RP XSDF Roleplay Thread: Vanguard of Forseti

[ZombieSplitter53]

Withholding Information

XSDF Battleship 'Einherjar'
Holo-room 4
March 5th, 2044
1600 Hours

Bɒkɒ stared down at the smashed in terminal, sighing and reaching for his communicator. "Can I get a type 4-hgr computer terminal?" Rubbing around his eyes with his upper arms, a Baʒir sign of frustration, he grabbed his voice recorder. "Tatota Bɒkɒ, holo-room 4 repair. The computer malfunction is... less a factor of maintenance needs and more a factor of the smashed terminal. Will replace. Then will request Mr. Patterson be given the appropriate discipline and be reminded to take his aggression out on the holograms, not the equipment."

"Dica agc ne..."

Bɒkɒ turned to his sisters. "Use your translators, please."

Teefa and Nana reached to the devices around their necks, switching them on. The latter asked, "Will Mr. Patterson be in big trouble?"

"Will he be fired?" asked Teefa. "We he be in... inca... in... will he be sent to the brig?"

"Incarcerated. And that is up to the Commander," Bɒkɒ answered. "But he is not the first to break something. Come, I want to see you two take off the terminal yourself."

The female Baʒir nodded, and got to work. Bɒkɒ gave them a few pointers when they were stuck, but mostly let them do it themselves. As they were pulling it off, a dog suddenly materialized. It barked at Teefa and Nana, making them jump. A moment later, it was replaced with a Balmadaar, aiming its plasma weapon at some invisible enemy in particular.

Bɒkɒ walked over to his sisters and examined the computer screen. "Hmm... random programs are starting from some unknown source, and I will not be able to turn them off until the new terminal gets here. But the safety is on, so no worries." He turned to his sisters, rubbing his feelers against theirs. "Excellent work, you two. You are learning fast."

The pair exchanged a nervous glance, and Teefa asked, "Why does Bɒkɒ spend so much time with Nana and Teefa?"

"Why so much time with Teefa and Nana?" Nana asked in turn. "Not so much time with brothers."

"I teach our brothers," Bɒkɒ answered nervously. "But... you two have the most potential."

"Potential?" Nana tilted her head. "What potential?"

"Bɒkɒ means to be Anati," Teefa answered sadly. "Bɒkɒ does not want to be Anati. Tini dies, Bɒkɒ leaves us."

Bɒkɒ quickly shook his head. "No. No, I don't..."

"Bɒkɒ's job more important then family?" Nana's eyes started to water. "Bɒkɒ doesn't want to be Anati? Wants... to leave?"

Bɒkɒ stammered, not sure what to say. There was truth in what she said, but it sounded so much less caring that way.

"I think Bɒkɒ is just trying to be prepared." Three Baʒir heads turned to the entrance as Alice walked over, the requested supplies in hand. "This is a dangerous place to work, especially with the pirates out their."

Bɒkɒ quickly nodded. "That is right. What... what if you lost me before Tini? One of you would to need to be ready."

Teefa and Nana nodded and smiled, though the latter action was hard to tell by a non-Baʒir. Alice winked at Bɒkɒ, who gave her a grateful nod, and the two got to work as a trio of Chyssalid holograms did summersaults nearby. "I'm Alice, by the way."

"Bɒkɒ. And these are my sisters..." Bɒkɒ noted the pair taking a step back. "What is wrong?"

The girls quickly turned off their translators. There is something wrong with this... human. Teefa muttered, Nana nodding in agreement.

"I... will be right back," the male Baʒir said to Alice, switching off his translator and walking over to his sisters. That is not a nice thing to say, even if she can't...

She smells... different. Teefa's antenna flicked towards Alice.

Very different. Nana agreed. Energy is strange. Like... like robot man the Commander found.

Teefa nodded. Think human is not human. Think she is robot lady.

"Bɒkɒ? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Alice asked.

Bɒkɒ patted his sisters on the head. Stay here. He turned his translator back on and walked over to Alice. "My... my sister's and I were..."

"Talking about me." Alice frowned. "I can understand your language."

"Oh." Bɒkɒ took a small step back. "Is... is it true?"

Alice quickly placed her hands firmly on Bɒkɒ's shoulders. "Yes, but you can't tell anyone. The Commander can not find out."

Bɒkɒ shook a little, but stood tall. "Whatever... whatever you have to do... please, don't hurt my sister. They won't tell anyone."

Alice's eyes widened, and she quickly removed her hands. "No. No no no. I... I wasn't threatening you. I... I just need this to stay between us. Please."

Bɒkɒ nervously rubbed is antenna. "I... I don't... the Commander incarcerated the other android. Which means... she does not trust you. I... I should tell her."

Alice's eyes darted back and forth in a panic. "But... but she didn't actually tell you, or anyone, to report if you find any more androids. She doesn't even know that there are any more."

Bɒkɒ turned away, his feelings conflicted. "I... I can not keep things from my superiors. I-I am to be... the first Baʒir engineer that is an official XSDF member. I... I can not betray the Commander's trust..."

"You don't have to." Alice placed a hand on his shoulder, much more gently this time. "But I should be given a chance. If I actually do something wrong, something bad... turn me in. And if I'm found out, I won't tell anyone you knew. Please, just... give me a chance."

