Log:Bug Mind

2019/12/13 Victory Grimm 1

The investigative expertise of Gabrielle Grimm has not gone unnoticed. First, it was the sample of gooey, formerly-large bug residue submitted to StarGuard. Now, it seems, they have a whole, non-liquified example in custody. While the medical techs have taken some biological samples, there is also the desire for attempts at communication, or at least some mental evaluation of the unknown creature. Another area that is right up Grimm's dark alley. The fact that she has some familiarity with the creature, or ones like it, certainly doesn't hurt, either.

Grimm has been busy with finals and helping a friend cope with a traumatic experience. She finally catches up with news that Starguard has caught one of the bugs and is looking to find out what makes its mind tick. She walks into the lobby, carrying a coffeebucks cup and sipping from it as she heads to the receptionist. "Hey, how's it going? Is the Commander here yet?"

The receptionist checks her board. "He's currently in a meeting... though he was expecting you." She motions back to the security area. "As is the security officer on duty."

Grimm smiles. "Thanks. Let him know I got here once he's out?" she asks nicely. "And that I'll be in the security area."

"I've noted your arrival and will let him know," she notes to Grimm and smiles back.

"Thanks," Grimm says again and starts walking towards the security area doors.

The security officer looks up from his desk as someone enters, as he should. People walking in and out unnoticed would make him a terrible security officer. After noting who it is, he offers a smile. "Ms. Grimm. Nice to see you again." He gestures to the last cell. "Your ... detainee is in number four." He then picks up a tablet to hold up towards her. "Here's his... her... its ... the prelims from the medtechs."

Grimm flashes a smile. "Nice to see you, too, Sergeant Johnson," she says as she takes the tablet from him. Her fingers just lightly brush against his during the exchange. "It...? What're we dealing with," she asks as she glances down at the prelims to read them over.

"A ... really big grasshopper?" Johnson shrugs. "Hell if I know. Even the techs were sure..." Seems he read the preliminary results, too. DNA mapping was anything but successful, though it did manage to narrow down a few segments. Canine. Feline. Insect. The other 98% wasn't readily identifiable, "Maybe you can get it to answer all that?"

"Crazy," Grimm comments at the readouts. "Giant grasshopper...with other terran DNA, from what they could even find. Is this something Next Generation cooked up?" she asks, starting to take a few curious steps towards cell four to try and get a peak.

As she nears, she can hear a hollow, clicking, reverberation. It's not entirely unfamiliar, though isn't especially loud nor aggressive. One the cell itself is in view, a somewhat familiar shape lounges on the floor of the cell. It is one of the tiger-sized, large-toothed, horned, chitinous "tiger-bugs" she and others encountered in Harrisburg.

"It's even scarier in the light," Grimm utters as she takes a moment to study it.

At the moment, it is lounging, though not asleep. It lifts its head to regard Grimm as she nears. Counter-study? It slowly stands up, stretching as much as it can in the confines.

Victory enters from Alien District.

Grimm is standing outside cell 4 in the security area, having left a message with the receptionist if anyone was looking for her. She's holding a tablet and watching the giant tiger-bug stretch. "You're one ugly mother..."

Victory comes into the security area and waves, "Hey there. I heard you might have been called in to try to see what's up with the bug thing."

Grimm glances over to Victory and smiles. "Heeeey, Boy Scout. Pity about the team pull at the contest. Yeah, I was asked to get a peek on the inside. See if it's sentient, and to what degree."

Victory shrugs, "The contest is a P.R. thing. I just wish we hadn't looked foolish."

"It wasn't all bad," Grimm smiles to herself, then looks back to the bug. "The science techs came back with feline, canine, and insect DNA on this thing. That's just from the 2 percent they were able to ID."

Victory furrows his brow. "That's...odd, I think. Right?"

"Yeah. Where'd the other 98% come from? Is this thing alien, or some mad scientist's creation?" Grimm sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. "Okay, I'm going to see if I can look into its mind and thought processes. If I start to act weird or out of character, umm...."

She winces and looks to Victory. "Be gentle...? I'm fragile and am not looking forward to getting knocked out."

The creature's golden yellow eyes turn towards Victory as he is seen or heard. The almost casual reverberations from it continue. Breath sounds or... some sort of clicking purr?

Victory chuckles, "I was thinking it shouldn't match say...canine much at all. But I'm not a scientist. So...I don't know if that's right or not."

