Galaxy's Edge Space Bar

[Terenia]

With a slow sigh, Fayleth relaxes. With Keshin gone, Terenia's anger calms to a low simmer.

"We need to leave," she tells Myitt quietly. "You need to get home." She hesitates, then adds, "I'd rather not stay here longer than necessary. This place gives me the creeps."


Dalik hesitates for a brief moment, watching Keshin and Joanne. His intense desire to peruse the Andalite technology supersedes his concern, though, and he can't help the eager grin that spreads over William's face as he turns to the nearest console.

The glow of the holoscreens cast a pale light on William's already pale features, and his long fingers are hesitant at first--a sign of reverie rather than uncertainty.

<<Are you ever going to explain this to me?>> William asks.

Dalik lets out a shaky laugh. <<It would take the better part of a generation, my friend,>> he responds.

He keeps his surveillance of the Andalite technology respectfully light and surface level, seeming to have no problem with the alien interface.

Joanne's words draw him partially from his exploration, and he glances back. Not your problem, he berates himself. Despite this, he can't help but ask, "Curse? What do you mean?"

[Shenmue654]

Keshin listens to Ossanlin's insane tale with as much of a measured expression as he can manage. A quiet settles over the two of them as his thoughts hit their own. Keshin can detect one thing, and it brings a shiver down his spine--- The Andalite is absolutely telling the truth, about the entire story. His "voice" is too inflected, too emotional, and there are strange visual asides here and there, as if they can't be held back so easily. <<....we've seen this guy recover, and for that matter do, some very strange things before. ...I'd bet the Blade ship it happened.>>

<<...so what do we do then? If he's telling the truth, that means...>>

<<...yes. It means that if he went through with it, we'd only need to kill enough to get us both fed. Or we'd have to sneak around like hobos on Earth or something, eating in the Pool cafeteria, but that's been getting increasingly dangerous. It means that this guy was...>> There is an uncomfortable silence.

<<Someone we trusted.>> Joanne shivers internally. <<I...>> An image of Joanne's parents flashes into view, staring at her with empty, scared eyes. Gunshots. A group of people, laughing, talking. <<...Kess, I can't, you were the only person who didn't use me, I can'tICAN'T...>>

<<Calm yourself. We're going to ask his price.>>

Keshin glances back at Ossanlin and says, enunciating every syllable very carefully so as not to strain Joanne's throat,"And you'd do it again, just like that? ...Even though it's not the same as it was? For free? ...about the only payment we could offer worth such a thing is a promise, and I have no idea if it would be one we could keep. Or an enormous debt or favor. If you knew us..." Keshin closes his eyes. "...then you might also know why I would ask this. What kind of life my host has lived."   

Keshin notes Dalik's comment. "Yes. A curse. Joanne's body produces too much energy...and in the wrong fashion, from ordinary biological processes. Too much ATP, too many nutrients, too much blood, too many cells. And by far too much charge running through every cell in---" Keshin coughs in a way that sounds painful. "Blah, this body!"

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

<I have been...having trouble recently with my own abilities.  The act of changing the timeline left its mark on me.  My abilities are...less-stable than they once were.  I...I could try.  But I must warn you again, it could be dangerous, and it may not work.  And...we would definitely want to wait until Joanne fully recovers from the recent trauma.>

He pauses, sparing a stalk eye for Dalik before continuing.  <Actually, despite our friendship, you and Joanne never went into detail about her past.  I didn't press for an answer.>  He pauses, bringing up the safer option.  <I know...Joanne didn't want to do it before, and I assume she wouldn't want to now, but it would be much safer for her to nothlitize herself in a frolis morph.  I understand the compunction, but I feel it's necessary to let you know that that is also an option.>

[Terenia]

Dalik takes in the conversation, not seeming to mind that he is eavesdropping. "He's telling the truth," he tells Joanne and Keshin, though it seems as though they already believe him.

<<Damned if I understand what he's telling the truth about,>> William grumbles. <<My abilities aren't very helpful without context.>>

Dalik hesitates. <<I...have a vague guess. Not even a guess, really, and if I'm right...it's impossible. Absurd.>>

As outrageous as Ossanlin's claims have been thus far, it's the last that really stuns him. "You would give an infested human access to morphing technology?" he demands, floored.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin glances again at Dalik.  <She would be uninfested at the time.  It would have to be her decision through the whole process.  And she would be contained with the knowledge that if she does not nothlitize, she will not be allowed to leave containment until she does.>

[Shenmue654]

Keshin frowns. A jumble of scared, incoherent thoughts hits him almost full force and he instinctively scrunches up his forehead with two of his fingers. "Uhm...from what I understand..." he says in a somewhat raspy, low voice so as to avoid straining Joanne's taxed throat muscles and nerves, "...Joanne's scared that if you put her in another body she wouldn't be 'her' anymore. I'm sure you received something like this particular piece of information from us in the past. I suppose..."

