Two identical copies of Ryuzo appear in town, each on high ground observing the conflict, watching from different angles.
Ryuzo ports to his room, and sits in the dark, coordinating his clones...
Ace beams at his girlfriend's rather insightful thought process and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek "Wow babe, that's pretty apt conclusion. Color me impressed. You're right, I think, about them being different attackers, but that doesn't mean they didn't work together. Perhaps the two attacks were a coincidence, but I try not to ever think that way."
"Apparently that's what you have me for," she said smiling. "I tend to assume that correlation and cause are not necessarily related...so between you looking for patterns and my natural cynicism, we might be able to actually find something," she finished with a wink.
He looks at her, with a look that says he's going to protest. Then a look of wonder and pride take the form of a smile, and he nods. A clone springs up next to her, and then two more."I will send one with you to watch while you work, and the other two into town so you can have eyes on the scene as well. I am very proud of you, Nala Zamarosok." ...and I love you...his body language says as he give her a nod, and he and two of his clones vanish. The other clone he left behind, beckons for you to lead on.
Nala squares her shoulders, and heads through the door. The winding hallway eventually leads to a decontamination room where she put on a safety suit, instructing the clone to do the same. She looked around carefully so she would know where to teleport to if she needed a quick exit.
Once they were both suited up she opened the first airlock, and tried not to flinch as it whirred closed behind them. There was more hallway and then another airlock. On the other side of that was the observation area where she left the clone, while she headed into the small chamber where the patient was being held in stasis.
"Alright, start recording now. Patient is a young female. At first glance appears to be a human teenager, but appearances can be deceiving. Patient remains in stasis. I'm going to attempt to get a scan of the patient first," she said, grabbing a portable scanner from the workstation where the medical equipment was stored.
"I didn't realize it was so near the start of the...what did you call it again? Well, anyways...we haven't missed much class....although I'm pretty sure there isn't any pre-class work to do....but Rena and I are actually going to have to join the elementary students for at least part of our lessons...I know how to read a little bit, but not how to write or do basic math....that sort of thing. And Rena's in the same boat. And apparently those are considered important for stuff like taking classes," she finished with a shrug.
Once they were both suited up she opened the first airlock, and tried not to flinch as it whirred closed behind them. There was more hallway and then another airlock. On the other side of that was the observation area where she left the clone, while she headed into the small chamber where the patient was being held in stasis.
"Alright, start recording now. Patient is a young female. At first glance appears to be a human teenager, but appearances can be deceiving. Patient remains in stasis. I'm going to attempt to get a scan of the patient first," she said, grabbing a portable scanner from the workstation where the medical equipment was stored.
Even as Nala picks up the portable scanner, she notices that there is a small alert indicator flashing on it. The scanner is apparently already slaved to the stasis chamber and the alert is indicating that there is very minor activity in the stasis field. Acknowledging the alert, the scanner informs Nala that the activity is originating from deep in the girl's bone marrow where the body's white blood cells should be produced. While the activity is confined to only a very few locations, and does not involve more than a few hundred cells in total, that there is any activity in the stasis field is highly irregular and cause for some concern.
Performing a more focused scan on the activity areas, Nala discovers that the active cells are ones that are entirely new to her and that seem to be acting in unison to effect some change in the cells that produce white blood cells.
Aside from those few hundred active cells, it seems incredible that the girl is alive, as the stasis chamber reports that she is; she still exhibits several wounds that seem to have been caused by large caliber, high velocity shells, any one of which would have killed a normal human outright.
Maya chuckles briefly and says, "Your concern, for my well being and warmth are noted, dear Tybalt. I leave it it your capable hands, as much as your talents allow for my appearance. I wish only to not bother you greatly, especially with how mercurial life has been of late. Well, the past day, or numerous days, for me and Tryko'Sam here." Tybalt gets another salute from her drink, when she turns her attention to Asha.
"I noticed what you did earlier. Intangibility, or some sort of phasing ability as we call it. Extremely useful and greatly annoying when enemies have it. Depending on the nature of your ability, I've know two people capable of the power. Perhaps I could assist in helping you master it. Mind you, not an expert, but I can certainly make the effort."
