Specters

[The Bookkeeper]

The Bookkeeper glanced back at the bartender. Why not. He deserves a night off. He took a step , paused, then walked to the bar. He glanced at the bowl before taking it in two hands, starting to drink it. He took a sip, made a face, and gulped it down.

"I believe the term is, 'That will put hair on your chest!'" He yelled, taking another large drink. He needed new clothing. Clean clothing. Not that his clothing wasn't filthy... Just dirty. With a faint smell of whiskey and dung on it.

After taking another sip, he glanced over at the bartender. "Is this stuff flammable?" This was the friendliest he had ever been to anyone. Two sentences. Hm. Well the man replied, he continued to take sips, swishing the alcohol around his mouth. His race had a immunity to alcohol, even hangovers. Maybe that will help him on this planet; A professional drinker. Fake a hangover, and drunkness. He could vent to people, they would just think he was in some drunken-haze. Ha!

((Going Camping tomorrow for three days. Wont be able to reply for those days))

[Arian Cadence]

Arian sighed deeply and wriggled his fingers from the sensor...thingy. He'd have to name that eventually. He landed surprisingly gracefully, then straightened the cuffs on his sleeves. He crossed his arms, looked at the two plainly, and gave a small smile.

"Me explain?" His eyes narrowed slightly. Apparently, his little detector worked better than he could have hoped. "An alien hybrid isn't really all that rare, if you're willing to look hard enough. However, someone who knows about them and can identify one on sight, and what's more give the name of the alien half with no reference, and rattle off the details that way..." He set himself in a firm pose, arms crossed, staring right at the woman.

"That little thing stuck to your ceiling picks up any kind of signal given off by something beyond the reach of normal human knowledge. Which means that something directly above me is very, very advanced. Whatever it was must have told you what I was, so it must be both an information source and a sort of security system, able to pick up anything that walks in its' range and identify it to quite some detail...So everything up to this point leads me to conclude that you've got some sort of alien supercomputer up there. Now that I know that, I can say this with absolute certainty..."

He paused, for dramatic effect. "You've got your signals crossed. It's YOU who should start explaining. Just where would you get something like that?"

...He really, really hoped he was as mentally intimidating as he sounded to himself, and he also really, really hoped he'd be able to get himself out of the jam he seemed to have lodged himself in.

[Archetype2]

Lutessa frowned at Arian as he spoke, very intimidating or so it sounded. She liked him now more then she did before. He was confident and that was good, or at least he seamed confident enough. However, the way he was talking so Sarah Jane....not something she liked.

Stepping forward closer to the boy, she spoke, her own voice seaming more confident then she felt, which mentally surprised her, she didn't know she could do confident. "What makes you so sure your right about this?" she asked simply. Of course, he was right....would he be able to figure out what she was? Oh god she hoped not.

"I've never met a human hybrid before," Lutessa commented quickly, conferring that this was indeed a first for her. Looking at the device in Arian's hand, or what she could see of it, she began to think. "You should call this something." she stated, pointing at the device in his hand.

Lutessa began to think for a moment about what it could be called. A device that detected alien technology, or so she guessed, and it was small. Other words for small, mini, tiny....Snapping her fingers together in self confirmation she grinned before speaking. :I've got it!" she exclaimed happily, feeling very proud of herself for her accomplishment.

"I know what you can call it." she continued, ignoring any possible interuptions. "T.A.D.D!" she exclaimed, grin plastered on her face. "It means...." she stopped, pausing for dramatic effect before continuing. "Tiny Alien Detection Device. T.A.D.D" she explained. TADD seamed to fit the thing well, in her mind at least. She became rather curious as to what Arian would think of her idea, and what Sarah Jane would think of it, and even what the little circle metal device would say....could it even talk?

Lutessa failed to realize something though, she'd failed to figure out just how off topic she was being at this time....even so she did NOT care. She was far to busy being happy with her idea to care if they talked about alien hybrids, or supercomputers, or even like...race cars. It didn't matter right now, not to her.

[Sarah Jane]

It was actually quite delightful to watch the girl come to her defense. and it was a relief to to see her show some backbone. Lutessa was quite a clever girl. She certainly had caught on to names. Sarah listened indulgently, standing there arms crossed watching the young man and young woman go toe to toe.

"Arien Cadence, I'll tell you about my Alien Super Computer, if you explain to me why you made that TADD bit." she said with no small challenge in her eyes and her small, upright form.

[Arian Cadence]

Arian stood firm, then glanced over to the side. He saw that the door was still open. "Obviously, we both have to explain some. I have the feeling Bannerman Road doesn't need to hear this. Shall we have a more private conversation?" He didn't move to close the door, realizing that doing that would be a bit invasive, considering it wasn't his house.

He started back up whenever someone closed the door. "Alright, you've admitted to me that you do in fact have an alien supercomputer, so I suppose I should tell you something about myself." He took a deep breath and began. "You're right, I'm half Cygni. My father crashed here a hundred years ago or so, and was stuck in stasis until about 30 years ago, then he got loose, got found out by my mother, and they ended up having me."

