then I woke up on the ground. That's about it really. And if Rey hadn't been there to pull me out— [ Adjusts to the left. ] Above forbid, right? It's not worth the risk for what it is. What it isn't...?

[ Break for intermission, guys. ]


And I guess I'm also looking for the medical team people. Like, to set up an appointment. Don't know how that works. [ She seems thrilled. ] Thanks.

[ Annnnnd... Cut. ]

"Recently, you've all been told that there is a traitor.

"So you should probably know what it was I did."

[She pauses, searching for the words while she lets that sink in for a heavy moment. One might note that her tones are different; she doesn't sound like her usual robotic self when she speaks. Quite the opposite, actually. Rey sounds almost like-human. In her own way, you could say that this her one big "fuck you" to Smiley. You think she wouldn't tell everyone? Well, now she is. Full disclosure. So there.]

"I entered the dark corridors shortly after the DUPRR crew had docked the ship. Before long it became apparent that the things infesting the hallways weren't approaching me with any hostility. Because they weren't attacking, I was able to reach the secondary shuttle bay more or less without much incident. During that trek I made an effort to avoid others, not knowing the extent of the compulsion and whether it would also drive me to harm anyone who stood in the way." [Well, it's mostly the truth she speaks. You're welcome, William.]

"All that remained was the DUPRR pilot, Neson. Needing his trust, I tricked him into coming with me by pretending to be a person who was trustworthy. It's something I've become rather good at, actually -- pretending to be someone else, much like how I am right now. Despite the fact that something wanted me to kill this man, I decided to will against it.

"It didn't work as intended.

"Instead, I took him to the White Room. I opened the door. And I led him through.

"He's likely still in there right now, where it's kept him."

[She stops, still dizzied from the jump. The more she speaks, the more hoarse her voice gets. She hasn't been using it that much lately, and it's clear from her shadowed eyes and worn features that she's been neglecting more than just sharing this information.]

"Apparently, doing this has-- 'stopped the clock', whatever that means.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

[ The video opens on total darkness, empty and black. A garbled voice, a low spit of static, cutting out. Cutting in, sounds gaining coherence, voices frantic and rushed. ]

-ri, hurry, how long does it take to patch a hardline console--

Got it.

[ Two faces appear, leaning in close out of the dark, features wide in fear. ]

Hello?

This is Juri Boshi with the DUPRR. Our attempts to move forward to the next stage of contact have been successful.

But we need help. There are... creatures. Monsters. Three of our people are dead already, we can't--

[ There's a sudden clamor somewhere further behind them, the shouting of several voices. Both turn to look, expressions more strained as they turn back. ]

We can't get out. Please. We're in the secondary shuttle bay.

We've barricaded ourselves inside, but we can't hold them out forever.

[ The loud thud of something slamming against metal punctuates her point. Her eyes flicker up to follow the sound as Eszter visibly flinches. ]

Please, help us.

[When the feed begins, Luke is in some part of the Engineering department at a work bench. It's zoomed in too closely to see the table in front of him, but he's surrounded by bins of spare parts and it looks like he might have been building things.]

Hello, Tranquility. This is Luke Skywalker with some updates on the ESD project I've been working on for the past few months.

To refresh your memories, I created an IV device that's worn inside the stasis pods and administers drugs to the wearer right before being released. It minimizes the effects of jump illness and the Engineering sickness, if anyone is around who's still going through that like I am. I call it the ESD, the Engineering Sickness Device for that reason.

[He holds up the device itself to the camera. It's fairly small and simple, made up primarily of a pump and a timer attached to a tiny vial, and dangling from it is a short strap.]

Here it is. I went into detail about it a couple months ago but you can get a pretty good idea of how it works from here. I've been testing it on myself and the design works great. I usually have a mixture of painkillers and anti-nausea drugs and that typically takes care of the worst of it for me.

[Luke tilts his head to examine the device and then sets it back down on the table.]

The biggest problem I had was timing it so that it would go off about a half hour before we were released from the pods, but I found a solution to that, something I'll talk about in a minute.

