WatermelonTango

Agents Of Stardust

Shamus had waited for everyone to leave before getting up and leaving himself. The captain was correct, he had not served on a ship before. It was mainly the dark emptiness of space and his aversion to it that prevented him from ever working abroad, but Shamus had decided that working on this vessel was more then worth his own discomfort. He stepped out into the hallway and was immediately unfamiliar with where he was standing. Shamus had noticed what looked to be some sort of computer terminal next to the doorway. The captain had mentioned something about an AI. AI were a weird thing for the Shuunai to grasp, but he decided that it wouldn't hurt to try.

"Excuse me, Jude, may I have your attention for a moment?" Shamus spoke into the terminal. The face of a human woman appeared onscreen... but he was told that Jude was certainly not human. He had trouble wrapping his head around that at times. Surely if it looked and behaved like a human it was human?
"How may I help you, Sham-Usafri?"
"Shamus suits me just fine."
"My apologies, Shamus."
"Where can I find the medical lab?"
A detailed map appeared on screen, with a dot representing where he stood. A line formed on the ship's schematic, leading a trail to what appeared to be the lab in question. Shamus did his best to commit the entire thing to memory.
"May I do anything else for you, Shamus?"
"No dear, you've done quite enough. Have a good day." Shamus nodded at Jude with his usual respect before following his instructions toward the medical lab.

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To say that Shamus was impressed with his new working quarters would be an understatement. As the doors opened to reveal his new lab he was actually rather giddy; everything here seemed up to date. He brushed his hand over each piece of machinery present, doing his usual inspections. Everything here was state of the art. He was expecting things to be slightly out of date and more compact since it was on board a vessel, but things were quite the opposite. Apparently military medics were the ones who were treated to the most expensive of equipment, that was only to be expected. Shamus immediately got to work running diagnostics on everything; he put the CAT scan through testing as he took stock of the various medicinal compounds he had access to. It wasn't until Shamus had taken care of everything else that he decided to access his computer terminal and go through the medical records of those on board.

He was pleased by what he saw. All of the humans on board had all relevant information included. Shamus committed their face and names to memory, as well as any other information that could be relevant like allergies or conditions, but there was very few. Everyone on board seemed to be healthy and in perfect form. Pleased with what he found he decided to shift his attention to the non human occupants, even running into his own records. Shamus looked through his own medical record first, and it seemed completely accurate. He experienced lead poisoning at the age of 15 and had spent a week shedding deceased plant matter before he finally began to recover. It was an unpleasant experience. At 23 he had experienced extreme dehydration due to sodium being slipped into his water trough, a mean spirited prank that a human student had done to him. He wasn't the most well liked at that institute, but Shamus's marks spoke for themselves and he left satisfied with his own performance. He chalked down that behavior to human youth and their own inexperience with his kind.

However, as expected, the medical profiles of the other non humans on board did not have quite as much detail. The records had the name of the Faira woman, Astra, but there was nothing else to be seen at all. If the military mainframe didn't have access to relevant medical information for her species, he was somehow doubtful that traditional research would be any more fruitful. He would need to hold council with her. Sakura of the Strag culture had more relevant information on hand, and Shamus made an effort to absorb all of the medical and biological information he could. Lastly he read up on Ukkonen of the Karmme culture. His record had a lot of interesting information on his kind, but ultimately it boiled down to Ukkonen needing medical attention unique to the rest of his kind. Research would be needed.

First thing was first, Shamus needed to speak to Astra. Through his computer terminal he spoke to Jude and asked for the whereabouts of the Faira aboard, and left his medical lab, and began following the instructions given by the ship's AI.

Agents Of Stardust

I was wondering if at some point we'd get the option to develop races allied with the Rahq. I actually had an idea for a race that the group would discover later on in their journey. I don't necessarily want to create a character from it, but I think it would be interesting if the Rahq starting discovering more races and developing alliances like the humans are.

Agents Of Stardust

A lot of people on board are going to be giving Shamus a hard time. I'm quite happy that it's working out this way; Shamus has had resistance in the past. Now we'll need to see if he can gain their trust.. or how he'll cope if he cannot.

Agents Of Stardust

My entire last post was exposition. Hope y'all are okay about that.

Agents Of Stardust

Shamus had gotten the answer he was hoping for. He simply nodded to the captain as a sign of respect before leaning back in his chair and contemplating. He was vaguely aware of what they were doing; retrieving a satellite so that the enemy doesn't take it for themselves. He would do all that he could to secure the objective, but satellites and the meaning behind them was something of a vague and foreign concept to someone with his cultural background. The health of his crew however was a much more solid, concrete and easily understood thing to him. He intended to go back to his office and find out all he could about the medical histories of everyone on board in order to personalize his medical treatments. Shamus took his job very seriously.. so much that it occasionally unnerves those he is caring for. The Shuunai are a kind but socially oblivious race.