Bɒkɒ was silent for several seconds. Finally, he nodded. "I will... not tell anyone." He turned back to the blond android and bowed his head. "And I will tell my sisters..." He quickly turned back at the sound of Teefa and Nana shrieking, which was quickly cut off by the roar of the Kerberant that materialized before them. It snapped at the pair, the three slimy heads of the hologram passing harmlessly through them, but they didn't seem to notice, only shrieking louder.

Bɒkɒ rushed to give what little aid he could while Alice turned back to the computer. With incredible precision and speed, she finished installing the new terminal. When it lit up, her hands flew across the keys.

Around the Kerberant, a dark, violet fog formed, growing thicker and thicker. Behind the creature, floating in mid air, appeared two large, glowing yellow eyes, followed by a big grin showing off razor sharp teeth. As the fog formed into the shape of a cat around the smile, the Kerberant turn to face its new adversary.

"Meow, baby." The giant Cheshire Cat flicked its paw under the three headed monster, sending it flying up and into the cat's mouth. The Cheshire Cat chewed for a few seconds, swallowing and giving a disgusted look. "Nasty aftertaste. Way too slimy." It picked a chunk out of its teeth with its claws before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

The chunk landed in front of Teefa and Nana, taking the shape of a mouse-sized Kerberant. The pair exchanged a delighted look before stomping it together, the creature laying flat in a cartoonish manner before dissolving.

Alice walked over to the three Baʒir. "I could have just ended the program, but I felt this was more fitting."

"Th-thank you. Thank you so much." Bɒkɒ bowed his head, and his sisters followed suit.

Alice shrugged. "Just... helping out my fellow engineers."

"Regardless, I am in you debt." Bɒkɒ motioned for his sisters to follow him out. "Come. That is enough excitement for one day."

Alice watched with a smile as the three left, Teefa and Nana cheerfully waving goodbye. Once they were gone, however, her smile was replaced by a nervous frown.

Should this One... dispose of them for you, Mistress?

Alice rolled her eyes. "No, Dinah. We do not do that to our co-workers. Only bad guys." She looked towards the wall, the Incubator's fur changing from the wall's color to its usual white. "How is Nick?"

The human Nick is doing well. From this One's observations, he is listening to the doctors and will soon be released. Dinah paused for a moment, then asked, Do you... not trust him, Mistress?

The android woman folded her arms. "No. I wish I could. But the more I interact with him, the more he reminds me of Dr. Randolf."

This One understands. Mistress Sonya did tend to... avoid asking for help. But his machine watches him, much like you watched Mistress Sonya. This One shall return to watching the human Streczyk. She is...

"Wait a minute." Alice dropped to her knees in front of the alien cat, half whispering, "What are you talking about?!" I didn't tell you to..."

Mistress Alice stated a wish to know what the human Streczyk was 'up to'. This One only followed this wish.

"I was just thinking out loud. I didn't actually mean for you..." Alice sighed. "Did you even discover anything?"

Only that the human Streczyk was unsatisfied with her breakfast, is close to deciding what to do with the Humiliata doctor, and that she likes to read.

Alice nodded and stood up. "Alright. But... but don't do that again unless I explicitly tell you to. I don't want to lose my position, and I don't even want to know what would happen to you."

This One understands.

"Good." Alice looked over to the computer terminal and smiled. "How about a walk in the park?"

Dinah nodded. This One would enjoy that very much.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Frostlich1228 & Alzdude28: "Prosthetic Woes."

Somewhere in subspace, Einherjar.
Office of Camellia Cross
March, 5th.
1144 GMT

Bullshit. Utter Bullshit. Al walked down the corridor towards the psychiatrist's office. It’s a waste of time, I can deal with this fine myself. He carefully ignored the stares of the personnel he passed. He was getting used to it by now.

He came to the door at last, and read the nameplate. Camellia Cross. It was the right place. He tried to knock with his right hand first. Idiot. He raised his left, and rapped on the metal three times.

The door slid open automatically, revealing a cozy looking room with a few comfortable looking sofas and a carpet, and as the door opened fully, a voice called to him, “The doctor is in!”

Al stepped across the threshold, but didn’t move any further into the room. “Dr. Cross? I’ve been sent to see you.”

“Alright, take a seat anywhere.” Camellia replied with her usual smile, “May I ask who sent you?”

Al stayed where he was and shrugged slightly. “Doctor. Said I needed you to clear me as fit for duty. Can we just get the form signed off so I can get on my way?”

“Hang on, what’s the problem exactly?” She said, noticing his arm but choosing not to say anything. She looked away from his arm and scanned him from his feet to his head. Woah… I’ve never even heard of an alien like him before… He looks really badass!

“Isn’t it obvious?” Al gave a bitter laugh. “The brass want me to get a psychological profile before they’ll fit me with a new one.” He sighed a little.

“Alright, that’s not too hard. Just take a seat, and I’ll ask you some questions.” She smiled, pointing to the chair on the other side of her desk.

Silently, Al walked over to the chair, then regarded it briefly. “You don’t have anything a little… taller do you?”

“Sorry, we don’t. We mostly get Humans and Tamaerins, you know, smaller races.” Winter answered, “I hope it’s not too uncomfortable for you.”

Sitting down, Al grunted quietly, his knees at the height of his chest. “Nothing hurt but my pride.”

“I’m reaally sorry… Maybe I could have someone bring in one of the stools from the cafeteria if you’d like.” She suggested, feeling a little bad.