Keshin sighs. "...Yeerks don't fear this phenomenon, because we do it all the time. Changing one's body and brain means that aspects of personality will be "read" differently, which is why Yeerks in humans act more human than Yeerks in Hork-Bajir or Yeerks in Taxxons. I have changed many a time. But Joanne never has, and the differences between individual humans are significant, as they are in individual Andalites. She fears a frolis morph would change her. With that said..."

Keshin swallows and clears his throat. "...if it's the option more likely to succeed, perhaps there's a way to retain as much of Joanne's mental architecture as possible in the mixture. Not that she's likely to be an estreen, exactly. I would try anything that I thought would work, personally. But we will obviously need time to decide. She's just been through something very startling and traumatic."

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Jeffrey glances around dubiously, wondering where all of the others went, but eventually settles for sitting down at the Bar. He glances up at the Bartender, muttering, "**** man, how can you still be cleaning that same glass like you're on a repeat VR animation" before sitting down. What now? I could make them all forget about what happened, but the blue deer seems way resistant. Training of some kind. Mind tapeworms, the Yeerks, being the source of that? Probably. You'd think that the woman would want revenge versus it being some half-assed anger. But ah well. More's the pity.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin gives Keshin a rather surprised and questioning look.  <Morphing technology does not affect one's personality.  It would be entirely useless if it did.  While it does change the architecture of one's brain, the memory, thoughts, feelings, indeed one's very identity is fully preserved.  Imagine morphing a rodent, if what you said were true, suddenly you would simply be that rodent.  You would forget everything you knew, all of your memories, all of your knowledge.  You would know nothing beyond the life of the rodent.  And that would be the rest of your life, because you would no-longer comprehend that you are not a rodent.  You would never demorph.  The only portion of the brain of the morph that remains with you is the most basic of the morph's instincts.  So basic, that they are shared across all members of any given species.  If she were morphing a Hork-Bajir or an Andalite, her personality might alter over time due to the other species' instincts and capabilities...but going from human to human would be like downloading the data from one computer onto another identical computer with a different outer casing.>  Ossanlin squints at Keshin again.  <Were you truly under the impression that morphing causes one to lose his identity?>

[Shenmue654]

"Not lose it--- Change it," says Keshin. "Brain architecture is not the same as, say, a computer mainframe--- It is always shifting. The synapses and connections within the mind form and reform thousands of times over the course of a lifetime, and these changes are choreographed based on the person's response to their environment over decades. Given enough time, two different humans end up with the very hills and valleys of the machine altered--- A human musician pushing keys with their fingers has a far larger hand control region than a non-musician. Creating a brand new human mind with none of these connections and then imprinting Joanne's memories permanently onto it..."

Keshin shakes his head. "Honestly, Andalite--- Of course we were concerned. That's not remotely the same thing as morphing a rat for two hours while your real mind is stored elsewhere and then retrieving it. Still..."

Keshin smiles slightly. "...if that's the case, then we have very little to worry about beyond the expected body disphoria. And, well, retraining the new body into the same form as the other."

[Terenia]

Dalik clears his throat, looking embarrassed for cutting in. "I have to agree with the turelek," he says. "The human mind is infinitely complex. Much of the personality is formed through experiences, but some is dependent on brain chemistry."

He gives a half-hearted smile. "My brother is more interested in matters of the mind than I am, but his research has gone a long way toward showing that while a human's mind can be replicated across bodies it cannot remain fully intact. It's impossible."


