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The Duke suddenly looking at the insect, goat, cat and other critters, immediately breaks into song......
"I know an old lady who swallowed a fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly
Perhaps she'll die"
"I know an old lady who swallowed a spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
But I don't know why she swallowed the fly
Perhaps she'll die"
"I know an old lady who swallowed a bird
How absurd to swallow a bird
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
But I don't know why she swallowed the fly
Perhaps she'll die"
"I know an old lady who swallowed a cat
Imagine that. She swallowed a cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
But I don't know why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she'll die"
"I know an old lady who swallowed a dog
What a hog to swallow a dog!
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
But I don't know why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she'll die"
"I know an old lady who swallowed a goat
Opened her throat and down went the goat!
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
But I don't know why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she'll die"
"I know an old lady who swallowed a cow
I don't know how she swallowed the cow
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
But I don't know why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she'll die"
"I know an old lady who swallowed a horse
She's alive and well of course!"
"I think Leto's lost it."
Pointedly ignoring the being called Ocid and it's rather unnecessary logic, Taraz turns his head in annoyance at the impertinence of the small insectoid called Jiminy. As the exictable creature begins using the 'borrowed' Plasma Card, Taraz stops himself from rebuking him. He finds Jiminy's antics rather amusing. When Jiminy lifts his glass, Taraz graciously acknowledges this with a nod. Ah, so someone finally acknowledges my importance.
"Food stories? Hmm...perhaps if I am in a better mood later."
At the song/poem of Duke Leto, Taraz bursts out "FINALLY! Some entertainment!"
Standing, Taraz says to the assembled quarantinees, "Come then all, sit at the now banguet which I have allowed the favorable Jiminy to order." Taraz gestures to several new tables which the serv-bots have set up.
Looking at Duke Leto, Taraz sits and says, "Sing on minstrel." Taraz lifts his hand with an indication to proceed.
Sutra nods to the wastrel and jumps upon the seat so she is crouched upon it; "Such magnificence M. Taraz, how did you come by it? You seem to enjoy the fruits of life, I can tell by your counterance? Are you a mutant or a militant?" she slips is the last conversationally hoping to catch him out.
"Mutant or militant?" Taraz wrinkles his nose. "Both sound detestable, and as one is keeping me from my yacht, I will simply remain rakish." And he favors the seemingly young and undefatiguable female with a small smile.
'I wonder which keeps him from the yacht, though the mutant is the obvious choice. He could be afraid of the militant discovering him...' she thinks before putting the thought straight out of her head.
"A lovely cabernet with a cabaret." she remarks not trusting herself to have more than a snifter of the wine.
Ryxis listens to Leto's long-winded song intently, before twitching slightly.
As Thoen finishes his meal he turns to the group, carefully thinking of what he will say before slowly speaking; "All you smart folk keep talking of killing mutants, but none of you have actually done anything about it. Thoen vote we get rid of Ocid. She use big words that make my head hurt lots."
Sir Jiminy hops about the tables, encouraging the Wastrel to delight the group with tales, until a tentacle stretches from Ocid, snags his leg, and flings Jiminy bodily into the wall. With a loud crunch he thumps against the panel, then drops to the floor in a heap. For several minutes only the occasional twitch shows that life still remains in his cracked carapace, then slowly he drifts back into consciousness and gingerly pulls himself back to his feet, fluid leaking into his suit (at least that what he tells the others the wet trail down his leg has resulted from). Shuffling slowly to a position behind Thoen, Sir Jiminy questions the librarian's actions in a reproachful tone.
"Has the mutation left you with little control of your aggression?"
"In the worst case scenario that Ms. Ocid is not a mutant and we slay her, at least we have one less person who is mean to worry about. I don't like what we have to do, but if the mutation increases meanness, we have our best bet," says Meowselsworth, rather apologetically.