Tryko'Sam has at this point walked over closer to Asha and gently pokes her shoulder asking, "So, yer gonna learn some basic schooling, plus your phasing abilities in the elementary part of the school? That'll be fun," he continues while looking back at Rena as well, "I hope for you both. Plus you'll be hit on by all the young guys dealing with their hormones, or girls. Hah. Wait... That's the right age for that, right? Or is that more high school?"
He smirks charmingly after the joke and pats Asha on the back, with a rub, then says, "I'd be happy to assist too, if I can, might not hurt given all the s+%* that's gone down so far in such a short time, to know what can be done to defend. Especially if there's some kind of killer or groups of killers running around."
After rubbing Asha's back once or twice, and running a hand over Rena's trunk as well, Tryko'Sam walks back over near Maya and plops down next to her on the couch.
"Sounds like we're all set. Lots to do, but just waiting for things to sort out or reveal. We wanna hit the infirmary then?" He appears to ask everyone.
"I should most likely wait here, as requested by the Head of Security. I'm hardly the rebellious sort you've always been, plus there is so much to review about this school and setting. Not to mention delve into that wonderous library." Maya smiles and sips her drink again looking mysteriously in thought.
By the time Pyry lands on the sun he is near exhaustion, and even with his protective magic, the sun was uncomfortable at best. He slowly made his way down the half-remembered streets, looking for hugs family crest.
sorry vriska, I should go talk to boy. he just arrived, he probably needs time to adjust.
Sun goes to find the new wizard looking boy.
"Hey hey hey. Cool it, guy. Just another student. I seen em with the younguns. Be one of your classmates."
He opens the door.
"Say hi. They won't bite."
Silinrul's strong and constant desire to be out of doors and in connection with nature leads him through the school and out a door, in trying to solve the conflict between his refusal to use the arrows, his core nature, and his current want to find Jaiye, it takes him twenty minutes until he finds his way out of a door. He ends outside in the garden, and as he goes to turn around, he spots Jaiye in the cafeteria through a window. He doesn't see a direct way to her, but there is a patio with tables and a door to the inside a couple yards away.
Silinrul's strong and constant desire to be out of doors and in connection with nature leads him through the school and out a door, in trying to solve the conflict between his refusal to use the arrows, his core nature, and his current want to find Jaiye, it takes him twenty minutes until he finds his way out of a door. He ends outside in the garden, and as he goes to turn around, he spots Jaiye in the cafeteria through a window. He doesn't see a direct way to her, but there is a patio with tables and a door to the inside a couple yards away.
Tybalt removes the measuring tape from around his shoulders.
"Do you mind?"
He assumes she knows what the tape does, having seen it work with Tryko'Sam.
a creature that seems to be a bipedal lion is walking the halls. If you listen closely, you may hear it click in a constant rhythm. It avoids making eye contact with people.
"Apparently that's what you have me for," she said smiling. "I tend to assume that correlation and cause are not necessarily related...so between you looking for patterns and my natural cynicism, we might be able to actually find something," she finished with a wink.
Ace chuckles at her comments "We do make a pretty good team, don't we? And you're right, I do plan to give Mel some time to recover, but I'm also a little worried about waiting too long. I don't want the trail to grow cold."
"Some fairly interesting things I plan to keep secret, if it's all the same."
That earns Anthony a raised eye from Repp, but the gnome says no more on the issue, instead preparing to follow along with Anthony and eager to learn a bit more about the school.
Kuros
Tyrrin is literally covered with infected as the climb or jump on, over, and around her. They attempt to bite and scratch her as they go.
"Through the door there." He explains, pointing to a door that wasn't there before. "while they may provide little comfort, given how easily my best defenses and wards are outright ignored or broken, several protection protocols are in place to ensure your health and safety."
After Nala has gone to her work, Vare stands awkwardly for a moment longer before quietly clearing his throat and speaking. "Is there any way I could be of assistance? I came to bring news, but if there is an emergency..."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Soaring high in the sky heading east, Lang and company have left the school grounds far behind. Lang is a bit quiet so far, like he has a lot on his mind, or something is bothering him.
Lea seems happy with her passengers. she seems to want to know all about Grim and Hew. bombarding them with questions, like where did they come from, are there benders there, or just the traditional wizards and stuff.
she seems to give Hew a bit more eye contact that Grim.
Midori had been startled at first when Blackscales-sensei had taken to her dragon form to follow along, thinking it odd that her name was Blackscales when it was clear that her sensei's scales were a lovely purple colour.
