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[cannulalingus]

[ V I D E O ]

[ There's a dreadlocked face on the screen, pushing thick cat eye glasses up to the bridge of her nose as she smiles a crooked smile and introduces herself with a small wave. There's a cannula directly attached, looping around her ears and threading somewhere offscreen, but she doesn't seem to pay too much mind to it. ]

Hey, guys and gals. Name's Cosima. Or, I guess, Doctor Niehaus if you're feeling frisky. [ A beat, as she shakes her head minutely. ] Don't feel frisky. I'm not used to being titular.

It's, ehm, well, see, it's come to my attention - obviously, quickly, and incredibly jarringly - that there are a number of differences out and about the ship! Specifically, I'm looking at you all of a different species, or - dare I say as a budding comic book geek with an embarrassingly large collection - superpowers?

[ She bites her lip, eyebrows raising a bit hopefully with her voice in octave as she gets a bit shyer about it, but none the less curious. ]

This is so not one of those automatic, mandatory kind of things, mind, because how douchey would that be? Ten minutes here and making demands. Let's call it an opt-in instead of an opt-out, and if anyone would like to spend a little time talking [ and she coyly cups a hand about her mouth ] or, let's be honest, bragging [ okay the hand is gone ] about what they can do and what their specific abilities might be? That would be -- flipping fantastic.

Thanks, folks.

[ With a thumbs up and a mild clearing of her throat, she cuts the feed. ]


[ S P A M ]

[ Care is the watchword, or at least taking it. Wandering this place should be and is probably quite dangerous, but look at her wandering regardless. She doesn't quite need her cane to walk for the time being, but there is an oxygen tank in hand that she drags nonchalantly behind her, tying not to pay much mind to or to really acknowledge it.

There's a music room on this level, and she full intends to take full advantage of it. That's if she doesn't get over to the art one first. Either way, she'll be toying around with instruments, browsing what music selection they have, anything she can get her hands on. The real fun will come when it gets to getting up to the medical level and seeing inside their infirmary - their lab, perhaps? Where she might be working? That's an exciting concept.

She's heard tale of something else around here, some kind of hologram-initiating system that she's certainly going to want to try out. It's a lot of wandering, but a lot of breaks in between. Leaning against walls, settling herself onto seats - it's tough to get around, but like hell is she not going to explore.

Basically, feel free to meet her anywhere. ]

Comments

[maced_eggs]

[Mason's at a crossroads of indecision. He doesn't think he's inhuman, but he does have powers. Only they're not quite working because he's an inmate.

But this is a doctor talking, who may in fact have access to highly-regulated pills he can steal from her.

But the last time he took something from a stranger, it didn't go so great for him.

...Nope. Risk is still worth it]

Does being undead count as having superpowers?

And what do we get if we volunteer?

[cannulalingus]

I'd - [ Well. Firsts already. ] You know what, I'd say that makes its way onto the list. When I think of the world in terms of mythological, supernatural, etc., "undead" might definitely make its way onto the list. Zombies, skeletons, golems.

Oh, I'm just one of those cheap internet surveys, man, straight up. "Get 40 cents for your involvement on automobiles." General pass, but sometimes they're worth it. Right?

Maybe if you're extra good about it you can get a hit off the tank.

[ She holds up a finger, a pause. ]

Is "zombie" a racist term for somebody undead?

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[visetvires]

[Clementine saw the post go up, and will be watching it. It would be a terrible lie to say she's not intrigued, but she's also clever enough not to enmesh herself in the conversation. She's still too unstable to be sure she won't give her agenda away.]

[Instead, she watches out for the new girl in the halls, coming across her in a common room on the seventh level on one of her breaks. She doesn't come to sit next to her - that's forward, and counter to the image Clementine is currently trying to project - but stands in the doorway watching her, hip cocked, thumbs in her pockets. Curious.]

How goes data collection?

