Eden

[Rose]

This is an rp for Gina, Kat, and Rose

[glow=blue,2,300]Eden[/glow]

The Normandy is a huge space vessel carrying a colony of a few hundred people through a largely uncharted and mostly inactive galaxy. The crew consists of civilian colonists, lead scientists and mechanics, and doctors, school teachers, and a handful of eccentrics looking for a good time, as well as a full police force and government officials overseeing the operation. The Normandy is responsible for studying the unknown Galaxy, but its ultimate goal is to colonize the earth-like planet fondly dubbed Eden, and to eventually start the construction of a Mass Relay, a huge space station that will one day be able to instantly transport ships to other machines like it across the universe. Once the colonists have settled onto the planet, and if it is deemed hospitable, other ships like the Normandy will soon join to create a new civilization under the rule of the Council, a group of united human and allied alien delegates.

Reaching Eden has been the primary thought of most of the Normandy’s crew, but tension is growing as they pass their second anniversary of life on a space vessel. Many civilians are getting restless and there have been rising reports of cabin fever. The police force has become largely self-governing, and while there is no proof of any corruption, tension is rising for those who feel their laws are unjust. The once quiet life of the ship will soon be rattled further as rumor of the Normandy’s first murder spreads. If the police want to keep order on their ship they’ll have to find the culprit before panic sets into the crew.

[GnomesAteMyCake]

"So what do you think happened here?" Ducking under the traditional yellow tape that seperated the murder scene from the rest of the ship, a black-haired woman of middle height and curvatious build serveyed the mess before her, hands planted on her hips as she peered over the tops of her tinted glasses.

"Fucked if I know, April," her partner replied, taking a long drag of his cigarette as he cast an analytical eye over the remains of engineer Matthew James. Granted, it took a while as he was spread pretty thinly over the corridor, but it didn't phase the man. "I'd say....something explodey?"

"Explodey. You're one fine cop, Mikey, I'll give you that."

"Why thank you."

Shaking her head, April McAndrews knelt down near the largest fleshy mass, which she guessed at being the man's torso; she wasn't the best at anatomy. No, it was more getting into a killer's head that was her speciality, though she wouldn't be able to show that talent till they caught the sick bastard who'd used Matthew Jame's insides as paint.

"In all seriousness, it was probably a low-level plasma rifle, I'd say about grade 2," Mikey muttered, smoke streaming upwards as he knelt by the shorter woman, flipping auburn hair out of his eyes as he pulled a rubber glove on and began poking around the remains. "But there's definate evidence of a melee weapon... I think a knife that anyone could get hold of; they aren't exactly hard to come by."

"Tell me about it. The sad thing is, guns aren't either." Reaching over, April plucked the cigarette from her partners fingers and took a long drag before wordlessly passing it back.

"Thought you were quittin'?"

"Bite me, Mike. Where's that scientist anyway? I'm sure she'll be able to tell us way more about this than the two of us could puzzle out."

"Heh, only you seem to think we're as stupid as you make out; not to blow my own horn, but my IQ's nothing to sneeze at. Still, there's a reason they call us the 'Plastics.'"

[Rose]

Vila’Tson was in the middle of her daily routine of checking everything in her lab when she got the call. And she answered curtly before telling the police that they could wait, this was a small ship and no one was going anywhere, and she hung up on them with a polite but distracted goodbye.

Her lab was not the cold, clean, metal room it had once been. But then, Vi wasn’t the eager, doting young woman she was at the start of this journey, either. The reserved asari had turned the place into a small jungle with plant, animal, and soil samples from every planet they had visited. If she thought it could survive the specific, constantly controlled atmosphere of the Normandy, Vi would bring it along. A banana tree from earth grew in the corner, struggling to bear fruit for the first time. Beneath its leaves was a caged creature that looked something like a mouse and turtle crossed, a new species she had named after an ugly rival in her school years. A vine plant was hardily spreading cross one wall, and there was a pink flowering bush that took up a whole corner on its own and whose fruit everyone adored.

