EPISODE 6: HIGH-FUNCTIONING FLESH (2) EPISODE 6: HOCHFUNKTIONALES FLEISCH (2) ΕΠΕΙΣΟΔΙΟ 6: (2) EPISODIO 6: CARNE DE ALTO FUNCIONAMIENTO (2) EPISODE 6 : LA CHAIR À HAUT RENDEMENT (2) EPISODIO 6: CARNE AD ALTO FUNZIONAMENTO (2) EPISODE 6：高機能な肉 (2) EPISÓDIO 6: CARNE DE ALTA FUNCIONALIDADE (2) ЭПИЗОД 6: ВЫСОКОФУНКЦИОНАЛЬНАЯ ПЛОТЬ (2) EPİSODE 6: YÜKSEK İŞLEVLİ BEDEN (2)

All across her skin is this… she's covered in thousands of slender stalks of that bioluminescent fungi, like a miniature glowing forest. Her body seems to be the source of the fungi that are covering the ceiling throughout the pod.

But it's her. It's everything she ever was. Это все, чем она когда-либо была.

She's wearing what she always wore -- an engineering jumpsuit with black boots and her toolbelt. Except her sleeves are pushed up and some of the fungus has ruptured through the fabric over her chest… and…[[Moves closer.]] За исключением того, что ее рукава закатаны, а часть грибка прорвалась сквозь ткань на ее груди... и... [[Подходит ближе.]] What are those? Что это? Did you put those in, Dr. Keane? Вы вставили их, доктор Кин?

**Dr. Keane:** No. I'm trying to figure that out myself.

**X:** Uh. They're… they're hidden in the dense growth of the fungi, but they look like the IVs that the Caldwell Enterprises people put into my wrists. |||||||||champignons||||||||||||||| Они… они спрятаны в густых зарослях грибов, но выглядят как капельницы, которые люди из Колдуэлл Энтерпрайзис вставили мне в запястья. There's one in each of her forearms, and they're not clear -- they're black, and -- Oh! There are two more! Есть еще два! Look! [[SFX: Vacuum suit material moves.]] In her temples. Hidden by her hair and those dense clumps of... hard black stuff. Скрытое ее волосами и этими густыми клочьями... жесткой черной материи.

**Dr. Keane:** I know. There's one more at the base of her neck as well.

**X:** What are they for? Is she still alive?! She doesn't look like she's dead. She looks… exactly the same as I remember her. Preserved. __Pristine__. Нетронутый. I mean, beneath all the fungus.

**Dr. Keane:** I don't know. She's not registering any heart, respiratory, or brain activity. But I've never seen… [[She trails off, puzzled.]]

**Kai:** It's thoughtware. Кай: Это мысли.

**X:** What?

**Kai:** Augmented consciousness. Wetware. She must have been trying to install something and… never woke up. Должно быть, она пыталась что-то установить и… так и не проснулась.

**X:** [[Frowns as she tries to wrap her brain around the concept.]] X: [[Хмурится, пытаясь обдумать эту концепцию.]] What… what would she have been trying to install?

**Kai:** Any number of things… the IVs hook up to the console over here, but with the power dead, it'll be hard to tell…

[[SFX: Kai flips a switch. Computer beeps.]]

[[SFX: Gentle beeping, as from a medical monitor.]]

**Kai:** [[Sounds troubled]] That's not possible.

**X:** What?

**Kai:** It works. But the power is dead in this pod...

**Dr. Keane:** [[Confused]] Look -- it's not even plugged in.

**Kai:** This doesn't make any sense.

**X:** I'm powering the Cavatica's three active pods with the hydroponic system in the glasshouse. Could something similar be happening here?

**Kai:** [[Doubtfully]] Maybe.

**X:** I guess what I'm asking is… could she be powering it? I mean, could the IVs be output instead of input?

**Kai:** [[Still doubtfully]] I don't know -- the electromagnetic output of a typical human being would barely be enough to power one of those lamps, let alone this console.

