Hazmat Protocols [Tida, Nexus]

[onemorebounty]

*Samus makes her way through the Nexus, wheeling a handcart on which rests a gleaming metal-and-ceramic cylinder. Roughly the size of a fifty-five gallon drum, it emits the quiet hum residents of Earth might associate with a high voltage power line. She glances often at a set of readouts and controls inset into the cylinder's top, her gaze

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[therandomcleric]

Tida is tucked away into a corner - insofar as the Nexus has corners - this time, holding what appears to be a half-finished dress and humming quietly to herself as she meticulously hand-stitches the seams together. She hears Samus coming before she sees her, naturally, but barely glances up until she gets to a point where she can tie off the thread and pause.

"This is the sample?" she asks then, glancing at the cylinder. "Or rather, the sample is inside?"

[onemorebounty]

*She nods.*

A liter of it, yes. Between the ceramics, rad-shielding, and active field suppression, it's supposed to be contained for two hundred hours. I wouldn't trust it for half that.

*She pauses.*

I won't tell you there's no risk. I don't know how much exposure you'll need to get a read on it, and I don't know how much exposure it'll need to infect you, corrupt you, or just kill you. Think it over--I won't blame you if you'd rather not take that risk.

[therandomcleric]

"...I know the risk is high, but I still want to take it. I'd feel awful if I sat back and did nothing when I had a chance to help." It may be worth noting Tida is adorned with many, many strands of protective jewelry, necklaces and bracelets and chains of jewels spanning across her clothing, and the coarse cloth robe she is draped in radiates an air of powerful magic. "...I'm prepared. Let's do this."

[onemorebounty]

*Samus gives a slight, tight nod. Tida's making the conscious, honorable choice, which both satisfies Samus' feelings of obligation and earns a measure of her respect. Every little pittance from her is hard-won.*

Alright. I'm not going to unseal it all at once--I'd rather not expose it if I absolutely don't have to. When you're ready, I'll start opening it up, and if you think you can get a feel for it before I've opened everything, let me know, and I'll stop there. Any questions?

[therandomcleric]

"No, no questions." She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and slowly exhales as she opens them again. "...I'm ready. You can start unsealing it."

[onemorebounty]

*Samus nods again, and begins carefully prodding and stroking commands into the cylinder's controls.*

Bringing the tertiary suppression field down... now.

*The hum the cylinder emits fades slightly, as she proceeds through the secondary and primary fields and many, many layers of shielding--or at least, as few as Tida requires. She pauses for a long moment between each, watching the winged woman for any sign of contact, or worse, corruption.*

*The substance inside the container, for the record, is phazon. A luminescent, electric-blue sludge, it percolates with a wide band of harsh radiation and pulses with something malign that is almost alive.*

[therandomcleric]

"...Oh," Tida says suddenly after a few layers of shielding, and winces slightly, the gems set about her taking on a faint glow. "It's stronger...than I expected. Please stop there, I think I can fix on it easily enough..."

Another deep inhalation, and she lifts her hands in front of her, holds them with the palms facing down and the fingers splayed wide. "...I can see why you want to destroy it." Because now she wants to, as well, just from the feeling she's getting.

[onemorebounty]

Let me know when you're done.

*Samus turns her attention to the readouts on the cylinder, as well as to a timepiece adhered to the back of her hand; if the phazon gets suddenly active, if they approach a harmful dose of rads, or if it's been open too long to trust the remaining layers of shielding, she'll close it back up and call the idea off. She'll respond to Tida's observation when she's more secure of their continued survival.*

[therandomcleric]

"I will." And as soon as she says the words, a brilliant glow springs into being around her; her voice rises seconds after, breathy and ethereal, chanting strange-sounding syllables that are guttural and yet still somehow fluid in an odd sort of way. Spell after spell is recited, rolling from her lips in quick succession, and then she gasps and lowers her hands with a very fine tremble.

"I - I've got it. Please, close it back up...it hurts."

[onemorebounty]

*In answer, Samus jabs a single button; the lid slams shut, mag-locks and dead-locks, barriers and bolts all sliding home, the containment fields buzzing back to life.*

Yes. It really shouldn't be.

*There's a note of strain in the warrior woman's tightly-controlled voice, and she eyes the cylinder with an alien expression--not far from hunger, but different enough to be disquieting--before forcibly returning her attention to the mage.*

So, you think you can make something to work against that?

[therandomcleric]

"I think I can," Tida agrees, calming slowly after another, more noticeable tremble. She's not adversely affected by the phazon, just horribly shaken up. "It's...so strong. I've never felt anything that deeply before. I don't think I could forget it even if I tried."

Her gaze firms into determination. "Which means I can put all my effort into making something to counter it, without being distracted by trying to remember its feel."

[onemorebounty]

That's good to know.

*The ghost of a smile reaches her lips, then grows into a smirk.*

You look like you could use a drink, and answers if you still want them.

[therandomcleric]

"I'll take you up on both, if that's not too much trouble." She gives a faint return smirk.

[onemorebounty]

*She reaches into a mesh carisak slung against her hip, and pulls out a pair of brown ovoids, which rather look like ostrich eggs made of leather, with a clump of moss stuck to one end. She offers one to Tida, piercing the smooth end of the other with her thumb.*

I'll let you know if you ask anything too personal. Fire away.

[therandomcleric]

Tida watches Samus, then imitates her, managing to pierce the end quite neatly and sniffing at the contents in curiosity. "Well, first off...what exactly is this?"

Slight smile, then, before she gets to the serious questioning. "What exactly was in that container? Where did it come from?"

[onemorebounty]

It's a thurtik pod. Full of nutrients, simple sugars, electrolytes--where I'm from, they're a good cap to high-stress work.

*She takes a drink from hers; the contents are a thick, viscous slime, emerald green and clear but for tiny bubbles. It tastes a little bit like a lime, if limes were sweet.*

As for the sample... well, the working name is "phazon." I'm not certain where it comes from, other than the Void, but I've seen it on two worlds already. A meteor strike deposits some on a planet, and it spreads. Whatever survives, it infects. A settlement of my people gave everything to contain the one that fell on them; the other fell hard enough to bend space. This sample came from the second site.