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On Colonizing

Riku (Soldier, Male, Japanese)

Fuck, I thought, as if life wasn't short enough as it was. I had already consigned myself to volunteering for what was to come, I didn't need some governmental zombie droning on about the legal minutia involved. Eventually (About one fifth of my lifetime later by my count.) we came to the meat and potatoes of it. Namely about where they needed me to sign so I could start moving through the training pipeline sometime before I died. So I signed, and after much nodding of heads and affirmative noise making they stuck me with the needle that would indeed get things rolling....

With a struggle I came to consciousness. The first sensation to penetrate the fog of what was undoubtedly some kind of sedative was sound, and also the lack thereof. Gone was the noise that I'd come to expect from this day and age. Instead all I could hear was the calm, relaxing, and repetitive noise of what sounded to me like a stylus being dragged across an old record. Some kind of insect I guessed, as most normal people would call them. Or given a more forgiving mindset a natural wakeup call. A mindset that escaped me for the time being as I looked for a shoe to throw in the general direction of the tree towering over me....Where the fuck are my shoes? Why tree? Outside? I closed my eyes to give myself a desperately needed chance to fully recover from the drug's effects. Then I became instantly on the alert as soon as I heard the startled snorts of others waking nearby.

Carol (Adventurer, Female, German)

Sitting on my cot I took my time taking it all in. The others, this beautiful place, the display in my lap. Especially the latter two. They were somewhat vague on the details before, when I had signed up for the expedition. And now that I've read what was available I can see why they had waited until we were at our destination.

What was known before was that there would be 30 of us, that we were being sent to a newly discovered world, that our training would last six months, and that there would be no return. The displays that myself and the majority of the others were fixated on at the moment added much to that knowledge.

We each had been assigned specialties based on our interests and prior training. The rest of our time here would be spent augmenting what we already knew in order to fulfill our assigned roles. While simultaneously (and here red flags went up in my head) undergoing adjustments needed to survive on our new world. We are also expected to become a mate (whatever that means, marriage? Who marries anymore?) with some stranger from within my group (more red flags).

For now though, since I've read all the scant information that is unlocked so far on the display, I decided it was high time to begin my job as an explorer. First things first making sure we had supplies needed to live for the time being. My gadget had already told me that this place was about 60% compatible with us so to make things digestible and nutritious we required a supplement that the healers issue daily. So long for now, this place is at least big enough that I can't see any end to it and it's time to explore. (And find something to scratch my damn back with).

** Nathan** (Historian, Male, American)

Adjustments? How...vague. More information is going to be needed than that! Disappointingly it seems that no more is forthcoming at this point. Although I am delighted to read that while in our medically induced unconsciousness we had all received the latest (and most expensive!) cerebral adaptations. Therefor I am certain that more information will be provided in the time to come when it is no doubt deemed appropriate.

For the time being however there was much to learn from the displays we've been given so far. Our organization being divided into five groups (to be called dens apparently) of six. This being as best as I can determine to spread our footprint out over a greater distance. Each den comprised of three mated pairs. And all specialties represented in each den: healer, historian, technician, builder, explorer, and soldier. No leaders, apparently all decisions within the den made by simple majority with the entirety of the collective likewise governed for decisions affecting two or more dens, simple enough.

Here however I must stop and find a nice tree to rub against. There seems to be a persistent itch that just has to be scratched over my shoulder blades. Maybe Alessandra has some moisturizer.

Alessandra (Healer, Female, Peruvian)

One week. It's been one week and already I'm doubting my abilities as a healer. This twice damned rash that everyone seems to be afflicted with to varying degrees resists all treatment. However it has given me opportunity to begin using treatments based on the local flora and fauna along with the other healers all at the direction of the training we've begun to receive through our "improvements". The neural implants actually being a genetic adaptation made to us effectively growing a biological computer. A scan done of the growth even indicates that it is an inheritable trait. Our personal displays and lessons however are surprisingly uninformative on the subject.