First, [he holds up a finger] I'd like to ask for volunteers to continue testing it. As far as I can tell, it's a pretty low-risk test. The medical staff will set it up for you and they're responsible for the drugs and needles of course. Oh, and no one can tamper with it while you're out because it'll be inside the pod with you during the jump.

Pretty much your biggest risk is reactions you might have to the drugs, so it's probably a good idea to make sure the med staff give you something that you know you can tolerate. It'll be up to them to help you come up with a good cocktail that'll be safe for you and stave off whatever nasty jump side-effects you'd like to get rid of.

Primarily I'd just like to know of any problems other people might have with my design, like things not fitting right, stuff like that, before I mass produce them.

Anyway, let me know if you'd like to volunteer to try it out.

[Luke clears his throat and shifts in his seat, preparing to move onto another topic.]

Now, I mentioned that I found a way to time the ESDs perfectly. In other words, the lengths of the jumps. They're different every time so that proved to be a major problem. This is something that I know several people have been working on for a while so I thought it'd be helpful to share what I discovered.

Back several months ago when we had that nanite problem that almost killed everyone, we found a room, a sort of status room, where the stasis pod systems are managed. Some of the tech in there let me sync up the timers perfectly with the control equipment. I wanted to test it first to make sure.

I set the timer on my ESD to that exact time minus thirty minutes during the last jump and it worked! It administered the drugs exactly when I needed it to and I woke up feeling pretty good. Well, relatively speaking.

I'm going to keep using that status room to set our ESDs, but I'm sure someone else can find another use for it. I wouldn't go messing around with stuff in there too much, but we might be able to use it to our advantage, maybe figure out a little more about jump times and how they're determined.

[Luke clasps his hands in front of him.]

Alright, uh... ask questions, volunteers are appreciated, etcetera. I'll be around here in the Engineering department for a while. I'm going to try to get one or two more ESDs built before I head to bed.

[He reaches towards the camera and then the feed cuts out.]

((OOC: The bit about the status management room containing equipment needed to sync with jumps comes directly from the mods. I'll be corresponding with them for the information needed to answer character questions about it, or at least, things that Luke would know.))

[When the picture slides into focus, it will be obvious to some of the passengers where this place is; considerably less so to others. The SEC office, fortunately, isn't the Tranquility's hottest vacation spot.

Head of Security, Tyke, sits in front of the comm device which is probably about expected.

However, William Tsang, the (erstwhile) Chief Medical Officer, sitting beside her is probably a little weird, especially given he's ash white and looks like he's about to throw up all over the camera. That isn't usually what guys with supernatural regeneration do. His hair has grown out raggedly in the past month, but he could look more disheveled or disoriented. He looks straight at the lens, is clear-eyed enough, when he says:] Hello.

I've got a confession to make. The clusterfuck last cycle, people attacking each other, was my powers going out of control. It was most likely a function of recon syndrome, which amplified my abilities far beyond their usual scope, as well as eroding my control under stress. I'm sorry for all of it. Fortunately, Xenogen and Security have got notions for future prevention.

[Tyke rarely looks content to be in front of a camera, and all through William's talking, there's a pinch growing sharper between her brows - but when she speaks, her voice stays level and certain.]

We're gonna be keeping him under regular observation, done by those with the abilities to recognise and control any further abnormalities in his powers. If anything like the last incident looks like it's gonna start, we'll take the measures necessary to stop it. [Whatever measures those may turn out to be. There's a pause, the line of her mouth pressing hard, almost as if she's already expecting some particular kind of response to the next statement.] Containment and distance have no effect, and he's been determined not to be an immediate threat. He'll be released at the end of this broadcast.

I'm going to be stepping down from Chief Medical Officer and away from Medical Bay, [William adds. A beat. Despite that the statement is weighty enough to seem to demand an explanation, all he can think of is ‘duh,' so he doesn't.] Authority there defaults to Granny Weatherwax until or unless she defers to someone else. If anyone's got questions, I'll answer them as well as I can. Thanks for your attention.

cw: suicide

Locked to Heather Mason | video | 0% encryption

Heather.

