Mission 23

[skysmirror]

[Cambot is hanging out on the media deck, wandering a wander and playing the Jeopardy theme while his person reads something. Apparently he's bored.

Xion looks up, sighing.]

Cambot, you've been playing that for--Oh, you're recording.

[Not looking too happy about the surprise, she holds up the book she was reading. It looks like a kid's book, with very large picture of a dinosaur on the cover.]

I thought it might be a good idea to find some information about dinosaurs since that's part of what we're dealing with here, but I can't find more than basic information. Does anybody else know much about them?

Comments

[itsjustthenpcs]

Oh, I happen to know lots about them.

They're smarter and better looking than all of you, for starters.

[skysmirror]

[Drats, Cambot means even people she didn't quite want to hear from can respond, too.]

Thanks for the extra help.

[When one of your biffles is Axel, you do catch onto a bit of snark.]

[itsjustthenpcs]

I heard that sarcasm!

[skysmirror]

Ah, sorry.

It's just I was looking for other information like that. Like how you learned to talk.

[itsjustthenpcs]

From my parents, of course. How else would I?

Possibly also genetic mutations.

[skysmirror]

Genetic mutations?

[That's a new term for her. The first option she guesses is logical--most people learn to speak from listening to the world around them, right?]

[itsjustthenpcs]

It's genetics? Being mutated?

Your simple brain probably couldn't comprehend it.

[skysmirror]

[Now, now, there's no need to insulting.]

I just hadn't heard the term before. Maybe you could explain it so I could understand? Since you're so smart.

[Dealing with this guy is bringing out Axel's influence almost more than anything here.]

[itsjustthenpcs]

[He's a pilot, he never studied his science courses that much. So he's not nearly so smart as he thinks.]

It's just genes get changed around so that things that didn't have eyebrows or opposable thumbs before have them now! With DNA!

[skysmirror]

[Xion's taken no science classes at all and can't make heads or tails of his explanation. Too many terms she hasn't heard before. That's what notes are for, though--she'll look them up later.]

I see. So these...mutations just happened? Like overnight?

[itsjustthenpcs]

Oh no, those usually take at least a few weeks.

[skysmirror]

That long?

[Not that she's aware of the normal amount of time it would take for a genetic mutation to have on an entire population...]

[itsjustthenpcs]

Yes! It's hardly instantaneous stuff!