A curious note however, instead of adding to my background as a registered nurse, the lesson uploads are predominantly veterinarian in nature (for animal husbandry is my guess). However one of the other den healers tells me that some of the knowledge given doesn't correspond with any species of animal he is familiar with the picture he showed me on his own display seemed to look like an enormous komodo dragon with wings (How could the scale of that thing be right? The head alone looked to be over two meters long! What the hell kind of planet are we going to?) .

The symptoms of the rash are not universal though which leads to some disagreement as to whether all cases have the same origin. And the scanners we've been given in our colonial supplies only indicate it is not contagious leaving us quite lost as to how it spread so thoroughly. The rashes seem to all be varying shades of five different colors: red, green, blue, yellow, and black.

My own shameful mark of failure seems to be a darker shade of green. Spread all over my lower back, buttocks, groin and completely covering my legs. The rash seemed to be the most severe around my toes however. In fact it has become so thick there that some type of peeling or scaling has begun as I am able to lift small plates of it in varying sizes to reveal the underlying epidermis.

At least I don't have to worry about shaving anymore. Wherever the affliction is has led to a shedding of all hair in the affected area. Poor Sylvia has lost all hair on her scalp with the rash covering her from forehead back along the line of her spine down to the small of her back.

Sylvia (Technician, Female, French)

Yeah two weeks into this and I've already lost all my damn hair with this bullshit disease we seemed to have gotten from kissing a dirty fucking toilet seat or something. It only took me years to grow it to where I liked it for fucks sake. It's gotten worse in the past week as well grown down my face now covering the remainder of my head taking my eyebrows and lashes with it. Even on my damn eye lids! I look like a fucking burn victim. The rash is getting thicker as well, starting to peel or something, this on top of the cursed thing being flame red. Not to mention these damn bumps forming on the back and top of my head.

The mouth breathing healers are no help as all they can offer up is that the growths are related to the rash. Yeah they'll be real happy when these growths prevent me from repairing the medical equipment considering each segment of my spine seems to be getting its own growth along with the six Greg has counted on my head.

And speaking of my Greg. I'm sure he'll talk more of it in his own journal entry. But on top of him being worried sick about my rash his own is rather extensive. Thick and the color of rust it covers both his arms from shoulder to fingertip. But here's where it gets weird the tips of his fingers have turned black and lost feeling.

Our healer is at a loss at what it is which makes me want to seal her mouth and nose shut with epoxy to prevent her from stealing more of our oxygen. Luckily (for her anyways, I still say you never know when breathable air might become a commodity) my foil was there to talk me out of it.

Gregory (Builder, Male, French)

Sometimes I wish Syl would just try meditating with me, it is very relaxing and everyone around her might live longer. I thought she was going to strike out at Alessandra when she could not determine the nature of my finger problems. But honestly I'm more worried about her own difficulties with the rash. She would never say so and will be angry that I worry but I know that the growths protruding from her spine bother her. Whenever she sits it's never completely relaxed as contact with her back seems to irritate the swellings. And will often go without a top as much as possible. Instead of saying anything to her I just used the assembler we were provided to construct her a chair with cutouts for her present condition. The grin she gave me when she understood what I had (and had not done) made me love her even more than ever.

When the other dens had found out about my design they all asked for the schematics as this condition seems to be a common one. I was happy enough to assist as other than the daily info download there is little for us builders to do. All the structures we need at this time were already set up and ready for our use upon awakening two and a half weeks ago.

I wish for more things to do if for no other reason than to take my mind off the progress of my skin condition. It is unsettling to lose feeling in ones fingers and makes the mundane a trial. The top third of all my fingers as well as thumb is pitch black and hardening to something like a big nail. I'm starting to get holes in all my shirts from dressing as they seem to be increasingly sharp too. I use padded gloves in order to program the equipment. However more and more I am forced to use the cerebral link instead.

One positive thing coming out of this however is that when Syl and I make love she has no problems with my fingers scratching her back where the rash has spread. In fact she seems to enjoy it quite a lot. Last night I swear she growled at me in pleasure!