"Well shit." was the first thing they said. "So that's why you were asking all those questions earlier." they raked a hand through their hair, adjusting their glasses and studying Dohnal carefully. "…so, what do we do about it? We can't survive in this station indefinitely, but the radios don't fucking work. And I've tried to signal off-planet but again: it doesn't. fucking. work." he grimaced, glancing back at the image on the monitor. "And there has to be a way to…fix this. Somehow." they drummed a finger, considering all of this. "Fuck, the first alien contact wasn't supposed to go like this." they mumbled, shaking their head a little bit.
Dohnal just stood in his spot, listening - or perhaps not, as there was a distant look in his eyes. “There is a…radio tower, to the North of here, if I’m thinking correctly.” His voice was low, somewhat quiet. “The radio here may not work, but the tower should, since it was a station designed specifically for that purpose - it has a stronger, wider range.”
technically, you’re making face-to-face contact with an alien right now..
Dohnal cast another glance at Ro. “How did you think the first alien contact would go?” The tone of the question wasn’t very friendly, but it wasn’t aggressive either. It was more..neutral.
On the main controls, a button started blinking red, signifying that one of the vents in the basement had just opened.
"God, fuck, I don't know, but better than this." he retorted to the question, nodding a little. "I know about the tower. That's…where Lindsey was going to go, and–" he broke off when the flashing button caught his eye. "What?" they tapped through the controls in order to bring up cameras of the location; it was likely just an equipment malfunction, but if the vent had opened he would need to go down and fix whatever mechanism had opened it; they shouldn't be opening like this, not without someone opening it up.
“Then perhaps that should be the next…” Drifting off as he noticed the flashing light, only as Ro noticed it as well. Dohnal stared at it - having a feeling that if he hadn’t been let in the station earlier, what they were about to see was probably how Dohnal would have gotten in himself.
The basement, put simply, was primarily designated as a storage area, although it was still an important area either way. Plenty of piping ran through the floor and walls.
But that was not the focus - as the cameras moved through the location, they first picked up one of the vents, which had been the one that had opened.
More importantly was the Puppet who was now standing in the basement.
This doesn’t make sense, Dohnal thought. Why did the Puppet come in?
It knows. It won’t go away.
“It knows,” Dohnal repeated, just a whisper.
"What the fuck." were the first words out of Ro's mouth when he spotted Lindsey/the Puppet standing in the basement. At Dohnal's words, his eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about? And is this…is Lindsey dangerous?" he didn't know what to do in this situation. All of his learning had always been to approach aliens with caution but this was already beyond any kind of control or biocontainment. This was a full-on outbreak and his only ally was Dohnal, who seemed…questionable at best.
((Sorry for delayed response! My responses also might be a bit more slow since school is starting back up this week for me.))
Why did the Puppet not leave? Puppets weren’t like..Dohnal, they had no way of telling that humans had been somewhere, aside from visible signs.
think. we’re not so human ourselves. maybe that has something to do with it.
Then why..out of everything - why did a Puppet choose to follow him now? Dohnal was oddly still and silent - it almost seemed as though he hadn’t even heard the question. But he did.
“They can be. But the best thing to do would be to get rid of it, no matter what.” His answer came, after the longer pause. He avoided eye contact with Ro - instead, his eyes seemed to be more distant, not staring at anything in particular.
(it's fine! Oof good luck)
Ro stared at Dohnal. "How?" He asked, already dreading what Dohnal's answer would be. Already knowing it wouldn't be pleasant to do, especially not when this was Lindsey, goddamnit. "There has to be a way to…to fix him. Somehow." They dragged a hand through their hair, eyes moving to the monitor again to watch where Lindsey/the Puppet stood in the basement, vent still open where he had entered.
“What do you think?” Dohnal prodded. He had the answer. He knew the answer - that there was no cure, no way for these things to get better - if there was, they definitely lacked the resources and means to make one. Maybe they could. But from Dohnal’s perspective, it wasn’t worth it. Sure, there was Dohnal - but what he was - compared to The Puppets was just something completely different.
"Damn you." Ro spat, though the ire in his voice wasn't really directed towards Dohnal, but towards the entire situation. Their eyes dragged over to Dohnal for a moment, then back to Lindsey on the screen. "This is…" he shook their head, closing their eyes for just a moment. "Fine. Fine. If there isn't a way to fix him, is he…contagious?" was Ro in danger if Lindsey wasn't sent away somehow? Would they become some mindless thing?
