Session 1

Cass places her hand on.Hariette's shoulder. "It's okay. You did what you could. We're clearly in danger though, so I need you to let him go, okay?"

Leda, who up until now had remained glued to her chair looks wide-eyed at Hiro then back at the body. "What if you're right and this man is contagious?"

Sinking as deeply into the chair she as can as if it will put more distance between her and the body, she looks at the blank screen wondering what had been on it if anything, and whether there is a console or datapad hidden anywhere that she could use to turn it on, possibly something on the TV itself.

"What did the man say?" she asks the others.

"Not a damn thing," Dayton says tersely as he stands. "And we don't know if he's contagious. Could've been booby trapped with some kind of IED as well. But that wouldn't make a lot of sense - if someone or something has the tech and the desire to zap us from the ship to this place, they could just as easily have spaced us if they wanted us dead. Assuming this isn't some elaborate mindfrack. But Doctor, you and i probably shouldn't go shaking hands or stirring anybody's drinks with our pinkies for the time being."

He scans the room a little more closely, noting the limited details and the options before them, senses on high alert. "Hiro, what's up with the door?"

Cass gives Leda a hug, and says, "So nobody knows how we got out here? It's like I was reading a research paper and then I was standing in here just now."

She taps around her body. "I'm not caring a weapon. Anybody armed?"

Hariette backs off, panting from the effort.

"I couldn't just let him die, infected or not. If I had a first aid kit... oh, and you can drop the doctor thing. Not that I'm... not... but Dr Galent was my mother so... Hariette is fine. Just Hariette" She goes to recover her sweater, strangely not as bloody as she expected it to be.

In response to Cass' question, Hariette digs in her pockets, hoping to find a scalpel or something.

"I don't think I have anything, let me see..."

Hiro listens to the conversation about the dead man, then nods when CC asks whether anyone is armed. He grins and slaps each of his impressive biceps as he answers, "Yup. Got two of them."

"The door," he then adds to Dayton, "appears to be in our way. Let's see what's behind it."

Staying that, Mandalesi tries to shove the door open.

Hiro pushes the door. Against his heavily muscled arms, the door stood no chance. With a clicking sound, it opens, ready to move away from your way.

"I'm just armed with my noggin," Leda says smiling meekly pointing to her head while she watches Hiro attack the door with his large, bulging biceps.

"Maybe we will find out what we are doing here and how we got here on the other side of that door."

Leda being a shy and quiet person had a tendency to ramble when nervous which often resulted in stating the obvious. It was her way of thinking things through to find a solution. Not having any answers was a situation that provoked much anxiety for her as she obsessed about what the heck they were doing here, why they had no memory of getting here, and why that dead man was here and alone on the floor.

She got out of her chair presuming they were all going to investigate what was on the other side of that door next.

Dayton checks his gear to make sure that his standard loadout is still intact (combat survival knife, sidearm, extra clips, and a holdout blade tucked into a sheathe on his calf) before replying.

Hiro. You try to find a way to open the door somehow. There is no indication on it that would explain how exactly will that work. As you spend a bit more time, you realize that this is a door, meant to keep one enclosure seperate from the other and the feeling of decreased resistance under your hands still endure. You decide to force your way out, pushing the door with greater force every second, until which point the door makes a loud clicking sound and opens to the other side. Though you don't apply any further force to make the door wide open, out of your control the door just rotates all the way to the other side, revealing two standing figures to you. These are just two non-human beings. By the looks of them they seem intimidating, and though you don't know much about them, as a man accustomed to dangerous situations you quickly understand that you are not in a safe situation at all, even though they stand still like they are frozen in time, without any movement. Right now they are too real to be a statue and they are too lifeless to be alive.

This room is a bit larger than the other one. It would take approximately 25 feet to get to the other side where another large, red door is present. The creatures are standing right in the middle of the room. One of them have a more or less humanoid shape with a distorted feeling. They have two very large arms, one arm is almost as thick as an average human's head. They are relatively short but every inch of their body seems tough, even by just looking at it. One gets a feeling of looking at a rock when looking at this creature's skin. There is not much skin to be displayed, also, as most of their body is covered with a brown and black leather-ish clothe. They have a thick head with an even thicker head. Their face is not recognizable behind a kind of mask they are wearing, which has no contours, no way of telling how this creature see at all. With their relatively long legs compared to other parts of their body, large arms, scary mask and thick skin, anyone who looks at the creature would get the feeling that they would not want to get in fight with them.

