Cyber Core, Chapter 68: Bringing Thakhibi Up To Date

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#Log Entry: Project Day 0019 ##Addendum 73: ​

So, let me see... Thakhibi and Sudryal are both awake in their respective 'units': Thakhibi, in the main suite, is keeping watch over the two recovering Kragg Ork-boys; Sudryal, in the second suite, likewise stands guard Morarin and Tarvias while they rest. ​

Well, strictly speaking, I'm keeping my sensors aimed at the two young, male guests in the 'main suite', as Thakhibi has ensconced herself in the restroom for the last 20 minutes. Her activities therein make for quite interesting reading, from a medical standpoint, though I have no need to duplicate the medical reports from the oubliette. All I can say is that she has consumed, and then released, what would be an alarming volume of water for a human, but given the amount of complex organic residue she has flushed, I suppose that the water facilitates her recovery from the 'accelerated' regenerative process. ​

I add a few designs to the drinkware fabricator, to include simple lids and straws. If Thakhibi is any indication, the two patients will awaken with sand-dry mouths. ​

Ulotamph and Mathieu, for their part, have no 'minder' except for my own sensors. Earlier, they took full advantage of that, and... Well, I choose to consider both of them as adults, fully capable of making their own decisions. Whether the Kraggs, the Fuin-Braetehls, or the Dohlrabi Clan Heads as a group wish to debate the point, I leave for another day. ​

I consider the sensor-data I have for Drardall and Rhonghob; between the two, I believe the 'little' fellow had gotten the worst injuries, but nothing in the data seems to suggest any complications in the healing process. I would very much like to build up a small stock of medical-sensors suitable for use when the suite gets pressed into service as a 'triage/recovery' room, but in the absence of enough available raw materials, all I can do is add them to the 'wish list' of things I would like any of the guests to send back in trade, for processing. ​

Regardless, now that at least two of the remaining 'original guests' have rested, I believe that it's time to introduce the two rested-folk to the concept of 'intercoms'. ​

According to the reports from the water-lines and drains monitoring the main suite's restroom, Thakhibi had completed her shower some time ago. The rest of the suite's sensors don't report her presence anywhere, so I take the opportunity to activate the avatar 'behind' the main room's wall while I wait for her to finish getting dressed, or whatever else keeps her in the room that she doesn't care to let the Ork-boys see. ​

I animate the avatar with an expression of focused concentration while I 'sketch out' the maps for the relevant data I wish to share with Thakhibi... ​

The restroom door opens, and I can sense Thakhibi's weight settling onto the flooring. ​

"Thakhibi?" I murmur, adjusting the tone and volume of my synthesized voice, giving the impression that I'm calling to her from somewhere in the main room. ​

"Good morning, Joachim," she answers. "Anything to report?" ​

"Sadly, rather a lot," I respond. "If you would rather get some breakfast before I annoy you with the details, I wouldn't mind." ​

Thakhibi chuckles. "Food and water, then," she answers. She strides down the short hallway and nods in the direction of the avatar, who I animate waving back. ​

"Meet you in the kitchen," I say, and 'jump' the avatar to the appropriate wall. ​

"Have you come up with anything new?" Thakhibi asks, heading for the refrigerator. ​

"A few more types of mushrooms that seem edible," I answer. "A few more leafy vegetables. Some interesting stuff that I hope to taste-test with all the guests later. I haven't truly had time to process all of the samples that you and the others collected on the first survey mission." ​

Thakhibi nods, considering the contents of the refrigerator. I can see her eyes widening. "What are these new things in here, Joachim?" she asks, pulling out one package easily half the size of her own head. She considers the markings on the transparent 'lid' keeping the contents sealed. ​

"The one you're holding is labeled as a 'breakfast salad'," I explain. "It combines samples of leaves, stalks and roots of the vegetables I had started to cultivate before you and the others arrived, cross-referenced with what I could determine was healthy for you to eat. How well it will taste is, unfortunately, another matter entirely." ​

"I see," she says, considering it before she gives a rolling-shoulder sort of shrug. "I don't see anything I recognize as immediately poisonous, so it should work out reasonably well for the time being." ​

She takes the sealed bowl with her and closes the refrigerator door, retrieving an Ork-proportioned knife and fork from the cutlery drawer. She also takes a fresh flagon from the cabinet, and pauses to look at the four new units on 'her' shelf. ​

"Intended for use by our two guests," I explain. "They have lids and removable straws to make it easier for them to get just enough water into their lips without risking dumping the whole thing out on their faces." ​

Thakhibi raises her eyebrows, taking one from the shelf and examining it. "Good seal," she says, examining the latch that holds the lid in place. She opens it after taking a moment to analyze the mechanism, and considers the interior. "Should hold enough to keep them satisfied for a while, at least." ​

I took the liberty of moving the four chairs and the table from the main room into the dining room while I waited for Thakhibi to exit the lavatory, so she settles herself into her chair, facing the window. ​

