a little shorter chapter this time, but hopefully good nonetheless. read and review please.
Izwan, yes the timeline was within wings of liberty. I've kind of laced this throughout the story, Raynor was in zero-hour when she was captured, then he did smash and grab, as well as the Agria mission. he was near the end of the Meinhoff one when he received the communication from Julia. while Hanson and Stettman were trying to piece together what happened to her, Raynor was commanding the one on Redstone. I agree that it's a good idea to bring Hanson into it, she's a biologist, and as such should be invaluable in finding out what happened to her, as you will see in this chapter. as for the serum, this will go in the direction of that, and I will put more on it later. this chapter should give some small clues as to the Psionic aspect of it, but I will explain more if you PM me, as I don't want too much to go out to the general public just yet. finally, in my mind Raynor doesn't know about Tosh's history as a ghost/Spectre as of Redstone, and therefore would not be able to use him to see if she is lying. PM me and I will explain more about this whole situation I have planned.
also, does anyone think I should get a beta for this? and if so, do you know one?
While Julia sleeps, Dr. Ariel Hanson and Egon Stettman are hard at work trying to determine the physical effects of the infestation upon her body. The scans, both the full body and the cranial, are examined closely, every detail written down and dissected for its theorized effect upon her. The blood panel has come back, and is similarly studied. After hours of work, going long into the night cycle onboard the Hyperion, they are ready to present their findings to Raynor.
"so doc, what've you got for me?" Raynor asks as he walks into the lab.
"Well," Hanson begins "we've received mostly normal , for what we have on infestation, readings from the blood panel and the full body scan. The changes there aren't our main concern, though, and we'll leave those for another time. What really interests me, though, is the Cranial scan. I won't bore you with all the technical details, but look at this" she brings up a comparison of several scans on the console's screen, "on the left here is a scan collected from a brood-war era "suicide" Infested whose brain scan we brought in for reference, like most of the pictures here. In this subject, most of the original brain, colored in yellow, is gone, replaced by the Zerg infestation, seen here in purple. This subject has had most of his consciousness removed, and replaced by Zerg tendrils, which of course means that it is about as sentient as an animal. The reason we don't have any before this, is because this era of infestation explode when they attack, making it difficult to find samples. To the right one is a current-day infested, like what we encountered on Meinhoff, there's a little more brain matter, allowing it to coordinate better, but again, this thing is not sentient. Next we see one of the failed commander-level infested that Julia herself encountered, if the reports are right. Here, a lot more of the original brain is preserved, but note the "control spires" as we are calling them, interspersed throughout the tissue, as well as completely taking over the hypothalamus and cerebellum."
"whoa there doc, smaller words if you don't mind"
"right, well, let's just say they've taken over the center for hormone secretion, the section of the brain that produces responses such as fear, and the area that controls muscle control and coordination. Next is a normal Terran brain, just for reference. On the far right here, is Julia's Brain. Now, look back at the rest of the images, and tell me which one looks most similar?"
Raynor takes a moment to inspect all the images, before indicating the uninfested brain.
"right, that's what I thought too. There is very little changes to her brain whatsoever, and the few that there are appear exclusively within the cerebellum, and do not appear consistent with infestation. Likely, they are changes to help her control her wings, although without more evidence I can't say for sure. If these scans are correct, and I believe they are, then she's telling the truth."
"Well… ain't that something." Was all Raynor can say, lost in thought.
"Exactly, If we can figure out how this happened, and recreate it… " Hanson looks hopeful, thinking on her growing concerns over her colonists on Haven.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, doc, this could still be a trick, send her in like this then enable something to cause the true infestation once we're all comfortable." Raynor warns
"so what are you suggesting? We just leave her in there when she's done nothing wrong?" Hanson argues back.
"No, I'm suggesting we take precautions, things like regular checkups, noticing any changes in behavior, things like that." He states. He is already planning on letting her out. Tychus would be thrilled. He had already complained about having "one of them" onboard the ship. Swann he wasn't sure of, but he'd probably have something similar to say. There was also that pirate, Tosh, who had already forwarded him the next mission he wanted, some place called Bel'shir. This was one worry off of his mind, however it causes a half-dozen more. 'Just when I thought I'd it figured out…' he thinks to himself. Raynor sighs, and goes back to his quarters to catch the little sleep he can before he's needed in the morning.
Awareness snaps back to me, much different from the last two times I have woken up. I was dreaming about being captured again, so I would not have gotten a restful night's sleep, even without my worries over what their tests were going to show. I don't know what happened; honestly it is still within reason to assume that I am a servant of the swarm and I simply do not know it yet. I push that last thought aside quickly, reaffirming my previous assertion that I would not think about that as it is something out of my control. I sit up, and stretch stiff muscles, something apparently the Zerg have not found a way around yet. My cell looks the same as it did last night, although the guards are absent now. 'That's curious,' I think to myself. My hunger has grown over the night, and now it is quite persistent. I look around, hoping to see food, but am disappointed. I get off of the cot, and walk towards the exit. That's when Raynor walks around the corner. "you're up" he says, and I nod and say "yes".