He skipped the boring stuff. "Eventually, my mother let me in on the whole alien thing, and I got curious. That's all this is. The physical manifestation of my immense curiosity. I want to learn everything I can about this kind of stuff. I want to be involved. I mean...I'm an alien and a human at the same time. If anything happens...I dunno, maybe I could be an ambassador, or a mediator or something helpful..."

He trailed off a bit at the end there, stopping himself from going off onto too much of a tangent. He stood there, however, still firm in everything he said.

[Sarah Jane]

She found Arian most compelling, but wasn't about to show it on her face. Better to make him squirm a bit and perhaps reveal himself even more. So far, he was revealing himself to be truthful. She'd been doing this a long, and few could lie to her. And, she was enjoying this chess game of words.

"I have a Xylok hiding in my chimney. a member of a crystalline race which crashed to Earth as a meteorite some 60 million years in Earth's past.
I discovered could talk to my laptop, so now I've given it it's own . . .rather advanced. . .computer to live with symbiotically.

It told me about you because I'm always on the lookout for non humans and non human technology. Always.

What do you mean by 'help', and how will you know who needs helping, Arian Cadence?"

She waggles her fingers low again at the Archetype 2, wanting the girl closer to her and farther away from Arian. Her hand is held out in such a way to invite the girl to come hold it.

((With the Bookkeeper gone, and me posting out of turn, I'd say anyone could go next right now, really. Of course including our Meddler if he'd like to give us a slice of life like he does so well.))

[Arian Cadence]

Arian smiled softly to himself, a bit of whimsy entering his voice. "Tell me, Ms..." He paused, becoming aware that he didn't know the woman's name. "...Do you really think humankind is ready to handle full on first contact? If...if I can learn enough, maybe I can ease the transition. If not, then I'll simply walk away with the knowledge I've gained. And it's not like that's all, either. Surely you've noticed: Lots of weird, weird stuff is going on lately. Stuff that people are dying over. I figure if it's not clear where I can help now, it won't ever be."

He took a deep breath, relaxing slightly. "However, I must say, I'm impressed with your ability to keep such a straight face. If you know anything about my race it's that we're psychic, but me being a half breed and all, I pretty much get the low level stuff. Bit of, you know, empathy and such. I'm currently extremely intrigued and I don't really know why. I presume that has something to do with you?" He smiled brightly at the woman. Empathy: what a useful little trick.

[Archetype2]

She watched Arian very carefully, she was deffenatly starting to like him, he was a very open person and didn't seem to have any big secrets he hadn't already shared with Sarah Jane, and by association and convenience her.

Noting Sarah Jane's action, she moved over beside her and kept watch on Arian intensely. She wanted to ask him questions but she didn't know what kind of questions maybe....did he have a ship? and could she see it?

She kept silent though, waiting for the right time to ask these questions. He wanted to help human kind accept aliens that was so....noble, maybe; yes that was it noble. "Thats a wonderful goal." she said softly with a small smile sneaking onto her face. Yup.... definitely not like the rat man, alien yes, but not a villain or any kind.

She started to wonder, what did Mr. Smith really look like? If he wasn't an alien computer and was an alien IN a computer then what did he look like? Maybe she'd ask a little later.

[Sarah Jane]

"It is a wonderful goal. I'm sorry to tell you, though, the 'First Contact' boat has already left the dock," She said with a wry smile.

Her verbal chess game with the young man was rather enjoyable, especially with her trusty Knight standing beside her now. She curled her fingers around the girl's. First to keep her where she wanted her, away from Arian, who really was an unknown factor at this point. Second, because she always did her best work while holding hands. It made her think boldly.

It was reassuring to her that Lutessa seemed to like him. She had learned that the girl had some fairly primal instincts about character. Sara Jane was pretty certain the Raxacoricofallipatorian had not fooled Lutessa for a moment when it had paid them both a very unfortunate visit not long ago.

She was staring at him this instant as if she could get answers that way. However, what she was thinking about was her discussion with the Doctor. About the ones who come to you, and how you'll know them.

"Arian, can you do that in reverse? I mean, can you show me what your feeling? Maybe what you're thinking? If you do, and you've been telling the truth, there are many things I could share with you to help appease your curiosity."

Why? Why would she even consider such a thing? Try Clone Warriors created by mad Scientists out of pirated Cybermen technology. With all the money of one of the world's superpowers behind this dangerous experiment. She and the Lutessa were going to need all the help they could get.

She let their fingers slide apart, standing at her side was close enough.

[Arian Cadence]

He chuckled at the pair of them. "It's...possible. the situation has never come up in which I would need to do that before, but I guess it's not beyond the realm of possibility. However, I'm not quite sure how you'd know I wasn't just showing you what I wanted you to see. Still, if you want, we could give it a shot." Arian took two steps forward, and held out his hand in a general manner, as if to shake. "Might as well make it more formal. I also never got your name..."