"Any way I could see out of these magic windows of yours, Joachim?" she asks. ​

"Naturally, Thakhibi," I respond, and animate the avatar adjusting the windows' reflection and transparency settings. ​

The first few glimmers of dawnlight have begun painting the tops of the trees visible from the dining-area's windows, and Thakhibi seems to thoroughly enjoy the view while she eats. ​

##Addendum 74: ​

As Thakhibi finishes her food, she turns from contemplating the sunrise to face the avatar, standing patiently on 'his side' of the wall to Thakhibi's right. ​

"It's been some time since I've had such a delicious meal," she admits, with a slightly grudging note in her voice. Then she angles her flagon toward the window. "But the day grows no shorter. What, exactly, is there to report, Joachim?" ​

I animate the avatar detailing the arrival of the Fuin-Braetehls and our response. As he does, the avatar produces one video-screen after another, unfolding out of a 'finger-tap' on the wall. Here, eight composite front- and side-view photos of the teenagers, assembled from multiple video-frames of security-camera footage. There, animated maps of "Big Hands" and "Fancy Hat" as they make their initial foray to the resource-collection unit and thence into the foyer. Then, a more sophisticated wire-frame diagram of Jilalyn, Snatdrure and Scinjir dispersing from the main suite to their posts for the 'lure'.​

Thakhibi frowns. "Wait, what's this about 'underground catacombs'?" she asks, indicating the four-layered map of the Labyrinth, including the barricades, stairwells, and approximate positions of the 'transciever-stones'. ​

I animate the avatar retrieving his pointer-toothpick from behind his ear and expanding it out to slightly longer than his arm, then indicating the important parts of the dawnward edges of the 'catacomb' maps. "My nanites have reinforced the walls on this side of the passage, between the excavated spaces and the creek bed on the surface," I explain. "They re-arranged a portion of the clay, sand, rock, and other materials along this strip, here, to do so. For the rest of the area, the reinforcement compressed into supporting the ceilings, pillars, and floors, as well as leaving drainage-grooves running north-south..." ​

"That's all very well, but how are the Fuin-Braetehls able to see, or generally survive any length of time down there?" Thakhibi asks. Her face begins to cloud, and even on a Half-Ork's face, the expression worries me. ​

"I can program my nanites to construct a simple firepit with fuel and chimneys here, along the northwest edges and extending up to the front of the cliff-face walls," I offer. "I can set up one flow of drinking water, another for wash-water, and a third that leads to an oubliette that my nanites can retrieve to keep it from becoming unsanitary for long. I can even arrange for separate sets of each, one on each floor. Now that we've effectively sealed them in the Labyrinth until they figure out which walls truly separate them from their freedom, I felt it wisest for you, at least, to consult with Jilalyn, Snatdrure, Scinjir and Sudryal to agree on the next moves." ​

The fierce edge to Thakhibi's scowl softens a bit out of curiosity. "Who's this 'Jilalyn' you speak of?" ​

I animate the avatar opening up a few more digital photos. "She's one of the three Halflings of a party sent from the Hoeffschtaeder Barony to retrieve Mathieu." ​

I spend a clock-cycle reviewing the location-data I've accumulated from all the transmissions I've received from Sudryal's, now Jilalyn's, radio headset, then calculating her possible location based on the information I've extracted from external security-camera footage. ​

Then I animate the avatar pointing at an aerial map of the duskward area past the upper ridge, and shading in an oval section. "I believe that Jilalyn has achieved temporary safety in one of the taller trees in this range." ​

"And... why, exactly, did she feel the need to make an elevated camp...?" Thakhibi begins, then her eyes narrow. "Something else showed up," she says. "Not thinking-folk, or you would have identified them as such..." ​

I animate the avatar nodding, then producing another photo-image. "A pack of forest-wolves arrived before we could assemble a better plan for dealing with the remaining six Fuin-Braetehls," I say. "I was able to get Snatdrure and Scinjir to relative safety and concealment on top of the foyer's roof. From there, the two of them were able to rouse the Fuin-Braetehls from a distance by means of their slingshots. They were also able to provide cover for them as they ran to the foyer, leaving me able to close and secure the doors between them and the forest-wolves." ​

Thakhibi nodded, slowly. "All six of them?" she asks. ​

"Yes." ​

"Well, that's something," she admits, after a moment's thought. Then her expression hardens again. "Still, though, I'm not entirely happy about how you left the eight of them in the dark like that." ​

I animate the avatar bowing his head. "I realize that, and I am sorry," I admit. "All I can offer for my defense is the simple fact that, while the plans for the full facility I intend to construct here do include space for a constabulary department and holding cells, I haven't been able to construct them yet." ​

I animate the avatar raising his head to 'face' Thakhibi, while using the stick to point at the Labyrinth levels. "We chose to use the resources available. With no intention of leaving the boys down there for any longer than necessary, but at the very least, we felt it wisest to wait until you, Sudryal, Morarin and Tarvias are rested and fed and generally ready to take on twice your numbers of adolescent Humans." ​

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