Grimm shrugs and looks at the tablet results again before offering it to Victory. "I have no idea. Maybe you can make sense of these while I do my thing?"

Victory nods. "But sure, I can be gentle if I need to get you under control."

Grimm chuckles, not realizing gentle could mean ending up in a choke hold. She turns towards the Tiger-Bug and stares at it intently.

Victory watches quietly as Grimm works.

The creature's mind is not hardened, and if it were... it wouldn't matter. Grimm promptly makes contact, and then some. A number of things become apparent almost instantly. First, its thoughts are very instinctual, emotional. It is more animalistic than sentient, though perhaps at the high end of the former. Its surface thoughts are mostly ... curiosity, along with mild underlying hunger.

Grimm's lip curls as she sifts through its thoughts, trying to find memories beyond those instincts. "It's got the mind of an animal. A smart one, but still an animal. It's hungry and curious."

Victory nods. "Can you tell what it would eat? I mean, we've been guessing up to this point."

"I can try. Not even sure if it has any long or short term memories beyond instincts. I'm still trying to dig deeper," Grimm offers.

It may be omnivorous, though both the impressions and the teeth suggest flesh. Meat. You. You're meat... though it doesn't seem that finicky. Prey is prey, though there's no sense it's going to try and hunt anyone present.

"Uhhhh. Maybe dog food is a safe harmless option," Grimm suggests. "It likes meat."

Victory nods slowly. "I guess the other questions are about motivations and where it came from. Origins."

Grimm takes a deep breath. "I can try. Just make take me some time to find out. It's motivations primarily are survival. Live. Hunt. Eat. As for origins...let's take a peek..."

There isn't anything complicated to navigate at the surface. Delving down into memories provides some insight. Most recently, carried by the caped redhead Artemis. Prior to that, Harrisburg, with Artemis, Rangel, Talia, and Her.

Further back there is hunting in what is likely Harrisburg: rats, cats, frogs falling from the sky. Before that is ..nothing?

"Her...?" Grimm utters to herself, confused. "Who's 'Her'?" she asks, stepping closer to the cell. "There's not many memories beyond eating animals. Hunting them. Running into some heroes. It's weird, though. The memories just...stop. Maybe it was only born recently?"

Victory furrwos his brow. "They just stop? That's kind of odd, but you might be right.

Grimm frowns and sighs. "It doesn't really have much memories but...maybe I can recognize where its memories start. Do we have any precogs in Starguard?" Grimm asks. She knows someone, but...does she really want to go to him?

Victory raises a brow. "A precog can see the future. Probably need someone who can see hte past, right?"

Grimm laughs. "Cut me a break, I'm workin' here," she jokes. "A retrocog? Back to the Future-cog?"

The memories lack depth, though the significance of Her... or is it Them? far outshadows the shallow personal rememberances.

Victory shakes his head, "I don't think I know anyone able to do that."

Grimm groans inwardly. "I might. But I don't think we're on good terms."

Victory raises a brow. "Who? Someone I know?"

Grimm shifts a bit, unsure of who to name him as. She respects his secrets at least. "Radical. Not sure if you've met him."

Victory nods. "I haven't met him, but I know the name, at least. Since we cover interdimensional incursions, his name has come up in briefings."

"Yeah, he's part of a group that's...insular," Grimm decides to go with that as an attempt to not go into details while she's focusing on the bug.

Focusing on Her/Them seems to bring more. More sensations, more thoughts, more ...memories? There is a deep reverence, love in a parental manner. The further in, the less singular and more plural things seem. With this also comes a flood of memories. Many of them are simple: a man's smile, the laugh of a child, the joys of hands petting fur, catching a ball in jaws and racing to return it to an encouraging boy to be thrown again. All of the memories are pleasant, comforting. It's clear that they're not all from one original source, and yet, all its. Theirs?

Grimm is confused as she gets these new memories, looking for this Her in them when she sees the family memories. "What the...is this...? Did this used to be a dog??"

A dog is certainly plausible, though sifting through the memories seems to provoke more possibilities than narrow them. A man's kiss, a woman's intimate embrace, the magnificence of Santa's deliveries of toys under the tree on Christmas morning, purring contentedly in a sunny windowsill... all of the memories continue to be soothing, comfortable, like an infinite pile of warm pillows.