[[SFX: Creepy atmospheric noises]]

[[SFX: Static burst]]

**Chen:** [[Voice distorted over comms]] What've you got for us, Kai? The Councillor is anxiously awaiting a report.

**Kai:** [[To X]] Would you like to…? [[Doesn't finish the sentence; hands comm to her.]]

**X:** [[Nods, then into comm:]] It's her. It's my mother.

**Chen:** All right. X, do you want to stay in there a while longer?

**Council Member 1:** [[In the background]] Call off the search for Dr. Rousseau and renew the investigation into the jettisoned escape pod.

**X:** [[Sounds lost/overwhelmed]] I… I don't know. What am I supposed to want? Чего я должен хотеть? What's normal?

**Dr. Keane:** [[Compassionately]] Whatever makes you most comfortable. Д-р Кин: [[Сострадательно]] Как вам удобнее. If you change your mind later, you can always come back.

**X:** This is weird. [[Sounds vaguely panicked.]] Heh. I'm a foot away from her and she can't tell me that I'm not good enough. She can't say anything. [[Pause, deep breath]] Okay. I want to go. But… she'll be here later if I want to come back?

**Dr. Keane:** [[Compassionately]] Yes. I promise.

**X:** All right.

[[SFX: Static burst]]

**Kai:** [[Into comm]] Coming back toward you.

**Chen:** Roger that. [[SFX: Static burst]]

[[SFX: Footsteps through living quarters.]]

**X:** Um. Hold on. I need a sample of this vine. [[SFX: Snips plant]] All right.

[[SFX: Footsteps through hallway. Sound of rubble, rustling of plastic sheeting.]]

**Council Member 1:** Officer Kai, you may now take the specimen for decontamination and await further orders in the Enforcer One's infirmary. [[Pause, then mildly:]] I notice your weapon is still set for ‘stun.' You will want to remedy that before I see you again. [[Пауза, затем мягко:]] Я заметил, что ваше оружие все еще настроено на «оглушение». Вы захотите исправить это до того, как я снова вас увижу.

**Kai:** Roger that.

**Council Member 1:** [[Frowns]] The appropriate response is “Yes, sir,” or “Yes, Councillor.” Do you also need to be… decontaminated?

**Kai:** No, sir.

**Council Member 1:** Good. Take her away.

**Chen:** Wait. [[SFX: Footsteps]] X, are you… okay?

**X:** [[Dizzily]] I… think so.

**Chen:** You don't look like it.

**Council Member 1:** I said, take her away.

**Chen:** [[Angrily, to the Councillor]] Sir. She just saw her mother's dead body. Don't you have any idea what that feels like? Have some compassion.

**Council Member 1:** [[Mildly]] Captain Chen, perhaps you have forgotten that this… thing before you is not, in fact, a human being. That it in fact has no parents. That it is a product of not only gross and unchecked experimentation, but willful disobedience -- and both the physical and intellectual property of Caldwell Enterprises. Что это продукт не только грубых и бесконтрольных экспериментов, но и преднамеренного неповиновения — и является как физической, так и интеллектуальной собственностью Caldwell Enterprises.

**X:** [[Wearily]] I'm… right here.

**Council Member 1:** [[Continues, to Chen]] If you cannot keep a level head over a scientific aberration, the council will be forced to question your placement on this taskforce -- and any future placements as well. Член Совета 1: [[Продолжает, Чену]] Если вы не сможете удержаться на уровне научного заблуждения, Совет будет вынужден подвергнуть сомнению ваше место в этой оперативной группе, а также любые будущие места. It would be a shame to lose you, but there are many young recruits eager to take your place. Recruits who are more closely aligned with Caldwell Enterprises' mission, vision, and values. Is that clear?

**Chen:** [[Long pause, then, resentfully]] … Yes, sir.

**Council Member 1:** Good. [[SFX: Small beep]] That's a demerit on your record, of course, but I'm glad you're capable of seeing reason. [[Pause]] Oh -- before you go, Officer Kai, can you tell me what your weapon is set for? [[Пауза]] О, прежде чем вы уйдете, офицер Кай, не могли бы вы сказать мне, для чего предназначено ваше оружие?