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[cannulalingus]

[ Oh, she saw. Cosima's sitting for the time being, a short break to catch her breath and get a better handle on this situation. Spaceships and superpowers. It's one thing to grasp when it's the Admiral explaining the situation and the deal to her. (Anything to get away from Dyad, to help out in other ways.) But it's another to actually deal with them. Christ, this place is insane.

In a good way? She's not sure yet.

She glances up at Clementine, catching her eye before she actually speaks up, and greeting her with a half a breathless laugh and a smile. ]

You know, as it turns out, people don't like you prying into their general well-being and biological makeups. But it's going. You saw?

[deshabille]

One's first time amongst the superhuman is always a good time. Allegedly. I wouldn't know.

Vampire, incidentally.

[cannulalingus]

Born one, I'm assuming.

[ Theoretically. Hypothetically. A bit hilariously. Curiously? She has a lot of words for it, she's a vampire. Vampires exist. Cosima pauses and squints her eyes a little deviously. ]

You don't, like, live in Washington or have a penchant for wearing frilled collars, right? Make out with Anna Paquin?

[indispensible]

You're going about this all wrong, you know.

[But she's grinning.]

[cannulalingus]

I'm going about it all blunt. Questions first, shoot later. Or don't shoot at all, because that's probably my motto.

But tell me a better alternative.

[bodilesswarrior]

Doctor, huh? What's your speciality?

[cannulalingus]

[ Oh, damn. Don't call her out on it. ]

Sort of. I've got the coat!

[ That's really all that matters at the end of the day. ]

I'm on a stint for - let's see if I can get all the big words down: Experimental evolutionary developmental biology. Ehm - [ She knows that's a mouthful, so she grins and offers: ] Evo-devo, if you like clever rhymes.

[fireincarnate]

[Jean just stares at the screen, for a bit, because - is this a coincidence?

But she can't just ask right away.

So when she does respond, it's with a smile.]

Comic books, huh? Do you know what a mutant is?

[cannulalingus]

Aware of the concept. Delved into my fair share of, like -

[ She holds up a hand as if she's about to explain, but she pauses instead, expression dawning. ]

Oh, you're a mutant?

[termofendearment]

Well look at you, doc, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

[Tig smirks, friendly enough, if more than a little wolfish lurking at the edges. Of course because she says she's not a huge fan of the title he has to not only use it but shorten it, as if to imply he's going to refer to her that way forever.

Hey, doctors are useful in his line of work, and she doesn't seem particularly uptight about it. Could be a good thing.]

You makin' a chart or something?

[cannulalingus]

[ Hey, it's not as if it's a bad sound on her. She hasn't quite earned it yet, but, ay, she'll definitely take it.

So Tig gets a grin, a little knowing in particular about that extra something that lurks at the edges, yes, but a grin. ]

Crossing my I's, dotting my T's. Hey, gotta keep the optimism up, right?

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[adelphoktonos]

[From the second Cosima appears on screen, Helena recognises her face. It's impossible not to. And she knows this one must be one of the others. It's almost a panic, the blind desire to eliminate her, to put her down and erase her and her abomination of a stolen face. Now she has a name: Cosima Niehaus. And this one is sick, weak - the tube in her nose is plain enough evidence of that.

Her first instinct (and action) is to disappear, as completely and utterly as she can. It's harder on the ship than in a city, even in a tiny town. Hair hidden tucked into a hat, green jacket left behind as too recognisable, she leaves her cabin. Weaponless, she digs her hands into their pockets, hurrying away from her room and her warden's, away from the kitchen and the deck. She hugs the walls, going down until she reaches the least populated level - level 6, something she'd worked out for no real reason at the time - and slips into an unoccupied cabin, closing the door behind her. In the blank room she kneels, closing her eyes; she waits and thinks and prays.

