AWD #017: A Little Help Here
A Little Help Here
Summary: Ekho wants some information from the Colonel. Petra wants something too.
Date: 23/01/2012 (OOC Date)
Related Logs: Zachary promises Ekho infodumps: Mess Hall Chatter
Ekho Petra 
Map Room — Deck 2 - Battlestar Orion
Dominating the room is the large bottom-lit map table in the very center. Ten feet across and eight feet the other way, the table can gather a large number of people around it while still accommodating enlisted and support personnel in the small riser seating behind the table. The risers are done in single-piece desk sections that run the width of the seating area and have small reporting displays built into them along with communications ports for headphones. At the head of the room are two very large LED displays that can have almost anything put on them, including projections of what is on the map table. A single computer at the support seating controls this and in the rear of the room is a large, locked case that holds maps and table models.
AWD #17

Its getting later on in the evening. Second Watch has already given way to Third, and now that he's out of CIC, Petra usually spends a couple of hours in the Map Room winding down and looking over the limited information they have, looking for patterns in the chaos. At this particular moment, he's leaning forward on the map table, scrutinizing it with a frown.

And if the Colonel was expecting peace and quiet, it seems there's a certain Sciences officer looking to disrupt his evening. A rap at the door sounds, though Ekho doesn't make any move to enter the room unless she's given leave. She does, however, raise her voice, enough to be heard through the door, hopefully, "Colonel, if you have a moment."

Petra hmmms? softly, finally lifting his head to look when his rank is mentioned. He looks at her for a moment, then blinks, as if seeing her there for the first time, "Oh! Captain. Come in, please. Sorry, I get a little deep, mentally, into my maps and things. What's on your mind?" He slowly straightens up, stretching his neck back and forth, as if he had been at this for a while.

"No need to apologize, Colonel. I get exactly the same way when I'm manipulating bacteria." But she does walk in, carrying a stack of folders with her, "Actually, I wanted to make a request of you. I can imagine you have quite a few being made of your lately." The folders she holds loosely in hand, glancing down to find a clear space to set them on the map table, "I am working on a project for Sciences which might prove useful to your department. But I need access to DRADIS and scan data from the larger ships."

Petra arches one brow lightly, slowly folding his arms over his chest as he glances at the folders and papers she sets down, "Well…what KIND of access, and what sort of scan data? Just letting you look at it is one thing. Us having to take it down for any reason…not quite such a small thing. Whats going on?"

Ekho nods, apparently deciding she'll just cover whatever's on the table as carefully as possible. "Since the cylon attack, most of the Sciences department has been climbing the walls with all of our projects on hold. Understandable, but a waste of good manpower. A few of us have been trying to think of ways to utilize the department that might be useful for the fleet. Now, we're split half and half. Part of the team wants to start working on radiological assessments of the colonies. Major Shepard has been kind enough to give us access to his raptor data." Ekho opens a couple of the folders, which have some rough sketches of the colonies with projections for the spread of radiation and on some places, projections for survival rates.

Petra unfolds his arms and steps closer to look over the papers she's looking at, sucking on a tooth. His brow furrows a little as he considers, then in a much quieter voice, he offers, "Captain. Your specialty is biosystems, yes? So something chemically engineered to do damage to the human body is something you would have some knowledge of, yes? Ergo your work on radiation…"

"Officially? I work primarily with single-celled organisms, testing and modifying the way in which they develop and reproduce in extraterrestrial systems." Ekho looks over at the Colonel, her expression as frank as ever. "Unofficially, I could probably make your eyeballs melt out of your head, yes. Possibly liquefy all of your internal organs so that they could be sucked out with a straw." A mind is a dangerous thing. "I saw that in a movie once." Deadpan. "Clowns." A pause, before she returns to the folders, "I, however, am only the tip of the iceberg. You have plenty of untapped talent in Sciences."

