Convergence

[HoneyDog]

Nik"s eyes grow wide with alarm - he's on the verge of panic. He starts shouting.

"Wait a moment! You need to return us to how we were! Bring him back!"

He points to the body of the teenager.

"And what about the accord? We need to know more! Who are the authorities you dealt with?"

[Mr. Handy]

"You must reverse the effects of your experiments before you go," says Vanessa as she climbs down the ladder. "There is a dog whose face you have exchanged with a human's as well. We need you to exchange them back."

[Silver Priest]

"THE ADOLESCENT HAS CEASED DUE TO FACTORS OUTSIDE OUR EXPERIMENTS. ATTEMPTS TO BRING HIM BACK USING PROTOMATTER HAVE FAILED, AND THE EXPERIMENT CAN BE DEEMED UNSUCCESSFUL.

RESTORING HUMANS PRIOR STATE IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE OR DESIRABLE. INSTEAD WE WILL ADAPT OUR PROTOMATTER INTO A SHORT ACTING AND HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS VERSION OF A COMMON HUMAN ILLNESS. WITHOUT MEDICAL INTERVENTION, THE ESTIMATED FATALITY RATE WILL EXCEED 99.2 PERCENT. THIS WILL CONCEAL OUR PRESENCE HERE AND ALLOW IT TO BE HIDDEN FROM GENERAL HUMANITY."

In response to Vanessa: "THE HUMAN'S STATE IS IRREVERSIBLE. HE HAS BEEN PLACED IN A SECURED CANISTER AND WILL MAKE THE TRIP WITH US BACK TO OUR HOME WORLD, WHERE FURTHER STUDY WILL BE PERMITTED. YOU ARE ALL INFECTED. SHOULD YOU WISH WE WILL PERFORM THE PROCEDURE ON YOU AND RETURN YOU WITH US TO THE STARS. IN THIS WAY, YOU WILL NOT CEASE AND SHOULD PERFORM INDEFINITELY.

OUR DEALINGS WITH YOUR GOVERNMENT ARE TO BE HIDDEN FROM PUBLIC VIEW; PLEASE EITHER RETURN TO US AS WE PREPARE FOR TRANSPORT OR LEAVE HERE AND WAIT FOR THE ALTERNATIONS TO LEAD YOU TO CEASE BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY."

OOC:   If Vanessa wishes to rule she decides to stay up top, she can. I'm not saying a peaceful outcome to this is not possible (not saying it is, either) but at present the aliens seem to equate ending the expierment with killing everyone infected.

[HoneyDog]

“Wait!” Nik shouts, stalling for time. “Our government has not given its consent for you to leave. You need to debrief us on what you have found. Isn't that part of the agreement? We need to relay your findings to our authorities.”

He picks up his carbine.

[Anatomist]

He picks up his carbine.

José grabs a flash-bang inside his fannypack

[jp1885]

Griff’s mind races, trying to come up with a solution that will not result in mass murder, one way or another.

“Your presence on Earth is already suspected; I’m sure you’ve seen enough of our media transmissions to know that. In fact your presence in this very town is being investigated by others apart from us. You can only hide for so long, especially if you initiate a mass, er, cessation of biological activity.”

He jerks a thumb towards José.

“You’ve seen how some of us panic and become violent towards you. Consider the potential for conflict between our two species - hardly conducive to, um, mutual scientific research.”

He sighs, offering up a silent plea for forgiveness to my parents.

“A counter-proposal: have the protomatter disperse harmlessly and I will agree to accompany you back to, um, wherever. I can act as an ambassador for the average Human, not those in authority whose interests may not represent that of the general populace. I’m a medic: a healer - working with you to heal my species would be a fantastic opportunity, and in return I can guide you on how to conduct your research in a way that does not alarm or injure my fellow, er, Humans. So in the long term, interactions between our species will improve in a non-confrontational manner.”

He crosses his fingers, hoping to God that he’s doing the right thing.

[HoneyDog]

Nik turns to Griff incredulously.