She hasn't been as careful here as she would have been in life - it's purgatory, the afterlife, she let her guard down. People know her. Maybe she should have expected this, planned for it, but she didn't really think one of them would show up here. She'd wished for Sarah - when does she not? - but she'd rarely considered one of the others might turn up, those sheep with her face. Sarah knows them, has spent time with them; Helena doesn't want to know them. (Or does she?) She wants to forget them as if they never existed, take her new family - twin sestra and pleminnytsya only - and live a normal life together after her time's done here.

If she kills her, she will be raised up from the dead. But she wants to, she has to. Maybe this time will be different - anything's possible. If God wills it. She's not the original, or the light, Sarah told her and she believes it. She was made by scientists. But God's will is unclear, easily misinterpreted. Maybe this is a test of faith, a chance to do His work again despite her creation. Maybe that's the path to salvation.

And for God, she's always been a hunter.

Opening the door, she leaves it ajar, positioning herself at an angle so she can watch the corridor but won't be extremely easily glimpsed. Surprise is her weapon here. Her patience is well-honed for missions like this: she waits for a long time, barely moving. Her fingers dig into her legs, turning the skin white at the point of pressure. At the first sign of dreadlocks or cannula or that horribly familiar face, she's going to drag this unwanted copy of herself in and put it down. No talking, no weapons - an arm around the throat will be the beginning and end of this encounter.]

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[cannulalingus]

[ Most of the doors in these halls are shut up tight; she catches some glimpses inside of a couple that people may have propped open, but for the most part, the hallway's flat and shut off. People want their privacy, it's not the dorm rooms anymore.

The one up ahead catches her attention, door ajar and all, gives it a good glimpse inside, but - Well, it's different than the others. Everyone's rooms, from what she can gather, are replicas of something they know, somewhere they know. Who has a boring old little wooden cabin?

Empty, it looks like, lights off and all. Something about it just gives her a chill, she doesn't know. It's off. Maybe that's visceral. She sets the wheeled oxygen tank down in its spot. ] Hello?

[punched_hitler]

Doctor of what? Or the medical kind?

[Just curious. Though, admittedly, he was pinged by the comic book thing too, because they wrote comics about him, back home, and apparently in other worlds, even in the ones where he doesn't technically exist. But he's never liked introducing himself that way, so. Questions first. Comic books later?

Although he is wearing the uniform, and you can see the top half in the video.]

[cannulalingus]

More of the biology kind. Less so with the puking and the bedside manner.

[ That is definitely some uniform. That is definitely some familiar uniform, but she's not gonna call him out on it, is she? She might be. She's totally gonna. ]

Quick question: Am I, uh, speaking to Captain America right now?

video;

[notdreaming]

Is it your first time meeting aliens? It was my second, when I came here from Earth, but I had a lot of questions too.

[ read: you're adorable ]

video;

[cannulalingus]

Aliens, yes. I mean, back home, I've got my, uh - [ how do you even word what it is what she has back home ] - share of oddities, but nothing this major league. I'd like to know what I can.

[to_dust]

I'm not quite sure I followed that. [Very burly, very reptilian; very posh accent (Hampshire money, specifically). Very not human. Very puzzled.

Wow.]

You just want to talk to us-?

[cannulalingus]

[ Such not human. Very culture shock. Wowow. It takes her a moment to study, but then one of her hands comes up, plain and very placating, palm out. ]

Just talking. Maybe a little showing, if you're feeling up to the entertainment biz. [ She adjusts her glasses. ] But mostly it's just curiosity.

[fearcutsdeeperthanswords]

[She could say, I'm the night wolf, but then Cosima would ask what that means. And Arya still isn't very sure herself.

She sets that aside, though, because she sees with her eyes and listens with her ears, and despite the dreads, despite the thing in her nose, despite the change in voice - she knows who this is.

Or at least, who she looks like.]

Do you know Helena?

[cannulalingus]

[ Oh, hello, young... prison teenager who Cosima wasn't quite expecting. Neither is that name coming out of her mouth. ]

Helena? You know Helena?

[ She settles more into her spot, smoothing back at her hair as she shakes her head. ] Of her. I've never actually had the honor.

