And thus spake The Lord...
Razor One wrote:For the sake of maintaining the quality of writing, I'm going to ask you guys to discuss this, pick a direction, and stick with whatever the majority of authors decide to go with. Please be reasonable about this.
I am definitely voting for keeping the Fearsome Foursome together, short-, mid- and longterm, as I've already stated in the past. To split them would change the dynamics overly much - come to think of it, things wouldn't have turned out that way if not for Beryl's inborn curiosity and cheerfulness. Neither Tempo nor Fireblade would have voiced such a wish to simply try out touching him, and Talon... well, she's a hotshot pilot and of all the Loroi the one easiest to go for a short fling rather than something more serious.
Putting Beryl on a different shift didn't completely remove her out of the picture and was intended to be seen as the helpless attempt of the Loroi in charge (Stillstorm, who at that time was still very much at odds with him) to maintain control and discipline on her ship in face of a phenomenon they simply didn't quite understand yet, an attempt which didn't quite work as intended.
With the latest development, Beryl got to be the bearer of a (as she thinks) terrible secret. Whether the Deinar Files described an actual physical ailment or the natural process of aging and wear and tear, she might not rightly know - even the files themselves could be inconclusive, since they had only a single data point for research - Natan - and thus couldn't be sure if his degenerative process was usual for his species or not. They thought not.
Beryl herself opted for a loophole and the (I think) logical choice - she cannot simply blurt out the secret, that would be a gross breach of confidentiality and grounds for court martial. So, whether it was a planned action or simply a helpless plea, she asked the Doranzer already quite familiar with human physiology - since Gora Relay - to keep watch over his health. She would definitely raise an alert if she'd notice the first symptoms of a neurodegenerative condition, and of course she might be interested herself in how an expeeriment like this would proceed. Scientific curiosity.
In addition, Beryl and Winterbloom on one side and Pure Sand, Alex and Tempo on the others do hold separate pieces of the puzzle and if Winterbloom would ask Alex for a 'regular checkup' - maybe she'd ask Stillstorm to be assigned to him to watch his health, too - that would be one moment to bring the pieces together. Another would be Beryl telling Alex that she actually uses his brain as a remote storage.
So, many reasons for Beryl to stay around.
With the others, it would be even simpler. Tempo feels the great need to make right a grievous wrong she has committed, and Fireblade still simply is in charge of
Tempest's security. Of the three Loroi, Alex's influence had the biggest positive turnaround for her, as in dealing with her PTSD, Loroi style. Lacking the knowledge if the change would be permanent or not, Stillstorm would opt for the practical route of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
(EDIT: Added Razor One's mod-voiced comment as quote to clarify the initial statement)