After the initial confusion, there is a small spell of wonder at the Dragon flying alongside the group, before Midori settles in behind Lang-kun, holding tightly around his waist.
After a periond in the air of Midori's general quietness, she speaks up, trying to catch a lull in the wind where she can speak more readily. "Lang-kun, when you are finished your training, will you be able to Bend metal as well? Dara-san can do that."
At the small displays of affection from Tryko'Sam, he can feel Rena press back against his hand lightly, as a cat might do to a stroking hand. She does seem to nod, listening to Tryko'Sam and Maya's back-and-forth.
"To be honest," Rena begins in reply to Tryko'Sam's question on hormones. "I don't really know all that much about humanoids beyond what I've learned from Vare. I'm... a little eager to try being a humanoid again, without being affected by... whatever demon thing. I mean... I was really starting to wonder how humanoids managed to get anything done without wanting to just have sex." Rena says conversationally, obviously not put off one bit about the sex-talk, not shy in the slightest where that is concerned.
::Fair enough, though it could be the reason why Kara chose to come to Avalon.:: Ehos replies back to Ace and Jaiye telepathically, his thoughts slightly unsure. Jaiye feels his grip on her hand tighten ever so slightly.
With the datapad - limited as it is - Ehos manages to display after the quick exchange between Ginni and Ace: 'Why don't you ask Vai? Being dominated like she was doesn't mean you forget. Also... if it is actually a... different version of her or whatever, she might have some insights to share. She's never really given me the time of day though, but from what I can tell, she's like that with most guys.'
'So... we have three enemies then. We need to prioritize.... we need Tyrrin. She's way better at this than me. I wonder if they're going to get back this evening. You'd think she would've checked in by now.' Ehos says, self-depricating in a completely non-joking manner. 'I guess we'll have to manage without her though. Who should we focus on? Kara, other-Vai... or Kitty's attacker?'
::"That's a very good point Ehos, one I had not thought of. I'll tell you this much, if that demon b%&$! thinks she's getting anywhere near my girlfriend, she is seriously mistaken":: Ace's thoughts take on a very hard edge.
Aloud he says "Well, I don't think dark Vai is a immediate threat. Right after I battled her along with some other students and she teleported away, I tried tracking her via a spell. I got a vague sense of an incredibly far distance away, which I entered then into your sister's telescope. She's not even kinda close right now, though of course, she could likely come back sooner than expected." He pauses, thinking "I can talk to Vai, though. Her and I get along some, despite our rocky beginning"
He smiles a bit at Ehos then "Don't sell yourself short my friend. While you are perhaps not as smart as your sister, you are a lot more capable than you might give yourself credit for. I am unsure if I would have the strength to go on as you do, if I lost one of my defining characteristics, as you have with your voice"
Dom glanced around to take note of placing of everyone. He knew he had one shot at this and had to get it right the first time.
Quickly he plunges his left hand into the pool and closes his eyes. The water surrounding Dom begins to faintly glow. Just before starting to absorb the disease out of everyone within the water.
Tybalt removes the measuring tape from around his shoulders.
"Do you mind?"
He assumes she knows what the tape does, having seen it work with Tryko'Sam.
Maya stands and extends her hands out, still holding her drink, however. She smiles while posing there.
"Really, the sex thing depends on hormones, as far as many people will attest. Ultimately, however, I have always felt it was a person's choice how to act on those urges. Did you ever feel that way in your natural form? Or act on it?"
"Yah, it's probably not just a 'humanoid' thing, Rena. I'd avoid generalisms like that. Besides, what happens when you find mister or missus sexy serpent, huh? You never know when Eros hits yah with his arrow." Tryko'Sam smiles while lounging with his own drink.
Rena seems to almost 'shrug' her wings at the correction of it not being simply humanoids. "You're right about that I suppose. Aasimar and Tieflings come from somewhere after all. I've just never felt that way before. I didn't ever feel like that in this form - I mean, I don't have genitals. I do like it when people run their hands through my feathers, but that's not really the same, I think."