Vi quietly went around the lab, sprinkling the plants with recycled water, feeding the small caged creatures, and beneath a microscope she checked the growth of a parasite that was getting around the ship. Through the walls she could hear the other scientists talking loudly, rattling things, testing chemicals. Only she was privileged enough to have her own lab, much to the dismay of the other scientists. But Vi paid them no mind. Her job was far more interesting. And more importantly, only she had clearance to know anything about it. As far as anyone else was concerned, Vi was a naturalist, a botanist, a whatever you wanted to call her. No one knew her research went so much deeper.

With contemplative eyes the asari glanced over the red-skinned fruits in the corner, gently setting down her pen and paper at her desk. She rose gracefully, her species lithe in every little movement, and plucked a single fruit the size of her fist. With a satisfied nod she carried it with her to the back of her lab, where a deceptively plain and small door sat. Her long, thin fingers quickly typed a code into the keypad at its side and it slid open with a hiss, allowing her into a decontamination cell. That door closed behind her and another opened a moment later to a small room, this one as cold and metal as when it had been built for her. It was almost completely bare, save for the huge chamber at its back wall.

What it held seemed to be a sleeping human man, his face young. A look at his eyes would reveal that he was so much more. He was connected to a few wires, bringing fluids to and from his body, monitoring his heart and brain and administering a light sedative that kept him asleep for most of the time. His cell was 9X9 and held a sleeping mat for him and little else. His chest rose and fell slowly beneath a blanket, his arms twitching. The monitor recorded his emotions in his dreams.

Vi made sure the door behind her was securely shut before pressing a button. The wires snapped away from the sleeping man, the monitors shutting off and the sedatives stopping their nulling effect. It took very little time for the young man to stir gently and lift his head of black tousled hair up to greet her. She was the only face he’d seen for two years and his eyes held nothing. Until she waved the fruit around.

“If you cooperate, Furian,” she called to him, raising the fruit up to peek his interest more. She didn’t have to say anything else. They had come to understand each other well enough over time.

The routine was the same, every day, every morning, every night. The Furian man moved to the front of his glass cell, sticking his hands through a thin rectangular hole. Vi gently bound his hands with reinforced metal cuffs before opening the door and letting the drugged Furian from his cell. She ran simple body tests while he held still, checking his skin, his hair, his motor functions. It was taking his blood and shining a light into the man’s sensitive eyes that he didn’t enjoy so much.

“Furian, you hold still,” Vi muttered as he tip-toed away from her and her needle. He was playing with her, she knew. He had learned that he could get things from her, or perhaps he was just bored, but not a day went by that he let her do things easily. They both knew she’d finally give in, and it was with a sigh that she did today, holding the fruit just out of his reach.

“It’s a trade, you little devil. We can both get what we want.”

[Ithan]

True Form:

Human form:


The Furian wasn't exactly tall about 5'10" but he was still young and growing, the time on the Normandy proved that. He had a strong body and a sharpened face with the bluest of eyes that were lighter than a clear Earth skies...at the moment.

He had a little fang coming from his smirk on his lips as he tip-toed away but when she pulled back the fruit he took a moment to contemplate if he really wanted the fruit or not. He held out his arm for her after a long minute of silent thought. It was a very rare thing if anyone were to hear him talk. He'd only speak when he really wanted something, or he was in sever pain. He grunted though and sat down and stuck out his arm for her. The colour shifted to a deep crimson in his eyes, the colour they usually were. His left eye winced when he felt the prick in his arm and he eyed the fruit trying to be patient but when Vi turned away for the moment he leaned forward to grab the fruit. "Try it and see if you get any ever again." she told him as she ran the blood through a machine and everything came out normal. The Furian sighed deeply and put down the fruit where he retrieved it from, he had had it already up to his mouth getting ready to chomp down on it too.

He knew the part that was coming next, the bright flash light in his eyes to check his pupils, in his natural form they were hard to see dilate because they were usually dilated as they were plus they were the same colour as his iris', but they were reflective, finding them wasnt an issue at least.

Furians could see very well in the dark as their home planet was often night time. Their eyes were alright in sunlight and the natural glow of plants or creatures but artifical light hurt, it was too harsh. It usually left him nearly blind and irritated. But thier eyes had a natural defense mechanism for harsh light, when it flooded thier pupils thier eyes will blacken completely as if wearing sunglasses in thier eyes, hence the partial blindness but it was still painful just as much. It was because of this Vi allowed him to wear goggles with shaded lenses.