“This will suffice.” Al stretched out, trying to get comfortable. “This sort of situation is far from unusual.”

“Alright, so, I guess the first thing I’d like to know is, how’d you lose your arm? I mean, if you don’t feel comfortable talking about, you don’t have to, but I’d like to know.”

“Operation Old Enemy. The one on Progressus. Fucking Mechtoid blew apart the wall I was behind, and the medics couldn’t do anything once they got me back.”

“You’re getting fitted for a prosthetic, alright, and they don’t think you’re mentally stable?” Camellia asked, leaning forward a little.

“That’s about it, though as I said, I just need you to sign the form. I’m perfectly stable.”

“Well, they had to send you here for some reason, we’ll do a few more questions.” Winter said, “How have you been sleeping since the incident?”

“Not counting the time I spent pumped to the neck with sedatives, about the same as normal.” After a moment’s pause he continued. “I’ve been waking up in the night though. I keep… seeing it happen again…” He shifted slightly in his chair, looking a little nervous.

“So you’ve been having nightmares?” She asked.

“Sorry?” He said, a little confused.

“Have you been having nightmares since your mission?” Camellia asked again.

“Not nightmares exactly… they’re… too real. It’s more like I’m going through the memory again, although after I get shot things go strange. I see things from earlier. I don’t see what that has to do with anything, though.”

“And how long ago was this mission?” She responded, “Two weeks or so?”

Al thought for a moment. “Yeah… It was… the 14th, I think.”

“Have you been feeling gradually better since the mission, or are you feeling the same, or even worse?” She asked, taking some notes on her clipboard.

“Well… after the first couple of days, a little better than when they brought me round, but about the same since then.”

“Have you felt really anxious lately? Been Nervous? Have you been having mood swings, bursts of anger?” Winter said, taking some more notes and typing some things on her computer.

“I was… angry in general at first. As with before though, that was just the first couple of days.” He paused again. “I do feel angry at myself occasionally now. When I try to use my right arm. I… keep forgetting, and then…” He trailed off at this point, looking at the deck.

“Hey, it’s okay… It’s normal for your brain to sometimes… not realize it’s lost a limb… You’ve been living with it your whole life, it’s not used to not having it, it shouldn’t last after you get your prosthetic, because it’ll be like you do have the arm again.” Winter explained.

“I suppose… but that doesn’t change things in the meantime.” Al said, mournfully.

“Once you get your prosthetic it’ll feel better than new, I should know, my family works with prosthetics and created the T0’s we have right now.” Camellia said, “Although, you’re getting a combat prosthetic, that’s Ms. Exalt’s department.”

Al couldn’t help but grin a little. “I suppose things could be worse. You should have seen the cybernetics we had back on Styx Prime.”

“I imagine they’re a lot more kickass, with spikes, or maybe a sword.” Winter smiled, chuckling.

“Yeah, but as a species we’re not very advanced, technologically speaking. The cybernetics were jury rigged from scrap left after the wars with the T’kenasch… I don’t know what you call them… little creatures with these big mechanical exoskeletons. The technology was old during the war, and ancient by the time I was born. Didn’t stop people from bolting themselves into it.” Al reminisced, leaning back in the chair.

“Sounds a little like you’re describing Sectoids, but you know what they’re called, so that’s not likely.” Camellia stated, “Anyway, speaking of Sectoids, have you been avoiding the Sectoid crewmembers on the ship since your accident?”

“Not purposely. I’ve been in the infirmary for most of the time, so I haven’t encountered any personally.”

“Have you… Had trouble remembering details from the event?” She asked, weaving her fingers together.

Al shuddered involuntarily. “No… it’s very clear.” he said, slowly.

“That’s actually good. I know it’s hard, but you have to work through the painful memories, that’s how you’ll stop them.” She said, standing up for a second.

“I’m assuming that by ‘work through’ you don’t mean ‘drink until you can’t remember anymore.’” He said, with an imperceptible smile.

“Remembering it is important, the more you push the memory down or try to keep it away, the more it’ll haunt you. It’s better to work through the emotions and the pain, that’s how the healing starts.” She explained, “As corny as that sounds.”

“Pity. I think I could have managed my method quite easily.”

“The easy way doesn’t always work.” She walked over to the side of the room, stopping near a table. The table had a metal water cooler, about the size of a coffee machine, which she used to fill a small plastic cup about halfway. Camellia looked back over to him, “Want some water? I’ve been begging to get one of these things in my room all month.”

“Why not?” Al said, with a small shrug, taking the cup he was offered.

Camellia sat back down, sipping from her own cup, “So, this may seem like a weird question, but where do you see yourself in the future?”

 

[Frostlich1228]

Part 2

He shrugged again. “I don’t know. I’ve always just taken things as they come. After Foreseti, if I leave the XSDF I’ll probably start working as a merc. Maybe even a bounty hunter, I’ve heard that there’s good money in that.” He sipped at the water. “Hell, maybe I’ll just go out into the great unknown and live like I did back on Styx.”

“Ever see yourself with a wife? Kids?”

“I’ve never been particularly reliant on company. Growing up it was just me and Ma, so I’ve got used to living without others. Besides, when it comes to romance, I’ve never been particularly interested in anything cross-species, and I doubt I’ll find another one of my own this far from Luhmen. There were only a couple of others at the nearest station, and nobody had heard of us by the time I was two light years away.”