[Wherever William is, it's dark. By now, he's been missing for more than a day; perhaps even two. Granny Weatherwax is ruling Medical Bay with talons of iron, but that isn't to say his absence has been overlooked. That is to say rather the obvious. His face is white like a plastic bag that can't make up its mind whether it's drowning or floating in pooled darkness.] Um.

I fucked up. I thought I could get out of range, but it all went tits up.

---

Locked to Severus Snape | text | 0% encryption

its me. I did it. im really fucking sorry but

I dont know how to make it stop.




i think this is why i wasnt sleeping. wasnt it?

I guess it doesnt matter now. I marked the way but I lost all of it. i dont think Ive got options left this point. sorry. again.

[Luke has on his determined face. This is the face he gets when he has A Plan, usually involving helping people and keeping himself busy. Even when he's not working Luke can't seem to sit still for more than five minutes so this is decidedly a good thing all around.]

Tranquility, this is Luke Skywalker. I'm fed up. With a lot of things, but I specifically want to address something that I can change. This last jump I realized that I've been on the ship for a year now and the after-effects of charging into Engineering to help save the ship have been making me miserable-- well, relatively speaking, for almost as long.

As I was hurling my guts out on the floor the other day I came up with an idea to-- alright, so it won't get rid of the 'Engineering sickness' entirely but it should at least help. And maybe if I get enough input from people who are smarter than me I can make it even more effective.

The medbay is stocked with plenty of drugs but the problem is that when the grav couch spits you out you're already puking and hating your existence before you even hit the floor. By the time the drugs have a chance to kick in the worst of it has passed. Making it from your grav couch to the showers while you're trying not to pass out and fall on your face again feels like the longest walk of your life.

So-- [He holds up a finger and then leans over and disappears from view. Seconds later he reappears with a crude drawing he's done of a device and holds it up to the camera.] Uh, I'm no artist but I hope it makes sense. All it is is a self-contained IV and timer. The idea is that it would be set to go off about a half hour before the user is scheduled to be released from their pod. There's a pump attached to the container which administers whatever drugs are in there; I'm envisioning anti-nausea and painkillers. By the time you wake up you're already feeling 'em! [Luke disappears briefly again to set down the drawing.]

Now, it'd be really, really simple to make. The hard part, as some of you might have already guessed, is the timing. As of now we don't know how long each jump lasts but I'm working on that with a couple people and hopefully I'll come up with a solution soon, though it may take some experimenting... which would take a while because unfortunately I can only run tests once a month.

Otherwise, I'd like to ask for help, specifically from the- uh, ironically- Engineering department and the Medbay. I'll need parts, mostly pumps, timers, casings, that sort of thing. And Medbay staff, I could use a second eye on this design and some medical expertise. Obviously the use of these things will have to be monitored by medical officers to make sure no one's overdosing or using the wrong drugs in the wrong combinations.

Uhhh... [he rubs his hands together thoughtfully] somewhere down the line, if I can get a solid, working design I'll probably need all the help I can get, putting together as many devices as possible. Anyone who wants one should have one, anyone whose jump experience can be improved even a little.

Zero-two-five-dash-one-eight-five. Get a hold of me if you'd like to help. Thanks, guys.

[A bright otter bounds down one of the hallways, pausing here and there to investigate the sources of odd smells. Then it turns quickly, leaping into the air to swim on its back, feet paddling the air. As it nears the communicator, the tip of a wand can be seen.

No words are uttered; there is merely a bright pulse of light - much like the otter's own glow - and suddenly the creature forms words in the air:

A success.

The little creature flips and then disappears in a puff of glowing vapor. Hermione turns the communicator towards her, smiling faintly.]

I know how they did it now. Why couldn't I have discovered it sooner? [There is something extraordinarily clever by its simplicity.] He would make it into a challenge. If he were clearer, anyone could have intervened.