After a few grunts and sharp look aways, Vi got what she needed from the Furian then handed him the fruit after he put his shaded goggles on and then chomped down on the fruit in 30 second in 3 big bites. Juices squirted in his hands and he licked them completely content she walked him back to his cell. As he went in he went a mat on the opposite side of the bed and went to his notebook and began drawing the fruit, thte note book was kinda like his own journal of daily activities, he wasnt that good but he wasnt terrible either. By him were a few other things, a hand held game that was kinda like todays version of a gameboy but only it tested how fast he could read something and remember it, there were a few games simliar to that in the gameboy like maachine as well. A few books about plants that he sometimes drew.

The furrian was to himself again as the door slid shut again leaving him alone yet again.

[Rose]

There was a running joke that Robby was the worst cop. Ever.

That probably had something to do with why he’d been sent to escort the bitch scientist who cared more about her plants and freakish space turtles than the biggest crime that happened on this ship since…fucking ever.

Robby knocked on the huge metal door, the handle stopping when he tried to turn it. It was a good thing the kid didn’t have a mean bone in his body. Not really. Sure he cursed and he was sarcastic like no other, but he never actually got mad. Once some of the tougher guys had flushed all his nude mags down the spaceshoot to piss him off. Despite the fact that there wasn’t a port within a million gagillion miles for him to buy new ones, his only response was to throw his hands up in the air and reveal that he’d stolen them anyway. No, Robby was a simple-minded guy.

And he was a clutz. There wasn’t a single damn thing he couldn’t fuck up. But his father had been a respectable and stern government official who wanted his son to get a new opportunity in life (read: who wanted his son to get a life) doing something for the greater good (read: doing something so far away, he couldn’t possibly fuck up anything that would get back to the family). So here was Robby, knocking on this door.

-------

“Found ‘er boss!” Robby announced half an hour later as he dragged a stubborn scientist behind him and through the yellow tape. He waved at the Plastics then gestured back to his prize. He wasn’t he supposed to come this close to the crime scene, it wasn’t his area, but again, here he was.

The boy whistled loudly when he saw the body, running a hand through his hair and shaking his head. What a damn mess. Everyone on this ship knew everybody. To think that there was a murderer…it was insane.

“Whoooaa there, he looks like what they put into the sloppyjoes.” Robby whistled again, shaking his head as he folded his hands behind him.

Vi pushed past the annoyance and walked over to the largest remains of the body, kneeling beside it. It was definitely a mass of torso with a bit of chest cavity left. She cringed, taking in breaths through her mouth. The whole room smelled like blood and body waste.

“Do we know anything yet? Weapon? Uhg…” She stood up from the body, covering her mouth. “What about suspects?”

[GnomesAteMyCake]

"Robby, did'ya have to say that?" Mikey moaned over at his collegue, punching the man on the arm as he rolled his eyes. The whole thing was ruined as he smirked, showing that he meant no harm as he offered the blond officer a cigarette.

"Mikey, keep your cancer to yourself," April snapped as she pushed past the two men, egnoring Mikey's mutter of 'that's a case of the pot calling the kettle black if I ever saw one,' and marched up to the scientist, holding her hand out stiffly.

"Officer McAndrews." she introduced shortly before crouching down next to the scientist, looking over the remains of the man with a look of disgust. "As of now, we have no suspects; background research shows that the victim, Matthew James, has lived alone aboard the Normandy since the launch two years ago. He has no family, and from what we can gather was a private person who rarely socialised and enjoyed his work. From this, we can't say that this was a killing against him personally."

Running a hand through her long hair, April pushed her glasses up off her face before looking at the woman beside her, a frown tugging at both their lips. "Personally, I think that this was a man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is a busy corridor; the killer didn't think about location at all. Unless he purposefully wanted James to be found within hours of the murder, I don't think it'll be that difficult to find him, if he makes mistakes like this."

"Yeah, but April," Mikey interjected, tapping ash onto to the floor a few feet from the body, his amber eyes flashing, "If you think about it, there must've been some thought into this. The killer knew that James wouldn't be missed. Like you said, he has no family. If he was murdered somewhere quiet and out of the way, who knows when he would've been found? It's highly unlikely that he would've been reported missing."

Putting his hand on April's shoulder, Mikey locked eyes with her. "I think this was on purpose; they're challenging us."

