....Shavri is suddenly FURIOUS. Which probably isn't the best response, but she's tired and frazzled and scared and she misses her baby and wants this to be over - 

She dives in close-close-close with her Sight, again, and whacks the Proto, disrupting its signals, with the same precision as before but a lot more force. Not enough to kill it, but if the alien thing can feel pain at all, this should be enough to HURT. 

|̸̡̡̪̝̦͔͓̟͚̠͎̞̙̦̬͈͚̀̂̅͋̇̅̒̽͂̇̋́͐̇͛̇͋̕̕|̷̡̢͎̠̭͉̰̝̯̺̼̟͖̦̻̟̣͕̱̼̤͇̂̄̌́̚͜į̴̧̨̧̛̠͈͓͚̠̯̣̟͇͙̤͕̰͈͍̠̱̬̮͔͓̪͍̩̰͈̇̋͂́͌̾͋̓̆͛̇̔̽͌̌͝į̸̨̢̛̯̙̯̟͍̫̻̰̥͉̣̓̓͒̈́̍̇̀̐̾̽̌͒͒͊́͂͂̔̋͝.̴̡̛̛̳̹̜̞͙̠̤͚̜̜̗̟̱̬̼̣͓͙̟̖̀̇̈́̓͋̋̃͆̊̅̓̆̏̎̕̕̚͜͝ͅ_̸̪̩͚̣͙̙̻͎̮̞̯̝̺̦͈̺͓̘̱̠̤̜͇̥̱̲͖͂̔̃̾̃̐͐̒̾̈́͋́̿̚͘͜͝ͅ-̴̨̢͕̰̥͔̻̮̺̦̼̝̩̘̠̘͇̟͍̞̱̤̒͒́̌̒͛́͗̿͑̅̀̊̑͆̎̈̇͂͘͝͠͝͝ͅ`̷̢̛̛͙̣͈̦͇̭͈̪̘̅͑̀́̇̐̎̃͌̍̔͗͋̀̓̀͝͝ͅ!̸̡̢̨̛͙̠͖̪̩̺̦̮̙̲̜͕̜̹̞̳̒̑̀͂̎̌̂̕͝.̴̡̛̘̈́͋̅͌̾̓̋̎̂̌̀̅̊͗̃͆͛̆̎̃̌̽̿̿̓͆́̃̚.̸̣̫̥͙̥͇̄͊͐́̽͘͝ͅ_̷̨̡̛̤̗̤̰̖̦̖̣̹̱̳͎̳̘̩̜̑͒̓̈́̉͊̈́̀͐͊̐̀̋͜͝-̵̨͍̘̪̤̲͖̝̥͖͇̻̱̗̥̫̘̬̪̟̼̣̫͓͕̳̈́̈́͌̄͌̾͗̀̿̑̚͝͝`̵̢̛̛͕͇͙͈͈͓̫̰͖͈̰̘̞̟̮̯͕͓̟̜̠̜̤̗̻̍̔̔̂͗̿̉̐̆̃̆̂̄͊́͐͌̄̂́̈́͑ͅ!̴̛̝̫͎̳͍̹̼̹̙̿̀͒̉̍̅̇͑̎̉̌͂͋̿̃̈́̏̈̈́̐͐̂̿̀̊̕.̷̡̛̪̣͔͚̠̜͈̣̺̠̦̥̗͖̰͎͙͇̻͓̪͎̞͔̰͙̹̱̏̈̎͗̐̇͒̄̈̏̾͛̈́̕͘͝͝ ???

"Urgh," says Julie as the sudden movement of the protomolecule does a hundred disruptive things at once.

:I'm sorry - are you all right - the Proto is being obnoxious...: She skims over Julie's body with her Sight, looking for anything in urgent need of fixing. :Let's just get this done: 

I have no idea what happened but I feel like shit. If I'm not dying immediately then it probably doesn't matter.

She starts touching her fingers to the glass in front of her. Patterns flash on it. She remembers belatedly that she's supposed to be teaching Shavri how to do this.