“I hope you don’t feel like too much of a stranger here, have you made any friends since you’ve been here?” She asked, taking a bigger gulp this time.

“The others in the White Wolves have been very accommodating. And there were a few others. I was training with a soldier called Noire a few weeks back. It’s been a long time since I fought anyone so strong.” Al finished his water, tried to throw the cup in the bin, and sending it wide, unused to throwing with his left. Blushing slightly, he walked over, and dropped it carefully in the bin.

“One more question. Have you been doing things with them and talking with them since the accident?” She spoke, jotting down a few more things on her computer.

“I’ve barely seen them since then... I’ve either been in the infirmary, or shitfaced.”

“But you wouldn’t mind seeing them right? You haven’t been avoiding them?” Camellia said, tossing her cup into the trash bin as well.

“No… I mean, I guess.. I have been worried that they’ll… treat me differently now…”

“Why do you think that?”

“Look at me.” He said, gesturing at his stump. “I’m a fucking cripple.”

“Listen they’re your friends, they’re not going to treat you differently just because you’re sans an arm. You’re still the same person they became friends with, it’ll be fine.” Winter replied, trying to convince him.

“I guess. I just… I’m nervous, that’s all.”

“That’s okay, you’ve probably never had multi-species friends before, but if they’re really your friends, they’ll accept you back with open arms, in fact, they’re probably really worried about you.” She replied, trying to comfort him.

At this he smiled a little. “I really hope you’re right.”

“You know… I could be your friend if you’d like.” She offered, “I prefer to have a close connection with my patients, I like to be more than just your doctor.”

“That… would be nice.” Al stammered. Slightly disconcerted.

“About your Mental evaluation.” She let out a breath, “Would you like me to just be honest with you?”

“Honest with me, yes. With the forms… not necessarily.”

“While I do think you are mentally stable enough to use the combat prosthetics, you might be beginning to develop a case of PTSD from the incident with your arm.” She explained, “From the questions I asked, it would seem you have a few symptoms, but it’s nothing too serious yet. Still, I’d like you to see me on a weekly or biweekly basis, just to talk so I can help you work through your emotions a little bit more.”

“I… really don’t think that’s necessary. My people have never had any need of treatment like this before.”

“Just because you’ve never needed it before doesn’t mean you don’t need it now, you’re people aren’t as advanced as us, right? That means they probably haven’t found a need for a psychiatrist yet.” She explained, “Trust me, all we are going to do is talk, I’ll ask you to explain how you felt as it was happening and help you get over any regret, or self-blame you have.”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of anything else.”

“See, that’s the spirit. Just come see me again next week, and we’ll have another chat, alright?” She said, taking the form from him and signing her name at the bottom.

Standing up, Al took the form back. “Thank you. I’ll... uh, let you know what time’s good for me.”

“Have a nice day alright? And don’t be afraid to just stop by anytime when I’m not busy, I’m always available to talk.” She said, giving him a wave and writing his name on the visitor’s list.

“Yeah, you too.” He said, walking over to the door. “Thanks again.” Then he ducked through the door, heading back towards the infirmary, with a slight spring in his step. Things were looking up.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Frostlich1228 and DarkGemini24601: “Falling Out, Part 1”

Somewhere in Subspace (March 6th, 2044)
The Einherjar (9:34 A.M., Earth Standard)
Office of Commander Streczyk

Astasha was tapping her pen against her desk, mulling over her recent frustrations with the crew, when her buzzer rang. "For the love of... What?" She snapped.

"Ms. Cross was requesting to see you, sir," the guard explained.

Astasha sighed. What does she want...? "Let her in."

Camellia stepped in, holding her hands together in front of her, making sure to keep at least a partial smile on her face, "Hello, Commander. Uh.. We haven't met in person yet, but I'm sure you know who I am."

"I do," Astasha said simply. "What did you need?"

She took in a deep breath, "I'd like to talk with you about some of my clients... Particularly, Korra Devolina and Cassia Van Dam..."

"If you still need to visit Vam Dam you can do so from the brig, though it will likely not be necessary for too much longer. She'll be sent to New Alcatraz in all likelihood for past greviances combined with threatening myself and my guards."

"About that Commander..." Winter spoke, "I know what she did was extremely stupid... But I think sending her to New Alcatraz might be a little too extreme... She is a bounty hunter after all, she's not used to taking orders from people, that's not how she was taught and many of her family have had trouble with authority. I'm not saying she should just simply be forgiven, but perhaps a extended stay in the brig and a demotion would be preferable to throwing her into a prison for some of the worst criminals in Human controlled space."

Astasha frowned. "Miss Cross, it is exactly because she was a mercenary that this issue is exacerbated. Somewhere in her career she has committed crimes, and I don't approval of vigilantes. Neither does the law. Mercenaries and PMCs are not prohibited, but should their actions be against the interests of any human government, I will respond accordingly."

The Commander folded her hands together. "And I frankly don't care how she was brought up. That is no excuse for threatening to kill me and my guards if we did not get out of her way. Should I let her go, there is no guarantee she will not seek revenge and possibly join some pirate faction in that vein. She brought this on herself." Shaking her head, the Indian woman added, "And you are free to view that prison how you will, but I would not describe it as brutal. It is a maximum security prison colony to ensure that dangerous criminals are kept apart from society and prevent their escape. Seeing how Van Dan has psionic abilities and is trained in how to kill, putting her in a prison somewhere else would risk harm to the nearby community."