[Rose]

Vi’s feminine but direct voice cut through the musings of the two officers as she stepped away from the mangled mess on the floor, eyeing the two with the detached and contemplative gaze of a scientists, masking the dread she felt for the situation.

“If I may say something…” Vila’Tson started, giving the cops a moment to look her way. “I know my expertise is in the lab, but I want you consider the implications of what you are stating here.”

The alien woman glanced over her human counterparts. Not everyone was comfortable with her on this ship. There were a small handful of aliens on the Normandy, all of mixed race and familiarity of human culture. The requirement for them to come aboard this human vessel was a full background and family check, as well as a test on various human languages. Even though every alien on this ship was cleared, there was still a mistrust and culture barrier between the races, alien and human alike. Vi was thankful that these police at least trusted her, if many other humans did not. Those a part of this investigation were all that mattered to her at the moment. She nodded to them and went on.

“You are implying that someone we have all know for two years, someone who has been cramped onto this ship with us, lurking around with the potential to do this, committed such an act without personal vendetta. If that is true…than this is far more than murder. ”

“It means we got a god damned monster on our floating prison,” Robby cut it, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he moved to stand by Mikey. He lightly nudged the man with an elbow, palming the cigarette that was passed over. That cancer April bitched about was a treasure to come by those days and Rob wasn’t about to turn it down.

“Something like that,” Vi acknowledged with a nod, though she didn’t quite agree with the term. People did horrible things. It was part of their nature, alien or human. “But the most important thing is to consider how the citizens of this ship will take the news of a murderer who kills indiscriminately among all these familiar faces. First there will be shock, of course. Horror. Then the blame will come. I mean no offense to your kind, but humans will cast their suspicion to me and the other aliens aboard this ship first. If no suspect arises, they will then look to each other. They will begin to mistrust faces they have known for years. Things could easily grow violent. Panic is a constant possibility on a vessel such as ours, closed off and drifting through space. We must treat this situation very delicately.”

[GnomesAteMyCake]

"Ah, you see, Doc," Mikey interupted with a smirk, sucking in a lungful of tar-laced air before blowing it towards the ceiling, "-we aren't going to tell the citizens. This corridor is currently closed while 'duct repairs' are underway. Once you've gotten everything you can from here, we'll bag up our sloppyjoe friend here, bag him off to your lab, spray some air freshener around and no-one's the wiser."

"It's an unorthadox method, we know," April butted in, attempted to add some professionism to her collegues speech, "but with the ship small, paranoia will spread like wild-fire, as you suggested. If we were on a planet, things would be different...but we have to do what's best for the people of the ship, human or not."

Grinding out the butt of his cigarette against the metal door of the ship, Mikey lent forward and placed his tanned hand against the Vi's shoulder, giving her a sad smile.

"I know it's hard to digest...but this wasn't an accident. Someone on this ship did do this; there's no point trying to deny it. There is a cold-blooded killer on this ship, and it's our job to find him or her before this-" he gestered to the dead body before them, "-can happen again."

"You can take as long as you need here, ma'am," April said softly. "Just let Johnson over there know when you're done, and he'll proceed with the cleanup. Anything you need is at your disposal, no questions asked. You can contact both Officer Jacobs and myself at any time on the number's we've provided you. Good luck."

Standing straight, April ducked under the striped tape, Mikey following closely behind her after knuckle-touching Robby and promising a drink up later in the week. Stretching the crinks out of her back, April sighed loudly.

"Mikey."



"April?"



"Paperwork, coffee and a fuckload of brainstorming calls."

"Sounds like...fun?"

"You bet."

[Rose]

Robby glanced over at the digital clock on the small desk, its red letters burning through the dim light as the endless expanse of space stretched out beyond the window next to it, the planet they visited a few months ago slowly drifting into the backdrop. Robby watched quietly, just waking from his afternoon nap. When you spent your life inside metal walls the light of the sun meant little to you. Especially because it never rose or fell when you weren’t spinning on an axis.

A small meow and a bump against his hand woke Robby further and he smiled groggily, glancing down at the ball of soft white hair. There was a slight vibration as a long purr came from it and Robby rolled onto his side to pull the fluff against his chest.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Buttons,” the man muttered as he snuggled the cat, its long pointed ears twitching as it pawed clawless at his skin lovingly. He ruffled the cat’s hair and squished his face against it before sliding out of bed. The cat dutifully followed, mewing as it pranced beside him.

