2011-03-15 - A Kinder Soul

Evening. Most of the crew has already had their meals for the night and moved on to other activities or diversions. Even so, there are a people here and there, clustered in small groups as they eat, play cards, or otherwise socialize. The white-haired prisoner is seated at the far end of one of the long tables, isolated from the rest. It seems more likely an imposed separation rather than something chosen, especially as the young woman's eyes seem to linger on the couples and groups with a sort of longing there.

The fact of the matter is, Lin looks like hell warmed over. There is a thin blanket thrown around her shoulders, although it seems to do little for the tremmors that have steadily grown worse over her days as a captive on the Argama. They had grown bad enough to frighten her quite badly, which had prompted Doctor Hassan to finally admit what was really going on. Metatron withdrawls - caused by exposure to the substance while piloting her Orbital Frame. For the most part, it was easy enough for the rest of the crew to just whisper about 'space maddness', even if what she really was going through was the equivalent of detox symptoms. Neither Hassan or Lin had any idea if it would get better over time, or worse - and for now, it seems worse is more likely.

The tray of food set out in front of her is barely touched. For once, she isn't being closely watched over by an officer, perhaps due to cameras already in place in the Mess Hall, or the fact they find it unlikely that she'd do anything with so many members of the crew around.

A few hours ago, some of those officers had in fact been hanging around another individual who was in somewhat of a bad state; at least, compared to how he normally was. A small freighter had docked with the Argama and its arrival had caused a small uproar. Quatre Raberba Winner, a friend of Heero Yuy, and rumored NewType Gundam pilot. The blonde young man steps into the Mess without his normal coterie of Arabian friends. His eyes slowly move across the room, taking in those present, until his attention affixes onto Alina.

He bites his bottom lip for a short moment, then looks back at the others that are present, clearly ignoring her. Was this the prisoner he'd been briefed about? How could they just go and ignore her like that? This person had a heart too. How were they ever going to attain peace, if they could not even do something as simple as give a more proper welcome to a person such as her. Even /if/ she was an enemy, that was not an excuse in his eyes. This need to comfort this girl only was made worse by the fact that he recognized the situation she was in.

The youth breathes in, then lets the circulated and filtered air escape from his lungs. Wearing his normal strange garb, he steps into the room and makes a beeline for the dispenser, and within little time, has a plate with two HAMBURGERs and one SODA. He really didn't know what was truly /in/ those 'hamburgers'. And as much as he normally was thankful for every animal that gave its life to give him their flesh, he didn't even think there /was/ any meat in those things. And, without, he then walks straight up to Alina's table and settles down right next to her, giving her a gentle smile. Of course, this draws some looks... but doesn't seem to really surprise anyone.

At least, this was no surprise to those of the crew who knew Quatre. This was the guy that would give Yazan a second chance, or even maybe try to convince Haman Karn that they could change to be a nice person. Well, she died, so that point was somewhat moot. But the point remained. Quatre was a nice guy, perhaps even too nice. And with this smile, perhaps even Lin picks up on this wholehearted sense of... kindness from him. "You looked like you could use some company." His eyes then momentarily move to that blanket and her hands, and a mark of worry appears to his face. "Are you alrighty?" He'd noticed that her food had barely been touched after all.

It isn't hard for Lin to track the newcomer moving across the room. He's young - but so were quite a few of those she'd passed in the hallways of the Argama. At least she knew the name of the ship - which is better than nothing. What she didn't know is who these people were, what they supposedly believed in, and worse - she had /no/ idea who it was who had threatened her life before arriving here. It's all a big confusing mess, and the fact that everyone - save a rare few - seemed afraid to tell her anything, it wasn't getting any clearer.

Surprise lights her stormy-blue eyes though when the young man approaches her. She's tried to make some conversation with those who were assigned to her, but most didn't seem much interested. Oddly, it's that smile that seems to make everything not feel quite so stark and cold. "Company is very much appreciated." There is a lightness to her voice, the smallest of smiles pulling up the corner of her mouth as she inclines her head towards Quatre. "Feels like it's been ages." It probably had been - for the truth of the matter is that she'd been a captive in one form or another for months. For a moment, the line of faintly glowing tattoos are visible on her hand before it is tucked back underneath the blanket.

