Sentient Worm

Learning Curve

Learning Curve

With Margulis' help, reconfiguring both pods is finished in little more than an hour. The original pod had a few cables, to do with location information, misaligned; leading to it not reporting the location of the connected occupant correctly.

"Margulis?"

"Yes Taylor?"

"I was wondering. The Cephalons are moving the Lotus' systems into the void soon. This means that Anet is going to need to put in an official appearance as The Lotus. Well, erm, do you want to go with her? I mean it's not so much more effort to spin up a second Spectre, and well, Anet's subframe was originally your body."

"I think I'd like that."

"Well, with that decided, let's get you into your mag. Join with me and I'll show you how I change shape. I've found that it helps if you concentrate on your self-image."

Margulis finds joining a more natural process than the first few times it happened. She feels a wave of approval when she realises that it's her new natural. She supposes that it's like moving your arm... That thought is derailed as Taylor tugs on her awareness to look at something she's doing. What she feels is a bit like watching a Dax doing a complex kata, you know you can do it yourself, but you have no idea where to start.

Sensing her confusion, Taylor starts again, and sends an image of looking in a mirror, that holds the shape she wants, then making herself look like that.

When she still doesn't get it, Taylor shoves an image of a blue, white, and red striped shiny ball at her and forces her into that shape. It feels much like it did when the Dax tried to teach her how to do one of their Kata's, by putting her limbs in the right places. Feeling herself be picked up and bounced off a wall, she realises that she really was over thinking it. Hesitantly, she pictures herself in her favourite outfit and pushes. It feels like she's using a muscle that she's never exercised before, as it hurts and complains all the while as she's doing it. Eventually, she stands awkwardly on the floor of the Transference room.

Taylor smiles, "Well done. How does that feel?"

"Awkward," – Margulis raises a hand and looks at it – "it doesn't feel like my body. No, it does, but..."

"I know, it's not the way that your body defaults to if you don't do anything. We're, Anet and I, in the process of trying to help the Entrati family, in the hope that they can remember where specific labs were. We also want to locate the Zariman."

"Why would you want to do that, it was decommissioned."

"I saw someone from my home world in Cetus a Month or so ago."

"Where?"

"It's a village on Earth."

"Oh... right. It's been more than 800 years." – Margulis frowns – "Why does seeing someone from your home world mean finding the Zariman?"

Taylor looks torn in indecision, so Anet touches her gently, "Taylor, the Orokin are long gone. Margulis is family, not Orokin."

Taking a deep breath, which Margulis idly notes is the only time Taylor has breathed, Taylor holds out both hands, "I'm going to give you the memory of when I first arrived here. Margulis, this will feel far more intimate than the joining we've been doing with you so far. If you feel uncomfortable, pull away and we'll find another way."

They are all drawn into a joining that is hugely intimate, their souls are bared and nothing about each other is hidden. Including from themselves. Without the human justifications and rationalisations, Margulis realises that there is a lot she's ashamed of in her past when she compares it to Taylor and Natah's pasts. Situations where the politicking of the Orokin forced her to compromise her ideals, or how she sees/saw those that aren't Orokin as less, not human in some way.