[Open] Oh, Worm?

[codicies]

Who: Everyone who wants to get in on Worm Plot related things
What: There's a bug going around, and it might be a little more literal than you realize!
When: Backdated from the start of April through May
Where: Central City
Notes: Relevant context: April Confluence, May Confluence, and Mechanica's announcement.

---

01. Hivemind Shenanigans (CLOSED)

(For any of Dylan's close friends who received a bit of symbiote goop from him get to be part of a little mental groupchat while this plot lasts. Keep in mind:

• Your character can shut the groupchat out at any time.
  
• Your character can choose not to project thoughts.
  
• If you want to have them accidentally project thoughts and emotions, that's cool too.
  
• Even if we didn't thread out your character getting a bit of Dylan Ooze, as long as they're close friends, we can handwave it and let them join the hive.
  
• This isn't permanent! Dylan will be collecting pieces of himself from the others once either the vaccine is developed and/or the worm plot ends. )

---

02. Interacting with the Infected

Many citizens of Central City seem... off. Some are exhausted, with fuzzy memories, and powers on the fritz. It seems like they're wasting away.

Then, suddenly... they're back to normal, as if nothing ever changed. Sick? When were they sick?

The symptoms are explained in detail during the April Confluence Post. Do your characters try to help the sick? Make them remember when they were sick?

Or did a firm handshake from the formerly-sick acquaintance leave you with a creepy-crawly feeling you're unsure how to explain?

---

03.Vaccine Development (Location: Broadmoor Hospital)

Any science-y types who want to help with Pete Ross' attempt at making a vaccine will be directed to Broadmoor Hospital. Knowing that Dylan is immune to the disease, he'll be closely inspecting samples of Dylan's symbiote matter to isolate the biomarkers that repel the worms.

---

04. Wildcard

Is there another way you want to engage with the Worm Plot? Are you stuck in Central City when you just want to get back home to Sunset Falls? Are you loudly complaining about the Society's secrecy regarding the whole matter?

Comments

03

[arach_kid]

[Broadmoor Hospital has been gracious enough to temporarily give Pete acess to a lab on site. It's not anything special, Pete's idea being only one of many potential solutions to the issue being worked on, but it should be enough.]

[Dylan, anyone coming with him, and anyone willing to work on the vaccine will be directed there.]

[Currently, he's swapped out his leather jacket for a labcoat and is moving about getting all the equipment properly set up.]

[codicies]

[ It was different from the clinic where Hunter had been treated. The clinic had been smaller and quieter. Broadmoor Hospital was abuzz with activity, especially with the influx of this new, unknown illness.

Mostly unknown, anyway.

When Dylan tells reception who he's here to see, he's directed to the room Pete's using as a makeshift lab. He enters with his friends and introduces himself, before getting settled in on a chair near the lab table. ]

So, uh, I guess I should tell you why I'm immune to this thing. And what I know about it.

Do you have symbiotes on your world?

[demigoth]

[ Nico wasn’t sure what to expect in the lab and, really, he’s only here to make sure there isn’t any funny stuff going on. He’s the quick exit.

He’s also the one narrowing his eyes and frowning when Dylan immediately starts talking about symbiotes and immunity. Maybe let them ask, when you’re this magic alien goo boy that makes you extremely handy right now, Dylan? ]

He means hi.

[badbutsadboy]

[Hunter is the paranoid one with his arms crossed, looking around in case he sees anything too shifty. Someone has to buy some time for them to get Dylan away. His magic is a good possible diversion to get someone off their back so Nico can grab them both and shift away.]

[Flapjack is sitting on his shoulder ready to transform at a moment's notice.]

[He eyes everything warily. They're dealing with the guilds after all. Even with a common enemy, there's still risk they'll work against their own best interest.]

[The Emperor's coven certainly had.]

[arach_kid]

Slime creatures from outer space? I'm familiar. More than I'd like to be, but that's mostly because Bizarnage doesn't exactly leave a good first impression. Or a good second impression, for that matter.