Back in control, Terenia looks up at Jeffrey's re-entrance. Her shoulders stiffen as she considers whether or not he is a threat, freed from Myitt's control.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin shakes his head at both Keshin and Dalik.  <Morphing technology was basically hoof-fed to us at the Academy.  You both obviously underestimate its effectiveness.>  Ossanlin turns his main eyes back to Dalik.  <If you really believe that the physiology of a morphed brain has so much effect upon the morpher, then you must also admit that the brain of an insect...say an Earthling gnat...would NEVER be able to support the mind of a more-sentient being chemically or physically.  Retrieval of one's mind would not be possible, because once again, you would no longer have the capability for higher thought physiologically.  Therefor morphing anything physiologically incapable of sentience would be completely impossible, and it is not.>  He turns his main eyes back to Keshin.  <I'm telling you both that nothing about who you are, your knowledge, your feelings, nor your identity are lost.  And the only thing added are the basic instincts of the morphed species.  You would not lose things like muscle memory, though with a different body, your muscle memory may not do you much good.>

He shrugs his shoulders.  <But I understand if she does not wish to do this.  Never seeing yourself in a mirror again would be disturbing.>

[Terenia]

"What if the morphed form has the physical predisposition for, say, depression?" Dalik asks pointedly. "Such a thing can greatly influence how a person acts and reacts to their world, and the pathways for it are entirely chemical." He shakes his head. "I don't disbelieve you, Anda--Ossanlin. I simply think you are taking your technology into untested waters. What is the time limit on a morph? A few hours? Perhaps there is no significant influence in that amount of time. But over the course of years? Decades?"

[Shenmue654]

Jeffrey gives Terenia a bit of a sidelong glance. He wasn't sure what to make of the grim woman. He didn't really know her, and he didn't know how much of what had happened she connected with him or the Yeerk. Everything about this place throws you off. I need to get out of ****ing dodge as soon as I can figure out how.

Jeffrey gets up from his seat at the bar and plops down two seats away from her, smiling slightly. "So...You seemed like you knew everyone else," he says. "I don't, really. All I know is they're the Rebel Alliance Yeerks to the other half's Galactic Empire or whatever, and I don't give a **** about any of it. I'm from the future with superpowers. What's your name?"
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"I think that...we'll have to think about it," says Keshin, blinking once, rather slowly. "There are a lot of factors that go into a decision like this, and it's been sprung on us out of nowhere. With that said..."

Keshin sighs, staring at Ossanlin for a while and then saying, "...thank you, again...For saving our lives. Whatever happened between us once...hasn't happened..." Keshin clears his throat with a slight cough. "...so it can't be the same. But I imagine that we appreciated you a lot...then, too. We don't have too many people who care whether either of us live or die besides us. Joanne...She finds it really hard to trust anyone besides me. There are countless people who...we thought...We could trust..." His words come slowly and haltingly, and he realizes this may last for at least another few hours. His throat hurts. "...who we couldn't. If it really does work like you say....For a nothlit......We'll think about it."

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin moves a stalk-eye back to Dalik.  <Of course, if someone is in a morph for a long period of time, they will adapt.  But this is generally a concern for alternate species morphs.  For example, if she morphed an andalite, she would become inherently more-academic and likely more intelligent over time.  If she morphed a Hork-Bajir, she would grow accustomed to climbing and jumping.  But going from human to human...there are no radical changes in physiological capability.  The effects would be negligible at most.>

He turns his attention back to Keshin.  <Of course, such decisions are monumental.>  He pauses, listening to the rest of Keshin's oration.  <You two are the ones that opened my eyes to the reality that no one is beyond hope.  And that when such a person is given hope back, they can become a truly incredible individual.>  Ossanlin nods again.  <These are simply options I'm placing before you.  If you decide not to take either, I won't be hurt.  Everyone deserves to live, and to live with hope...>

[Terenia]

Dalik bristles at the implication that Andalites are inherently more intelligent, his shoulders stiffening. "Likely if you morphed Andalite you'd also become more insufferable over time," he says dryly to Keshin. He glances back at the Mirage's holoscreens, then shakes his head, coughing a laugh. "Obviously I'm not here to influence your opinion at all. I don't even really understand everything you're talking about. But I'd caution you to think hard. Any permanent change is going to have a permanent impact, no matter what the furball has to say about it."

He sighs, looking down at himself. He's still half-dressed, his shirt a forgotten, bloody mess after rushing Joanne onto the ship. "I should return Danel's autonomy. The poor creature is incredibly confused, and Cameron is likely conscious by now."

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin arches an eyebrow at Dalik, not really understanding why he's decided to take umbrage.  <I'm sorry if you are offended, but you are the one who has been touting the differences in physiological brain capabilities for the past several minutes.>  Ossanlin shrugs his shoulders again before continuing on.  <It's mere fact that the Andalite brain, in comparison, is more physiologically capable than are many of its contemporary counterparts.>