Ship won't fly in atmosphere without all systems green. In space you can get it to kick off with nonessential systems not functioning, if you hit emergency mode, but in atmosphere, it's like, fuck that, there's one place you could be and it's got laws. ...Mars doesn't have an atmosphere thick enough to matter yet. They're working on it. Uh, anyway, systems. Sensors, that's this tab here, it wants you to read and approve all these messages, you approve them by clicking here. You set alerts to auto by clicking here. Engines, I'm manually inputting that they're fine, they're not but they're not immediately going to fail so it's really the least of our problems. You manually clear the engines for launch by clicking through each of these systems, one at a time, and inputting 'manual override, engineer signing off is Dr. Seuss - uh, it doesn't have to be Dr. Seuss, just, it's an ass-covering measure, system just needs a name...

...'m not explaining this very well, am I.

:I'm following you so far: 

Okay good. Navigation, set to full auto, set our location as....doesn't matter because I'm about to tell it to use sensor data not GPS to navigate - set our location as Baghdad, it is like this place pretty flat. Then set it to use sensor data not GPS to navigate. Set course for - just put geosynchronous orbit. Obviously we're going to override it in a second but it's not going to launch if I tell it the plan is to launch and immediately abort. Safety, override all the messages same as sensors. Security, I have the auth codes scratched into the console here, see, you just enter that exactly as it's written. Fuel, tell it we'll sync up in orbit. And then press this to do automated safety checks. - and strap in. We're not going very far but you never want to be in a ship under thrust and out of a chair. She starts pulling some kind of vinyl contraption across her chest. 

Shavri digs out a bit of paper and writes this down carefully, then joins Julie in strapping herself in. Her mouth is suddenly dry, palms sweaty. Odd, she muses vaguely, how she's so much more anxious and jittery about a ship that will perfectly follow Julie's instructions, and not the weapon-disease growing in her that might destroy the world and is smart enough to TALK.

Healing, she understands. Giant blasts of fire are more Vanyel's thing, and she feels helpless in the face of it. 

She waits. 

The systems finish their checks. Julie tells the ship to take off. 

There's a deafening roaring. At first they don't even move, but the windows show columns of white hot fire; then they move, sickeningly fast, and they're pressed against their seats as if there were a huge weight on them, and then they're tugged the other direction, just as forcefully, and then there's a bump and the roaring stops and they're still again.

Julie throws up.

Stupid fucking protomolecule, she says angrily. I can do 15gs without drugs when I'm not sick.

:Is that it - did we burn the things...?: 

Hope so. There's a case to be made we should - turn on the drive in atmosphere - to make sure - but it'll burn everything a mile out.

Shiver. :I - we can't - we'd have to evacuate the whole town first. I...guess it's Queen Elspeth's call. Can you - show me how I would do that, if I have to, to come back alone...?: 

Yeah. So you'd want to do it right after you authorize launch, and you'd have to be kinda fast. You turn off power to all the sensors by hitting emergency, turning off backup power here, and then pulling out these wires here, set your location coordinates to the middle of nowhere, turn nav to manual and set course for Mars - her hands demonstrate deftly, doing all of these steps but the pulling out the wires in the space of about five seconds - and then set it to a 5g burn. While strapped in. Then you turn backup power back on and tell it to make an emergency landing, here, and I can't guarantee it'll land back on this spot but it should set you down somewhere flat within twenty minutes, it's a good little shuttle. She pats the console, which judging by the colorful error messages is emphatically telling her that they're in atmosphere and it absolutely won't turn on the drive. She cancels the instructions and the screen goes blank.

Shavri takes notes. 

:I - can probably figure it out if I have to. Thank you. I - is it safe to get out now -?: 

You gotta do it fast because if you wait too long you'll be too high up. - 's fine to leave now. She grimaces. Though 'm really tired.

:Let me have a look. See if there's anything I can do: 

Shavri turns her Sight on Julie again, the same practiced scan. 

There's considerably more protomolecule and it's more - excited? Energized? It's almost like it picked up on what was happening. Julie has a lot of minor internal injuries from Shavri's earlier tussle with it, but mostly it's just that she got herself here through adrenaline tabs and crawling and now she's utterly exhausted. 

:You need to rest: Shavri takes a deep breath. :I'll carry you out. I just need to check it's not on your skin, still. And you have to try really hard not to throw up on me: 

Nod.

Carrying Julie is an intense workout, but Shavri is stronger than she looks - Healing work involves a lot of lifting and moving sick people around - and she manages it, though the walk to the wagon feels very, very long. She hopes they left it far enough out of range. 