"Depends on who you talk to." She smirks, chuckling to herself. "Rumor is, I've got space maddness." Her blue eyes roll, showing just how much she believed such a thing. "Hassan says it's the Metatron in my system. I haven't been near my orbital frame since well... I don't know when." She takes one hand out of the blanket and offers it out, the blue interlacing lines quite visible. "I'm Lin. Or... at least I think I am. It's one of the few things I remember." She looks down slightly, seeming a little embarassed to admit it.

The smile remains, broadening slightly as Quatre gets a good response from the girl. Good. She wasn't one of those introverted people he'd met now and again. In fact, this was probably a better response than he'd get out of Heero, Wufei, or Trowa. Duo was a /special case/. "I'm glad to end the great age of loneliness." Quatre jokes lightly, chuckling that strange manner he tends to put people at ease. And it's not really the effects of being an empath that gently maneuvers peoples' emotions - though it's something he doesn't seem to control, it is not what is at work right now.

"The name is Quatre Raberba Winner." He offers a hand to the girl, whilst tipping his head slightly to get that quick look at the blue lines on her arms. "Nice tatoos." The youth tries to make smalltalk. "As for space madness? Hardly." He wasn't getting that vibe from her at all, though there /was/ something off about her mental state. He didn't know what it was, but the Heart of Space told him that this girl was somehow 'special'. The fact that she told him about the Metatron and the Orbital Frame helps him fill in the pieces to the puzzle.

Though he didn't know extreme amounts about Metatron, he knew at least the basics within Katharon, and from what Born In Space dared to share. "Orbital Frame? Ah, you mean like the thing sitting the hangar? I though it was yours - since you were taken here along with that thing, weren't you?" He asks. "Thing has erected a shield in the hangar and isn't budging." He chuckles in am amused matter. "Seems it doesn't like the techs getting too close to it." Quatre adds. "And assuming nobody has done it yet -- welcome to the Argama." The fact that he was feeling down didn't really shine through.

"It was a truly sorrowful age. No one will miss it." Lin replies, carrying the joke just a bit further as she mock mourns the passing of her time in solitude. Even if there is quite a likelihood that it will return soon enough, wishing it farewell feels like lifting a weight off of her shoulders. "It's nice to meet you, Quatre." As she takes his hand, her fingers tremble a bit in his grasp. Her hand slips free almost immediately, replaced by a fleeting glance of her eyes as she looks away. It's all too clear that this weakness doesn't sit well with her. The briefing had said that she was a soldier - and a soldier reduced to a shaking, blanket covered prisoner certainly is a long way to fall.

Still, she manages not to withdraw, if only because this contact is something she needs so desperately these days. To not feel like just a prisoner - to feel... human? "Well, I'm glad someone believes me." She opens her mouth to say more, but then her eyes flash down to her arms. He'd mentioned the tatoos. "They're not tatoos. At least, I don't think they are." She pulls the blanket away from her arm. Beneath, she's wearing what are probably some other pilot's worn out work clothes - obviously not having much in the way of clothing of her own right now. The winding pattern of blue seems to curl around her forearm, lacing in and out of her veins. The most eerie thing about it, though, is that if you were to watch closely, you could almost read her pulse in the subtle, barely noticable shifting of color.

Then, as if to keep from drawing too much attention her way, she folds the blanket back over herself. The fact was, she was shivering even with it. Not the same trembling as her arms, but as if she really did feel quite cold. "Mmm. That's what the other people had called it." She pauses, realizing how unhelpful that probably was. "Before I woke up here, there were these others. They had suits with a symbol that looked like three arrow-heads." Quatro had mentioned two groups, asking about her exposure to them, but the names have slipped her mind by now. No one had bothered to explain what they were to her. "Anyways, they wanted to know about it. Claimed I was its pilot. I guess they didn't know where it came from, and figured I had some top secret information."

It's clear that Lin is latching on to the chance to have conversation, not being quite as cautious as one might expect in what she says. It actually seems pretty easy to get information out of her - at least what she knows, anyways. "They also said if I couldn't produce the information they wanted, they would find someone who could get it." The threat there, is all too real - the threat of basically being labodomized or worse - turned into something inhuman and then killed after they had what they needed. She doesn't comment about the Orbital Frame, or it's shielding, although she does seem curious. It is more his welcome that catches her off-guard. "Oh. Um, thanks." She smiles slightly, supporting herself on her arms. "Can't say anyone seems too happy for me to be here, but thanks for the welcome. I imagine the Admiral will be dropping me off as soon as he can. I'm putting everyone in danger." She speaks these words as if repeating what others had said, and then shrugs her shoulders.