"I disagree with you completely HelmetCat. We need every non-mutant on our side regardless of their attitude. Before you know it the odds will be stacked against us if we wrongfully lynch too many non-mutants and they will kill us all. We'll be helpless if we are outnumbered."
"You might be helpless. You're food." Eldon flexes the claws on his right hand. "I for one would enjoy a tangle with this mutant. Unlike the soft 'hu-man' you were before, my people aren't soft weak creatures. Bring the mutant on!" Eldon's eyes glow, a sign amongst his people of increased adrenaline, coupled with a deep laugh.
"Mr. Cunningham, I was suggesting that if meanness is a symptom of mutancy, it would be the best move. That being said, we have no information to go off of now, since we don't even know what symptoms to look for," says the HelmetCat. "I would never suggest just eliminating people who are mean for the sake of it. That would be cruel and I don't like cruelty to anyone!"
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I, a mutant? Don't be absurd. I am one of the most esteemed gatherers and organizers of data on the entire world of Mariona.
She uses one tentacle to smooth the others into a tidy cape again.
I am the only one who has consistently stayed on the point of trying to determine who the mutant or mutants actually are. Isn't it more likely for a recently abhorrently mutated being either to be anti social and focus exclusively on their homicidal tendency? Or if they still retain some cleverness, to constantly distract from mutant-finding with recitations on corn, or flies, or odes to sequentially carnivorous creatures?
While I would submit many of you as candidates for execution based on your frivolity and lack of order, the only point of today is to find and eliminate mutants. Since my current hypotheses do not have enough data for verification, I will follow the judgment of the only other intelligent being in this room, Mr. Hollow. My vote is to obliterate the lightbulb immediately, and with extreme prejudice.
Eldon laughs at Ocid's vote of the lightbulb, then proceeds to grab his chair and hurl it at the lightbulb. "I too vote for the lightbulb. But now that the lightbulb has been voted out, I instead vote for !" Eldon points at Tia. "None of these pathetic 'Hu-mans' could be a mutant. They die too easy. But you, you're a predator. You can feel it, I'm sure. I'll even do the job for you."
"Me? A mutant? You're silly! Silly... but also a little scary. I already offered to taste anyone who we think is a mutant. Spiders have very good taste!"
The spider squares off with the angry Xzyst, "My clutchmates told me about you soulsuckers! You're worse than a mutant, you just want me dead so you can eat my soul! You should eat flies instead... I think they must be much better than souls." A thought suddenly occurs to her- Oooh! You could eat fly souls! I'm sure they'd be really, really, really yummy! I'll catch some for you after I taste you to make sure you're not the mutant!"
"I agree with the librarian: I think the mutant or mutants got to be someone who keeps trying to distract us. I think that leaves us with Sutra, Taraz, Leto, even the cricket... hmmm." who else... Bruce has been really quiet, I think Spider is really just trying to be friendly, and the other muscle in the room seems intent on finding mutants too... so, I'd rule them out. The rest?... ehh - I can't even begin to figure them out.
The Hollow remains facing the lamp.
Sir Jiminy looks back and forth from the shattered lamp to the motionless hollow, clearly perplexed.
"Mr. Hollow, light is both a particle and a wave, so shouldn't we be able to capture or deflect it's assault by a variety of means? Is not blackness either the full absorption of the spectrum or it's complete reflection? Even a child knows that the deepness of space is black, but so is the shade produced when they scrawl all their colored crayons in the same spot on the drawing paper."
Sir Jiminy considers the now shattered lamp that preoccupies The Hollow and the simple logic of Jin regarding distractions. If the great mind of The Hollow has been distracted by something shiny and bright, could a mutant deceive the lot of us in the same way? Or has the The Hollow not been misled at all and he actually talks of the impending mutant assaults, his precognition well ahead of us?
The man-cricket's mind swims with the implications of the monumental task ahead, but one thing is clear, the group will need to make a decision soon!