Not that I'm terribly clever, mind you, but -

These are things I can discover through pure logic. I wish I had told Harry before he left.

[That part is said mostly to herself, her eyes unfocused.]

Anyway, she belongs to me. If you see her, I've sent her your way. There will be a message attached unless I'm...under extreme duress. She will show you the way to me...or safety. Patronuses are useful things. They reflect the user. I suppose mine is an otter because we share traits.

Aye aye, ship. This is William from Medbay. [William from Medbay waves at the camera. From the view behind him, it's evident that he's reporting from his department; the backdrop is quiet, sterile, shows rows of cabinets and a generic holo model of a human body rotating dreamily in the background. He's holding a tablet, cuing himself from it.] A few things.

First, Engineering's representatives and our own tech expert, Natasi, are looking into the emergency lights. You know, the ones that was on when we came out of stasis to find our gravcouches defaced. All equipment is operating normally and conclusions are pending.

Second, said spraypaint has defied conventional analyses, where 'convention' includes imaging science and some magic. This phenomenon has previously been seen once before. If you've some sort of analytical magic, equipment, or otherwise salient skills, please inform myself and-or Xenobiology and Genetics immediately.

Third, we're seeking volunteers to undergo physical examinations. [He pauses for a split second, considering mentioning this is Erik Lehnsherr's idea, then opting not to.] These exams ain't invasive in nature. These will include: brain scans, running on a treadmill, and blood tests; we might also develop a magical battery. The purpose of this is to establish a baseline of healthy neurological and physiological activity. We will then compare it to how we're doing if shit happens later. Over the past few years, forces aboard this fucking ship have exhibited the power and intent to alter us. Some of these alterations have been obvious: evisceration by manticore, nanite plagues, [he loops his hand around a gesture that means et cetera et cetera.] Others have been much more etiologically uncertain. Psychic shit? Hallucinations? Who fucking knows. Understanding the physical and functional differences between us at different stages may be important to determining what the fuck is going on.

It's extremely unlikely any of the information we acquire can be used to harm you. Likewise the testing procedures themselves are low risk, if possibly bloody boring. If you prefer, we can lock the results to specific medical personnel.

Number four, several passengers have started crapping together some notes about the history of the ship based on archival research of the network. We're aware there been other archival projects, so moving or copying this shit around is good with me. As far as I'm concerned, it's imperative to perpetuate what records we've got. We've lose much of what we known, which is exceptionally shitty when we know sweet fuck-all. Contributions are also welcome.

Five, uhh. [Wiliam's face blanks an instant. His eyes cut to his tablet. Back again.] Medbay's still hiring. If you've got experience with medicine, healing, or salient arts, please apply because it's going to be like five fucking minutes before the next maiming.

Finally, it's my understanding that the last undesirable effects of the nanite plague two cycles ago have been corrected. If that ain't the case, please see Dr. Keller or Dr. Tam for surgical solutions. Ms. Weatherwax, Dr. Gallo, Ms. Amell, and Ms. Lúthien may have magical interventions available. We've also got a few away on recon, but we'll see to you if we can. Also, if that wee bint Cora tries to help you, you probably ought to tell her to get some fucking kip.

[He jostles the comm device as he reaches to end the transmission, saying,] Cheers.

[Attachment: ARCHIVAL-TIMELINE.8888]

---

Filtered to Xenogen and Cassandra Anderson

( re: spraypaint )

---

Filtered to Medbay

( By now, some of you will know that those of us who went on recon a few cycles ago have started experiencing etiologically mysterious symptoms. )

---

Locked to Heather Mason | 80% encryption or you're Seraphim Dias

( HEY )


OOC reminder: Medical Bay department page, if you haven't. Also in the case I do drop or am ICly merked/whatever, I will make the HTML code available to Medbay players.

Also OOC: Unless you want to RP out the physical examination (let me know), we can handwave it. Just have your character note volunteering/consent somewhere on this network!