Session 95: Bishop and Whang have sex

Play date: November 25, 2016

In-game date: April 3, EY219

Location: Hanwha Resort just across Andong Lake from Wonju, the capital of Daebak

Previous events: Jillian and Sheema make up

As the sun comes up, Bishop and Whang have sex. Raucous sex. So there.

After Bishop and Whang bone with great abandon he, Jillian, Malcolm, and Volkova head to the Bureau of Xenobiology's headquarters, taking a water taxi across Andong Lake and then boarding a tram. This being the capital of the entire cluster it's a very clean tram, and the people on it look like they're going to work in drab offices. None of them look like they've had sex with someone attractive enough to be a model, thinks Bishop smugly.

Chig confirms with Bishop that the Iof will land around noon local time, so that the Hummingbird's crew can pick up Seo. The location will be determined by where it seems safe to land without being seen -- security surrounding Daebak is tight and the Iof will have to make its approach depending on what it can manage.

At the BoX headquarters they ask the receptionist to inform Helga Lang that they're waiting for her. Helga shows up and takes them past a few different security stations until they're in a laboratory. She's kept the black slime in a sealed vial that's suspended over sulphuric acid. It seems to be a pretty good precaution but the sight of the thing makes Jillian shudder, and Volkova holds her protectively.

Bishop does a lot of staring at the ooze and drops into the Dreaming to determine what he can find out about it. Not much, as it turns out. It might be alive -- or not. It might be sentient -- or not. Either way, it doesn't show up in the Dreaming. It might as well be a rock.

Helga feeds the ooze with mouse chow and it quickly grows but still doesn't register in the Dreaming. While Helga goes to get a mouse Volkova rigs up a makeshift flamethrower with a Bunsen burner taped to a pesticide pump -- the BoX does a lot of research on plants -- filled with 70% ethanol. She's limited by the length of the rubber tube that connects the burner to the gas tap but it's stretchy and she's pleased with her invention.

The mouse is moved back and forth near the ooze. Is it affected by the slime's mental affliction? It's hard to tell. The mouse does seem to get dizzy and a bit nauseous, but no one knows mouse behaviour well enough to tell if it's enSonged. Not enough that Bishop can tell, at any rate, though he can feel the mind-bending effect the slime has. uBuntu's machinery converts animals but it looks like the slime doesn't.

Some more food and the thing is about a kilo in mass. Maybe it's time to see if this in enough to affect a human? Jillian gets volunteered and Volkova gets her drunk on some strong stuff that the engineer's got in a pocket in her overalls. Jillian gets dutifully drunk and is tied to a wheeled chair. Volkova ties a rope to Jillian and while everyone else gets bored watching Volkova pushes and pulls Jillian in and out of the area of effect of the slime.

After a while Jillian, her resolve weakened by 140-proof liquor, starts to giggle. Incessantly. She really seems to be enjoying the back and forth, and not just from being drunk. Bishop can tell that she's being affected by the Song! So it's confirmed: the slime does infect people with the Song.

Bishop dons a pair of protective gloves, takes the mouse by the tail, and for some reason dips it into the ooze for a second before pulling it out. The poor thing looks like it's got chemical burns and is writhing in pain, making terrible squeaks. Helga shoves Bishop aside and quickly kills the rodent via cervical dislocation, then drops the body into the slime. It's gruesome but the mouse is dead anyway and this way they don't have to worry about the slime getting any bigger.

Now that they don't need so much ooze Helga starts to pour it into the acid, but Volkova stops her: the engineer wants to test her flamethrower. Helga shrugs and pours the majority of the slime into a glass bowl. With some furious pumping Volkova sets the bowl's contents alight and it's soon obvious that the stuff is dead. Everyone's impressed with the flamethrower and the crew decide they want some real ones. Malcolm says that he'll request some from the navy. To protect themselves from the heat they can wear the Devereaux Daredevils outfits; they're fireproof, after all.

Bishop fights off the Song that's got a toehold in Jillian's brain; as soon as she's safe and sane (for her) she has a small freakout and Volkova holds her in a motherly fashion to calm her down. With Helga's permission Bishop gives her the protection from the Song that his crew has. Everyone thanks Helga and they leave the building.

It's now close to noon and Bishop checks in with Chig, using the "egg". The Iof did indeed make it down to the planet's surface undetected and has landed near the city. Although Bishop can tell the location of Chig's egg it's not exact enough to be useful here. Chig doesn't know the names for anything here and gives Bishop an angle from the nearest pole and a distance. The location is helpfully further specified as "megaflora processing". Bishop relays the information to Jillian, who has some difficulty working out where the Iof is until she realizes that the distance is in astronomical units and the three-dimensional angle points through the planet instead of along the surface as one would with a regular map. They need to get out of town, about two hours' drive southwest.

Now that they have a location they need a way to get there. Jillian calls Xao at home from a phone booth and asks him to pick them up in a car big enough to carry everyone. He agrees. The BoX building has a nice grassy area in front of it and it's a nice autumn day, so they wait for him on benches, Volkova indulging in a cigarette and Bishop reminiscing about the sex he had that morning, which was totally great.