“Hey, I’m going out,” Robby called to a figure on the couch in the tiny livingroom as he passed through it. “Let Mr. Buttons inside if I’m not back until later.”

The man on the couch just waved him off as Robby went out the front door, Mr. Buttons running on ahead to explore the ship as he always did.

It seemed like Mikey had been gone for only a moment when Robby slipped into the office nearly an hour later. The ship was the size of a small, cramped town, but it didn’t take long to cross with all its transport railways and high-speed elevators. Robby was just slow and lazy. He looked around the room as if Mikey could be hiding behind a chair before slipping in and closing the door. He had two coffees in his hand. It seemed awfully well planned out. He grinned innocently at April.

“Heyyy…I was just looking for Mikey. But I guess he isn’t here. It sure would be a waste to just throw out this coffee, eh?” Robby raised the cup, swirling it a bit. The crew of farmers grew the ship’s coffee supply, as well as the rest of their produce. It wasn’t a necessary commodity, however, so it was grown in very small quantities. Everyone had limits to how much they could order in a week, like most other things on the ship. It was an awfully nice gesture to offer someone something like cigarettes, beer, or coffee. But Robby just smiled innocently again.

April’s serious, narrowed eyes looked him over and he couldn’t even begin to guess at what she was thinking. He looked like a mess, t-shirt wrinkled and hair off to one side. He had a lopsided grin that never went away and no matter how innocent he tried to look, his eyes were always mischievous. There were a million things she could chastise him for.

But she wouldn’t get the chance. The door opened behind him, Mikey returning with a small bundle of papers. There wasn’t exactly a lot of major crime on the ship and no one considered dangerous was even allowed on, so they didn’t have many backgrounds to go through. Mikey tossed the bundle onto April’s desk just as Robby set the coffees down and grabbed his arm, dragging him away as quickly as he had come.

“Come on, bro. We have a date, remember?”

[GnomesAteMyCake]

Mikey grinned as Robbie pushed his way into the small office that he and April shared. Dumping a pile of papers in front of the raven haired woman (and recieving a glare in return), he slung an arm around Robbie's shoulders and guided the two of them from the room.

"Oh, you know I've been waiting for this all day! Do I look pretty?" he gushed, pouting realistically before laughing. "C'mon son, let's go find some sweet sweet alcohol. April, I'll do my paperwork tomorrow morning!"

Slamming the door behind him, April glared at the door for a few more moments, feeling as if a hurricane had just swept through the room before sighing and pulling the papers towards her, clicking the top of her pen down.

And here she was hoping she'd finish on time tonight to spend some time with her teen brother. Nibbling her lip, she reached out and grabbed the phone before putting in the number, not taking her eyes from the document before her.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jesse, it's April," she said, smiling to herself as she wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder. "I'm loaded with paperwork at the office. D'you think you can fix yourself some dinner?"

"Of course I can. Do you want me to bring you something down?" April's smile widened, but she shook her head before realising that Jesse wouldn't see it.

"Nah, you stay home, where it's safe. You can keep me company on the phone. Now, how was school?"

~~

"Here you go, Rob, get that down you," Mikey smirked, sliding a bottle across to his fellow cop before clinking the necks together in a silent 'cheers' and taking a large gulg of the drink. He remembered the alcohol back on Earth, seasoned wines, fermented largers.... the alcohol on ship paled compared to the stuff back home, but even watered down it was better than nothing.

And after a few, you soon stopped caring.

"Are we toasting...to a murder?" Robbie muttered, cocking his head at the other man with a small smile on his lips. Reaching out, Mike cuffed him around the head before nursing his drink.

"Course not. We're toasting the fact that it wasn't someone we know."

"I guess."

"Here, let's not be like this, 'kay? Who knows when we'll get to do this again until after this case is solved? I know this ships tiny, but it's still going to take weeks, months even, depending on how smart our murderer is. So drink up and shut up about the depressing stuff, okay?"

Smirking, Robbie raised his bottle and knocked it against Mike's once more. "Sure thing, 'sweetheart.'"