"Are you not listening to anything? They have an agreement. They're here with permission!" he snaps.

[jp1885]

”Yeah, but if I can change that deal so that this doesn’t turn into an even bigger shitshow, then I’m gonna try, okay?”

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   If Griff wants to do this, please give me a persuade roll with a-20 penalty to represent language difficulties. Also understand that this will likely take Griff out of effective play.

[jp1885]

Persuade 60-20=40,[dice]0[/dice]

OOC:   That’s a success. It’s best that Griff bows out doing something good. My new job’s keeping me busy so it’ll help if I have less characters to juggle. I’ve enjoyed this very much though and will watch with interest!

[Mr. Handy]

"If we were to cease biological activity, our superiors would not be pleased," says Vanessa. "That would be a breach of the accord. We will prevent the people from learning the truth of what happened here ourselves, but we must be alive to do it."

[Silver Priest]

AN ALTERNATION SHALL BE MADE. THE PROTOMATTER INSIDE THE FORMS SHALL BE RENDERED DORMANT AND COMPLETELY FLUSHED OUT OF THE SYSTEMS WITHIN SOME HOURS. THE PROCESS SHOULD BE COVERT AND FREE OF ANY DISCOMFORT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT UNDERGONE ANY SIGNIFICANT ALTERNATION.

YOUR PROPOSAL IS AGREEABLE. JOIN US HERE AND WE SHALL BEGIN THE PROCEDURE.

Of course, the question to be decided is if any of the other agents would attempt to stop Griff from sacrificing himself.

OOC:   Understood jp; it was great to have you and you'll always have a place at my games if your schedule gets a little less hectic. Whatever happens here I can easily write Griff out of the story if I continue to run DG.

[jp1885]

Griff smiles grimly at his companions before starting his climb down towards the creatures.

"This is probably the dumbest thing I've ever done. You guys should scram - get some compensation for my folks and nail the bastards that agreed to this shit in the first place."

OOC:   Cheers mate!

[Mr. Handy]

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asks Vanessa. "It's certainly a one-way trip."

[HoneyDog]

"What happens to those who have undergone 'significant alteration?' Nik asks, fearing the answer.

[Silver Priest]

DEPENDING ON THE SPECIFIC ALTERATION, RESULTS WILL RANGE FROM INTENSE PAIN AND PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT OF FUNCTION TO CESSATION OF ALL BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS. THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WHO SUFFER TOTAL CESSATION ARE 12. THEIR CESSATION WILL OCCUR DUE TO MULTIPLE ORGAN FAILURE AND SHOULD BE STRAIGHTFORWARD TO CONCEAL FROM THE PUBLIC.

Nik,Of course, [b]Nik[/b] strongly suspects he may end up as one of these people.But according to the aliens, there was no way to avoid this outcome, save perhaps letting the expierment continue.

OOC:   I'll leave it here until tomorrow, just to see if anyone wants to stop Griff. If not, I'll move us on.

[HoneyDog]

OOC:   Nik still has more questions if that's okay, and will also want to talk Griff out of his plan.

Swallowing uncomfortably, Nik asks, "Am I one of those who will suffer total cessation? If so, when will this occur"

[Mr. Handy]

"Who are the twelve individuals who will suffer total cessation?" asks Vanessa. "Is there any way the total cessation can be prevented?"

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   No worries, take all the time you guys want.

The alien recites names as mechanically as it has anything else. The agents have only met two of them- Jane Allen and Nikolas Siilasvuo.

In response to Nik: MAJOR ORGAN FAILURE WILL OCCUR MOMENTS AFTER THE PROTOMATTER IS RENDERED INERT. CESSATION OF ACTIVITIES WILL RESULT WITHIN 360 SECONDS.

[Mr. Handy]

"We need Nikolas Sillasvuo," says Vanessa, alarmed when his name is mentioned. "It would be preferable if the others did not cease biological function either. How can the protomatter in them be rendered inert without causing them to cease biological function?"