| Meanwhile, while some people are looking after others in a delivery
room…….
Probe must take care of business.
Putting his Avatar body on standby down in the city of Panaras, the
AI awaits calmly as his REAL body is surrouned by those robo-ship of his
comrades in arms surround him. Now was time to do some presenting of facts.
Now was a time for the Mission Debriefing.
Probe just wished to the Creator that he was more confident at how this
would turn out. Captain Halloway Sterndeck was reputed to be a fair man,
but also a man who would not hesitate to Captain Mast you if it appeared
that you were trying to be "funny" with him.
Probe just hoped that Sternden, the CO, was in a good mood!
The fact that such formal proceedings were taking place for this debriefing
didn't look good, however…..
The Captain appeared before the holographic projection of Probe, who
holographic representation was decked out in full military dress uniform…..with
every citation and award present on his chest. Even Sterndeck look moderately
impressed at some of the more…..difficult one Probe had obtained.
When the Captain saw all the Bridgecrew was seated, he rang the bell
at his table, symbolizing that the ceremony had begun.
"Colonel Probe Inuit 0001 reporting as ordered, sir!" Probe snapped
out, delivering a textbook perfect salute to the captain. The captain returned
the courtesy. Then the captain spoke, and said something that took Probe
by surprise.
"Colonel Probe……" Halloway began. "Stand at ease. This is not a Court
Marshal or a Captain's Mast….because after reviewing recorded accounts
of what happened…..with the bioreading that the dragon was giving off…..I
can not see how I could fault you for turning your back on an enemy who
was obviously should not have been a threat. It just goes to show you that
the Alliance still has much to learn about this 'Magic.'"
"Sir," Probe said stiffly. "With all due respect, the mission wasn't
a failure! Sir!"
The officers listen with interest as Probe recounts in excruciating
what happened in the past few days (found in 2145, 47, 70, 72, 2173, 83,
88, 2230, 2231, 2239).
"Using various analysises, collating data from accounts of events that
happened to the analogs that got dragged from their world into this near
duplicate of their own homeworlds, I discovered that an Atlantian magical
artifact known as the Crytallic had the property at being able to transform
any living creature into any other creature….and do it in such a way that
only another session with the Crystallic could reverse the effects. Minestus
apparently was able to alter a strain of lycanthropy that first produced
the demi-fox lycanthrope….and then what would become the newest race of
intelligent beings on this Mirror: Manimals.
"According to the resident experts in magic and the workings of Minestus'
mind, Synizn and his analogs have told me that it could very well be possible
that Minestus used this device on samples of a strain of bioweaponry the
Enemy appears to have provided the now departed Minestus, producing the
Phage. The Synizns think that they might be able to affect some type of
counter agent in the future…..but it will be difficult…...
"They can't cure the Phage immediately because THEIR Crystallics never
made the Phage…..and since I now know that the glass ruins I saw in the
dragon's lairs were the shattered remains of this worlds Crystallic….if
I understood that demi-fox mage correctly when he showed me how his Crystallic
was foldable…..and unfolded into a large thing that looked like something
I saw in pieces on the ground before we all transported after Minestus.
In other words, the item with the cure in it's memory banks was already
destroyed way before I got there.
"The Synizn's will look for a cure, for the Phage keeps them and their
friends hostage here……Sir, when can I tell them about the transport system
found in the Sueze Channel? After they find a cure?"
"Well," the captain says after a moments thought. "This manfox D'Honaire
and the other D'Honaires…..do you think that they would try to zip off
this world into another one despite being infected?"
Sir," Probe says in a tolerant voice. "Permission to speak freely on
this matter?"
Somewhat surprised, the captain gives Probe permission.
"Sir…..these D'Honaires…..their whole sense of worth….their whole lives
are dedicated to honor doing the right thing! They WILL not go to other
worlds because they KNOW that they will be killing millions upon millions
of people by doing that. It's either get cured…..or they rot here."
"And the manimal who calls himself Frederigo D'Honaire?" Sterndeck probes
Probe.
"Sir, the same for him! He may have been transformed all he's gone through….mentally
and physically, but he's still a D'Honaire just like his analogs. He and
the other manimals may share empathic bonds that now make one manimal view
his fellow Packmate as a beloved brother or sister. They may be so empathically
linked that they are:'……many minds but share one heart……', but Fred's still
Fred…..even if he's no longer human. Even though his personality could
now be describe as Fred with a smattering of fox like quirks mixed in,
he's still a person of honor."
Indeed, thinks Probe. A manimal seems to view the world with
a sense of wonder and excitement. It's almost like these former lycanthropes
were reborn and now view the world with the eyes of children. Even the
oldest like Carradene seemed filled with a sense of the world being exciting
and new…..where before I understand them being a bit jaded about this world.
In all, something about their becoming a new race worked for the better,
in a sense. It would be interesting to study, but I'm not an xeno-psychologist…..leave
that job to the coach boys, Probe.
"So it's apparent that there is now a possible means for a cure for
the Phage?" Sterndeck thinks aloud. "Something that defies science and
apparently magic. I wonder if we combine our scientific know how with their
magical knowhow….we could get a cure at even a faster rate?"
Somewhere in the background, an officer frowns…….
-
 (This complicates things.....)
the unnamed officer thinks. Now, back to the delivery room!
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