"Nice to meet you too." Quatre replies, gently shaking her hand with his warm hand, until she retreats hers. He knew the doctor had already checked up on her, that much he'd learned, so there was no use to asking, but he still can't help but comment; "The doctor looked at you, right?" Quatre's head nods however, showing that he was aware that this was a stupid question. But still, it expressed his worry for her well being. And this was the kind of person who'd drown people in kindness if he could.

"And I can't help but believe you. There's good in everyone, and you give me a good vibe." Not the best vibe out there. There as something in her that... was 'disturbing', but it was faint, and he couldn't put his finger on it. He looks around at the others there, then turns back at her. He'd nodded at them, and they'd nodded back. She might find herself a bit less avoid by some of these people. Quatre had that much of a reputation.

His attention is then brought down to that tatoo, and a little 'gasp' is made. "Oh my." He says, giving it a quite interested look. "What would Duo say... ahhhh." Quatre does his best to think of some way to... "That's rad looking." It's the closest thing he could find to what he'd heard Duo say. Duo had the vocabulary for things that others believed to be cool, and that's what he decided to loan from at this point in time.

She then raises the topic of who'd caught her, and he patiently listens, nodding now and again like a woman would, as she continues on. He doesn't interupt until he knows she is done talking, and nods at her as she thanks him. "You will have to excuse the Admiral. He's had problems concerning prisoners and spies lately. And the fact that you have an Orbital Frame is probably raising an issue." Quatre wags his hand a bit. "Okay. Since you don't know that mark, let me draw things out for you real quick." He grabs a napkin and a pen, and begins to jot things down.

"This is Earth." A circle. "It is run by the Earth Federation Alliance." He draws the mark for them. "They have an autonomous peacekeeping organization." He draws the mark she had mentioned. "They are the A-Laws." So far, things were not looking good for earth. "These are the colonies around earth." He scribles a ring close to earth, with circles on it. "Neo Japan II, Neo USA, Neo China..." He goes through the list. "Then..." He draws a few other colonies further out, and the moon." These are further colonies. Most of them are part of the EFA."

Then, far away from Earth, he draws Mars. "This is Mars. The EFA technically tries to own it, but it is mostly under control by the Divine Crusaders." He doesn't define BAHRAM specifically. "Who also have a base on earth." He puts a dot on earth. "In Afrika, called the Earth Cradle. They try to continue to keep humanity strong by forcing a continuous state of war. Though really, we don't need the help these days."

"And then we have us." He draws a random spaceship somewhere on that napkin. "This is the Argama. Part of Katharon. Basically, we are terrorists - or that is how the EFA sees us. We try to stop weaponization, and generally try to prevent war." He doesn't bother to markt he Trailers, as they are mercenaries, and in his eyes are not /that/ important for Alina to know about. "Basically. Your Orbital Frame came from these guys." He circles Mars. "And somehow got into the hands of these guys." He circles the A-Laws symbol. "Both promoters of war, or otherwise army material. Katharon doesn't like either of them, and Admiral Bright is afraid you are a spy for either of those." He taps the pen on the both symbols, then settles back.

"In addition. I heard from Heero that there was an Orbital Frame on this ship a while ago, containing some Divine Crusader kid, who made a mess of things here." He shakes his head. "So yes. He's afraid you are just another one of those cases, waiting to happen. Honestly? I don't think you are." He shakes his head. "But the problem is convincing the Admiral." He turns towards the girl again and shakes his head. "That is, not to leave you just /anywhere/. Not that our safehouses aren't safe. But we've had a few compromised recently. So I'll see what I can do while I am here. I don't think I can really pull that many strings. But..." He shrugs.

"Mmhmm. Not much he can do about it, I'm afraid. He said if I can't manage to hold anything down by tomorrow that he'll give me something to settle my stomach." That would certainly explain why there is still food sitting there in front of her, uneaten. A bit looks as if it has been picked at, but it's doubtful she actually ate any. Still, the Quatre's bright mood seems to be almost infectious, and Lin can't help but chuckle a little at his compliment to her markings. "I'm not sure I had much choice in the matter." She hesitates, running he fingers along her arms, letting the fingertips trace the patterns. "Hassan told me that it manifests in all kinds of strange ways."