They should be comforting. Warm and nice. The fact that Grimm is seeing all this first hand from all these people and creatures experiencing these events his horrifying. She gasps and covers her mouth as she thinks of reasons why this thing would have all those memories. "98% unidentified..." she whispers.

The creature continues to ...purr as it watches her. Not unlike a loyal companion. The array of memories and sensations suddenly begin to collapse, or ... zoom... from individual recollections and moments to a general sense of contentment and belonging. They dial back further to a sense of HER/THEM. A conduit or ...avatar of this pleasantness.

And then the avatar seems to focus back upon Grimm's probing, and ...shares far more distinct thoughts.

Curiosity... and query.

"Interesting. Who is this?"

All this contentment and belonging makes Grimm uncomfortable. Pleasantness is not something Grimm is used to. But then, something sentient is there at last.

"'Her', I presume?" Grimm thinks back, locking eyes with the bug.

"Her. Us. The same. We are one, and many. With you, the many is one greater." The creature maintains her gaze. Mostly still, but neither comatose nor defiant. Nor does it seem to be the direct source of the ...presence.

"Who are you? Are you here to join our family? We welcome all..." Along with the query comes a press back against her mind of curious probing.

Grimm shores up her mind against the return probing, smirking faintly as she tries to figure out of this being can see her through this creature. "I'm not a joiner. And I don't get the feeling joining is voluntary for most."

The probing relents at the sudden resistance, not rising to the level of invasive or assault. "All are welcome. All welcome us. Why would you not want to..." there is a pause and a vague sense of rapidly shifting images, none of which are terribly clear, at least to Grimm, ..." Gabrielle? Why would you want to be alone? Separate? Fragile? Mortal?"

Grimm frowns a bit as the presence calls her by her name. "And who are you, exactly?"

"We are the source. Mother. Queen. All names are true, and not. What is it you seek from our child?"

Grimm folds her arms over her chest, keeping her side of the conversation aloud so Victory knows what's going on, in case things go wrong. "We wanted to know what your child was, what they wanted, and what they were. But that was before I found you. You made this? How?"

"Flesh is strong, but its forms can be imperfect. Pain. Death. We make it perfect. That is what we are."

Grimm shifts her weight onto her right leg. Mortals. Perfection. That tracks. "So you're doing favors. You...change people? Things? Into these ...'children'?"

"Some like this, some not. All have a place with us. A purpose. Unity. Where none existed before."

Grimm stares at the big for a few moments. "You're doing this to people, too? Why would they choose this?"

The creature's head tilts, now, as Mother inquires. "What life does not want comfort? Belonging? Purpose? Love? Eternity?"

Grimm motions in exasperation at the bug. "Like -that-? Who would want that if they ended up looking like one of these things??"

There is a surge of emotion. Delight? Laughter? "Flesh is flesh. Life is life. We hold no petty bias on appearance. How would Gabrielle wish us to appear?" With the query is another nudging probe in curiosity.

"As yourself would be nice. Your true self," Gabrielle responds carefully.

"Our true self is perfection, and we share that with all life. Even with the ignorant who do not understand, and the blind who cannot see the truth."

"Alright," Gabrielle says as she makes sure her feet are planted firmly. "Share with me."

That brings a sense of contentment, enough that the creature begins to purr loudly. "We will. This child lacks the strength to welcome you, here, but can show you the way, lead you to us."

"Sure. I think there are some more who would like to be welcomed," Grimm suggests. "I could gather them up, and then your child could lead us all to you."

"We welcome all," Mother reiterates, still with that sense of contentment and, indeed, welcome. "Release our child to show the way."

"Alright. I'll release your child when I have everyone gathered to be welcomed," Grimm agrees, glancing to Victory and realizing he's only hearing her half of the conversation. At least he hasn't tried knocking her out yet. But maybe he should have, she realizes...

"We will be waiting." The presence then diffuses, fading into the background of that general sense of contentment and belonging. Family. Though the more limited presence of the one before her also becomes clear once more.

Grimm breaks of mental contact at last, but realizes this Mother is still inside the "child's" consciousness. She starts walking out of the security area. "C'mon, Boy Scout. We need to recruit people to be welcomed," she says, not wanting to say more until they're out of the security area and out of earshot of that thing.

Victory raises a brow and follows Grimm out of the security area, wondering if he needs to restrain her, but he'll play it out for now.

Grimm steps out into the lobby and waits for the door to close behind Victory. "I didn't want to say anything while it was watching. There's some other intelligence behind it. Seeing through it. Connected."

