[video] SNAKES ON A M_F_in' SHIP

[snake_dreamer]

[The camera pans wildly, showing the interior of the ship, and an open pod.  Snake's not used to video technology like this. Oh, Center had its call screen but nothing this small and compact. 

[That she'd seen of course. But obviously she's in Center. Somehow.  Center, at last, when she least needed them.]

[But she wouldn't break her silence just for nothing.  She's awoken from her pod, crawled out and found what looks to be a battered leather case, with several large--empty--compartments, and another compartment crowded with boxes, pouches and vials.]. 

Where are my snakes? 

[She sounds halfway between angry and frightened. ]

Comments

[Video]

[snake_dreamer]

There...are.

[She can't help but look around the room, at the darkened pods. If each of them was another person...?]

Melissa is twelve, but she looks...far younger. She has had a difficult life.

[Video]

[evervarying]

If she's here, then, she's still asleep. Which might not be a bad thing, for now. This isn't any place for children.

[Audio]

[professorwolf]

Mmm, poisonous, are they?

[Lyall sighs a bit and sets down his pen. Duty calls, apparently.]

I can go look for them, if you like. I have a supernatural sense of smell, and snakes are rare enough here that I imagine yours would stand out.

[akito]

Yes!
Something like that.

And I will keep my distance!
I don't want to hurt them by mistake.

[Audio]

[snake_dreamer]

To others, yes.

[Not to her. She's been trained to be immune.]

There is one, a wind spirit here, who says they are near the western mountains.

[snake_dreamer]

And you can use this device to make words.

[She's not doubting. But it does sound a little strange.]

I am rather afraid of them hurting you. If they're frightened and disoriented, they may strike.

[Sand was ill-tempered even on the best of days.]

[akito]

Yes, texting.

Snakes can't hurt me
So don't worry!
:)

[Audio]

[professorwolf]

That's rather a ways off....

[Maybe they woke up a little earlier? Hmm. Lyall picks up the miniature aethographer and goes to get his hat from the stand by the door. He accepts the wind spirit bit, assuming she means Jack.]

I suppose I can meet you outside the ship, unless your wind spirit can already lead you there?

[Audio]

[snake_dreamer]

Is it? One named Akito is the one who located them.

[It's a request for confirmation: is this Akito to be trusted?]

I'd be glad for any guide. I have a feeling what awaits me outside this place--the ship--will be no less unfamiliar.

[snake_dreamer]

Texting.

[All right. It's not a word she's familiar with. But she has a feeling it's hardly the strangest thing she'll find in this place.]

I wouldn't be a healer if I didn't worry.

[akito]

Texting!
:)
What kind of healer are you?

[snake_dreamer]

[It's then that she realizes the little ':)' shape is like a smile. She can't help it: she's been through so much recently, and the simple smile makes her laugh.]

I heal with snakes--you see why I need my friends.

[akito]

Creating cures with the venom?
And they are sleeping soundly!

[snake_dreamer]

Yes!

[She sounds delighted and a little surprised.]

You know other healers who do the same?

[akito]

I have seen people make antivenom before
Most healing is done with doctors who prescribe medicines
Or do surgeries!
But there are still some healers who use herbs and naturopathy

[snake_dreamer]

That's most of how we heal. With a proper lab I can do more.

[But she hasn't seen one since the Station.]

These are all the tools we have, in my world. I've performed surgery but only as a last resort.

[The Mayor was almost at that last resort, the wound in his leg foul with gangrene.]

[akito]

So you are more like the kind of doctors I know!
Except that you have snakes.
:)

[snake_dreamer]

Is that different from the healers they have here?

[She's made it to the mouth of the ship by now, squinting into the daylight.]

[akito]

I don't know!
I have been here just over a day.
There are lots of different kinds of peoples and non-humans here
So people who heal with magic would not surprise me!

[snake_dreamer]

[He seems very settled for someone who's been here a day.]

I am learning that.

[Another laugh.] To me, one who speaks with the winds does magic. This is merely science.

[Audio]

[professorwolf]

[At this point, Lyall hasn't met Akito yet, so he just says,]

I can't see why anyone would lie about that. I don't imagine anyone will want to have a pair of large snakes about. I can meet you outside the ship in about ten minutes?

[Ugh, daylight. Ah well. He puts up with it.]

[akito]

Some people say that magic is just what science hasn't explained yet.
If science could explain my existence
It would be really neat to know!!

[snake_dreamer]

I would understand that. People thought my tigerpony was magic, when it was just a simple genomic modification.

Has anyone studied you?

[Audio]

[snake_dreamer]

I want my large snakes about. Without them, I can't heal anyone.

And once people know, maybe they will see their value.

[And she's trying--and it shows in her voice--not to think about someone not wanting her snakes about and acting on that. She'd had to kill Grass. She couldn't bear to lose another. ]

Yes. Ten minutes.

[akito]

[ his reply takes a bit longer than usual to come. ]

No.