[Ithan]

There was suddenly another bottle in the mix clicking together with the other two. The bottle was held by a hand that belonged to a working man. Knuckles red and had small white scars from gears, broken metal or knife fights…dried and cracked and what seemed to permanently stain for life with the blood of a car or ships or some other machine. This was Lucius, Robby’s roommate. He was a gypsy boy who was very exceptional with his hands, a damn miracle worker when it came to mechanics. It was this company that found him in a little auto shop trying to get enough money for his family so they could move yet again but moving wasn’t cheap and getting a job wasn’t easy in an over populated earth. So…being the gypsy that he was raised to be Lucius got into some trouble at a young age. One thing lead to another and Lucius found himself working in a grease monkey’s shop serving his time there. Officials had to get creative with the way that they punished people because of the way the jails were over crowded. They assumed if they took the boy from the outside world of what little nature was left, he’d suffer enough to never want to come back to the city. But my, how the tables did turn when the 16 year old boy found his calling from there. He received more offers from many different places and settled on sacrificing his freedom for the welfare of his family.

One day he was offered the opportunity of a lifetime to see a new world and work as one of the crew members aboard the Normandy. When he heard where the ship was going he saw the success he could have with finding a new mecca for his people, the paradise they had all been searching for. Lucius jumped on board face smiling and shining hope in his green dancer eyes.

Now here he stood, two years later in front of Robby and Mickey with his own bottle of beer and smiled. He had shaggy brown unruly dirt brown lock that was held out of his face with a faded red bandanna with gold disks at the edge of the cloth all the way around. He had long eye lashes and a young face but he was older than he looked. He was 20 but seemed to have stopped aging after 17 or 18, sun kissed brown skin and very clear green shinning eyes. He looked like a gypsy would and sometimes, he looked like a girl if you were too drunk to see straight. He rarely drank but when he did he was everyone’s best friend, everyone’s wing-man and everyone’s cute date. He was gentle enough and yet the little scars he had here and there like the one over his left eye brow said he wasn’t a pussy.

“Robby? I was…feeling kind of homesick…thought I should get out of the house for a little time…is this ok? Yes?” The poor thing, for as smart as he was he was hopeless in the English language. Robby always knew what he was talking about though and that was what made them such a good pair.

[Rose]

Robby chuckled, his shoulders shaking with it as he tipped back his beer. He nudged Mikey with an elbow.

“Do’ya really think it could take months? You and April are the Plastics. There isn’t anything you two can’t do blah blah blah. ” Robby smirked, rolling his eyes. He was only teasing, of course, like he always did, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t some truth behind what he said. April and her partner were easily seen as the top investigators of the Normandy. Not that there had been any major crime to base the notion off of, but the two worked so well together, got everything done, and always seems so perfect.

“This guy made such an obvious mess, right? I bet there is, like, a thousand pieces of evidence to connect him to this thing. I find it really hard to believe that it will take you more than a week, tops. I have faith in you, pretty-boy…Well, faith that April will kick your ass into gear and get shit done. ”

The two chuckled some more, Robby’s eyes squinting slightly when he did in his sweet, charming way. The laugh trailed off when he felt another metal bottle clink against his own. He glanced up with a lopsided grin that grew when he realized it was his old companion that had join them.

“Speaking of prettyboys… Hey Lucius.” He glanced over at Mikey, nudging him again. “You don’t mind, do ya? It’s not like we were really talking business, ya know?”

He patted the seat of the booth next to him for his roommate to join his side. Mikey and Lucius had met on occasion, so there was no need for introduction. Lucius was fairly quiet when he wasn’t with the more confident and extroverted Robby, but there wasn’t a single person on this ship who was a complete stranger to anyone. When you were confined to a space like this for two years you began to recognize faces easily enough. That was one reason this whole murder business felt so crazy. Not that Robby would bring it up now. No need to upset Lucius.

“Heyyy, wait a tick….If you aren’t at home, then who the hell is going to let Mr. Buttons inside? Oh well, guess I’ll just have to hop off earlier tonight.”

If there was one thing Robby took seriously in this world, it was his precious cat. No one ever underestimated his love for the thing. Half the time he had Mr. Buttons trailing along behind him throughout the market, riling up other crewmember’s pets.

“I’ll be sure to bring him back a beer.”

