Day 3 MM: The Nature of Sentience

[Baesal Zyn]

The drones have been herded to a safe location and extra samples had been taken...but while the jedi could make educated guesses she still was not a fully trained physician. Thankfully a vetted medical droid had arrived the day before.

One that might have an interest in all of this

Until V1 arrived she would busy herself by preparing pyres

[V1-V0]

The 'Medic' was soon to arrive. As this was a potentially dangerous place it was equipped with its blaster cannon and grenades looking much more like the combat veteran it was than when it was forced to march around with just a pistol by the Alderaanian laws.

It marched up to Baesal and saluted.

"Knight Zyn, Veeone-Veeoh reporting as requested."

[Baesal Zyn]

She saluted reflexively. The presence of the droid gave her great reassurance.

''Thank you for coming so fast Veeone, I could greatly use your medical expertise.'' she looked around after the greeting and waved at the massacre

''Have you been debriefed about what happened here?''

[V1-V0]

There was a blurt of binary and a shake of the droid's head.

"Negative, Knight Zyn. Although location suggests a conflict at a minor House has occurred."

[Baesal Zyn]

''Let me inform you then...Last night there was essentially an attack on the killik hive that took residence here. The group involved unleashed a sonic device that drove the hive mind mad with pain. It essentially almost destroyed itself in it's agony.''

She took a breath

''The insectoids went berserk while the human joiners seems to all have gotten brain hemoraghea...or something like it. Some survived well enough, others survived but...'' she looked at the shambling drones ''...they are cut form the hive mind somehow. They were the furthest from the deployment zone. In essence I would like us to analyse their condition and see if we can heal them.''

she fiddled with her hands

''Or at least figure out how they got hurt and how the hive mind works on a biological level''

[V1-V0]

"Killiks . . . "

The droid's head rotated from side to side as it processed the information.

"Indigenous insectoid lifeform, generally thought of as a dangerous pest. This unit has no medical data on their physiology at present. A full scan of a survivor is required at first."

[Baesal Zyn]

''They are more then a pest...they are a sentient. Just not in a way humans then to understand'' she specified before bringing him to one of the drones

''Can I do anything to help?''

(Occ: ready to assist)

[V1-V0]

"Watch the rear for enemy fighters . . . "

Veeone deployed the medical scanner and played it across the killik's unfamiliar anatomy.

--

D3 MM KITTEH BOT medscan icky insect, assumed average diff: 1eP+1eA+1eB+2eD 1 success, 1 threat

[Dapper Dog]

They seem unharmed but do not seem to react to outside stimulus short of, randomly clicking sounds. They mostly just stand still taking tentative steps but act as if blind to the world by all senses.

They have physiology similar to what you would expect of insectoid creatures, carapace like exo-skeleton, with a distributed nervous system no real centralized brain and seem capable of acting even after much grievous harm. They are hardy and it looks like this drone contains unfertilized eggs but no way to deploy them maybe it must undergo a transformation to do so?

[V1-V0]

"It does not appear to be physically harmed. Although its brain structure suggests it could still function with significant damage anyway. It is carrying eggs, unfertilized but this is possibly not its final form."

There was a popping sound as Veeone rapidly retracted the scanner probe back into its housing.

"From their behaviour it is logical that they are a hive mind society and this individual has been severed from the hive. It is possible to theorise that moving it to another hive or reinstating the hive mind may restore normal cognitive function."

Veeone whirred as its photoreceptors focused on Baesal.

"Otherwise it will wander blindly until it expires."

[Baesal Zyn]

''What survived of the hive did not want it. They considered it broken, unable to connect or be connected to so to speak''

She turns around the insectoid

''Are you sure it is not damaged? Could there be more then appears?''

[V1-V0]

"There appears to be no physical damage. It appears this drone is exactly that. Helpless and without direction when cut off from the hive mind. Incapable of independent thought."

It processed things for a moment.

"It may still have capability for reactions to specific situations, but until that stimulus is provided it will simply wander like this until its energy stores are depleted and then it will cease."

[Baesal Zyn]

A tension in Baesal's shoulders lifted

''Not what I was expecting. Still, your analysis brought me relief. Do you know how it receives or transmit information or command? If nothing is physically wrong then it still should, right?''

[V1-V0]

"Its synaptic structure is distributed throughout its carapace. There are several nerve clusters that I cannot attribute a purpose to immediately. You would require an Academic specialising in insects for this as any one of them could be responsible for receiving instruction from the hive mind, or transmitting information back."

It viewed the wandering insect with the usual stoic droid lack of expression.

"This unit is sorry this was not the information you expected, but it is the information this unit could give. This killik will never complete its breeding cycle now and will expire as soon as its energy reserves are depleted."

[Baesal Zyn]

''You did good Veeone'' she replied as she gazed at the drones ''We will bring them for study then...understand them as best we can. We have to find a way to communicate and make peace with them.''

[V1-V0]

"Peace?"

Veeone focused again on the togruta jedi.

"This unit is not equipped for negotiations, passive or aggressive, but is happy to defend members of the glorious Republic against any that attack them."

[Baesal Zyn]

''It's okay...there will be more analysis to be done with all the samples we collected. Let's go deeper into the hive, there are humanoids there.''

She placed her goggles

''Most of them are humans who were submitted to some biological change''

[V1-V0]

"Local information gathered names those as Joiners. Is that what we now seek?"

With the intention to head further in made, V1 unslung its blaster rifle. Just in case.

[Galen Sol]

"Baesal are you still at the hive?" Galen's called over the commlink.

[Baesal Zyn]

"Local information gathered names those as Joiners. Is that what we now seek?"

With the intention to head further in made, V1 unslung its blaster rifle. Just in case.

''Indeed. If we can study them then we might have a mean to understand the nature of the joining, it's effects and if it can be reversed.''

At that point the comm pinged

"Baesal are you still at the hive?" Galen's called over the commlink.

''Yeah, I am with Veeone. Thanks to him we have a chance to make a preliminary study the killik's biology before we bring the samples and bodies to a proper lab. He's already lifted a weight on my shoulder: the drones are not sentient themselves so while their organisms are still functioning they are at least not in any sort of pain''