She draws the blanket closer about her, nodding slightly as she leans over to take a look at what he is drawing on the napkin. "I understand it in a way, but at the same time, it's my life we're talking about here. I just wish it wasn't a choice between my life, or his ship." Which is kind of the way she has seen things up until now - especially as she hasn't a clue who had held her captive. The moment he draws the symbol for the A-LAWS though, she moves quickly, pointing at it, even if it's an interruption. "That one. That's what the ensignia the men were wearing." It's enough to make the hair on her arms stand on end.

She shakes her head more firmly, "I'm not one of them. They wanted to cut open my brain to get at whatever knowledge they thought I had." It's very clear she has no love for the three arrow symbol drawn on the map. As for the other one, the young woman looks at it more closely, trying to see if it brings anything to mind. "I'm afraid it's a blank, but they did keep calling me an 'Ender'... well, 'Ender-scum' is more apt." She shakes her head, leaning back from the drawing. "Can I keep this?" She asks, folding her fingers over the napkin.

"Well, I'm not sure anyone believes me, but I wasn't sent here. Not that I remember, anyways. But I think you're right about this." She taps the image of mars once more, "I was a soldier. What I am now... I have no idea." The topic was almost too serious, and she sighs slightly. "But I can tell you right now I have no intention of harming anyone on this ship. As if I even could." She holds up one trembling hand, and then rolls her eyes. "But don't stick your neck out for me. I'm not worth it. It was nice enough for you to just talk to me. Having at least one person to talk to makes it a bit less lonely."

"Choice or not. Better that it looks... 'rad' --" He didn't quite like the taste of that word. It didn't sit well with him. "-- than for it to look horrible. Like, straight lines or something." What about a lampshade? "Straight lines would just be a big faux-pas." Quatre nods at his own words. "Anyhow." With the girl chuckling, he nudges his head up for a moment, then bobs his head back down. "Hassan knows what he's talking about. So you can assume he's right. He's one of the best docters in the fleet."

He then shoves the napkin over to her, after she asked for it. "A-Laws. Right. Some of them are good people, some of them... not so much." He knew exactly how 'not so much' they were. After all, he was infiltrating OZ - part of the A-Laws. "But yeah. Keep the napkin." He nods at her. "As for being called an Ender. That just means you are expected to be from an area outside of Earth." He looks her over. "It's hard to tell sometimes. But seeing as you suffer the effects of Metatron exposure, you are most likely from Mars, or Jupiter."

"Anyhow." He taps on the plate a few times. "I guess that means you are having trouble keeping this stuff down huh?" He asks. "If anything, I guess they could put you on an IV. And for what it's worth. As I said. I believe you." Quatre gives her an agreeing look, "And sticking out my neck is what I do."

"Hrm. You're probably right." Afterall, what does a girl with hardly anything for memories really know about what is 'cool'. Still, she shrugs her shoulders, chuckling a bit. "Well, I'm afraid I'm at a lacking for fashion. Lack of money and being a prisoner does that to a girl." She draws a hand back, brushing at her hair. It's a gesture that must have been left over from when it was longer, because it does nothing for the medically-short cut she has now.

"I don't know much about good people, Quatre. They wanted to kill me, that's about the extent of what I know about them. And it's pretty stark of a point." She folds the napkin up, tucking it into one of her pockets for later. She'd probably have to study it to get things down. Maybe Doctor Hassan would help her by letting her see some more information about the various places the young man pointed out. "Even if I knew where I was born, I'm not sure it would help. I doubt top secret soldiers show up on missing persons reports."

Taking one look at the food, she plucks up one of the HAMBURGERS of dubious ingredients, and holds it betwen her hands, as if forcing her stomach to settle so she can actually eat it. "I'd rather avoid the IV, thanks. I've had enough time being prodded in the medical bay for a lifetime." She shivers again, and then takes a bite of the burger, chewing it as she talks with a muffled tone. "Well, I wouldn't worry over it too much."

Staren wanders the halls in the distinctive red jacket and tan slacks of the Orb Union, sort of kicking off and coasting slowly down the hall, as he starts a radio conversation with the mysterious Crusader hacker. Not that you could tell from listening -- his radio is in his head, not that you can tell from listening to the radio, since it sounds normal to the reciever. But as he hears some voices that _aren't_ in his head, Staren catches himself on the doorway and peers in. Quatre and... That must be the new girl he heard about. "Sticking out your neck, huh? Is she really... In much trouble? Another supersoldier, huh? I'm sorry to hear that, I hope that one day we can shut down all those illegal programs..." He drifts towards them.