[Rose]

((Technical post with lots of talking. sorry. ))

Vila’Tson slowly unzipped the black bodybag. It had taken a long time to find the thing, unused and forgotten somewhere in the back of the tiny police station. Then came the tools, outdated things made of stainless steel and bottles of chemicals. She didn’t have the luxury of laser cutters, body scanners, and instant DNA readers like the police back on Earth. Things were simpler here, quieter. Or, they used to be.

The body was a shredded, mangled thing that had been set into the bag unceremoniously after pictures were taken of the scene. Vi and two other scientists took on the gruesome task of removing it once more, laying out the pieces over two wide metal tables. The lab they were in was one of the smaller ones, cold and sterile and boring, save for its new bloody adornments.

The other scientists spoke loudly to each other, wild and speculating on this new exciting project. They were scared, fascinated, and gossiping like children. Vi, as always, kept to herself, leaning in closely to the body and checking over the mangled abdomen once more. Her findings were inconclusive, leading her to no suspects, but she had her own theories, and when the door opened and the policewoman April walked into the lab, Vi finally had someone worthy to share her ideas with.

“Ah, Ms…April, was it?” Vi said, smiling gently in greeting. She wasn’t a cruel woman, nor was she without manners. She was just professional, curt, and blunt when it came to her opinions. She shook the woman’s hand, then led her over to the body, nodding to the largest chunk left of the victim.

“We’ve found no evidence, I’m afraid. Nothing to convict a suspect, at least. We have, however, determined that the body was dismembered by a knife, and that this mess was made after the victim’s death. So the murderer cut up the body at a later time…whatever that means to you, I do not know. Further details are in my notes. But there is….something else I would like to discuss with you. More of an educated guess than anything on the record. If I may.”

Vi gestured once more to the body, this time indicating a few puncture wounds on the chest.

“This is how they were killed, of course. A few quick stabs to the chest. I imagine the death was quick. There are no signs of a struggle, no skin under his nails or slashes on the palms themselves. Now look here…”

Vi ran her finger along one of the many gashes that ran over the mangled chest. This one was deep, the flesh around it ripped in a straight line. Then the scientist pointed to the arms and legs, which had been cut away, and to the abdomen.

“Ms. April….I think these slashes on the chest, next to the puncture wounds, were done first, as well as the cuts that mangled the victim’s face. They seem violent, as you would expect. Deep and irregular, like the attacker slashed away in rage. But then….well, it is only my theory, but it appears that the limbs and all of the abdomen were cut more precisely, like the only intent was to separate the pieces of the body and spread them around for show. I’m not sure if it means anything to the investigation, but I think the killer was at first absorbed in the….passion of their crime, cutting blindly in rage, I assume. But once they calmed they still continued, now with anger, but a sort of art form…like they were decorating the scene of a play, so to speak. What your friend said earlier, about the killer sending a message…I think he is on to something. This is more than just some psycho killing blindly. They wanted this to be found, and in such a gruesome way. ”

Vi looked up at April, sighing softly. It was a lot to take in, and this speculation was off the record, at least for now. She was confident in her knowledge of emotion, of human nature, because she had studied it all so thoroughly. But these human cops knew little of her background. Their expertise was in gathering solid evidence, and in the end, that was what they would look at. But Vi wanted them to at least think on her words when they were looking at suspects. This murder, at least to her, was looking even more dire.

[Rose]

Vi looked across the room at the lab’s clock, digital as was the standard on board. It was getting late, every bit of time that passed making her more and more impatient. She was a prompt woman (when she wanted to be) who thrived on her internal schedule and haphazard sort of organization. It was the same time every morning and evening every single day that she visited the Furian. It had been the same routine for nearly their entire time together aboard the Normandy. But because of today’s unforeseen events Vila’Tson was late, and by more than three hours.

When she thought about it, she wasn’t quite sure why she was so…worried. Why feel bad about being late when no one knew but her? The Furian had no concept of time. He sat in his cell and read his books or played with his puzzles quietly. It made very little difference in his life what time she came or went. His daily routine was even more rigid than hers.

And yet…did she feel bad? Certainly she felt an obligation to get to the Furian, but why? Vi thought it over and decided she felt sorry for leaving him in his cage like she might feel sorry for leaving a pet at home and neglecting to let it outside for a little while. No harm was really done, but there was a bit of guilt. Yes, that explanation was good enough for her.