The other one is a complete mystery. Yes, she looks exactly like a human female, with all the indications that make one assume as such but she also has this non-authentic feeling, almost like a wax sculpture, the frozennes also further strenghtening this feeling. Her clothes are what one might expect from a typical woman of her age would wear on a hot day. There is nothing more to her to be recognized, other than the eerie feeling she leaves.

The room is empty, even emptier than the previous one, with the exception of two mysterious creatures standing right in the middle.

Hiro's eyebrows and concern rise after the door opens and he gets a good look at the next room without going into it. Turning to look back at everyone, he says, "I think you're all going to want to see this..."

Thrusting his hand through the threshold separating the rooms, the brawny man looks to see if anything happens, and if it doesn't, he strides into the room.

Cassiopeia has entered dozens of rooms with little idea of what she would find. She always pleaded to the fates and luck that she would be surprised, for that would generally mean archaeological treasures that would help her piece together the story of an alien culture. She wasn't here to be a treasure hunter, though, but for her well publicized adventures in xeno negotiations.

Except, where was "here"? Not knowing that, the assumption of what they want from her, from them, had to be reserved.

She steps close and places a hand on Hiro's arm, letting him know where she was. She looks past him into the room. She passes over the human female and focusses on the odd creature. "It's not just me, they're not moving at all, are they? Not even breathing." She sticks her hand into the room. "I'll go in, take it slow. Don't get aggressive until I say so or I go down."

She steps in slowly. A decade of experience in first contact has prepared her for this. She knows what to say, generally, but the first interactions are crucial. "We just arrived in this place. We don't know how we got here. We would like to be friends, and share what we know with you."

Or she is walking into some kind of technological trap.

There is no change in the creatures. They don't seem to perceive another presence in the room, even if they are somehow alive. Cass' words are just absorbed by the room's walls, which seem to display the same reaction as the creatures: nothing.

She'll approach them cautiously, continuing her friendly chatter. She's wary of whatever tech or art is suspending them in place, and wants to find the place that that field or bubble starts to operate.

Hariette follows Cass to the door, trying to subtly position herself to yank her back in case of hostilities. When nothing happens, she enters the room keeping a wary eye out, uncharacteristically cautious and quiet, still keeping within range to tackle or jump in front of Cass at the first sign of danger. Technology isn't her specialty, but she cautiously observes the aliens, to see if they look like anything she's seen before. She also looks at their expressions - do they look scared? Surprised? Or, perhaps worst of all, do they look like they didn't even have a chance to react? Hariette feels that with her knowledge of alien physiologies, she'd be able to get a rough read on their emotions, even if they aren't exactly like a human's.

Cass. You approach them quietly and slowly, looking for a clue to this mystery but there is no discernible effect that you can observe by your bare eyes. Your other senses seem to feel just normal as well, without any change. When you observe the masked individuual, though, from the design of their mask, you figure out that it has some kind of a religious or spiritual meaning. You've encountered such artifacts before. They are generally worn either for pure ceremonial purposes or in combat/war situations. In some ancient cultures these masks were worn to arouse fear in the enemy and strengthen the bond between the soldiers. Although making such assumptions about this creature standing in front of you just by looking is not likely, you are absolutely sure that this mask is something valuable to its bearer and taking it out without their consent would probably be not wise if you don't want to antagonize them.

Hariette. Similar to Cass, there is nothing you can pick to understand the cause of this frozen state they are in. However, as you examine them, your eyes recognize some things before you're even aware of them, due to your years of training and studying. You realize that the woman seem like a 3-D art, a sculpture rather than an actual human being. It is almost too perfect in some ways, like a very good artist has drawn (or carved) her. Her face expressions are such that they meant to convey positive feelings. Not a complete joy, not even a smile, but like an expression you would make for a headshot. The other being is one you've never encountered yourself before, although you feel like with proper equipment and more time, you can get lots of info from them.