Audio; un: belova + un: felix

[laviny]

Hey good news everyone, Bracken didn’t kill us.

Although I'm fairly certain it would have been Fyna that would've done most of the killing... she sounded really disappointed when she didn't get to take us out.

Okay, yeah good point. I think she was mad I didn't flirt with her.

I said I was sorry. Next time the bartender shows interest I'll make certain to leave you to it.

[There was a pause as if one of them might get on with the post's actual intention and then suddenly Yelena breaks the silence with a blunt counter injection:]

You did not. You have not said sorry once this whole time.

What? Oh, god, really? I am sooooooo forgetful about those sorts of things. Remind me later. I meant it. Really, it was implied.

Right. I will believe it when I hear it. Well, I just- Whatever. Anyway... We found Zandr and the orb. He has it.

Right. Business. Bracken and Fyna--the two mercenaries monopolizing the ghost matter weapons on the black market--introduced us to Zandr after we convinced them we're here to help. He-

He's contracted it so ghost matter doesn't kill people while he does science, but he'll give it to us when he is done. So we need to help him figure out his science things.

[Another pause stretches on for a little too long before Felix makes a low grunt of pain as Yelena prods him (literally) into saying the next segment.]

Just making sure you were finished... He said anyone who knows their way around particle alteration would be useful to figuring out the solution to the ghost matter problem. He wants to get completely rid of it. So, time to get your thinking caps on, dear doctors and gentle scientists, you've got useful shit to do.

He told us which planet his lab is on but he has things to set up before we go to him. He will tell us when and how to get to him...

...so we're not caught being stupid about it and can get to him safely.

Don't do that. Do what? We are not finishing each other's sentences. It’s creepy. Don't do that. Fine, whatever. Did we cover everything? Yes. Or they will ask questions and we will answer.

Do you all have any questions? We are helping them now, like Dr. Wizard Strange said. [And that was final as far as she was concerned.]


[[ooc: hey, here we go! all this comes from their search request here. this post is up for a free-for-all discussion of information in the comments. replies may be from either Yelena or Felix or both.]]

Comments

voice; un: romanoff

[deaddrop]

You could just call him Stephen, you know.

[Natasha probably would have. Or else, just Strange.

Which is a useful and totally normal way to respond to all of that.]

Good job with the tracking him down, and also not killing each other.

[laviny]

I could, yes.

[But will she?]

It wasn’t so hard. He pissed Bracken off at first but I fixed it.

[Natasha your sister is a diplomat.]

[deaddrop]

By not flirting with someone? I feel like I'm a little shaky on a few of the details here.

audio; un: felix

[swordandshield]

The mission isn't over yet.

[He's joking. No, really, he is. Yelena may have him roped around already.]

[deaddrop]

[Natasha trusts her sister to take care of herself. At least until she gets hurt.

Then? Only one way to say.]

It is not. Which means there's still time to fuck it up.

voice; un: mccoy

[homeostatic]

Let me get this straight. None of their researchers or scientists could make heads or tails of efforts to replicate the dwindling ghost matter– until the orb. Now Zandr wants to get rid of it, without the orb. Does that include the stock of ghost matter weapons bein' held back, too?

Leavin' aside the fact that we're lacking in particle physicists.

( say what you mean, Bones. )

Somethin' doesn't feel right.

[laviny]

Yes. They are monopolizing the weapons to keep them from hurting people. They can’t stop the Federation from producing them but they can keep them off the black market to reduce harm.

[homeostatic]

How long have they been collecting 'em for?

audio; un: felix

[swordandshield]

Bracken and Fyna felt pretty genuine. And their threats weren't idle when it came to keeping the ghost matter off the black market.

[He knew that in his bones. It was too similar to the way he and his old partner used to operate. Bracken was a little more talkative than Locus, and optimistic once he opened up, but their dynamic had felt all too familiar to Felix. Like looking into a weird but disconcertingly accurate mirror.]

As for Zandr, he didn't give the same vibe as Shortaxe did when I first met him. Never did trust him. [If that makes a difference. Felix had never trusted the guy from day one. "Takes one to know one." Too familiar to miss that vibe, too.] Maybe more like... rogue-lite absent-minded scientist. Hopefully not too bordering on mad... but then the last mad genius I ran across did help a planet full of people so...

He's also the one with the deal so we have to put up with him one way or another.

[homeostatic]

( his tone is cool. )

Funny how folks can feel genuine one moment, and disappoint you the next.

voice; un: finn

[hatejakku]

Why doesn't he just use the orb to get rid of the ghost matter?

[ Finn's billion dollar question. ]

[laviny]

He says he can’t. It’s what caused ghost matter to change and start killing people in the first place. I guess using the same thing that caused the problem to try to solve it might make things worse again. It seems safer to use the orb's power as a shield while he figures out how to fix things "the old fashioned way."

[Zandr's exact words.]

[hatejakku]

[ Begrudgingly: ] That sounds right, actually. In Gyeongje, So-Yeon couldn't use the orb to cure the plague because the plague was caused by the orb. That's why Newton and the others had to make a cure themselves.