[outofclothes]

What's with the interest?

[Stark's always a little leery of people who take an interest in that sort of thing, but aren't actually directly a part of the community themselves. People like that usually stand to gain something, incredibly stupid, or both in Stark's experience.]

[cannulalingus]

It's nothing derogatory or anything. Promise. It's more out of a severe kind of professional curiosity spurring me along here more than anything.

I'm a biologist, my major's in evolutionary development? Obviously, somewhere like here is - a total field day when it comes to extrapolating new information.

[forgetyourusedtobe]

[Elena answers not so much to brag, but to be honest. Transparency is an important thing around here.]

I'm a vampire. Recently turned.

Before that, I was a Petrova Doppelganger. It's all kinda a really long story.

[cannulalingus]

Patrova, huh? The doppelganger thing always throws you for a loop, doesn't it?

[ Hey, if she can be transparent, Cosima can revel in it too. ]

You get used to the idea of your face being your face. I spoke to another vampire. Are you the one who still feeds on blood, I'm assuming? If you don't mind.

[warisart]

Have you had an encounter with someone other than the species you are accustomed to?

[Neither an answer or an opt out, but rather Ben is more curious about that obviously, quickly, and incredibly jarringly.]

[cannulalingus]

Assuming you mean to imply other than within - like, a strict Earthen kingdom metazoa, animals, insects, reptiles-

[ The list could go on but she stops it there, giving a small wave. Back home, it's different. Here, she supposes she can be languid. ]

I'm a clone. I guess on some level that's a 'yes'. Not quite the same level as this place, but for me.

[semifreakingnormal]

Um. I'm a werewolf?

And I'm Scott. I mean, my name's Scott.

[cannulalingus]

[ Oh. This one's adorable. He's the werewolf around here? Seriously? ]

I was expecting someone a little hairier, not gonna lie. Scott the werewolf, I am super curious: Do you turn into a legit wolf or is that just a movie thing?

[godsays]

That's the only reason you're asking?

[cannulalingus]

Plus I'm building a secret database together to, I don't know, assign respectively matched superpowered people in an elaborate fight club.

[ She says it sagely, plainly, but she holds up three fingers. ] Scout's honor. Just totally curious. [ Her fingers twitch, from three, to two, to the Vulcan salute, to a shocker. ] Whatever the Scout symbol is.

[video ; private]

[walkingmeltdown]

[Blight hasn't met Helena, so he has no reason to think there's anything special about Cosima. Also her remarks about comic books and superpowers - his almost instinctive guess is she must come from a world where metahumans, psychics and the like, these things are not normal. Or even possible.

If this had been a few months ago, he would have ignored it. If it had been even a day ago, he would have ignored it as well, but the flood madness has come and gone and with it the stress it left in it's wake. So for now he's pretending to be unbothered; giving in to wary curiosity with the newest recruit makes for a good distraction.

Besides he has his skin on. As far as she'll know, he's normal too. At least at first.]

I wonder. What is your specialty, that you feel the urge to inquire, Doctor? Because unofficial, opt-in survey or not, your particular flavor of enthusiasm does seem to have a rather scientific bend to it.

[video ; private]

[cannulalingus]

Oh, my nerditry is so transparent. I have no qualms about this.

[ She grins easily. ]

Evo-devo. That's, um, evolutionary developmental biology. Basically, this place is like getting to go to an A-list celeb party for an aspiring "model". [ Finger quotes and all. ]

Metaphors. It's cool. I'm a fish in a very interesting pond.

so late, sorry.

[darknessb4me]

[Have a WoW boss in full spikes-and-skulls medieval armor.]

I eat souls. What's wrong with your nose?

it's okay!! clearly i'm super slow right now myself, so no worries <33

[cannulalingus]

[ ... Wow! ... Quite literally! ]

I can't breathe right. My lungs are crap. They help out.

Like your armor.

What do you eat them for? Sustenance kind of thing, just for funzies? Civic duty to rid the bad?