|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:10 am
A frown tugged at Aubrey's mouth. She wasn't so sure she liked where this line of questioning may lead. BUT ... they never were very concerned with keeping an islander's serum secret. "Tiger," she said, pulling up Jamal's file on the monitor. "A white tiger, taken from the original line created in 1974 from a Siberian/Bengal cross."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:20 am
Ah... confirmation. So she had been right about the tiger part. "Thank you," Anjali said, smiling at Aubrey. "And fair is fair, after all..."
She took a deep breath. "They talk, Doctor Lockheart. The plants do, I mean... in a sense. 'Talk' is the closest word I can find for it in English, perhaps 'sing', but they communicate. It's not a sound, not exactly, because I don't sense it with my hearing. I think I can detect it now because I'm just enough plant to have developed a bit of whichever new sense is used to feel it." Anjali looked up at the screen soberly, wondering if the doctor would believe her or not. Not that it really mattered - she knew what was happening. She wasn't crazy!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:25 am
Aubrey raised her eyebrows, obviously surprised. But she scribbled some things down on her note pad in that excited way only a true scientist could muster. "Thats... facinating. Do you think its completely telepathic? Not through.. vibration or anything?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:49 am
"I wouldn't say it's telepathic, not exactly..." Anjali thought hard, trying to put it into words. "More like something that's always been there that I can only just now sense. I don't think it's anything we knew existed before - something humans don't have, so we wouldn't build instruments to detect it either." The woman looked at her green hands. "I admit I find it rather fascinating myself, though the circumstances could have been better." She glanced up at where Aubrey was on the screen, though she had no idea if there was a camera in that direction or not. "If the whole lock-out was planned, you should have some record of my actions during that time, yes? What do they show?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:12 am
Aubrey scuffed. "I haven't seen all the footage personally, it makes me sick. I'd have to ask Dr. Duvert, he was apprantly "in control" of the situation."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:17 am
"Ah, I see... well. From what I experienced... plant instinct, it seems. I essentially stood in a clearing for a month, hypnotized by the new plant input from the jungle's 'song'... I assume basic photosynthesis and bug intake kept me from keeling over, though my body fat did take a hit." Under her sari, Anjali was indeed a bit skinnier than she had been, though not emaciated and she was obviously building the weight back since the Village had re-opened. "If you're not prepared for it, the realization and new senses can be incredibly intoxicating. You might want to warn the next person you inject about that," she added, sardonically.
"But..." Anjali went on, after a moment, "The 'song' shifts. In here, for example." She gestured at her plants. "It's quiet, soft, and when I come in it turns welcoming. It's a very tame sort of song, probably because the plants are domesticated. Out in the jungle it's nearly overwhelming just because of the sheer amount of plants... and on the edges of the Village it's angry," she added, uneasily. "Very very angry at being clear-cut and burned away. I daresay we're lucky that trees cannot move. Quickly, anyway."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:21 am
Aubrey shook her head in amazement. "Miss Fragipani I must say i'm rather blown away. This is... this beyond imaginable! You really don't think, even with inside information from yourself, that human could engineer any kind of device to detect these songs?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:24 am
"Maybe we could... maybe we can't, I'm not sure. Until I can identify by what means the communication is produced and detected.... it would be like trying to hear with your nose, or taste with your ears." Anjali shrugged, helplessly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:28 am
"Well," she said, finally looking up from her pad and looking back into the camera at the woman. "Maybe we can do something with your help. Can you communicate back with them? Or has it been one-way so far? Wow... I wonder if we could somehow use this to communicate to find new drugs or remedies for illness... wow, the possibilties..." She realized she was about to start rambling again, so she blinked and smiled back at her. "Thank you so much for sharing!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:46 am
"I can't seem to talk back, not yet... I don't think it's possible yet, though I've been trying. Maybe, ah, after another injection..." Anjali grinned half-heartedly. She really did want to leran more about the plant song, but was her outward humanity too high of a cost? Then again, it wasn't her choice now, was it...
"But don't get too excited," she cautioned, after Aubrey was finished. "I'm not sure how intelligent they are. They don't speak in words - what I pick up seems to be a combination of harmonic tones and broad emotions."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:26 pm
"yes yes, I understand. But I'm sure they have... some basic senience if they can sing. Of course its not like we can talk to cockroaches, either," she giggled a bit. "Anything else?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 2:42 pm
Ugh... she hoped that wouldn't plant any ideas about changing people into animals just so they could 'talk' to them. "No, that's really all I can say for now," Anjali said. "I would like to conduct a few studies with my own plants into how various stimuli and conditions affect the song, however. If any of your people are particularly interested..." Anjali just let the sentence hang. She figured perhaps she could barter more information for other things later on, if all else failed, though it was probably only a matter of time until someone else recieved a plant serum and her monopoly was over. "Thank you for telling me about Jamal, I'll try to find him and let him know. Maybe knowing what instincts are driving him will help him to control it better." Not that you're a sterling example of controlling instincts, but...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 4:36 pm
Aubrey touched her scard again at the mention of Jamal - a nervous habit. "yes, well.. if you need any supplies for your experiments we'll be happy to provide them...as long as you'd be willing to share your findings. All you have to do is request them."
She smiled and tore off the pages in her notepad and securing them in Anjali's file. "Anything else you need today?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:38 pm
"I'll keep that in mind... and no, that's all. Thank you." Anjali nodded and smiled pleasantly at Aubrey.
When the screen went dim, Anjali relaxed a bit. Sure, they could still see her, but without a human face watching her she could at least pretend they weren't. She got up and moved to re-hang the batik cloth over the screen, mulling the conversation over in her mind.
So. Right now, she was valuable... helpful. Worthy of working with. If she could cling to that as long as possible... part of her felt a twinge of guilt at the thought, but they all needed every advantage they could get. Self included.
Shaking her head, Anjali went to fill the electric kettle for tea.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