Vi quietly excused herself from the lab with a promise to return early the next morning to begin working on the case immediately. She nodded to April, giving the woman the number to her private lab in case she needed to discuss anything further.


The doors opened with their quiet swish and Vila stepped into the Furian’s secret room. She had changed out of her lab coat and into an outfit similar to a black jumpsuit, though the material looked like honeycomb cells and was sturdy yet breathable, looking like something a fighter might wear. The scientists favored such clothing over the humans’ jeans and t-shirts, though the gowns she wore sometimes weren’t so different from theirs.

Vi held up her hand in familiar, curt greeting as she entered the room. Her fingers were grasping the spine of a book, its pages crinkled and cover worn. There was a small portrait of a dragon in chipped gold paint, the beast curled in a circle and swallowing its own tail. Its eye was red and the only other color on the brown book.

“Something new for you.” She didn’t admit to herself or him that it was a gift to make up for the break in their routine. “Its different than you are used to. They call the term ‘fantasy’, if you didn’t know.”

Vi had given her captive many books, but all had been from her own studies, tomes about botany and alien flora and fauna, a few scripts of geology and weather, and a single book on bird-like species that she was writing herself but didn’t have anyone to show but him. All of those pages were theories, facts, science. What she held in her hand was an old novel about heroes and battles, saving princesses and slaying beasts. It was something she had never touched before, a random book she pulled from the library shelf.

“This one should take you longer to read than the others. In case I’m gone for a long time, I suppose.” Vi approached his cell and slipped the book through the small opening where he was meant to present his hands to her. “Here.”

[Ithan]

The furian looked like hell. His eyes were blood shot, his mouth in a hard line, his eyes orange showing a sign of either frustration or annoyance. If Vi was as familiar with him as she thought she was she would have known that the shade of pale orange said he was frustrated but his body posture was that of annoyance. When he saw her, his eyes were set on her saying, “where the FUCK have you been?” but when he saw the book his eyes were trained on it. He was going to hand her his tubes and IV baggie that needed to be filled but he immediately dropped them and went to his door he was eager but didn’t yet grab for it. The picture on the front, the golden colour memorized him. His eyes slowly stormed and swirled to the hue of…bewilderment…bashfulness the colour was vibrant purple lollipop when the light shined through it. Whenever they changed it was like when one where to allow a drop of water colour into a plate of water, the way it clouds and pools in, swirls and slowly infiltrates…that was how his eyes would alter. It wasn’t often that Vi saw his eyes shift like this save when he tried to solve a new puzzle that he was really interested in.

He wanted the book yes but he didn’t take it immediately. He wanted her to know he was mad at her. He took a step back and crossed his arms over his bare chest.

“No.”

It was even rarer for him to speak; even a simple word but he said it. He went to his bed and sat that the edge with his hard face that he had before but his eyes still shinned their purple. It was hard for the poor thing to lie. Impossible really, at least to Vi anyway. He was going on strike now. He might not have known what the hell a strike was, nor that he was doing it at all but that was what he was doing now. He didn’t know what he wanted from her yet either. He wanted the book, of course, it was beautiful to him, leather and old and gold…but that wasn’t going to be enough. She said in case she might be out late again…this meant she’d be late again one day. He didn’t like that one bit. He only saw a handful of people in his life; two on this ship. It wasn’t fair to him. He kept his up on his part for her and she needed to too. There was a silent, unspoken understanding and agreement between the two of them; he jumped through hoops for her and she’d visit him. He would never admit it to himself but she was the only thing he really had and it had upset him that she broke this unspoken accord with him.

The more he pondered this the sadder he became. What if she was going to do this more often? What if he wouldn’t be able to force himself asleep anymore with the potions she gave him ran out? Then what would he do? His games and books could only entertain him for so long…even with the little patience he had. He didn’t like that at all. He suddenly became territorial. She was his. She was his…female who was not his mate, but still. She brought him aboard this ship, he didn’t kill her…she was his. Yes. So no one else was going to take her away from him. No one was going to use up HIS time with her. He nodded at his own thoughts by this point his eyes had swirled yet again to a stormy gray. This whole time he had been ignoring anything Vi was saying to him.