002 ⌥ VOICE

[femshep]

[In sharp contrast to her professional tone the last time she addressed the public, this time she's most definitely pissed. In a more level voice than she'd like to use:]

I don't know who you are or what you want, but stay the fuck out of my head.

[Yeah, Charles, this means you. Years of being mindraped by ancient alien beacons of doom and then a dozen curious asari have made her profoundly sensitive to when someone's poking around inside her head.

She's not going to put out any threats. She's hoping she doesn't have to. Her point's been made.]

[ ooc: sorry for posting again so soon, I'm done spamming the comm after this one. |D She just. Wouldn't have let this slide, and this is the only way to make sure whoever it is (cough charles cough) hears it.]

Comments

[Private]

[truth_is_cold]

I would definitely be willing to help you look into it should the opportunity arise.

How invasive can it be? [I.e. Can they read actual thoughts? is what he's wondering. He's a little more concerned about what River's abilities might be. He'll have to try to watch what he'll be thinking around people (if he can figure out which ones are psychic), especially with his Captain around.]

[Private]

[femshep]

I don't know. He's pretty tight-lipped so far, at least as far as anything we could use. Plenty of bullshit on the value of 'helping people believe in themselves', though, to justify taking a stroll through our subconscious.

[Now that is a worry they both share. She's got plenty of stuff in her head that she refuses to let see the light of day, and that makes this self-entitled anonymous asshole a liability.]

[Private]

[truth_is_cold]

I'll have to do some research. I need to be able to trust that my judgement is entirely my own. [Even if sometimes, in the heat of anger, he makes some bad judgement calls. He's picky about who he lets be his conscience. That's for special people who'll put up with him.] Now that you mention it, I've felt more assertive than usual for the past few days.

[Private]

[femshep]

That's it right there, then. [So the mystery anon really is getting everybody. That's sending Shepard's mind reeling through mathematics, the range distance-wise that the area of effect has to cover in order for everyone to be affected, calculated out into the sheer force of psychic power in general...

Damn it, there's a reason she went into military rather than science. She's not bad at science, mind you, but there's a separate sort of mindfuckery science involved in hypothetical shit like calculating the strength of someone's superpowers.

There's a pause, and when she speaks again she sounds a little more frustrated.]

I can't tell if he's incredibly egotistical or incredibly naive. He said shit like this is completely okay, where he's from. Cited a handful of statistics where it improved some kind of war effort.

[Private]

[truth_is_cold]

[He has no idea what the precedent would be, either. So he's just trying to think of what it would take to protect a single person.]

Unfortunately, I think the only reliable source of protection would be the dome technology. They obviously know how to turn us off.

I would presume naive. If you ask someone not to do something invasive, it's a violation of their person to continue it. [Which he has very strong feelings about. But given the discussion he had before with Dylan, he'll try waiting for the diplomats.]

[Private]

[femshep]

Dome technology. Do we have any of that in salvage? [She remembers a couple of people were salvaging what they could from the bodies and the hovercraft she took down.] Anything useful, I mean.

[Private]

[truth_is_cold]

I think the very attractive but irrationally angry woman screaming about something called "cylons" had some. As well as a few individuals that are wearing collars, which I may be able to help them remove.

Do you know of any that could be investigated?

[Private]

[femshep]

Kara. [And she's making an executive decision:] I'll see if I can't find her. Been meaning to see how that all turned out, anyway.

Beyond her and the collars, I'm drawing a blank. Unless by some off-chance the shuttle I took down hasn't been stripped bare by now.

[Private]

[truth_is_cold]

I'll keep a look out. Considering I'm not human, I would rather treat this in a way that won't compromise me in the future. [Protecting himself as necessary- otherwise someone could decide his enhanced hearing or sense of smell would have to go.]

She assisted me when we were being attacked. Will you tell me how she is?

[Private]

[femshep]

[She's intrigued by 'not human'. There's always the chance he could be referring to some sort of enhanced humanoid state, but if he's talking 'non-human race', this is definitely the closest she's seen to humans thus far. And for someone who's flown through every major star cluster in the galaxy, that says something.

Still, not the time and place.] I'll report back as soon as I find her.