Shamus zoned out of the conversation slightly as the others asked their questions; Shamus knew what his responsibilities were, and had a hard time following the other crew member's chain of logic. It was simply not of his expertise. He slowly scanned the room, his unblinking eyes taking in every detail. The humans in the room he felt confident he could treat. He spent a lot of time treating humans, and while they have the occasional and unexpected complication, he's treated hundreds of their kind.

The first to capture his attention was the Faira woman. Shamus had never treated a Faira before. She'd be a difficult case. From his understanding, the Faira are an intellectually advanced but frail species. It shocked Shamus how little punishment humans could take; to imagine a race more easily injured then that was distressing. Fortunately the Faira have their own ways of circumventing their weakness, but Shamus took mental notice to keep an eye on her. He might take her aside after the briefing and ask her about anything he might need to know about their kind.

His next point of interest was the Strag woman. Shamus had heard some interesting things about the Strag, mainly that they were known to be fairly capable in the field of medicine. He was intrigued by the prospect; not many other races had a reputation for healing. He might have an informative chat with her later on. Otherwise, the strag's physical structure was similar enough to humans that he felt he could adjust. An interesting facet of their biology was the ability to cloak themselves. He had some research to do on the properties of their color pigmentation and how exactly they managed to attain this ability.

The last notable figure onboard the crew Shamus took note of was the Kaarme individual on board. Their biology would be.. complicated. Their adaptive biology lent them a certain vitality and durability, but each one of them was an individual case. It would take intensive testing and analysis to get anything conclusive about this individuals health needs and recommendations, something that Shamus doubted he would be willing to work through. Outside of the business end of health and fitness, Shamus was a bit uncomfortable with the snake-like species inclusion on the journey. Their ability to adapt and evolve rapidly between generations was a fascinating process, but Shamus didn't approve of their methods. He would be yet another complication on board.

Agents Of Stardust

Shamus made his way through the hallways of the station with his usual leisurely gait, the sound of rustling bark and plant matter could be heard in the silence. He got quite a few odd glances; Shuunai weren't often seen off world. Many people he encountered stepped out of his way nervously, but he didn't pay any mind. Shamus had worked hard for his opportunity to represent his race on the S.S. Durendal. He took another turn and spotted the ship itself; he couldn't help but be impressed by the feats of engineering performed by the other races. A male Vaxir stood patiently on the other side of the room before noticing the Shuunai and making his way over.

"Shamus..fari?" The young diplomat seemed to struggle with the name.
"Shamus suits me just fine." Shamus's voice could be described as sounding like a deep wood wind instrument; Shuunai were known for their unique singing voices.
"My apologies, sir. I'm just here to make sure you're comfortably situated before we take off. We don't get many Shuunai who volunteer for the military after all."
"I appreciate the concern, but I can show myself inside." Shamus nodded his head in a sign of respect.
"If you say so. I'll be around if you need me." The young vaxir turned to leave but felt an arm gently place itself on his shoulder. He turned to meet the Shuunai's eyes.
"You don't seem well rested. Try a cup of tea from an Ekdin plant tonight before bed, you may find it easier." Shamus then simply made his way to the sheep, leaving the young cadet perplexed at his actions.

That was but a few minutes ago. Shamus sat silently in the center of the room, hardly moving a single muscle. Or his muscle equivalent anyways. He watched the other crew mates with a silent fascination. Shamus had spent most of his time off world in the company of humans, so it was interesting to see all manner of species gathered in the same room. For his medical studies Shamus had done extensive research on the biology of each species, but reading about them wasn't quite the same as seeing them in the flesh. He had many questions for each of them, but human etiquette told him that now wasn't the best time.

Shamus noticeably moved for the first time in minutes at the approach of the captain. He lifted his head and watched the captain move across the room with interest. Shamus could feel an air of command about the captain. He seemed confident about their mission. He opened himself for questions from the crew, but Shamus only had one in mind.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Captain. May I gather the medical records of the crew?"

Agents Of Stardust

Dsnake1 said
Is it based off of Groot in a way, or was it just a master brainchild of your own? Either way, I think tree-based aliens are sweet, especially because most have regeneration thrown in, and they don't die, just become trees.

I haven't watched Guardians of the galaxy yet, but I'm sure he was a part of it in some subconscious way. I've always just been a big fan of plant based species, but I didn't want them to be long lasting immortals like a lot of alien species are. I guess you could say I took some inspiration from Treants (like Groot) and species like the Salarians with their culture based around their mortality. The art I took is based off of a creature in MTG and I also just thought it looked really freaking sweet.

Agents Of Stardust

I'm curious of what would happen in a Kaarme tried to take genetic information from a Shuunai. Assuming their DNA could actually be used (plant DNA and creature DNA don't often meet eye to eye) I feel confident a Shuunai could survive the event with their regeneration and the fact that their body-fluids aren't as vital to their survival as most life forms are. I'm pondering this.

Overall I think they're a really cool species, even if they spend their time going around the galaxy and sexually molesting things.

Agents Of Stardust

If this takes too long I'll be willing to make up a second character for chief navigation officer. We need a Vaxir crew member to round us out.

Agents Of Stardust

I posted my character and my species into the repository.