Given that Rena isn't very familiar with ancient Greece or their tongue, she does give Tryko'Sam a bit of a curious look at the new word he had used. "What is Eros?" she asks, leaving aside the question for the moment of other 'sexy serpents'. As far as Rena knew, she was the only one.
settro casts blade barrier, creating a ring of whirling blades around Dom. Anything in the radius of the barrier takes
force damage, reflex save to step away.
Tybalt gently tosses the tape to the floor and it slithers over and gets to work stretching from place to place on her.
"I'm really the least qualified to chime in here. Catfolk have things a lot different than humans and wing snakes."
While Maya is being measured he asks, "do you mind if I do these tonight and get them to you tomorrow? I'd have to get everything set up and I don't want to hold up Asha's exam."
Even as Nala picks up the portable scanner, she notices that there is a small alert indicator flashing on it. The scanner is apparently already slaved to the stasis chamber and the alert is indicating that there is very minor activity in the stasis field. Acknowledging the alert, the scanner informs Nala that the activity is originating from deep in the girl's bone marrow where the body's white blood cells should be produced. While the activity is confined to only a very few locations, and does not involve more than a few hundred cells in total, that there is any activity in the stasis field is highly irregular and cause for some concern.Performing a more focused scan on the activity areas, Nala discovers that the active cells are ones that are entirely new to her and that seem to be acting in unison to effect some change in the cells that produce white blood cells.
Aside from those few hundred active cells, it seems incredible that the girl is alive, as the stasis chamber reports that she is; she still exhibits several wounds that seem to have been caused by large caliber, high velocity shells, any one of which would have killed a normal human outright.
"Patient has survived wounds that should have been fatal if she were human. Scanning genetic structure and comparing to known species for confirmation. Also, patient has anomalous cells in her bone marrow. These cells remain active even in stasis. They appear to have some effect on her white blood cells. Perhaps they have something to do with her regenerative abilities. The anomalous cells are acting in unison. Based on what little I've been told about the disease this seems like a likely cause. Uploading scan data now. I'm going to take a biopsy of the anomalous cells for study while I'm waiting for all that data to process."
"Apparently that's what you have me for," she said smiling. "I tend to assume that correlation and cause are not necessarily related...so between you looking for patterns and my natural cynicism, we might be able to actually find something," she finished with a wink.Ace chuckles at her comments "We do make a pretty good team, don't we? And you're right, I do plan to give Mel some time to recover, but I'm also a little worried about waiting too long. I don't want the trail to grow cold."
"Well, you could always see if someone other than Mel could do some divinations in the meantime. That might help. And then you're not letting the trail get cold."
Midori had been startled at first when Blackscales-sensei had taken to her dragon form to follow along, thinking it odd that her name was Blackscales when it was clear that her sensei's scales were a lovely purple colour.After the initial confusion, there is a small spell of wonder at the Dragon flying alongside the group, before Midori settles in behind Lang-kun, holding tightly around his waist.
After a periond in the air of Midori's general quietness, she speaks up, trying to catch a lull in the wind where she can speak more readily. "Lang-kun, when you are finished your training, will you be able to Bend metal as well? Dara-san can do that."
Lang thinks a moment. I really don't know, I only discovered I could bend water maybe a week or so ago. I am still trying to figure out what it means to...what I am.
Lang looks back toward Midori and to Sara as well. To be honest, I'm scared. I don't really know what's expected of me. I'm scared I will let everyone down.
::"That's a very good point Ehos, one I had not thought of. I'll tell you this much, if that demon b+*$$ thinks she's getting anywhere near my girlfriend, she is seriously mistaken":: Ace's thoughts take on a very hard edge.
Aloud he says "Well, I don't think dark Vai is a immediate threat. Right after I battled her along with some other students and she teleported away, I tried tracking her via a spell. I got a vague sense of an incredibly far distance away, which I entered then into your sister's telescope. She's not even kinda close right now, though of course, she could likely come back sooner than expected." He pauses, thinking "I can talk to Vai, though. Her and I get along some, despite our rocky beginning"
He smiles a bit at Ehos then "Don't sell yourself short my friend. While you are perhaps not as smart as your sister, you are a lot more capable than you might give yourself credit for. I am unsure if I would have the strength to go on as you do, if I lost one of my defining characteristics, as you have with your voice"
"Bad things happen. You deal with what you have to. Ehos deals pretty well, I think," she said with a reassuring squeeze to his hand. "Anyways, we have to rethink our strategy against Kara....find a way to get in front of her instead of reacting to her. So that's on the back burner whether we like it or not. You can try to sort out the stuff with evil Vai. But if there's a chance that the third person is still here, well, that makes the priority list pretty easy, doesn't it?"