She lowered her head a little, "I know Commander... But I think I can talk to her, maybe get her to change her ways, she's the daughter of one of the people that saved Earth in the fight with Phobos, I think she has good in her despite not having the best attitude And... I'm afraid of what'll happen if she ends up in there..."

"I understand that it is your job to help people, but you are not experienced in military matters. Insubordination is not forgiven by assurances that the offender will change their ways. At the very least, Vam Dam is out of the XSDF., though again, I am not certain I can risk her going free. The actions of her family don't matter to me, no more than I would give O'Brien special treatment because of who her mother is."

Astasha narrowed her eyes. "And what do you mean about what happens if she goes there? She won't die, and it most likely wouldn't be a life sentence."

"Well, she's a bounty hunter, who knows how many of her former targets are currently held there, assuming she actually took any of them... alive..." She explained, "Maximum security or not, she'd be locked in with who knows how many people she's turned in over the years, sooner or later they'd get to her, right?"

"Miss Cross, do you find the XSDF incompetent, or do you not understand the concept of a maximum security prison?" Astasha inquired. "Because that will not happen. The wardens would sooner catch and throw any would-be assassins into solitary than let a prisoner die. I have heard of no such incidents in the past, and Van Dam would hardly be the first mercenary to be sent there."

"So... There's nothing I can do to help her?" Winter frowned, feeling defeated by the Commander's sound logic.

"Your job is to take care of our staff's psychiatric needs, not to counsel me on my decisions." Astasha looked at Camellia with a pensive look. "I suggest you don't concern yourself with a likely-to-be condemned criminal any longer."

"Well then... I'd like to speak with you about Ms. Devolina as well... I've heard that she's also in the middle of some trouble." Camellia responded.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Frostlich1228 and DarkGemini24601: “Falling Out, Part 2”

"Devolina has a history of trouble, and I've been keeping an eye on her to ensure she is staying in line." Astasha leaned back in her chair. "She's made a bad habit of trying to get other staff members to have sex with her, and I warned her that any further offenses would mean the termination of her XSDF membership."

"But she hasn't actually been caught engaging in anything sexual, correct?" Winter asked, "Just flirting?"

"She has been attempting to, and it is just as disruptive to our operations to do that than it is to take it further. My rule exists for a reason. The military is not the place to find love, and it puts a hinderance on our staff, particularly our soldiers, if they get too attached," Astasha replied.

"Well, I've spent a lot of time with Ms. Devolina and there is a reason for her constant flirtatiousness, however, I'd rather not share it with you, doctor patient confidentiality you know." Camellia said, "There is one thing I can tell you, it's mostly a desire for attention, as a Pon Tear she is used to being shunned and hated by almost everyone, now that people are paying attention to her, she wants more of it, even if they only care about her figure. She's not doing it for love and I doubt she would take any of them to bed."

"That's your opinion, Dr. Cross. But her personal problems are your domain, not mine. It doesn't change the fact that she is one misstep away from being sent home."

"I'm just asking you to try being a little more lenient with her in regards to her flirting, she's unlikely to go further than that and hopefully this craving for attention will die down a little after spending more time with me." She explained, "And there is a big difference between flirting with the intention of sex and complimenting someone in a sensual way."

"Neither are approperiate here. And i'll be the judge of her intentions for the purposes of my command." Astasha crossed her arms. "From what the security footage in the hallway picked up, she would have had sex with that android of all things if he hadn't ultimately turned her down."

"Really Commander?" She said, stopping herself from giggling, "According to you wouldn't that simply be like having sex with a chair or blaming someone for using a personal toy?"

If Winter's joke had been meant to lighten the mood, it did the polar opposite. "Are you... making fun of me, Cross?" Astasha said with barely-contained venom. "Because I highly suggest that you remember that while you're not a soldier, you are NOT exempt from the consequences of insubordinate words or actions. That machine may not be a human, but that does not mean Devolina is free to have intercourse with it. It is more of an affront than anything, like a human having relations with an animal."

"Who said I was making fun of you?" She shrugged, "You do know that Vibrators are also technically machines, therefore are all personal toys banned on that account? If you consider him to be nothing more than a machine, then you need to ban intercourse with any sort of mechanical dolls that people may have on board as well as personal toys, which on a ship where you already cannot conduct sexual activity, would drop the morale of everyone on board and would make people's urges that much stronger, meaning more flirting and attempts at sex."

"Androids are a special case, but if you're trying to make me think I'm a hipocrite you're doing a terrible job, because I can see right through you." Astasha got up, putting her palms down on her desk roughly. "Androids may have comparible intelligence to humans but that doesn't mean they have the same rights. Make too many and humans become outdated in their uncaring minds. And they dont have the same sentience organics have, even if they mimic it. You will not sway me, and you're only endangering your position aboard this ship by trying to manipulate your commanding officer!"

"I'm not trying to manipulate you! I'm trying to help you!" Winter said sternly, sighing, "Commander, you know how many people I've talked to that have strongly disagreed the way you're running things, almost everyone I've asked... People feel like you're running this ship like a monarchy, refusing to listen to what they say, how they feel... They're getting fett up with you Commander, and when that happens, you'll see people begin to rebel, intentionally disobeying rules, doing things just spite you, and when that happens, it'll only be a matter of time before this ship crumbles from the inside out. I want the XSDF to succeed Commander, but at this rate, it's not looking good. History has shown that monarchies are highly unstable, they can stand, but tend to teeter left and right. How many monarchies have ended in disaster? How long until someone brash decides they've had enough, getting together as many like minded people as they can and march into your office, guns at the ready?" She explained slowly, in as calm a voice as possible.

