Kaidan Alenko (
standsentinel) wrote in
outer_divide2012-10-10 08:42 pm
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[AUDIO | 006 : Nothing to Sneeze At] Wednesday Evening, Week 16
This is Major Alenko.
I've got answers on what the bandits at the hospital were after, and a start on why.
[There's a thread of fatigue in Kaidan's voice, but it's blended in amongst a grimly level quality that lends a little more grit to his usual gentle rasp. One audible intake of breath later, he breaks his pause for attention and continues.]
Long story short, they were after medical supplies because there's some sort of illness that hit their camp, and hit it hard. Out of the nine that jumped us, we had three survivors. We're down to two now, and one's not looking pretty. The other's feverish too. Whatever hit 'em seems to have come from the south -- a trader they'd contacted said there was an outbreak well south of here.
I'm no doctor. I'm certainly no virologist. But if you ran into the bandits, or were at the hospital that day, keep an eye on how you're feeling.
I've got answers on what the bandits at the hospital were after, and a start on why.
[There's a thread of fatigue in Kaidan's voice, but it's blended in amongst a grimly level quality that lends a little more grit to his usual gentle rasp. One audible intake of breath later, he breaks his pause for attention and continues.]
Long story short, they were after medical supplies because there's some sort of illness that hit their camp, and hit it hard. Out of the nine that jumped us, we had three survivors. We're down to two now, and one's not looking pretty. The other's feverish too. Whatever hit 'em seems to have come from the south -- a trader they'd contacted said there was an outbreak well south of here.
I'm no doctor. I'm certainly no virologist. But if you ran into the bandits, or were at the hospital that day, keep an eye on how you're feeling.
[Audio]
[Encrypted Audio]
If I could get one flying without the Authorities going skeet shooting, I'd kill for a surveillance holo-drone.
[Encrypted Audio]
[Beat.]
With a small enough profile, the Authorities shouldn't be able to see a probe, or they'd be jumping every time a seagull flew overhead. And we already know they don't like to use their eyes.
[Encrypted Audio]
[Kaidan's drawl is half teasing -- he doesn't know Stark well, but he's laready seen enough to detect the signs of someone who redeisgns their coffee maker if they have a spare five minutes and the brew isn't quite on.]
Salvage in the Old City itself is starting to get a little thin on the ground for that sort of thing, though.
[Encrypted Audio]
[It's hard to tell whether he actually is, or is just amused.]
There's the ship. But I was planning on taking a field trip out to Dead Man's Island in a couple days, if you think you can get someone to sign your permission slip.
[Encrypted Audio]
[Kaidan, on the other hand, is definitely amused, if deadpan-quippy about it.]
I'm about as AWOL as it's possible to be at this point, I figure, so I'm good to go. And I guess your, ah, suit gives you some advantages, transportation-wise.
[Encrypted Audio]
Re: [Encrypted Audio]
[Yes, Kaidan is in his mid-30s. This doesn't mean he can't sound boyishly impressed at the notion of power armour with flight capabilities.]
What kind of lift capacity do you have with it? Mine's not so fancy, but it's rated for space, so if you can give me a lift I'll get there faster.
[Encrypted Audio]
[Encrypted Audio]
[Kaidan's offhand enough that it could be simple bullshitting.]
Well, you know your way to my lab. Pick me up at my place and we'll call it a date.
[A beat later, awkwardness overtakes the banter.]
Uh. Platonically.
[Encrypted Audio]
On the other hand...]
Ouch. And here I'd thought we'd really made a connection.
[He actually manages to sound wounded. Let it never be said that Tony Stark passes up an opportunity to fluster anyone.]
[Encrypted Audio]
I-- That's not-- I mean, I didn't-- I just didn't want you thinking I was accidentally hitting on you.
Uh. Not that you're not worth hitting on or anything.
[Encrypted Audio]
[Sorry, Kaidan, it's just too fun poking at you.]
Re: [Encrypted Audio]
...Yeah, I think there is no way not to dig myself in any deeper at this point, so I'm just... going to sign off now.
See you at the rendezvous, Stark.
[Audio]
What are the symptoms? What have you learned from the bandits about this sickness?
[Filtered Audio]
Symptoms seem to be tied into a high fever. General malaise, looked like some muscle soreness, but how much of that's sickness and how much was the beating these guys collected...
[Filtered Audio]
I do not know what malaise is. My English is good, but not that good. Has anyone gone yet to this bandit camp to see how bad it is there?
[She will totally go. She's itching to kick more bad guy ass, and getting out of this ruin of a city for a bit would be kind of awesome.]
