[JAUNT] backdated to slightly before the new mingle

[darkhourdear]

Does anyone know what thorium and platium are?

Also, do we know where the Creche is?

[as usual this comes without any explanation. that's how phillip rolls.]

Comments

[detectivewonder]

Thorium and platinum are metals. Heavy elements. Why?

[darkhourdear]

The ship said something about their decompression leading to the 'accelerated breakdown of natural processes.' Which killed a bunch of people, I'm pretty sure.

[detectivewonder]

Their decompression?

Decay. Decay of thorium...

The ship had a radioactive powerplant. If containment leaked badly, people nearby could have been hit by particles traveling faster than the speed of light in atmospheric medium. That's cancer, if the leak is small. If it's big, then it's... messier, and a whole lot briefer.

[darkhourdear]

[that was supposed to say 'decomposition' but apparently Bookie wasn't awake enough yet to catch typos, agh.]

[there is a pause here.]

That seems bad. [no shit, Phillip.] Is that a thing we need to be worrying about, do you think?

[detectivewonder]

I don't know. But I'll find out.

Until I do, stay away from the engine room. The kind of exposure that will give you a mild sunburn at four meters away will kill you within the hour at one meter.

[darkhourdear]

[well for him it might take long but he gets the point.]

...They have protective suit things in the engine rooms, right? [He's still not going to go in, probably, but now he's worried about Vilari and Alcuin's overlays.]

[detectivewonder]

I'm on the other ship.

But they'd have radiation detectors, at least. If it was a problem right now, they should know.

Might not hurt to tell them it was a problem in the past.

Did you wind up telling people your species was telepathic?

[darkhourdear]

Oh. [Whoops.]

I haven't, yet. Do you think I should?

[detectivewonder]

Too late now. But psychometry would have been a good excuse for hjow you knew this, if telepathy was an established cover.

[darkhourdear]

[Phillip thinks about it.] ...I might still be able to use it. I've been saying in general that my world is isolated as an excuse for not knowing a lot. I could just have 'assumed' that everyone could do it. Or, maybe limit it down to saying that I can only do it with machines, or something.

[detectivewonder]

Sure. If you think it's plausible.

Or you could just say you hallucinated something like that, and it's worrying you.

[darkhourdear]

I think I could make it work. [...he might want to avoid Diabolin for that explanation, though.]

Is anything interesting happening on the Corona?

[detectivewonder]

Define 'interesting.'

[darkhourdear]

Uh... things we should know about? I guess?

[detectivewonder]

Fewer technical difficulties since we broke orbit. Other than all the cyborgs hallucinating, I mean. We've been repelling boarders every time they catch up.

[darkhourdear]

That's still happening on the Empress, too. [he still doesn't know how to feel about the boarders.]

[seventhbullet]

They're both elements. Platinum's one of the shiny ones; thorium's radioactive. What's with the chemistry class?

[darkhourdear]

The ship said their decomposition and/or disruption accelerated the breakdown of natural processes. In, um, people, I think.

[seventhbullet]

...Yeah, thorium'll do that, all right. It's one of the radioactive ones, and -

Wait, the ship said? You've been talking to the ship?

[darkhourdear]

Does it do anything with platinum? [The ship did mention both.]

Yeah.

[seventhbullet]

I...think so, don't remember the details. I know you can make a compound of the two. Shit, this kind of chemistry was a long time ago.

Did I know you could do that? For that matter, did you know you could do that?

[darkhourdear]

They were mentioned together, so... it's probably something, at least.

You probably didn't. [...he's not totally convinced they know each other's names, after all.] I sort of did? It's an Orange spell, and I used it to talk to one of Lapis's robots and realized I could probably talk to the ship too.

[seventhbullet]

[It's entirely possible that they don't. Who's this kid, again?]

So it's you and not the ship? Bummer. Talking to it sounds pretty cool. So what else did you get from it?

[darkhourdear]

Not a lot. I can't tell if it was being cryptic on purpose or just being a ship. [sigh.] It said it's from the Creche, but I don't know where that is, and... I get the feeling that when the crew died from whatever happened before they became a part of it? Not sure how, though.

[seventhbullet]

Never heard'a that place. Doubt it's worth asking around, either. Far as I can see, no one on the ship knows where it's from. Or much else about it.

Worse ways to go, I guess. You get any idea of what they want? If anything.

[darkhourdear]

Well, maybe they know the planet it's from and just... can't tell from the ship? [maybe??]

I asked them that. They said no. I might ask again later to make sure.