Astasha was silent for a moment, and then began to laugh. A chuckle at first, but she had to keep herelf from becoming hysterical. Wiping her eye, she apologized, "Forgive me, it's been awhile since someone has made me laugh." The Commander's expression turned as dark as midnight. "Because you are insane if you think this ship is run like an outdated governmental system. Out of your mind."

The Indian woman twirled her pen in her hand. "Cross, you've never been in the military before, but the internal workings of any military organization are not democratic. Why? Because it would simply not function. Soldiers cannot sit around a table to discuss how to fight battles. The military is a dictatorship run by an official elected by democracy. By the Council of Nations. And that's me."

Astasha sar back down, crossing her arms. "If you expect to find anything different, you have been woefully misled by your mother." The Commander straightened her posture. "I am not blind to the fact that I am not popular, but understand that doesn't mean anything. Your overdramatic monarchy comparison is about as intelligent as rat shit. I have acted within the law with what I did to Ezra and I plan to send him home. I have acted within the law with apprehending Van Dam after her threats. This is my ship, and my rules. You want an outfit that allows you absolute freedom and the ability to fraternize? Go work at a bar or go back to becoming a singer."

Camellia stood up silently, "You're right... Maybe I have been misled into thinking that the XSDF would be anything like it's predecessor..."

Winter stepped towards the door, "Maybe I am full of rat shit, and if this works out for the best, I'll be the dumbass. I guess we'll have to see how things pan out. Good luck Commander, I hope you won't need it."

 

[DarkGemini24601]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “Consequences”

(Before “Falling Out”)

XSDF Battleship 'Einherjar'
Hallway near Holo-room 2
March 7th, 2044

Korra twirled a strand of hair, her tail rubbing against her companion's chin. "Come on. You gonna leave me wanting?"

The man laughed nervously. "I-I don't... you know... th-the Commander's policy..."

Korra shook her head. "She doesn't have to know. You and I go to the holo-room for... 'training'. Pick a landscape that hides us from any cameras. And there you go."

"I... maybe... but..."

Korra pressed her bosom against the man's chest. "What is wrong with the men here? Everyone has rejected me. If you don't wanna go too far, a little fooling around would be fine. But I'm lonely. Most of the men I really want are afraid to touch me. Act like I'm going to bite... something... off..."

The man swallowed hard. "So I'm... a substitute."

Korra sighed. "You make that sound like a bad thing. All it means is I won't expect anything after."

"What the hell is going on here?" An Indian woman growled as she turned the corner. "And why am I not surprised it has to do with you, Devolina?"

Korra calmly stepped away while the man seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. "I-I'm sorry, Commander. I didn't... she... she wouldn't stop..."

Korra rolled her eyes. "Never mind now, Mr. Spineless." She smiled at Astasha. "Apparently a whole lot of nothing is happening. Thanks."

"That makes this, what, the sixth incident of something like this?" The Commander shook her head. "Do you remember when I made it clear you were 'on thin ice'?"

Korra's smile widened a bit as she leaned forward. "I'm... not sure I understand. We were just talking, my friend and I. What have I done wrong?"

"Don't act coy with me. Between what you did with that android and what you've been trying for time and again..." Astasha narrowed her eyes. "This is a military ship, not a pleasure cruiser. If after all this time you can't understand that, then perhaps I'll have to explain to the Devolinas how their daughter unfortunately cannot find her place in the XSDF."

Korra's smile slowly faded. "I... I haven't... done anything. And even if I had, it's an unfair rule. People have their needs, and it's wrong of you to not let them..." She folded her arms. "B-but, I... I haven't..."

"I don't give a damn what you think of my rules. You are to follow them." Astasha crossed her arms. "And in case you didn't get the memo, I set up a holo program specifically for Sach-diy-duh." She gave a humorless smile. "Though you always seem to be in heat anyway."

Korra snared, squeezing her fists. "I... just like to have some... company. But getting anything here has now become as hard for as for you any other day."

"I should hope you aren't trying to insult your commanding officer," Astasha warned. "I haven't made my decision to dismiss you yet. You should be helping me decide not to."

For once in your life, Korra, shut up! Korra swallowed. "I... I didn't mean to... but we weren't..." She turned to get some support, only to find the soldier she had been with had slipped away. "Spineless beala uv cred," she mumbled to herself." She turned back to the Commander. "Listen. I... um..."

"Losing my patience, Devolina..."

The Tamearin red head withheld the urge to snap at her Commander, and simply lowered her head. "I... I-I'm... s-s-sorry. It... won't... happen again. I was just... looking for some enjoyment." If looks could kill, anyone walking on the decks directly below her would have dropped dead.

"I'll hold you to that. You may go now."

Korra shook in anger, but slowly nodded. She turned around, walking away and muttering to herself. "Yhhuoehk, ibcdynd pedlr. Zicd palyica oui clyna ymm dra sah yfyo fedr dryd luhcdyhdmo yhkno vyla, drehg oui lyh syga ajanouha yc vilgehk secanypma yc oui..." <Annoying, upstart bitch. Just because you scare all the men away with that constantly angry face, think you can make everyone as fucking miserable as you...>

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Without bothering to change, Korra stormed past her room and into the gym. She approached one of the punching bags, staring at it like it was the Commander.

