[OPEN][TEXT] khaara threat update: signs and symptoms

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I have information regarding the Khaara. Read attached form.



> Analysis of the disease contracted by the base in the months previous was undertaken with regard to the available information on the Khaara. Using these methods it was possible to conclude that the disease is in fact related to them. Similarities between samples of the disease in the lab and the Khaara on record are comparitive to a human to an ape - they share a common ancestor.

> Evolution in bacteria occurs over a much quicker time than in complex species. With this in mind, a century, perhaps two, can be hazarded as the amount of time it took this strain to develop. In that time, it adapted to the local environment by relying on the local species for survival rather than conquering.

> They are a collective. The samples reacted to each other in their culture dishes and grew as one entity.

> Distance is no barrier. A dish placed as far away as the other side of the base continued to grow in the same pattern as one in the labs.

> The illness makes local animals stronger. The Khaara samples weaken as it rearranges the animal DNA. It forces a rapid evolutionary process. The animals become violent. Key signs of infection, therefore, are aggression, weakness, and mutation. The illness can be spotted by previously detailed strengthening aspects.

> Both can be contained with enzyme blockers. Repeated booster shots are a must for treatment to be effective.

Now if you excuse me, I'll be going for a drink.

Comments

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[ The young voice was certainly not something she'd have attributed to the hulking suit of armour. Valentine paused as she looked at him, taking him in. Her face remained unsurprising except for the widening of her eye. She was reminded, irrevocably, of the old cop who'd been turned into a one-man-band cyborg back home. It was only size that they had in common, though - that buttery voice had nothing in common with this awkward sounding teen.

She shook herself out of it and gave a small, curt nod of her head. ]

Valentine. Try not to knock anything over. You'll find the info on these. [ She gestured to the datapads she'd left sitting out. ] Any questions, ask. I'll be working, so don't make it trivial.

[armoured]

Mm, thank you.

[He understands not wanting to be bothered while working.

Friendly though he may be, he's the sort to also get lost in his research and forget to talk to anyone for long periods of time. So he does just that. He heads to the workbench and begins pouring over the troubling information, making a few notes himself just to help get it all into his head.

It's a good forty minutes later when he does finally speak again.]

How many cases have been reported so far? And are there enough boosters to keep this at bay indefinitely in all those currently infected?

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[ Valentine could appreciate a quiet worker. She used the time she had to give him a look over, as quiet and sneaky as she could manage. Which was fairly sneaky, at least. He might not even have felt ogled. ]

Every single person to whom biology mattered was affected, even if they were asymptomatic. Even those who arrived after the initial outbreak had trace amounts in their system. Only those who came a month or so after it had died down were free of the foreign bodies.

[ As for the other question, well, she'd almost feel insulted if she didn't appreciate the sense in the question. ]

Enough for the time being. When we deplete half of the source I've got some boys I can send out to get more. [ Kon-El had agreed, and she was certain she could sweet-talk Mettaton into it. ]

[armoured]

[He might be trying to get some sneaky peeks at her too. Though he's much less subtle about it, considering he's a massive suit of armour.]

And are you sure the supply won't dry up at all? Where exactly are you getting it from?

[He's concerned, he doesn't want a medical emergency breaking out all of a sudden.]

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[ When he spoke, he didn't have the rasp and click of tongue over palette. Valentine wondered if there was anything inside the armour - or if what was inside it was so dependant on having the suit around it that it couldn't take it off. A dying child, maybe? ]

It comes from the Jellyshrooms in their eponymous cavern. I have several growing in a tank over - [ She gestured - ] there. When we begin to thin out, I'll send others over to collect from the biome.

And to repopulate from what we took. [ Don't worry, she read The Lorax as a kid! ]

[armoured]

Mm, good.

[At least it's a natural resource that they can restock themselves. He shifts off the chair to go and examine the growing jellyshrooms.]

How long do they take to grow?

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Long enough. [ She shrugged. It wasn't too much of a problem with Dave around... and she really ought to mention that before he asks about it. ]

We do happen to have someone who can speed up the process, however. An innate skill, from what I can gather.

[armoured]

That's amazing, how does that work? The plants are alive, aren't they, how can you speed up the growth of something living?

[Seems terrifyingly unnatural to him.]

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I'm not certain. [ She'd like to know, but it seemed to be much the same as Aeon's powers - 'just because'. As in, she hadn't found an acceptable scientific answer to it. Of course their would be one - there always was, even with magic - but as of yet, no dice. ] He's able to manipulate the flow of time due to some form of unlocked powers.

[ A theon, she would have guessed, but Dave didn't give off the readings. No one here did, truly. It was a little grating - but then, she didn't have all of her equipment to test it out. ]

His name is Dave, if you want a very teenage response to a serious question.

[armoured]

[He's a teenager too, but he's not going to take offence at that. After all, his brother is also a teenager and given to idiotic responses sometimes.]

I'll definitely have to hunt him out and ask some more about how that works. This whole place is full of so many fascinating things to learn, I sometimes don't know where to turn first.

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[ She didn't mean it as an insult, honestly. Dave could be very funny when he wasn't being exceptionally exasperating. There were a few people on the base like that, actually.

And she could appreciate Al's statement. He got a ghost of a smile after speaking it. ]

Well, you can find him here now and then... though you could always reach his private channel on the network, too.

[armoured]

I'll go and hunt him down at some point, I prefer to talk to people in person if I can.

[It's just a personal preference, it feels more friendly.]

Do you think you could show me where these plants grow? I'd love to be able to help in planting and gathering them.

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I'm busy. Find Kon-El and Mettaton if you want to go with people who aren't likely to contract a strain of the disease near the plants.

[ She sounded terse, yet not exactly unfriendly. Just factual. ]

[armoured]

Oh! Uh-- right, I'll go and do that right now.

[And, as good as his word, he immediately slips off to go and find one of them. There's no time like the present to gather information!]