"Not a supersoldier. I don't think." Quatre replies, whilst turning his head towards Staren. "And you know me." The youth smiles at Katharon's underappreciated tech and scientist. "I always stick out my neck for others." He turns back to Alina. "This is mister Staren. He's..." A special case? No, that was his word for Duo. "A scientist." That'll work. The youth turns his attention back to the girl.

He catches that movement towards her non-existant hair, and can't help but let out a chuckle. He hopes it doesn't make her think that he is trying to make fun of her. "I'll see what I can do about that too. I think I have some of my sister's clothes on the freighter still." Lies! All lies! Wait... why would he be carrying his sister's clothes anyway? "Though I don't know your measurements." He shrugs a little. "Try to eat a bit more. Maybe your stomach will quiet down a bit around others." He reaches a hand out to one of hers on the table, to let her feel the warmth in his. Perhaps calm her shakes a bit like that.

The sound of another voice nearby is quite unexpected, especially as most people had avoided her thus far, with a few rare exceptions. However, the white-haired prisoner seems all the more glad to add another to the tiny circle of people she's at least on speaking terms with. "Haven't you heard?" She asks, seeming more amused than anything else. "I'm a huge threat to the ship. Or at least that's what I've been told, anyways." She hesitates, raising her free hand slightly in a wave that ends up not quite working out as the shakes that seem to have wracked her body only make her fingers tremble. "I'm Lin. And unfortunately that's about the extent of what I remember."

The warmth on her other hand is enough to cause her to look down, then over at Quatre, offering him a small smile of quiet thanks. While she can't stop the shakes that the metatron withdrawls are causing, it is at least human contact. "It's nice to meet you, Mister Staren." She hesitates, the metatron lines on her arms quite visible beneath the blanket wrapping her shoulders. "I wouldn't say supersoldier, I'm afraid. The men ... the A-LAWs men who questioned me seemed to think there was something special about my Orbital Frame." She adds in the identity of her capters, now that she actually knows who they were.

For the time being, she doesn't comment about the clothes more than to give a nod of her head. She hasn't heard about Quatre yet from others, so she simply takes him at face value. Gently, almost reluctantly, her hand slips from under his so she can lift the burger again to take a second bite.

Staren smiles. "Pleased to meet you. I'm a huge threat to humanity, at least that's what some people would have you believe." There's a hint of worry on his face at the shakes. "If that is the extent of your memory, then you cannot be held responsible for any threat your physical presense may bring. So they interrogated you so badly you lost your memory? Ugh..." He takes a seat at the table. "Does that mean you at least don't remember the worst of what they did to you? That would be a small kindness, I suppose..."

Quatre chuckles. "I think the entire Argama is a threat to humanit. NewType hype and all that." The young man shakes his hand, and keeps his hand on Alina's hand. However, he looks at Staren. "Metatron related things. You know something? I mean, you're more technologically inclined than most of us, mister Wiremu." He pauses, waiting for a response, and turns back to the female. "And I do hope you don't remember the bad things. But..."

He pauses, ponders for a moment, then says, "Don't hold it against all of the A-Laws. I mean, sure, there's some..." Assholes. How do you say assholes without it sounding bad? "... mean hearted people there. But it's mostly their commanders. They are too afraid to disobey orders." Or so he hopes. "Not that I am trying to tell you that you should think back with warmth in your heart. But perhaps, one day, you'll forgive them." Why is Quatre trying to make the A-Laws look less bad!?

"Then we're in the same boat. Though I don't think you're under surveilance and house arrest like I am." The smile the young pilot gives is a bit bittersweet, as if she could see the humor, but it didn't help matters much. "But that's not quite how it went, I'm afraid." Her hands draw away from the burger, one of them instinctually going up to the scars that are visible through her medically short hair cut. "When I first woke up, I heard them saying things when they thought I was unconsious. Like... 'If she dies before we can get information out of her, it's your hide'." Her hand draws away, folding beneath the blanket. Each time she moves, the clear markings that seem almost tatoo-like become visible, covering much of her forearms.