"I think it will be OK. You are very nice and good at what you do. Mama said that if you expect good things, then only good things will happen, but if you expect bad things, just bad things will happen, so you need to start expecting good things."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Tybalt gently tosses the tape to the floor and it slithers over and gets to work stretching from place to place on her.
"I'm really the least qualified to chime in here. Catfolk have things a lot different than humans and wing snakes."
While Maya is being measured he asks, "do you mind if I do these tonight and get them to you tomorrow? I'd have to get everything set up and I don't want to hold up Asha's exam."
Asha smiled and seemed more at ease as Tryko'Sam was back to being calm and vaguely affectionate.
"Technically I'm a bird...though I guess when it comes to the other stuff I'm close enough to human that it doesn't matter. And it was fun, but I don't want to do it all the time...that was definitely the demon curse thing, Rena. At least I'm pretty sure it was."
"Anyways, thanks for offering to help," she said to Maya. "I'm still not sure what this power is, really, or where it comes from. But I definitely need to learn how to control it. Hopefully this 'exam' will help answer some questions....ummm....it isn't going to hurt is it?" she asked nervously. "I've never been to an infummery," she added, getting the work wrong.
"I think it will be OK. You are very nice and good at what you do. Mama said that if you expect good things, then only good things will happen, but if you expect bad things, just bad things will happen, so you need to start expecting good things."
Lang smiles at Sara's explanation but really does not say anything loud enough for her to hear.
lang whispered this and since Midori is much closer she most likely heard this bit it wasn't really directed at her.
I expected good things with Ignace
Lang turns to concentrate again of flying. Looking out some smaller lowlands are coming up and some more mountainous regeions lay further ahead.
"Did *huf* the voice *huf* give you *huf* a magic *huf* that *huf* makes this hurt less!?"
Lewis is beating his wings hard and strong to keep up with the much larger owls.
settro breathes heavily, before relaxing. He flies over Dom.
"Well, that worked. I'll take you out of the barrier now, if you'll let me."
"Did *huf* the voice *huf* give you *huf* a magic *huf* that *huf* makes this hurt less!?"
Lewis is beating his wings hard and strong to keep up with the much larger owls.
"Duh."
tarka's eyes glow."Retrograde!"
tarka enters a medative trance to focus on her spell and keep it working, so the harder you work the better you feel.
Looking down at his family book, Pyry confirms that he's found his family home. A veritable storm of emotions welled up in him. Happiness, from seeing it again. Sadness, from knowing it would be destroyed and he'd never live here.
Fiery anger from being discarded like refuse into a winters dessert they were sure would kill him as surely as fire could. It burned in his very soul as tiny pieces of ice fell from his eyes, and he gathered it all and threw it at the building in righteous, artic fury!
A chill, gale-force wind sweeps through the streets as Pyry collapses, leaving the house encased in ice.
Grim jumps off the owl at Lewis's complaints "here, we can take turns" he then proceeds to show off diving and spinning and rocketing into the air, before keeping level with the owls
"No! No! It's OK! Ah ha ha ha ha! It's "
He laughs and sings almost manicly as he swoops and dives, driving himself to what would be his breaking point, but is now driving him to be faster and stronger.
Sara frowns a little, but doesn't say anything...
Asha smiled and seemed more at ease as Tryko'Sam was back to being calm and vaguely affectionate.
"Technically I'm a bird...though I guess when it comes to the other stuff I'm close enough to human that it doesn't matter. And it was fun, but I don't want to do it all the time...that was definitely the demon curse thing, Rena. At least I'm pretty sure it was."
"Anyways, thanks for offering to help," she said to Maya. "I'm still not sure what this power is, really, or where it comes from. But I definitely need to learn how to control it. Hopefully this 'exam' will help answer some questions....ummm....it isn't going to hurt is it?" she asked nervously. "I've never been to an infummery," she added, getting the work wrong.
"Well, this is a unique experience, unless you consider the space aliens from the Epsilon quadrant invasion..." Maya says with a light chuckle as the measuring tape does the snake actions. She watches it as it animates over her form.
