Artemis Deltron posted:

Tiger-Lilly lay naked in the reclined psi-amp harness, goosebumps forming on her dusky skin against the clinical chill of the chamber. Dr. Urist had insisted that Tiger remove all of her wetware and piercings to avoid interference with the rig, though Tiger suspected that if there were some excuse to remove her tattoos, the psilon would have happily demanded that as well. She got the feeling the Good Doctor wasn't entirely comfortable with humans and their genders to begin with, and adding in after market parts and decorations just seemed to exacerbate things.

Soft humming emitted from the internals of the psi-crown strapped on her head and it reminded her of the throbbing and pulsing heartbeat of her birth-crèche back in the hab-domes. That made it easier for her to relax despite the equipment attached to her looking like a black titanium quill rat had explosively decompressed on her face. After one last deep breath Tiger let herself fall backwards into the void of her own mind...

...A flash of soothing purple, with a side of optimistic expectation manifested itself.

"You may begin the experiment, Ms. Cherry."

"Thanks for the permission, mom"

A slowly rippling ribbon of lavender gently brushed past Tiger's ego and she was surprised to learn that there was a method to compassionately tell someone to go fuck herself without using words. The Doctor certainly had a way with psionics.

Tiger felt around the void for her target. The Doctor and her assistants in the observation booth stood out well enough, like warm neon beacons among the roiling waves of nothing. She wasn't looking for them, though. She was looking for some jarhead that had gotten picked apart by one of the klackies. He was still alive, and had even been put back together with some shiny new metal bits and fresh-from-the-vat organs, but was still trapped in a coma. Tiger was here to get him out, or at least that was the plan.

A patch of darkness, boiling soundlessly in the distance caught her attention. It smelled like fresh-baked muffins and tasted like blood. This must be the place.

"Cpl. Rajput. Are you there? Rajput?"

The darkness remained unchanged.

"Try his personal name, Ms. Cherry. You may find that more effective."

"Ankur? Can you feel me?"

Tiger-Lilly stretched out towards the black shape tentatively. It lurched at her, pulling her down a deep pit. She could feel the agonizing heat of a klacky sawing through the bone of her left wrist with its pedipalps. She kept stabbing the bugger with the KA-BAR in her right hand, each blow piercing mottled carapace with sickening crunches, but it wouldn't stop. It had finished with her wrist and had somehow gotten ahold of her right leg.

Tiger-Lilly awoke screaming in panic, covered in sweat and struggling against her restraints, unaware of where she was. Dr. Urist was at her side, cradling Tiger's head in her pale blue arms, cooing soothingly into her ear.

Everything was suddenly warm, soft and very purple in Tiger's world. She felt utterly at peace.

"That went well for the first attempt, Ms. Cherry. I'll give you five minutes to rest."