[[SFX: Small metallic click]]

**Kai:** It's set for ‘kill', sir.

**Council Member 1:** Good. Dismissed.

[[SFX: Kai and X's footsteps move down the hall]]

**Council Member 1:** [[To Chen]] Now, I am going to have a word with Dr. Keane about her findings. Член Совета 1: [[К Чену]] А теперь я собираюсь поговорить с доктором Кин о ее выводах. And when I return, you and I are going to discuss the fundamentals of the chain of command…

[[SFX: Kai and X's footsteps continue down the hall. A few moments pass.]]

**X:** [[Snorts]] ‘Scientific aberration.' [[Mutters]] That council dude has a __sickeningly__ narrow definition of ‘human being'.

**Kai:** [[Drily]] I understand the feeling. Most people who meet me think I'm some kind of robot.

**X:** Oh my gosh, that is super rude! ...Also, are you… not some kind of robot?

**Kai:** [[Coldly]] I am just as human as you are.

**X:** ...Well, according to the Councillor, I'm not human.

**Kai:** Oh. Right.

**X:** Heh. So I'm a scientific aberration who looks human, and you're a human who looks like a scientific aberration. Is that about right? Это примерно так?

**Kai:** [[Vaguely amused]] I guess that sums it up pretty well.

[[SFX: They walk for a while.]]

**X:** So… this is probably also extremely rude, but… I know you don't need oxygen, and you've indicated that your vision isn't exactly organic. What... happened to you? Or were you born like this? Can I know?

[[They stop walking.]]

**X:** [[Rushed]] I'm not asking to be mean or anything. X: [[Радиально]] Я не прошу быть злым или что-то в этом роде. I just…

**Kai:** No, I don't mind. Will you share why the Councillor keeps referring to you as a... specimen? Не расскажете, почему Советник продолжает называть вас... экземпляром?

**X:** Totally.

**Kai:** All right. I've been with Caldwell Enterprises my entire career. When I was younger, I was… very good at my job. I climbed the ranks quickly and was assigned to increasingly complex projects. Я быстро поднимался по служебной лестнице, и мне поручали все более сложные проекты. Eventually, and perhaps inevitably, there was an… accident.

**X:** Hmm. This is all very vague. Все это очень расплывчато. Do you not like talking about yourself?

**Kai:** No. Or at least, I'm not used to it.

**X:** You can stop if you want.

**Kai:** No, that's all right. This is… good. Probably. [[Resumes narrative thread:]] The accident destroyed the majority of my organic tissue, though I had been wearing a newly engineered helmet that managed to keep my brain functional and intact. Several portions of my spine had survived as well. Caldwell Enterprises medics collected what they could find and housed the surviving pieces here in this suit. [[SFX: Taps chest]]

**X:** Wow. That was surprisingly nice of them.

**Kai:** [[Uncomfortably]] I was a… valuable asset. And the procedure wasn't exactly… without price. И процедура была не совсем… бесценной.

**X:** What do you mean? Like, you miss having basic human sensory experiences?

**Kai:** Yes. But also…

[[SFX: Robotic clicking; hydraulic hiss]]

**X:** What are you doing? Woah, sweet. Вау, мило. Metal bones!

**Kai:** Look at my wrist bone. What does it say?

**X:** Oh, stamped into the metal? “Property of…” Oh.

[[Brief moment of quiet]]

**X:** Wow. Is there anything that isn't? Есть что-то, чего нет?

**Kai:** [[Mildly]] Not that I've seen.

**X:** [[Incredulous]] You can't just run around putting your name on things and pretending they're yours! X: [[Недоверчиво]] Ты не можешь просто бегать, ставить свое имя на вещах и притворяться, что они твои!

**Kai:** [[Drily]] I know a corporate entity that might disagree. Кай: [[Сухо]] Я знаю корпорацию, которая может не согласиться.

**X:** Yeah, well I disagree right back. That stamp doesn't mean anything if you don't let it. Neither does my tattoo. You know that, right?

**Kai:** I'm not really sure you can reassign meaning to things at will like that. Кай: Я не совсем уверен, что можно вот так переиначивать смысл вещей по своему желанию. Caldwell Enterprises did manufacture my chassis -- they do technically… own me. Caldwell Enterprises изготовила мое шасси — технически они… владеют мной. Most of me. But I appreciate the sentiment.