Petra seems to actually wince at the melting comment, then turns to reach over to the stack of papers of his, pulling out one paper, and sliding it over to her (http://battlestarorion.wikidot.com/cylon-chemical-weapons), "Read this. This is your copy. I recommend talking to Doctor Pindar to get a good look at his data." He pauses for a moment, "We have a bigger problem than the radiation. The Cylons have a plan. I don't know if you follow the scouting reports closely, but some planets have been neutron bombed to kill all the automation, and then had this used on them. It drives the human body into a coma, and then melts the body."

Ekho takes her time, scanning the copy quickly, then rereading, the movement of her eyes almost mechanical, before she looks up, "Do you have any reports of what is being done with the biological waste that remains after the chemical takes full effect?" She points to the copy. "If all they wanted to do was destroy the enemy, rendering the victims comatose, allowing them to be disposed of would be easy enough. Why this extra step? Why reduce the body to component materials? Are the materials being harvested?"

Petra shakes his head slightly, "I don't know if anything is being done with the residue. The reports of the colonies its been used on is that it leaves the humans gone, and everything else fine. Cats, dogs, any other form of life, is unhurt. It neatly and cleanly removes the humans. I have begun to suspect that they intend to replace us. We need to know how to combat this weapon. How to stop it, or at the very least, how to make it ineffective, or weaken what it does. Is that something you can dig into?"

"Correction, Colonel, they have already replaced us. Regardless of what we might wish to believe, or what hope we might have for salvaging humanity from the Colonies, we are no longer the dominant form of life there." But Ekho's eyes return to the report, rescanning it, "But yes, this is something that I can look into. Having a sample to work from would be ideal. But I don't suppose you'll let me fly back to the Colonies to pinch a bit from their weapons stores, would you? I'd promise to bring you back a souvenir."

Petra mmms softly, "No, Captain. I mean they intend to take our place in the lives we have. Its a guess, but I THINK its already happened on Aquaria. The spaceport was hit, and the camera footage from a raptor showed what looked like life going on as normal…which would NOT be happening if the planet knew it was under cylon assault." he pauses for a moment and sighs and shakes his head, "I'm going to announce this in a day or two, but until you hear me announce it, this does not leave this room, understand? The cylons have developed a new model. One that looks, smells, feels, and acts human. Even to medical exams."

"Understood, Colonel." Ekho takes a moment, the slight thinning of her mouth the only indication that she's in the least bit perturbed. "While it is possible that a single model developed to look humanoid would have the capability to infiltrate a human population, unless they had also developed the ability to create a limitless variety of physical bodies, I cannot imagine humans being willing to pass off the sudden appearance of a cadre of people who all look alike or very similar." It is, after all, possible to change your looks with makeup, hair colour, etc. "I would also question their ability to pass examination. A medical examination is not nearly so intensive as a scientific one." Usually because scientists are not always so concerned with the subject staying alive.

Petra nods slightly, "Without being able to provide you with one, all we can do is guess at that. That's really all I can tell you right now, but I suspect that's enough to dump on you for one evening. Let me know if you have questions…and more importantly, if you make any discoveries. Alright?"

"I will get started with what I have, Colonel. But I would still like to get the readings from the large ships. This," here she indicates the paper she was offered, "Isn't really the sort of thing you want the whole department working on. But the readings would help the rest of the department work on something moderately useful." She steps back, gathering up her paperwork, "And when you make this announcement, are you also going to announce how we managed to get close enough to one of these models to see how it smells, feels and acts?" A slight tilt of her head, before a hand rises to wave that last away, "If I might be dismissed, Colonel?"

Petra shakes his head slightly, "How I originally came about the information is…probably going to cause all sorts of problems. S'why Im trying to decide how to go about this. That's my problem though, not yours. Your job, is to find a way to stop them from doing that…" he nods at the report, "…to us. Yes, dismissed, and good luck, Captain."

"I think, in this case, i will let you keep your luck, Colonel. I have a feeling you will need it more than I. My problem has a solution. I just need to find it. I'm not certain that yours will. Good luck herding those cats. Sir." That said, Ekho turns to depart, stepping back out of the room and past the security detail.

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