Sutra winces as Jiminy pulls himself together but what he says makes her think; 'Increased agression caused by mutation....Eldon, Ryxis? No surely not.'
"Hey, the mutants probably won't distract us away from the task of finding them. Surely they will be the ones either at the fore-front of the accusations or subtly talking from the shadows - throwing in theories that exonerate them." Sutra says.
With an incline of her head; "However I don't think it is Ocid though, her cool logic seems to make her too much of a foci."
Eldon laughs at Ocid's vote of the lightbulb, then proceeds to grab his chair and hurl it at the lightbulb. "I too vote for the lightbulb. But now that the lightbulb has been voted out, I instead vote for !" Eldon points at Tia. "None of these pathetic 'Hu-mans' could be a mutant. They die too easy. But you, you're a predator. You can feel it, I'm sure. I'll even do the job for you."
To Leto, "I don't know about that. They both have good reasons for their votes. Now, I think they're both wrong. I still think the mutant is a liar trying to keep us from dropping them out the airlock - stalling us as long as possible."
Bruce simply sits and watches the arguments as they continue back and forth. It was simply too early in the crisis to be able to accurately judge someone's mutation chances. Logic dictated that more evidence would be needed before positive identification could begin.
Taraz listens as the discussion finally turns to the subject of that which vexes him, the mutants keeping him from putting distance between himself and the reactor leak.
"As my opinion is far more important than any of yours, allow me to point out that despite being guilty for the overuse of logic at a dinner party," Taraz gestures around at the now elaborate dinner and place settings that the ever industrious Plasma Card Class S Serv-bots had just finished completing, "and perhaps abuse of other party guests," pointing a finger at Jiminy, "but has in fact remained focused on the matter of mutants. Personally those who stray too far from this subject seem much more likely to be aberrant. I say the mutant must be the floating cloak over there, the hollow thing. You may now lynch it."
"Im Inclined to agree with Taraz. The Hollow does seem a bit peculiar in the fact that it has nothing relevant to say regarding the situation. Perhaps he is a Mutant?"
I thought Wastrel was also voting for The Hollow, although perhaps not in the proper format.
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@Ryxis, Meowselsworth & Theon If you wish to vote for me because you have some evidence that I am a mutant, than do so. But if you are voting for me simply because you dislike me, because I have insulted your intellect? Or you think me unkind? Well, that is simply stupid.
The true mutant (or mutants) will be far more cruel and insulting to your rended flesh than I ever was.
And consider this; though I find most of you distateful, I have labelled no one "mutant." If I were a mutant, any of your deaths would be a victory for me. But since I am not a mutant, my only goal is to *accurately* decipher this puzzle, and thereby allow all of us to live.
@Ocid "Well, you are presently the only one who has actually displayed physical violence towards another member of our crew. I understand that a real mutant would be meaner, but probably not openly, so I am only guessing by the meanness on display!" says Meowselsworth, "But the longer we wait the less likely that we will have enough people alive. I would like to decipher the puzzle too, but right now we are working at maximum ignorance, but if we do not select, we will have no chance at identifying the mutant, which will prolong the amount of time we're at its mercy, so I am indeed just identifying behaviour that seems mutanty and trying to operate based on it. If one of you were a rat in disguise, I'd know it, 'cause I know rats. Mutants are another thing and I've never met one. I think you are more likely to be a mutant than anyone else, though. But what do I know. I am just a cat." Meowselsworth starts licking her paw and rubbing her ear.
"I don't think the library lady is a mutant. Surely they are less focused on logic or not-helping the cause. She might have been the last one through the field/ door but that probably means she is cleaner. The scanner should scan her..." Sutra says.
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Thank you for your reasonable observations, young lady. Perhaps you are not as much of a disorderly slattern as I first thought.
I hate making decisions with insufficient data. But if I have to...guess... it would seem Master Eldon has the most aggressive tendencies. Although I do appreciate your slaying the lightbulb for me, Master Eldon, I am afraid I am forced to vote for you.