As they pass the spot, she looks around at what used to be a field, gauging the damage - is there anything left of the farmers' cottage? 

...any sign of the Proto...? 

No signs of the proto. The cottage is at this moment on fire. The wagon isn't, but there's a fine layer of ash over it.

Julie is fast asleep by the time they get there.

Shavri settles her down on the tarp, and the ash-dusted replacement blankets donated by the poor terrified resigned farmers, and she perches herself and urges the mule back into motion. At a very slow leisurely pace. They're not in a hurry anymore; they accomplished what they came here for.

She doesn't try talking to the Proto again. She just watches it through her Sight - especially whatever it's doing in Julie's brain - and thinks. 

The proto appears to be in various places...eating and replacing Julie's tissue? The replacement protomolecule tissue still works normally; it's not obvious this would hurt Julie at all. 

......What. 

Eventually, Shavri works up the courage to reach out with a Mindtouch again. 

:What do you want? What are you doing to her?: 

:̷̨̧̛̣̺͇̬̦͔̰͈̹̝̆͑͌̿̌̄́̅͆͗́͘͘͠.̶̬̥͆͆̅̆.̷͇̂̏̑̑̀͌̏̍͑̒͊̊͂͠í̴̧̡̖̯̲̮̪͇͍̱̫͙̪̿̃̆̎̀͘͝͝|̷̭̱̜͉͔̟́̄̐͊̄͑́͛̌͠|̸̨͙̠̖̙̻͚̖̒̋̅̂̎̈̕̚c̴̨̻̣̮̚ò̴͕͚͎͍̦̠͖̖̲̫̘͐͠ͅn̷͎̞̒̏̄̓̆͋͂̚͠f̴̡̪̰̥̬̱͙̣̥̩̺̝̮̪̅̀u̴̧̫͓̟̘̟̠̥̲̒̌̑͜ş̵͎̘͉͇̝̬͑́̒͜ͅĭ̷̧̟̫͈̟͈̙͓̠̪̙̫̙̾͛̈́͝͠ở̴̡̧̢͚̪̪͖̭̦͎̱̭̈́̐͒͐̅͑͒̽͘͝͝͝͝n̷̪̺̝̲̺̬̯̫̿̾̑̋̕.̸̡̗̣͕̘̩̬̪͕̝͇͇͕̄̑̀̐̓̎̃͒;̵̼͈̽̓͊̈́̏̃͑́̒ĺ̷̥̺͙͓͙̳̳̪̥͇̥͙̎̓́͘͝ē̴̛̠̺̪a̸̡̞͙̭͍̜͍̓̔͜ͅŗ̸͈̞͔̺̯͚͙̺̜͍̟̦̓̀̀͒͆͗̆̃̈́n̵̖̯̹̣̮͔̞̈́́͌i̷̧̫̲͐͗̀n̶̨̨̧̳̻̭̺̗̬̱̱̈̓̓̉͌̓̾̽g̵̡͇̭͎͍͔͖̠̗̹̙̲̞̈̈͜.̵̖͈̲͓̣͂͐͜/̷̛̭͓͉͖̳̭͈̮̤͇̮̠̈̓̆͗͆̅̈́̆̉̾̚̚ȓ̴̞͈̗̝̘̯͈̈́̽̈́̌́̂͛͆̾̕̚͘͜ͅé̶̛̹̦̲̹͕̠͕̠̬̹̙̑̈́͂͊͑̀̇̂̉̒͐͝s̵̢̝̮͎̥̱̜̳̯̋̏́ͅȍ̷̡̢̗͖͕͕͕͙̘͈̣́ṹ̸̡̼̼̯̹̹͉̮͑͗̀͆r̴̛̰̰͈̭̽̾̂͋̃̀͊̃̍̈́̿͋̚͝c̴̡̨̱̦̫̮͓̯̙̭̺̖͍̙̈́̀̇͒̋̅̂̌̾͘͜ė̶͙̝̼͌̑̊͝͠ś̴͎̘̫̀́͊͆̈͋̈́̄͠;̸̘̺̿̍̈̅̂͊͝͝:̸̦͔̫̺͔̇|̶̝̺̮̺͙̱̲͍̝͚̦̊̒͆̓̊̄̀̈̀̊͑̈̿͘͝ͅi̸̧̡̛̖̙̰͍̪̗̺͖͙̫̠̇̔͌