[ Finn donated an unhealthy amount of blood for the cause, too, but never mind that. Anyway- ]

It just seems awkward. The orb was used to make the ghost matter lethal, so he uses it to stop making it lethal? Maybe it has more to do with the substance instead of the wish...

Either way, if he's telling the truth, what does that mean about all of the other side-effects of the ghost matter besides death? Did he have any theories?

text; un: toxicodendron

[greenpower]

Any idea what the hold up is on destroying the ghost matter as it is?

Like does Zandr have any idea what he's doing, or is he just as in the dark as the research hospital?

[laviny]

I think he knows, but he needs time and some help. I guess it has to do with the particle alteration thing, but most of his science talk went over my head. It’s not really my area, you know.

voice; un: toxicodendron

[greenpower]

Not really. I have no idea what your area is.

[Nothing personal. Ivy just doesn't know everyone yet. Or, you know, care.

Though Yelena does seem sort of like the kind of person she'd vibe with. Sarcastic. Confident lady. Probably a criminal.]

I'm a biochemist. Particle alteration... I need to get more information to say just how relevant my experience might be, but I've got a few ideas since I started working on the problem.

audio; un: felix

[swordandshield]

He mentioned creating a particle. Presumably in a similar fashion to what they were attempting before they introduced the orb into the mix? Except to do the opposite of what they were originally aiming for. So he's been working on it all this time while running from the law. Mostly by himself. I guess he needed time. [The hell does he know about this science stuff. He got bored whenever the Space Pirate techies tried to explain their work to him, why would this be any different. Not that Zandr...actually explained much beyond what's already been said.] Either he's banking on help getting the final scientific piece in place, or they need the extra bodies to provide the final distraction to get things rolling.

Strange said something about distribution. Sounds like breaking into Federation property to get it done.

voice; un: toxicodendron

[greenpower]

As luck would have it, I also have some experience with B&E.

So I guess one way or another I'm probably in. I know I did mention it to you before, but if we're throwing science at it then it's not so much different from what I was doing to try to find the orb anyway.

audio: Lockwood

[recklessenough]

['...when you like the spotlight as much as I do, it's quite an adjustment to realize that the real reason you might be here is to shine it on somebody else.'

Lockwood's own words were echoing in his head as he read the message from Felix and Yelena. He didn't know Yelena, but Felix had been such a patronizing prick; this was like congratulating Kipps. As such, Lockwood wrestled with himself for longer than his sense of maturity would like to admit, before he put through a connection to the communication.

He'dwantedtobetheonetofindZandrstandinthespotlightandmakeabigsplashwithhisnewteamgrumblegrumblepountmutter.

Keeping it to audio allowed him to focus on making sure his voice was clear and sincere, even if his face was still making rude expressions. ]

Very well done. So the intent is to control the weapons that could harm people, while Zandr tries to undo the ghost matter entirely?

Has anyone discovered where how this ghost matter came to exist in the first place? Could that help sort out a way to eradicate it; especially if it is not a natural occurrence?

[laviny]

Basically yes, that’s right.

And not that I know of, but it looks like there are some theories.

[And she will link to Itachi's post.]

audio; un: felix

[swordandshield]

Nice lead. [As close to thanks as he's ever going to get.] Kill people. They kill people. Yeah, that's what they're doing. Keeping the weapons out of the hands of criminals and non-Federation members.

The scientists here seem to think it's always been around. Ping Newton, it was in his recording.

text ↪ un: うちは

[blackfire]

We presently have little indication about what may have been changed in this world or timeline as a result of the prior crewmember's regret being absolved. It is entirely possible that some aspect of the ghost matter's effect upon powered individuals was wrought as an in— or unintended result of that original deal in keeping with the orb's preference for chaos. I am speaking independently of what Dr. Strange shared — not to the synthesis of the current more volatile version. If the regret, for instance, was regarding the existence of powered people, the orb could have created the ghost matter as a counter for it, in which case it could appear native to this world on a timescale well beyond the orb's intervention itself. We should be mindful of that.

（ he knows it was emerton and not zandr that made the deal, but that information is not his to share and thus he does not trouble himself about doing so. either wei wuxian will speak to it, or it will become necessary to the point it forces his hand — but either way, he will not give felix more information than absolutely necessary. ）

un: mccoy

[homeostatic]

You've put my concern to words, thanks.

Do you think the orb showing up here would have appeared as if it were always here? And the same with any deal it fulfilled?

( recalling their conversation a couple missions ago, and the thoughts (and worries!) he's had since then, in explaining it with jim. )

[laviny]

Okay, well, maybe one of us can talk to him about that when he makes contact again. Either way we have to at least pretend to work with him because he has the orb.

Text; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[bindsthedead]

Given that Viveca said the crewmate had spoken of Ghost Matter, and of problems with it, I don't think it was created by the orb as part of solving his regret, if it was present before he made the deal.

I suppose it might once have had different properties- amplifying powers instead of nullifying them, but we have no way of knowing.