"I don't know how long they interrogated me for, but they wouldn't believe in spontaneous memory loss either." Either? Oh, she was fairly sure that quite a few members of the Argama's crew didn't believe her story, but there wasn't much she could do about that. "Told me if I didn't comply, they'd find someone who could pry the information out of me, even if it meant chopping up my brain to do it." She shivers more visibly this time, although it isn't just the metatron withdrawls, but the one very vivid memory of that last night. "After that, I woke up here." She looks between the two of them, and then seems to abandon food again. Two bites, and neither were sitting well. She does offer Quatre a wan sort of smile, but then shakes her head. She was too new to this life, without any memories to back it up, and making decisions about who are allies and enemies is quite a difficult task - even if one of them very clearly wants you dead.

Staren frowns as she recounts her experiences. "I see. And Quatre's right... One thing we learn, that it's good if we learn _as soon as possible_ in war, is that a lot of the people we're fighting are _people_ too, and many are putting their lives on the line because, like us, they believe in what they're doing _that_ strongly. A lot of people in the Federation are just trying to protect the world... And people in the Crusaders, like us, want to change the world for the better, and while some are going to, --" his face shows his distaste, "-- more extreme means than we would to get it, others are forced to cooperate with them due to circumstance. That said... anyone who would work in places such as you went to, knowing what they do there..." he shakes his head. "Is either evil or has lost sight of good."

So says the boy who thinks Adler Koch just wants to end the war and is going rather too far to achieve that end. "So, why _do_ they think you're a danger to us, whoever 'they' are? Is it because of the metatron, or because they think you're a spy or a sleeper agent? I'm afraid I don't know that much about metatron... I honestly have had little chance to work with unusual technologies and substances like that."

"It's alright." Quatre tries to put Alina's mind at least. Although, what subject he was trying to handle with that statement, is for anyone to guess at. He'd listened to this story already, so he just nods a bit and moves his hands back to the edge of the table, and finally begins nomming on the HAMBURGER he'd gotten from the dispenser. He then puts some money on the table all of the sudden. "I don't have a need for it at the moment." He says and taps on it. "I rather see that someone who needs it gets some extra nutricion."

The blond youth then nods at Staren. "Anyhow." he turns back at the burger and takes another bite. "Bright is afraid that she may be a spy. Remember the last kid from BAHRAM that was here?" There, he finally mentioned that faction. "I mean, as far as I know, nothing bad happened. And I never ended up meeting him. But I think Bright is still... worried about what may happen. Basically - he is afraid she might be a spy or sleeper agent -- mostly a spy. She's not though." He states this with much determination. Who knows if Staren would trust him on that though.

The pale woman's eyes seem to settle on Staren, watching him with obvious curiousity. There is quite a bit of wisdom in his words, wisdom that she could certainly wish applied to more than just a rare few people on the Argama. Perhaps the most sad part of it all is that as bad as her time in captivity was - her mysterious past was far, far worse - something the level of visible metatron poisoning in her skin is only a hint at. "Wise words." She murmurs softly. Still, she can't place herself in any of those 'good' people, because she simply has no memory of who she was. Could it be that far off of who she is now?

"It was Captain Quattro and Admiral Bright who said it. That I'm a danger to everyone on the Argama." She shrugs her shoulders, allowing Quatre to explain. While he's coming to her defense, she just looks down at the money. It's like a person who has never actually seen currency before. Lin plucks it up, looking at it from all sides, and then seems to realize her distraction, putting it away. "I can't remember being ordered to be a spy. Seems like a bad idea to me, since I wouldn't even know what I was /looking/ for if I was a spy." Her stormy blue eyes look towards the food once more, but her stomach is having nothing of it. "Besides, Hassan told me that this is obviously a result of trauma. I doubt someone has a big master plan to trick Katharon by blowing the crap out of their master spy." She points at the scaring still visible, in a few weeks, they should fade into her hair as it regrows.

Staren hmms. He's about to say something when Quatre clarifies, which gets a raised eyebrow. "How do you know that? Are you mind-reader? And if you're just really good at reading people, you realize that the point of a sleeper agent is to get past exactly that sort of detection, right? And hey, that's not a bad idea, from a certain point of view, plant bombs in people Katharon is likely to rescue, hmm... Can't say it wouldn't be their style... N-not that I'm saying that's definately going to happen! I don't _know_ what's going on... But know this: If you're not a spy, then now that you're free of them... You're not one of them. Your choices are your own. What _do_ you want to do?"