"Hey, I was using that," an engineer said. "I was just grabbing a drink of..." Korra slammed her fist it the bag, sending it flying forward. She snarled at the man as she punched it again. The engineer slowly backed away, holding his hands up. "On second thought... think I'll grab a treadmill."

"Good idea," Korra growled, punching the bag again and again.

"I'd ask you if you were alright, but I think the answer is fairly obvious. What happened?" A familiar voice said from behind Korra.

Korra turned, briefly smiling at Kallpa. The smile quickly faded, however, and she resumed her assault on the helpless punching bag. "Nothing. Just annoyed that my boss can talk to me like crap and take advantage of me and my situation. Thought I left that behind when I got on this ship."

"That sounds like more than nothing. Did you do anything to attract her ire, or does she just not like you in general?" Kallpa asked cautiously.

Korra stopped punching, thinking about the answer. "I... I guess both. I was... flirting with someone in the halls. But she never seems to need an excuse to give me trouble. Apparently, busting me is on the top of her list of importance."

Kallpa lowered his voice. "I have heard she doesn't tend to like aliens that much, but that probably just means you should avoid her as much as possible." Yeah, my chances with Korra are slim, aren't they? He silently bemoaned at the mention of her flirting with others.

Korra sighed, punching the bag again, though her energy seemed drained. "I... I am who I am. I can only change that so much. I... I like the company of a man, but every man here has rejected me... present company included."

Kallpa's expression fell further. "Because I don't want to get you into trouble. And there's more to love than just the bedroom part... Typically you save that for after getting to know someone."

Korra weakly punched the bag, letting out a grim laugh. "No man is interested in me that way. They... They all look at me and see just one thing... well, two things. Not like I blame them..."

"You... don't think that's all I care about in you, do you?" Kallpa responded. "I'm not good at explaining it, but... you intrigue me. I want to know more about you." The gunner scratched his head. "I'm interested in more than just your figure, that's just a bonus."

Korra stared forward for a moment, her mouth opening to say something but nothing coming out. Finally, in a half whisper, she said, "You shouldn't be. I... there are a few words I've learned to describe myself, Vizcarra. Temperamental. Moronic. T... tramp..." She shook her head. "If... if you actually care... then that's already enough to make you too good for me."

Kallpa shook his head, a protective look coming over him. "You're just setting yourself up for defeat there. And I don't think I'd describe you like that. You're impulsive and feisty, but I find that... More charming than anything."

Korra slowly smiled, giving Kallpa a sideways glance. "Why me, though? I know there are plenty of other girls here that you could get. Why worry about me?"

Kallpa shrugged. "I honesty couldn't answer that one. My sister would probably say something like 'she's the one', but... I leave the romantic fantasies to her."

Korra giggled. "So you're actually interested in me, huh?" Her smile faded again. "I... I think that's a dangerous thing, considering my position. If I screw up, and the Commander... cans me? Is that... anyway, I don't want to take my friends down with me."

"Korra, if she was going to take your friends and admirers down with you, she'd be short a sizeable portion of the crew. Your roommates, anyone that's been interested in you, me and the white wolves... sounds like a terrible plan," Kallpa said with confidence.

Korra laughed, pushing back a stand of hair. She looked into Kallpa's eyes, and was caught off guard by the sincerity she saw. "Do... do you really mean that? You're not trying to... trick me or some... thing..."

"What reason would I have to manipulate you?" Kallpa countered.

Korra face fell again. "You... y-you wouldn't be the first one. I... you remind me of someone when I first met him. He said all he wanted to do is make me happy. And he would... a-as long as... I kept him happy." She squeezed her fists. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have compared you to him."

Kallpa sighed. "Just as long as you understand I'm not him. If I had wanted to use you I would never have turned down your initial offer."

Korra nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I know. I don't mean to be rude, I really don't. It just seems to come naturally." She gave Kallpa a pleading look. "But I really do appreciate everyone. Including you. I'm just... not good at showing it "

"And you have a reason for why. But that's something we can work on, anyway. From what I understand, your own peole aren't great about helping you understand your emotions." Kallpa smiled. "But that's a human specialty, so we've got you covered."

Korra smiled again, wiping her eye. She took a step towards Kallpa, as though she was going to hug him, but stopped short, and offered her hand. "Thank you."

He settled for the handshake. "Glad to help."

Korra lingered on the handshake for a moment before asking, "So, um... if... if, uh... if you aren't afraid of the Commander... seeing you with me..."

Kallpa raised an eyebrow. "Then what? I can't make a decision with that little information."

Korra rubbed her wrists nervously. "W-well... I was told that... when a human man and woman want to get to know each other, they're supposed to... talk while eating dinner... or something."

Kallpa smirked. "We can do that then. Let's go, before all the good food is gone."