Victory nods. "A hive mind kind of thing. That makes sense."

Grimm stops and takes a breath. "That ...thing. Those things. There's lots of them. Lots of memories...experiences. I think it was a person once. Or a dog? I think they all were someone or something once," she says gravely as she turns to look Victory in the eyes.

Victory blinks. "That's what was meant by recruiting people. They get converted?"

"I...think so. It doesn't remember what it was. I think it's memories just got added to this...hive sharing? All the happy, warm, feel-good memories all shared across the network." Grimm smirks. "A never-ending Hallmark moment. But on the surface? All that thing can do is eat and hunt and survive."

Victory nods, "I'll be sure to add that to the report. Anything else you think might be worth noting?"

Grimm frowns and rubs her chin. "Yeah, it could read my thoughts back. Don't say anything confidential in front of that thing. And this...this female entity knows my name. I never gave it. It wants to 'perfect' everyone and thinks it's one of Her children. 'She' believes we're all fragile mortals, and she can fix that and offer a place of love and belonging." She shudders. "It's like a cult."

Victory raises a brow. "Huh. I wonder if the conversion can be undone in some way."

Grimm sighs softly. "I might be able to with magic. But...I don't know what it was before, so I'm not sure if I'd be successful. I did manage to convince this entity to show herself. She thinks we want to belong with Her. If we let that thing out, it'll lead us to her."

Grimm doesn't look exactly happy, if only because all paths seem to lead to her having to solicit the former Cartesian. "I may know someone who can fix that bug, if it was really someone or something to begin with..."

Victory nods. "Is it the same person you mentioned previously about seeing the past? Or someone else entirely?"

"Yeah, same person," Grimm mutters. "He has some dangerous associates I want to stay clear from, though."

Victory nods. "Fair enough. Well, if you think it'd help, go ahead and bring him into the loop. Especially if he can convert these bugs back to whatever they were originally."

Grimm nods. She may not like the idea of dealing with Professor Duran, but she won't let these bugs stay as they are over a grudge. "Alright. I'll try and get ahold of him. There may be a few ways." She smirks a bit at Victory. "So, not that I don't appreciate not having to explain bruises to my boyfriend, but why didn't you knock me out when I started talking crazy back there?"

Victory chuckles. "You wouldn't have to explain bruises anyway. I wouldn't have punched you. I'd be too afraid of hurting you badly. I would have probably choked you out if it came to it. But as to why I chose not to...I wanted to be patient. I figured I might learn more by listening."

Grimm raises an eyebrow and offers a sly grin at his choice of knocking her out. "Well, that'd be new in a work situation," she comments in amusement. "I'm glad you were patient. So, do we change this bug back, or first try and assemble a team to track down its 'Mom'?"

Victory rubs his chin. "I'm not sure. Either is good. Whichever we can organize first, I think."

"Right. If we do get a team to follow, we have to let Starguard know not to hurt these things. Or anything like them. I think their Mother has been creating other things," Grimm comments.

Victory nods. "Right. Contain, but not injure. Got it."

Grimm thinks for a moment. "We may want to make sure we bring strong-willed people. Someone with a weak will might join Her. I'm not exactly how powerful she is, but I think she has some power to sway people. It was an indirect connection through that bug, so it was hard to tell."

Victory nods. "Okay, so I know who not to bring. I've had some mental resistance training. I might be okay."

Grimm raises a brow at Victory. "You have? I'm impressed."

Victory nods. "I have. I managed to shrug off a mentalist named 'Brainbox'.

Grimm grins. "Nicely done. I haven't run into them myself. I wonder just how well trained you are. If you ever want to give it a test or get some practice in, let me know." She seems to recall something. "Oh, hey, I saw Star Girl at the Best of the Best competition. I haven't seen her in ages! Say hi for me if you get the chance." She always got along with Star Girl, the few times she got to team up with her.

Victory smiles. "I'll do that. She'll be back for the next team event, so you might get a chance to run into her in person. And I'd be happy to test myself against your abilities."

"Sweet, I hope to catch her. You guys gotta catch Starguard up in the next event," Grimm teases. "You're on for some training another time. But first, we got to deal with this self-styled 'benevolent matron'."

Victory nods. "Yeah, after this is resolved. That way I know she's not affecting me through you." He gives her a wink.

Grimm laughs. "Right, so again, if I do start acting all strange, you know what to do," she smirks.