And if it does turn out that I am chosen for execution, I do have a request. No, not to kiss a werewolf librarian, although that might be educational. My request is to be allowed to download as much information as I can into the data crystals of the food dispenser. That way, once you discover that I am innocent-and you will- you can transport some of my knowledge to my people, so that my life's work will not be lost.
"Hmm, it seems you get a reprieve, predator. I can count and it seems I want to ensure my own safety, I got to say goodbye to the librarian."
"A null vote can be a wasted vote. If you want everybody to live choose a tie. Of course, not that I am saying that is too advantageous to either side. I just don't know..." Sutra looks to Eldon.
Finally, Ocid is backed into a corner. Slowly, the group is swayed against the rude woman, and finally, she relents. Ocid hooks to the ship's main computer, recieving a lethal amount of information in seconds. She dies in unbelievable ecstasy, the silence just after her death is punctuated by the Safe Zone's daily announcement.
"13 Sentient Creatures Detected. 2 Mutant Scanners Detected. 1 Trained Militant Detected. 2 Galactic Agents Detected. 2 Mutants Detected."
It seems that poor Ocid was innocent, but those with the head to count for a moment realize the count must be off. There should be 14 sentient creatures. Suddenly you see that Tia has not moved in several minutes. In fact, she seems to be leaking. Upon further examination, the bottom of her carapace seems to have been torn open, and left to bleed out upon the floor.
"I guess I'll take Ms. Sutra's advice and change my vote to Eldon, unless that results in a tie, because we have to choose someone. If most of us do not think Ms. Ocid is actually a mutant. Every time we do not choose someone, it is one more chance for us to be picked off by the mutant or mutants." says Meowselsworth, "I'm afraid that Eldon will eat me regardless, though."
"Certainly, but it's also one less person the mutant has to kill." Sutra says looking at the librarians' smiling face. "And less time for the scanners to operate. Certainly it can put the orb in the freaky mutants court, but for a few extra hours it can be worth it, especially at the start of the outbreak." her voice sad tears slowly roll down her face.
Ryxis twitches as he watches Ocid's lifeless body as it writhes on the ground, before becoming still. He blinks a few times before speaking again.
Having spoken, Ryxis abruptly unhinges his jaw and opens his mouth to gargantuan proportions, before enveloping Ocid's body and swallowing it in one go. He turns to Tia's body next, twitching once more.
He repeats the process with Tia, making sure to lap up the blood on the floor. The two corpses leave Ryxis bloated, his flesh rippling as his complex digestive system begins to break down the organic matter.
The dark cloaked form drifts to regard the two bodies.
"Why did you eat Tia's body?" meowls Meowselsworth to Ryxis plaintively, "I wanted to say goodbye to my very best friend on this station... She was the nicest spider I ever met." The cat then turns towards Sutra and, chagrined, says, "I am sorry, Ms. Sutra..."
Sutra looks on aghast as the dead peoples bodies are consumed; 'I know it was going to happen, but...'
She pushes the remains of her white slurry away from her, looking green around the gills Sutra rises to her feet. Tottering unsteadily over to the waste disposal, she sticks her head in an retches.
"It's how the Wrexians honor the dead. It is a better and faster solution than throwing bodies in the ground or out into space..." Honestly, it's probably even better than how my people used to burn their dead. Though, I can't imagine eating someone - hmph...
"We lost two innocent citizens today. We need to stay on task... did anyone see the last person near Spider?" Jin, pauses to try and remember who tried voting for Tia to be lynched... "Eldon, where were you when Spider was killed?"
Sutra extracts her head from the disposal and takes a sip of her water. "or leaving the bodies to decompose via the Lithium conduits." Sutra traces her finger down the tattoos on her face. "We have so many Maveons that die, I don't want to be one of them." she says throatilly.
"Good question, though the attack may have come from across the room. It could be any of you?" she adds.