[Partly because Bizarnage wasn't a natural born symbiote, but a botched Cadmus experiment that tried to recreate one from a DNA sample. Not one of the lab's better ideas.]

[codicies]

[ Dylan winces when Nico corrects him, but the conversation's already started; No turning back now. ]

So... I'm a human/symbiote hybrid. Something about the symbiote... stuff repels the worms. Can you do anything with that?

[arach_kid]

Possibly. I can't make any promises without some research first.

Hypothetically, though? There might be some kind of chemical marker that tells the parasites when someone's already infected.

[codicies]

Makes sense.

[ And... boundaries. Gotta set boundaries. ]

Just some ground rules, though. We're not putting me under for any reason. And if at any point I say we're done, then we're done.

[demigoth]

Or when I think we’re done.

[ He’s got the black-haired guy pinned with a glare. If he knows about symbiotes and doesn’t have a good impression, then it’s worse than it was two minutes ago. Now, someone who doesn’t like symbiotes is running the test. People don’t like to go against their preconceptions. ]

Dylan’s the nice one.

[badbutsadboy]

This all has to be done without hurting him.

And you should tell him everything you're doing.

[It'll help them have a better chance of telling whether what he's doing seems shady.]

[arach_kid]

Oh, absitively posolutely. Nobody even needs to be under for this. All I want is a sample to for a comparative study with the parasites. You don't even need to be here after if you don't want to.

[He could stay if he really wanted to, but the sample was the only thing Pete actually needed from Dylan.]

I'll even return the sample afterwards. Or do whatever else you want me to do with it.

I take scientific ethics seriously, guys. I'm a clone, I've seen how bad it goes when people don't.

[codicies]

[ Dylan relaxes a bit at that. Sure, he could be lying, but it seems convincing enough. Looks like he'd been getting worked up for nothing. ]

I would like it back when you're done with it. I've been stretching myself kind of thin this past month or so.

[ Idly, he wonders if Pete is one of the Spider-Man clones. He knows there were a couple. Is it rude to ask that? From what he's saying, it sounds like his experiences related to being a clone weren't the greatest.

While he's not projecting his specific thoughts, he's not making any effort to hide his curiosity, either — in his head or on his face. ]

[demigoth]

What’s a clone?

[ His eyes snap from Pete to Dylan, and his tone goes from bored but curious to accusatory. You can’t just casually drop that you’ve been spreading yourself too thin when you’re actually sharing YOURSELF. ]

Why didn’t you say anything??

[nerdylilspidey]

[Spidey, having been directed to the lab upon arriving at the hospital, is entering the room with a dramatic flourish. It's not his usual flair of climbing in through the window (and only because he couldn't quite figure out the room number from the outside), but it'll do.]

Hey guys! Spidey here, ready to help fight some parasites with science!

[And he's announcing himself as promised. Fork over that crispy twenty dollar bill, Pete!]

[definecat]

[Sleeper, on the other hand, had found getting into the lab a little more annoying. First their presence was objected to as an animal, and when they'd shifted into a giant, inky black humanoid with yellow stripes and no obvious features beyond too many eyes, security had reacted as if they were a threat.

When they explained that they were here to assist with the parasites, and that they had experience with alien lifeforms and a specialty in chemistry, well, that hadn't gotten security to lay off, but at least they got an escort to the lab. Just in time to hear Spidey's entrance.]

Given the fine line between parasitism and symbiosis, I wonder if I should be offended by that.

[They aren't offended. More amused, and maybe once the team working on the project acknowledges them, security would be less concerned.]

Would someone please explain that I may be an alien monster, but I'm not actually here to hurt anyone?

[nerdylilspidey]

[That is definitely not where Spidey expected to hear that voice from. He actually turns to stare for a second, eyes wide behind his mask.

God, I clearly need to get out more.]

