before programming their brains shortly before maturity. According to the display though, the pods were currently doing something very different.
None of the bodies inside the pods were in a state of rapid growth; if anything, it was working more like the stasis pods her species had experimented with thousands of years before. The biological processes were minimal, all except for brain activity. What the display was telling her, and what she was struggling to understand, was that the communication between the network and the brains were extensive and moving in both directions.
Why would information be coming out of the brain and not just into it, as the pods were designed for? Was it downloading their memories, or were they actively interacting with the network? Who was controlling it all? The two guards she had incapacitated didn't look capable of controlling such an extensive merging of people and technology.
Triltan tapped icons on the screen and instructed the system to search for humans within the pods. The two humans her scanner had found were identified and she opted to display their information in more detail on the larger screen.
According to the readouts, both bodies were physically unharmed and were being maintained in a continuous flow of nutrient gel. Arthur's brain seemed most active, almost as though Gwen were sleeping, but there was still a steady stream of information moving back and forth. The readouts told her nothing more, not what they were doing in the pods or why they were connected to the network along with everyone else. For all the numbers and charts and lines of text, Triltan knew little more than she did when she was back aboard the Vanguard.
Triltan finally accepted that she was out of her depth. Arthur and the others were alive but imprisoned, and she had no way of knowing if she could release them. If she disconnected them from the pods, would they be leaving their minds, their memories behind? Would they even survive the process of being unplugged in the first place? She had no way of knowing and she didn't know what to do.
She was left with only one option. She was going to have to contact her father.
*****
Gwen hadn't realised she'd fallen asleep until the sound of the door opening startled her awake. She didn't know how long she'd been sleeping for, but as she woke she remembered screaming herself hoarse before finally giving up and settling down against the wall of the cell.
Her head was still foggy as she took in the dank cell around her, the same one she'd woken up in with Arthur and the others during the previous day. As she began to stand, she suddenly realised why she'd been screaming, and she was just about to start again when a lifeless form was pushed through the half-open doorway. She just managed to lunge forwards slow Lance's fall Lance as he was thrown into the cell in front of her.
“Lance!” she yelled as she lifted his head from the cold stone floor. “Lance, can you hear me?”
Lance's dark eyes had taken on a milky sheen as his transparent lids flicked back and forth over them. She shook him gently at the shoulders but she couldn't tell if he was able to hear her or not.
“Lance!” she yelled again. “Lance! Wake up!”
Gwen took a deep breath and tried to focus on the medical training she had begun back on Earth. “Okay,” she said to herself. “Just like anyone else who's been brought into the examination room.”
She started with his head, felt the breath moving in and out of his nasal slits before pressing her fingers to the artery in his neck. She felt his pulse, fast and strong, and moved down to his chest. She didn't have any of the equipment she'd grown used to, but she was able to begin her examination.
Lifting the cloth over-shirt, she noticed several small cuts to his blue skin as well as patches that looked like burns. Any bleeding had stopped, thankfully, but the quantity of injuries was more than enough to worry her.
Gwen's
None of the bodies inside the pods were in a state of rapid growth; if anything, it was working more like the stasis pods her species had experimented with thousands of years before. The biological processes were minimal, all except for brain activity. What the display was telling her, and what she was struggling to understand, was that the communication between the network and the brains were extensive and moving in both directions.
Why would information be coming out of the brain and not just into it, as the pods were designed for? Was it downloading their memories, or were they actively interacting with the network? Who was controlling it all? The two guards she had incapacitated didn't look capable of controlling such an extensive merging of people and technology.
Triltan tapped icons on the screen and instructed the system to search for humans within the pods. The two humans her scanner had found were identified and she opted to display their information in more detail on the larger screen.
According to the readouts, both bodies were physically unharmed and were being maintained in a continuous flow of nutrient gel. Arthur's brain seemed most active, almost as though Gwen were sleeping, but there was still a steady stream of information moving back and forth. The readouts told her nothing more, not what they were doing in the pods or why they were connected to the network along with everyone else. For all the numbers and charts and lines of text, Triltan knew little more than she did when she was back aboard the Vanguard.
Triltan finally accepted that she was out of her depth. Arthur and the others were alive but imprisoned, and she had no way of knowing if she could release them. If she disconnected them from the pods, would they be leaving their minds, their memories behind? Would they even survive the process of being unplugged in the first place? She had no way of knowing and she didn't know what to do.
She was left with only one option. She was going to have to contact her father.
*****
Gwen hadn't realised she'd fallen asleep until the sound of the door opening startled her awake. She didn't know how long she'd been sleeping for, but as she woke she remembered screaming herself hoarse before finally giving up and settling down against the wall of the cell.
Her head was still foggy as she took in the dank cell around her, the same one she'd woken up in with Arthur and the others during the previous day. As she began to stand, she suddenly realised why she'd been screaming, and she was just about to start again when a lifeless form was pushed through the half-open doorway. She just managed to lunge forwards slow Lance's fall Lance as he was thrown into the cell in front of her.
“Lance!” she yelled as she lifted his head from the cold stone floor. “Lance, can you hear me?”
Lance's dark eyes had taken on a milky sheen as his transparent lids flicked back and forth over them. She shook him gently at the shoulders but she couldn't tell if he was able to hear her or not.
“Lance!” she yelled again. “Lance! Wake up!”
Gwen took a deep breath and tried to focus on the medical training she had begun back on Earth. “Okay,” she said to herself. “Just like anyone else who's been brought into the examination room.”
She started with his head, felt the breath moving in and out of his nasal slits before pressing her fingers to the artery in his neck. She felt his pulse, fast and strong, and moved down to his chest. She didn't have any of the equipment she'd grown used to, but she was able to begin her examination.
Lifting the cloth over-shirt, she noticed several small cuts to his blue skin as well as patches that looked like burns. Any bleeding had stopped, thankfully, but the quantity of injuries was more than enough to worry her.
Gwen's
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