"Good news, the tests have shown that, medically at least, you're not being controlled. As such, welcome back, Julia Daren." I'm startled; 'the tests were done that quickly?'
"Thank you" I say, and then inquire "do you know where I could eat? I haven't since I woke up like this, and I'm rather hungry." He nods, and unlocks the cell.
"Now, you understand that even though these scans show that you're not being controlled, I can't just let you have the run of the ship. Not yet at least, I'll lead you to Hanson, though, the good doctor has some questions for you, and I'm sure she could get you something to eat there." I nod once more, and follow him through the halls, hands unbound. He's showing the greatest amount of trust he can. He needs the crew to see that he's taking precautions, as most of them will distrust a Zerg on principle, even one that, according to their commander, retains her mind. It will take time for them to warm up to me, but I hope that it can be done. I am lead on a different route this time, and, as a result, arrive at a different room. This one is a laboratory; in the center is a containment field which holds two strange metal objects. I eye them warily, something about them seeming wrong to me, and my hunger becomes even more pronounced.
"hey doc, we're here" he says, and the woman who must be Doctor Hanson looks up from the project she is working on.
"oh, good." She looks up and smiles, something which surprises me quite a bit given the reactions of the rest of the crew towards me. Then she actually reaches forward to shake my hand, "Doctor Ariel Hanson."
I take her hand in mine, looking at her, and not seeing any trace of disgust, even when her human skin meets my hardened carapace. "Julia Daren" I say, trying to work up a smile as well. Raynor bows out. My first concern is my stomach, which has grown to an extremely distracting sensation, so when we sit down, I inquire, "I'm kind of new to the whole Zerg thing, but do you know if I can eat? I'm getting extremely hungry." She looks up, appearing as startled as I felt when she greeted me
"I… think so, your digestive track has not been overly changed by the transformation, although waste removal has been. Normal Zerg receive nutrients from creep, but I'd guess you would prefer a more human method, correct?" I nod, and she reaches for her communicator, and requests food to be brought down to the lab. After that had been accomplished, she turns her attention back to me. "I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted to talk to you, but essentially, I want you to tell me what you've been through the last few days. Leave no detail out; anything could be a clue to figuring out why you survived with your mind intact when so many did not."
I nod, and begin to recount my experience, after she enables a recording device so that what I say could be recorded for future reference, starting with waking up inside the cocoon I tell her the color of the liquid, the texture of the pod, and anything else I can think of. Then I move on to walking through the decaying Zerg base, and end up giving her coordinates for the asteroid so that she could ask Raynor to send a probe. I talk about the Kel-Morian Facility, finding the clothes I'm currently wearing, and then getting onto the shuttle itself. I talk about how I was feeling mentally and physically that entire time, leaving no details out. When I was finished, she stops recording, and thanks me. Then our food is delivered, suspiciously late thinking of when it was asked for, especially considering the look on the face of the man who delivered it. I tear into the food, which turns out to be a military-style MRE, voraciously. Maybe it is the new senses I have been given, maybe it is the fact that I have not eaten in two days, or maybe it is some combination of these factors, but that food is the best I have tasted in quite some time, which is a little concerning when you think about it. My hunger sated at last, Hanson turns to lighter subjects, my past with the Raiders, where I was from, just nice simple get to know you stuff. I almost forget for a time what had happened over the past two days, as I simply enjoy the conversation.
After spending some time like that, I finally stand and say "thank you for the conversation, but there are some other people who I would like to talk to as well." She nods, understanding that I was referring to my old squad, and says "I'll walk with you so that you can go now." I nod appreciatively, knowing that I was not supposed to go anywhere without an escort. We walk out the door, and towards the barracks. I recognize the route, and feel emotion welling up inside me as I remember all the times I had taken this route before. It would never be the same, even after I was accepted; nothing would ever be the same again. Eventually, we stand before the door to Alpha squadron's quarters. The squads are named not for performance, but for the first letter of the CO's name. If there are two squads with the same name, then the last names are included as well. It discourages competition, to be named that way. Competition is all well and good of course, but when everyone is vying to get onto a single squad, displays of bravado and daring feats which end in the death of those involved are all too common. Everyone knows that the real "alpha" squadron would be Epsilon Tango squad, led by Emilie Terrance. These thoughts all flash through my head as I stand at their door. Hanson backs off, and I open the door, to face my squad mates.
My fist Cliffhanger :) I'm starting to understand the appeal (evil laugh)