Y'know, I bet if you dropped the monster part, that might be a slightly easier sell. That said, I for one am very happy to hear that you're on our side. As in, y'know, the side of not hurting people.

[definecat]

Maybe, but I wouldn't want to sell myself short.

[So they're not exactly human, but then, they aren't exactly a normal symbiote by most people's standards.]

Besides, you do realize the entities we're talking about have a hive mind, just as my kind do, right? So what happens to one is going to cause ripples. Not against stopping the uncontrolled spread, but not all of us have the option of forgoing a host-body.

[nerdylilspidey]

Whoa, whoa. In my defense, I did not know your- ah- your kind had a hive mind.

[His own relevant experience felt much closer to a parasite than what it might be for the others. And the Venom Project definitely wasn't part of a hive mind.]

Sooooo in that case, you'd probably be more the one to consult on a plan here. I volunteered to help however I can.

[definecat]

My world's Spider-Man is mostly an ally. I apologize for making assumptions.

[They shrug a little.]

I've never had a permanent bond, unlike Venom, who prefers to not be alone. Our hive is...not typical.

[A bit of an understatement, especially considering Dylan and the others currently connected to help with shielding from the parasites.]

What we've found so far is that the self-aware aspect of the mind that is behind the infection is very young. Afraid of that which is not already a part of it. I don't know if it could learn to control spread or not. But I definitely would not say that wiping it out wholesale is an appropriate action.

[arach_kid]

Which is why I'm working on immunization, not wiping them all out. I'm not looking to add genocide to my resume.

[Pete hands over a 20 dollar bill to Peter, before he turns to the guards.]

It's fine, guys. He's with me.

[definecat]

I actually prefer they/them. Gender is a superfluous concept when your species is asexual.

[Sleeper is a rebel on many levels, but they have their reasons.]

So, right now we know that the infection won't spread in the presence of symbiote matter...

[An annoying if useful piece of information.]

[nerdylilspidey]

[Spidey's head tilts curiously in Sleeper's direction. "Mostly an ally"? He's not sure what exactly that might mean, and he really wants to ask, but then Pete is coming up with the dare money and he has to accept it with a little celebratory pump of his fist.]

Awesome. But I'm still shocked that you actually wanted to pay me for that.

[And now he has to kind of... tuck that money away somewhere. He decides a good spot is behind the webshooter on his wrist, where it'll be nice and snug against his skin, so he takes a second to do that while he listens to what's being said.]

Okay, so-- Total wipeout would be bad. Got it. And we also don't know what exactly it is about your symbiote matter that these guys don't like, right? Besides the fact that they might just... not wanna fight over who gets to keep the host.

[arach_kid]

My bad, I need to be better about that sort of thing.

[Pete nods at Peter's summation of the issue.]

Got it in a nutshell. What I'm hoping is that symbiotes and the parasites share some kind of chemical marker or pheromone or what have you that says "No vacancy".

[definecat]

If we can isolate it, I can make it as pure as we can until you figure out a way to properly synthesize in bulk. I can produce any chemical compound.

[It's not normally something that Sleeper advertises, but in this situation, keeping people from dying and being replaced by pod people is probably a good thing.]

One also shouldn't rule out, say, the option of terminally ill folks deciding that becoming a parasite host is better because they might get fixed in the process. In some sense, anyway. I've heard of my kind doing that as a way to hide.

[nerdylilspidey]

[Spidey nods at both Pete and Sleeper, hands settling on his hips while he thinks all this through. He glances at Sleeper in particular for that last comment.]

Yeaaahhh, that's definitely something I'm familiar with. Consent is one thing, but when that turns into hostile takeover? Super not cool.

[Biochemistry isn't his forte, but he's still a scientist and pretty good at problem-solving. In most cases, anyway. He's hoping that this could be one such case.]

Sooo how possible do we think it'd be to get a sample of the parasite's DNA? Just unlikely, or definitely odds of slim to none?