[open/closed] I watched a change in you

[deploy]

who: John Sheppard & friends, GUEST STARRING the retrovirus, and anyone unlucky enough to cross his path
what: John's problematic transformation from a man into a manbugthing and all the drama that follows
when: Late April to early May
where: Various, inside and outside the wall
warnings: Graphic violence, sexual content, disturbing imagery, language... your typical Rated R Sci-fi movie

Day 0: John is bitten by a venomous insect in the field. Lingering traces of the Irratus bug retrovirus in his system are activated in biological defense, successfully counteracting the venom.

Day 1: No outward physical mutation. Physiological condition is optimized. All symptoms of stress, fatigue and exertion are eliminated. Near instantaneous healing of minor wounds. Strength, speed, stamina, and durability are at peak human capacity. Dopamines and hormones exceed normal levels. Positive change in mood is subsequent.

Day 2: No outward physical mutation. Instantaneous healing of minor wounds. Strength, speed, stamina, and durability are above peak human capacity. Dopamines and hormones are off the charts. Senses are enhanced. Extreme decline of mental/emotional/sexual inhibitions. Behaviour is erratic and reactive.

Day 3: Physical mutation begins, progressing rapidly. Pupils become slitted. Skin and extremities show signs of textural change, becoming rough, hardened and discoloured. Grey dermal patterning covers significant portion of body. Near instantaneous healing of major wounds. Strength, speed, stamina, and durability , as well as senses, are super-human. Shift of brain chemicals and hormones from human to Iratus bug. Loss of mental/emotional/sexual inhibitions. Behaviour is extremely erratic, reactive, and violent.

Day 4: Physical mutation advances significantly, altering facial features. Skin takes on an exoskeleton appearance. Strength, speed, stamina, and durability, as well as senses, are super-human. Complete regenerative ability. Extreme shift of brain chemicals and hormones from human to Iratus bug. Loss of mental/emotional/sexual inhibitions. Loss of identity, and some cognitive function. Behaviour is that of an apex predator. Hyper-violent, territorial, and predatory.

Day 5: Chrysalis. Complete transformation to Iratus hybrid, and loss of human consciousness. Point of no return.

Comments

[childofaxios]

Chyler doesn't know if she can do this, but she keeps that to herself. She stays quiet, stays close to Finn, keeps her mouth shut and her military face, as she's come to think of it, firmly in place. (She never would have called it her military face before John, she never would have considered herself anything but a soldier before John, she never would have felt at home anywhere but a barracks before John--)

When Rodney speaks, she takes a quiet, deep breath and nods. Just once. Just to show she understands, though she also rebels against the thought. She knows it's true, even if she doesn't like it. The truth doesn't need to be liked.

[winscenario]

It's a few seconds before the shuttle lands, and Jim's already getting to his feet and moving to the back to gather their supplies. It's important to carry anything they might need, but they can't take so much that it'll just weigh them down. He has a few stun guns on him, his phaser, his dagger if all else fails. There's also a thick net, ropes, flashlights, light sticks, a number of different weapons, most of them meant for stunning or sedating, if they can even manage that much. He distributes everything among the group evenly, then they head out towards the cave.

They use one of the light sticks to see how far down it goes. It's dark, and the descent is pretty steep, so the rope will come in handy. He secures grapples onto the rocks so the rope can handle their weight, then before anyone else gets to offer, he starts getting ready to go in first.

"Rodney, you come down after me. I'll be waiting for you, but keep the comm line open anyway. If anything's off down there, I'll let you know." With that, he starts rappelling down to the main chamber, a light strapped to his head. He keeps looking down so he knows how long it'll be until he'll reach the bottom, and eventually his feet touch solid ground.

Unhooking himself from the rope, he puts away the head torch, using his stronger flashlight to look around the chamber. He speaks quietly into his comm device. "It's... fine. Safe, for now. Just a lot of bugs all over, but you can come down."

[bythehand]

Finn likewise offers Rodney a nod of acknowledgement before they land. It's not the sort of promise he finds he has too much trouble making. John the way he usually is and John however he is right now seem like they'll be more than different enough in motion to be able to separate out.

The sooner they take him down, the sooner they get him back. And honestly, there's hardly any call for going soft on John on a regular day, anyway. Should be manageable.

This is gonna be fine. Maybe if they all keep thinking that, they'll pull in a little good luck.

By the time it's time to wait on that old rappelling lineup, he's practically thrumming with tense energy.

[childofaxios]

Chyler waits her turn, hating it. She wants to be down there. She wants to find John, find him now, bring him home. She watches Rodney go over the edge, then Finn (silent agreement on their part, a common formation with Chyler at the rear). When she finally makes the climb herself she's borderline reckless, sliding down faster than is probably safe, glad she has her gloves to keep her hands from burning.

Jim wasn't kidding about the bugs. They make Chyler uneasy, if only because they remind her on some level of the monsters that attacked her academy. Too many things remind her of them.

Kirk leads the way deeper, and Chyler keeps to the rear, using her night vision goggles and watching the shadows for anything that might attack from behind. Every once in a while the green of her goggles flares white at the edges as the others give up on cutting their way through the sticky webbing all over the cavern and burn it instead.

Down. Down, down, down. The bugs get bigger. One of them, a big one, almost half her size, rushes their little party after they pass and she lets loose with a short burst of gunfire, pulping the thing's head. She thinks it's the head anyway. Either way, the thing doesn't get back up.

"We're close," Rodney says, his voice far steadier than Chyler would have expected from him, if a little high-pitched. "We're very close."

[winscenario]

Jim's attention is split between the group coming down the rope, and the bugs all around the cave. There are a lot of them, and some are pretty big. Far from the squeamish type, and not really bothered by bugs in general, he still can't help a trace of concern about what might happen if those bugs decide they're a thread and attack them.

He reaches for anyone coming down, helping them to their feet, making sure they're all present and accounted for before heading deeper into the dark again. There's a flashlight attached to his shoulder, and he's wielding a large tranq gun, with enough to take down a really large elephant. Maybe a T-Rex, even. Mutation or not, he just can't bring himself to go lethal on John unless he absolutely must.

Chyler's gun going off startles him a little, on edge as he is. He steels himself anyway, glancing back vaguely and nodding at Rodney's words. It's another couple seconds at best before he hears rustling— louder than the bugs, like something bigger is moving up ahead.

He lifts a fist up, gesturing for the group to stop. He reaches for the flashlight built into his weapon, turning it on, only for it to land on a very familiar frame, even with all the changes he's been through. "... John—"