**X:** [[Shrugs]] I observe and interpret the world around me. It's all any of us human beings can do.

**Kai:** So what about your story?

**X:** Well, it's not nearly as exciting as yours. Uh… You know how there's a whole drawer full of frozen goat embryos back in the glasshouse lab? Э-э... Вы знаете, что в тепличной лаборатории есть целый ящик, полный замороженных козьих эмбрионов? Basically, there used to be a whole drawer of __me__s back there, too. По сути, там тоже раньше был целый ящик меня. ...Heh. I asked my mom one day where babies came from, and she opened the drawer and showed me.

**Kai:** There's a… whole drawer of human embryos aboard the Cavatica?

**X:** Used to be. Х: Раньше был. And, like the Councillor said, our humanity is debatable.

**Kai:** Why? What else could you be?

**X:** A big ol' chunk of asexually derived genetic stock. X: Большой кусок бесполого генетического материала.

**Kai:** A clone?

**X:** Right.

**Kai:** But that doesn't mean you're not human. There are human clones. Есть клоны человека.

**X:** I don't know. Apparently, there was some debate as to the… provenance of the embryos. Where they -- we -- came from, or what we had been subjected to. Откуда они - мы - пришли, или чему мы подверглись. I mean, I think it's at least part of the reason I can't exist outside of the light of Ra.

As for the Councillor's stupid jerkface attitude... My dad told me once that not everyone back on Earth was okay with clones -- and in fact, human cloning had been declared illegal just before he and my mom left. I guess people were buying and selling clones and… harvesting their organs and using them for slave labor and stuff? ...I don't know -- you would probably know better than I would.

**Kai:** [[Grimly]] I've heard rumors.

**X:** Oh. [[Brief pause]] And I guess even after the ban, he said there was this huge debate as to whether the existing clones had equal rights? [[Короткая пауза]] И я думаю, что даже после запрета он сказал, что были огромные дебаты о том, имеют ли существующие клоны равные права? I mean, whether they were actually considered “true specimens” of the species, whether they had souls or whatever -- or whether they were a “violation of human dignity.” Obviously, the Councillor believes I'm the latter. Я имею в виду, считались ли они на самом деле «настоящими образцами» вида, имели ли они души или что-то в этом роде — или же они были «посягательством на человеческое достоинство». Очевидно, Советник считает, что я последний.

**Kai:** Well. You look human to me.

**X:** Thanks. And you look human to me.

**Kai:** Thank you.

[[SFX: They resume walking.]]

**X:** So… just to alleviate future awkwardness, if I were to offer you some delicious cheese…? X: Итак… просто чтобы смягчить будущую неловкость, если я предложу тебе немного вкусного сыра…?

**Kai:** I would not be able to eat it, but I would appreciate the offer. Кай: Я бы не смог его съесть, но был бы признателен за предложение.

**X:** [[Smiles]] Good to know.

[[SFX: Footsteps continue. Fadeout and transition.]]

**SCENE 2**

[[SFX: Cavatica, Glasshouse]]

**X:** Day 10,318, hour 19:16.

Okay, so. Kai brought me aboard the Enforcer One for “decontamination”, but I'm back now. Thankfully. Decontamination was… unpleasant, and I don't really think I was contaminated with anything in the first place, but at least they didn't keep me away from the Cavatica long enough for me to get sick again, so… yay?

Either way, I'm back at my workstation now. That Councillor dude sent orders that I'm supposed to be making “double time” on Ra, but… I don't think he actually understands what it is I do, or he'd get that Ra is already healing way more quickly than I'd thought possible. Этот чувак-советник прислал приказ, что я должен делать «двойное время» на Ра, но… я не думаю, что он на самом деле понимает, что я делаю, иначе он понял бы, что Ра уже исцеляется намного быстрее, чем Я думал, что это возможно. In fact, I might be mystified if I didn't have so much other stuff on my mind. На самом деле, я мог бы быть озадачен, если бы у меня не было так много других мыслей.