[Sarah Jane]

She took a step back, casually avoiding his hand. Her next actions probably couldn't have been more surprising. Sarah Jane took her young friend by the shoulders, and gently pulled her in front of herself like a human shield.

"Not me, my friend Lutessa, here. If you'll do it, Tess, take his hand, listen in your head, then tell me what you think of him."

Now her eyes burned into his.

"My name is Sarah Jane Smith, and if you harm her, I have a devise that will turn you inside out."

[Archetype2]

There was a boat now? Where? Wasn't first contact a prospect not a thing? How could you put a prospect on a boat? Where would you even put the boat? and where were these docks Sarah Jane mentioned?? She thought about for several seconds and seriously considered asking about it, then realized she had been mistaken. “Oh...” she said and thought at the same time, not realizing she was going to start talking her own thoughts. “it was one of those figures of speech things.” She muttered, still audible to everyone around. Turning to Sarah Jane she asked, “There’s not actually a boat is there?” she wanted to be sure there wasn’t a boat she’d over looked or that it was indeed a figure of speech.

Turning to Arian as Sarah Jane moved her in front of herself and gave instructions she smiled and did as told. Taking his hand and shaking it in the proper mannerism, she smiled and spoke “Hello, I am Lutessa, any variation of that is also able to be used.” She explained, ensuring to mention that nicknames were fine with her.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that the way people worded things and their figures of speech were very odd and somewhat deceptive, a boat, docks….what else was there that she could possibly expect to find after hearing someone talk about it? “I still like him.” She said very casually “Seems nice…not ganna do anything….bad.” she explained, keeping her eyes on Arian, unable to think of a better word at this time then Bad.

[The First Doctor]

With part of his consciousness, Mr. Smith watched the interplay between the three humanoids with amusement. Another part continued to monitor his sensor systems, and yet another part continued to sniff around the edges of the Department of Defense subnets.

A final part was designing a polymorphic worm, which he intended to use to launch a distributed search for anything related to "MAJESTIC BLUEBOX LONELY GOD". It galled him that, after full minutes of searching, he was unable to find any data.

His communications subroutines pinged. Instantiating yet another consciousness thread, he examined the source of the message and took action.

"You have reached the offices of Sarah Jane Smith," he said, using accents captured from Christopher Lee and tones borrowed from Sir Patrick Stewart. "May I be of assistance?"

"This is Martin Sambur."

Mr. Smith had already determined that to a 99.7783% probability by tracing the signal, but he let the man continue.

"I received a message that Ms. Smith wished to speak with me."

"May I ask you to hold the line for a moment, sir? I shall see if she is available."

"Of course."

Mr. Smith paused the call. "Sarah Jane?" he announced. "This is your Alien Super Computer speaking. I have Dr. Sambur on the line. Do you need me to turn our guest inside out before you answer?"

"Sarah Jane

[Arian Cadence]

Arian blinked, then tilted his head slightly suspiciously. Something seemed off, but he'd have to ponder on it later. For now, he reached out and shook her hand. Honestly, she probably wouldn't feel all that much. A slight tinge that would give her the feel that he was trustworthy, maybe. He nearly blushed, but then promptly remembered that while his psychic prowess was nothing to call home about in regards to the Cygni, by human standards he was well above and beyond the learning curve.

He released her hand, still somewhat suspicious, and sighed slightly. He'd never done something like that before, and he felt rather odd about it. Still, he was-

Did that computer just....Oh, for crying out...

"Hey now, is that any way to treat a guest?" He crossed his arms and stared at...Wait, what should he be staring at? The ceiling. Yeah, let's go with the ceiling. He stared at the ceiling, just a bit taken aback and maybe a little hurt.

[Archetype2]

She trusted him, well sort of a little...she liked him though he was interesting. She heard Mr. Smith speak to Sarah Jane and half ignored him, to interested in her new friend. Did he know if there was a boat or if it was just a figure of speach? "Have you seen a boat yet Arian?" she asked him curiously.

Hearing Mr. Smith's offer to turn Arian inside out and hearing Arian's response and watching his actions, she frowned. Wirling around toward Mr. Smith looking past Sarah Jane as she had been standing right behind the redhead. "Please don't turn him so his organs are on the outside of his body, I like him....he's not trying to kill me like last time I answered the door." she requested to Mr. Smith. Turning to Sarah Jane she looked at her and spoke "Don't let him turn Arian backwards please." she asked, really not wanting the alien-human hybrid boy to be reversed and probably die.

Turning to Arian she explained her frequent references to the Rat Man and the last time she'd answered a door. "If your wondering, You're the second person I've ever met after answering a door, the first one was an alien and he tried to kill me in order to get what he wanted. Sufficed to say it was interesting and bad things happened and....I don't entirely like answering doors." she explained simply, "Oh and I like you and you haven't tried to kill us so I doubt you'll be turned in side out. If you had tried to kill us it would have already happened by now cause you probably would have tried to kill us once we got up here, like the Rat Man...we didn't turn him inside out though so it would go a little differently." she said, getting a little to into what she was saying. Trying to assure him as well as herself somewhat.