Re: [Filtered Audio]
[Although his own translator can quite happily process the various Terran languages in addition to some alien dialects, it doesn't exactly work in reverse. Kaidan's left to fish up a dictionary on his omni-tool, and then offer up the Japanese word for 'malaise' with an accent that's decidedly not Japanese, but has some flavour of southeast asian language colouring it instead.]
Nobody's been out to the bandit camp yet. If you wanted to get a few people and you could keep an eye out from a safe distance, some scouting'd be good. Just don't get infected yourself.
no subject
I can take my partner. If I have not been made ill by now, neither will she. We are very used to scouting. Can you send me directions?
no subject
Here.
[A packet of data pings its way to Haruka's comm.]
The directions are a little vague, but that'll point you the right way.
I guess I don't need to tell you to be careful.
no subject
I'm never careful. I do well, anyway. Thank you. Any advice? Besides 'be careful'?
no subject
That attitude reminds me of someone I used to know pretty well. She did well anyway too.
Assume that they know the terrain better than you do. And be alert for signs of ambushes or traps -- these guys were desperate, not stupid."
no subject
I will take that as compliment, then. We will be careful. Thank you for the direction, Alenko-san. I will see what we can find for you.
((and that is, sadly, off-screened :B if you wanna find out what they find out, I'm sure I can poke PG and get you something...))
no subject
(( That would be awesome. :D ))
[Next morning, private call]
Ohayo, Alenko-san. Good morning.
[Next morning, private call]
[Kaidan sounds very much like he's just been rolled forcibly out of bed to take the call. This is because, thanks to some late-night brainwaves that saw him tinkering away in his workshop, he just has.]
Everything all right?
no subject
[She sounds ungodly cheerful, for it being early morning. But she got to be useful and do what she's used to doing, and managed not to hurt and innocents this time, too.]
We looked at that bandit site. There was not much left.
no subject
[There may be just a little hint of dryness in that wish. Just maybe.]
Not surprised about the bandit site -- staging area or main camp, d'you think?
no subject
[She'd dispatched the digging dinosaurs, at least, before investigating what they were trying to get at.]
All are either gone, dead, or both, there. Wherever the rest went to, it is further away.
no subject
no subject
[And between it being too long, and tracking in the wilderness not really being Haruka's best skill, she hadn't managed to tell much beyond that.]
no subject
no subject
[Which annoys her to no end. She's going to get better at this place, she really is.]
no subject
no subject
I'll try that. Do you have his number?
no subject
If he's answering calls, that should get him. Hope it helps, ma'am.
no subject
Tenoh Haruka. My name.
no subject
Thank you, Ms. Tenoh. [Kaidan isn't Japanese himself, but growing up in a Vancouver that's only gotten even more blended in the two hundred years between them lets him guess at the ordering of surname and personal name.]
My full name's Kaidan Alenko, since I think I led with the title the other day.
no subject
[If he's going to use his style of referring to her-- a very gendered one, at that-- she's going to turn it around and use her own style, back. At least she's doing it somewhat light-heartedly.]
It is a pleasure to meet you. In this way, if it counts as meeting. I hope our scouting was a help.
[audio]
[audio]
[And he's got a headache, but he can hardly use (or admit) that as a diagnostic criteria.]
I'm a soldier, not a cop, and questioning bandits isn't something I really trained for.
[audio]
[Steve knows all about a stubborn streak, but they really can't afford to lose someone like Kaidan, so he'll play mother hen.]
I don't imagine most who find themselves at a hospital expect to be perfect interrogators. Is there a way to go through what the bandits had on 'em without risking further exposure?
[audio]
[Is it a lie if he believes it himself? Kaidan sounds quietly confident amongst his fatigue in any case. He pauses for a moment to think before replying.]
You'd want to ask one of the doctors for a hard answer, but I'm thinking if you had some sort of barrier -- gloves and surgical masks, that sort of thing -- you'd be OK. Or at least better protected.
[audio]
Sounds like you have a solution for yourself too there, Major. [Mother hen mode is really hard to turn off, ok?] You think the supplies in the hospital might be contaminated?
[audio]
And certainly, Captain. I figure I'll just keep away from the hospital and not get in people's way, though. I've got some salvage planned with Stark that'll keep me at a remove, and my combat armour's rated for space, so it'll filter pretty much anything if I set it right.
You look after yourself too. Don't run yourself ragged looking after everyone else.
[Kaidan, who can mother hen with the best of them, recognizes a fellow carrier of the trait.]