"Take all the time you'll need, Tybalt. I'm in no rush at this time. Besides, who doesn't appreciate gifts or galant gestures when recently arriving in a new city by the locals, as it were?"
Once the measurements are complete she gravefully sits down once again.
Rena seems to almost 'shrug' her wings at the correction of it not being simply humanoids. "You're right about that I suppose. Aasimar and Tieflings come from somewhere after all. I've just never felt that way before. I didn't ever feel like that in this form - I mean, I don't have genitals. I do like it when people run their hands through my feathers, but that's not really the same, I think."
Given that Rena isn't very familiar with ancient Greece or their tongue, she does give Tryko'Sam a bit of a curious look at the new word he had used. "What is Eros?" she asks, leaving aside the question for the moment of other 'sexy serpents'. As far as Rena knew, she was the only one.
Giving a vague shrug that mirrors his expression at her initial comments, Tryko'Sam then says, "Over rated, generally, but-- if you have someone you love, good times. Intimacy with a loved one is more that sex. And it's a who, Eros is, not a what. Least, fairly sure it was a being, or concept from our ancient history. One of our ancient cultures, they were the Greeks, or Ancient Greeks since they still existed as a culture up until modern times, were worshippers of all sorts of divine beings. Country name was Greece. Eros was the embodiment of love, which fits neatly into many creation mythos, all things considered. Could be argued he was a primordial being, or the son of the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite. Mind you-- ancient history, memory isn't perfect, and it's one of our myths. Not everything was written or recorded well. Pity, really, sounded more pure than a lot of modern hogwash psychologists or clergy would push on you from their point of view on our world."
Grinning, he lounged on the couch while finishing his drink.
"An infirmary is a place for healing to commence, but not a full blown hospital, I think. What kinda test you gonna get? Check your brain, or biology for oddities, or does the school and a series of power detector surveys to determine irregularities in the Firebird species via magic or tech to define what Asha can do? You said it's not magic, right? What's next? Brain probes?" He frowns lightly at the last question.
"Hey hey hey. Cool it, guy. Just another student. I seen em with the younguns. Be one of your classmates."
He opens the door.
"Say hi. They won't bite."
Morire frowns slightly Hi, they won't bite." He says, following the orders to the letter...
the worm crown upon Sun's head shimmers wetly, as if covered in oils...but feels dry and smooth to the touch.
"Patient has survived wounds that should have been fatal if she were human. Scanning genetic structure and comparing to known species for confirmation. Also, patient has anomalous cells in her bone marrow. These cells remain active even in stasis. They appear to have some effect on her white blood cells. Perhaps they have something to do with her regenerative abilities. The anomalous cells are acting in unison. Based on what little I've been told about the disease this seems like a likely cause. Uploading scan data now. I'm going to take a biopsy of the anomalous cells for study while I'm waiting for all that data to process."
The girl's genetic structure is human at is most basic level, but the nerve structures that control muscle motion and the muscular structures seem to indicate that this person would move inhumanly fast. In short, she is a human girl of early teen years that has undergone extensive genetic manipulation.
In the process of taking the biopsy, Nala realizes that the source of the anomalous cells is deep in the girl's bone marrow. The active cells, which are very clearly some sort of virus, are attempting to cause these viral production centers to become active inside the stasis field. Her wounds show some signs of very accelerated healing that was halted by the stasis effect.
Nala is able to successfully take a biopsy in very short order, thanks to a gaping wound in the girl's left pelvic region that exposes her shattered bones to the atmosphere. The sensors built into Nala's biohazard suit register the presence of a biohazard in the atmosphere of the room as soon as the biopsied material is brought outside of the stasis area. The sensors are having trouble categorizing how dangerous the contaminant is; none of the systems used to measure its lethality seem to go high enough.
Gets on the radio.
"Sunbeam to Boss...uh, one of the noble houses just became encased in ice, and there's some turbulence around the landing zone...
Orders?"
"No! No! It's OK! Ah ha ha ha ha! It's "
He laughs and sings almost manicly as he swoops and dives, driving himself to what would be his breaking point, but is now driving him to be faster and stronger.
Ephebe flies underneath Lewis, ready to catch both him and Tarka if he drops.
::This is working for now, but will it hurt him in the long run?:: she asks Tarka.