"Well. BAHRAM's just trying to protect their planet, last I remember. But their machines, when active, sometimes... kind of freak me out. Something about them." He shrugs. "The Heart of Space tells me not to stay around them." The blonde tries to clarify. He forgot. Staren was too much of a scientist to believe in the Heart of Space, or that 'intuition' nonsense. "But I guess in your terms - I don't /know/ for sure that she isn't a spy." Quatre shrugs. "But... I trust she has a good heart."

One moment Staren actually has Lin feeling slightly better about things, and the next most of the color drains out of her. What if she was a sleeper agent? She'd never know it, but still, the idea is enough to cause her to push her food away. "I... I don't think I've got any bombs inside me. Doctor Hassan would have noticed, right?" Right? Her eyes look pleadingly at Quatre. As if metatron poisoning wasn't enough, now she has to worry about being a walking time bomb? Welcome to the Argama! Holding one trembling hand over her mouth, Lin just looks a little green around the gills.

"Free of them, maybe, but not free. I'm still a prisoner. Captain Quattro made that very clear. I've got a guard on me whenever there isn't a camera watching me. It's a far cry from freedom." It was better than being holed up in a brig somewhere, but not by much. Especially when you take into consideration that she's on laundry duty, which includes cleaning the underthings of pilots who aren't exactly keeping track of their hygiene. "As for what I want to do, I just want to stay alive a little longer. Maybe have a chance to figure all of this out. Try to remember /something/ about who I am, where I belong." She shrugs her shoulders. "They seemed to think I had some unusual post traumatic stress bond to the Argama, but that's so far from the truth. I'm just afraid to go anywhere else, because up until a few minutes ago, I didn't know it was the A-LAWS who had me. For all I knew, everywhere else was death."

Staren _could_ go on about dissecting this heart of space thing, and it's not that he completely disbelieves intuition -- It's just that if other means are available, they should be used as well. Intuition is for decisions when you don't have time to gather information in more reliable ways.

Staren winces a bit as he sees he's made her worry about being a bomb, stupid stupid stupid why didn't he _think_ before saying it? Buuut she seems to be recovering. Okay. Staren gives a little nod. "Well... let me ask you something: What will you do if you discover your past and you don't like it? What if you _were_ a spy until something happened to your memory, or a supersoldier trained to kill unquestioningly? I... I'm sorry to bring these unpleasant prospects up, and I don't particularly think they're more likely than you just being a random orbital frame pilot who maybe saw something A-LAWS thinks she shouldn't have, but... If you found that out, would you go back to that? Or would you find a new path?" Because, you know, it would be tragic if she turned out to be such and said 'That's who I really am, I guess' and threw away her chance at redemption and happiness because of that.

"If there was a bomb in you, I am sure doctor Hassan would have told you - and Bright. In fact, I don't think you'd be sitting here right now, but rather on the operation table." He nods at the girl. "You're fine." But honestly, telling her that she'd be on the operation table was probably not something that would improve the kind of sickened feeling she was having. "Don't worry." he smiles. It's so easy to trust this kid for some reason. "And they probably just read too much into things. You know how command gets..." Pause. "Or maybe you don't. Either way... don't worry too much about it."

He then slowly gets up and taps on his plate, whilst taking the SODA that was left over in his hand. "Staren, I have a HAMBURGER left. You're free to it." He points at the thing, still in the wrapper. "And what happens when she finds out who she is, she'll just have to figure out as long as she is here. But I can tell you one thing. If we treat her badly..." He gives Staren /the stare/. /The stare/ which tells everything. /The stare/ that tells him; get the rest of the crew to behave, for gods sake!

Staren shoots back /the helpless look/, since when does anyone listen to _him_?

The question is certainly one she'd thought about. Who wouldn't? What if she were some terrible person? But it all boils down to the fact that she simply couldn't know right what the answer is. "I... I can't really say what I would do. You said it yourself, Mister Staren, to remember that others are /people/ too. If I was someone else, someone other than I am now, what if I had reasons? Wouldn't those matter?" She bites at her lower lip, seeming a bit frazzled due to jumping from being a possible bomb to finding out she's some terrible person. "I suppose I'd have to reconcile whomever I was, with whomever I had become and figure out just what ends up being left."

She barely seems to hear the brief conversation going on between the two of them, because the girl's already worried expression turns, if possible, a bit more ill. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she mutters a muffled 'excuse me', then bolts to her feet. The blanket slips off of her shoulders as she pushes off, racing out of the Mess Hall in what is obviously a sudden need to void her stomach. Ahh metatron withdrawls, how we love thee.