Korra nodded. "This... should be fun," she said, following Kallpa out of the gym.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “Just a Talk, Part 1”

Somewhere in Subspace (March 6th, 2044)
The Einherjar (9:43 P.M., Earth Standard)
Room of Mark and Vindicta Exalt

Mark turned off the shower and waited until only droplets fell from the shower head. He ran his hair back off his face with his hand and shook his head, stepping out and grabbing his towel, rubbing himself down and taking his neatly folded clothes and slipping them on, just a simple pair of black pajama pants and a white t-shirt. Hanging up his damp towel and grabbing his dirty clothes off the floor, Mark stepped out of the bathroom and went over to his side room, throwing his pile of clothes into the bin and going back out to sit on the single couch.

A few minutes passed before the front door opened, and Vindicta entered, still in her day clothes and labcoat. "I have a feeling that the extra 15 minutes taken off my shift are meant to spite me," She muttered to herself.

"You are a special breed, dear sister. Most would revel in the fact they get anything off their time at work. You need to stop being so wound up and relax a little, else you might drive yourself to insanity." Mark chided his sister.

"More like the Commander will drive us all to insanity. You're just lucky she seems to forget you exist," Vindicta responded.

"One of us needs to stay in a good light, and with Ezra needing to be patched up after the mission, and you... being you, I worry about what would happen to the three of us if I got into trouble."

"I hear Vam Dam ended up being sent to the brig afterwards, so I suppose Streczyk isn't utterly incompetent after all," Vindicta noted. "And I don't care if Ezra threw the first punch, Cassia had no right to be antagonizing one of her squadmates."

"The Van Dams are a family who are incompetent of the ways of the modern world and prefer to wallow in their arrogance, but if they get the job done, they get it done. Let's just hope we get no others, or something bad happens."

"I doubt either should be an issue. In any case, have you accomplished anything of note in your work recently?" Vindicta asked, changing the subject.

"Of not? Not much, but that Humilitia we picked up has been helpful with the plants. I would much like to meet her if I get the chance, and I have also been overseeing something in engineering, apparently a group of people got together to help one of their friends on a project and wanted my opinions on the connects of the drone's limbs. They were amateur at best, but I have quickly come up with a solution that will be installed soon."

"Hmm. Well, as for me," Vindicta began proudly, "My team is working on the concept of psionic weaponry. We'll need help from engineering when arrive at the production stage, but I was inspired by the tale of Ira's psi lance's frequency and speed being compared to a machine gun."

Mark nodded his head, looking off to the side. "You psions tend to make me worry sometimes. Especially when you only find ways to make yourselves more deadly."

Vindicta stared at him blankly for a few seconda. "W...what did you just say? Don't tell me you actually agree with that bitch Astasha!"

"I do not agree with her base principles, or the way she handles her fears, but I do agree psions are a powerful threat if in the wrong hands, yet we have... little defenses."

"We have neural dampening, neural feedback, and the psionic dampeners, to list three things. How do you think they hold psionic prisoners in New Alcatraz?" Vindicta crossed her arms. "Psionics are no different that physical or mental ability. To treat us like we are all threats would be no different than deciding anyone with a high IQ is dangerous in my opinion."

"You misunderstand, I said in the wrong hands psionics would be a threat, and the safeties we have are for a military organization. If someone were to walk down the street and be mugged by someone who let their powers go to their head, pepper spray will not do much to dissuade them. We need a defense for everyone, not just the few." Mark turned on the couch to look more directly at his sister and told her, "Being a psion yourself, you must not realize how vulnerable us who do not feel."

"Explain to me why a common thug would have the willpower for psionics, let alone just use them for petty crimes." Vindicta shook her head. "Brother, what you ask for simply isn't possible. Could we give everyone some form of defense against mental attacks? In a few decades, maybe, but even then not everyone can be a Dagon. And physical attacks cannot be as easily defended. What would you have me do in regards to the issue of guns? Give every man woman and child a laser rifle just incase they need it?"

"Of course not, but is simply not making an option for safety a viable root? I would have imagined you would be on board for anyway to make the galaxy more safe for those not gifted enough. I would imagine it not hard to make the defenses we have now smaller and more common." Mark waved his hand. "That is besides the point though, I am entitled to my own opinion and don't have to strictly follow you own... sister."

"If there was a technology that existed that could actually be mass produced and counter psionics, someone would have invented it by now. You shpuldn't think poorly of psions for not being able to create counters to their own abilities. That speaks of jealousy, not logicial expectations."

"I am perfectly fine with my inability to not use powers. Humans survived thousands of years without them, and those of us who don't have them will live fine for thousands more." Mark told his sister, and after a moment, he shook his head and began to pull his hair back and tie it like normal. "Let us just drop the subject for now, I would rather not get into a debate with you about what is right or wrong at this time, we both know neither of us would never give any ground, we are both too stubborn for that."

Vindicta sighed. "Well thank you for the highly positive "welcome back", in any case."

Mark rolled his eyes and grabbed a book from the coffee table and opened it up, just skimming the back of it. "Aside from your job, have you done anything for yourself lately?"

"If you mean anything unrelated to my research then no, I've kept mostly to myself, though I met Hermes and have spoken with Brigid."

"Well it's something..." Mark crossed his arms and looked at his sister with an annoyed look. "Have you even eaten yet?"

"Of course I've eaten, how else would I have survived on the ship this long?" Vindicta asked incredulously.

"I meant today you block head." Mark sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I had to be related to one of the most helpless people in the world, didn't I?" Mark muttered, looking up and saying out loud, "If I never learned how to be a person aside from work, I don't know how the Exalt line would continue."

"I do know how to socialize, mind you, and I did infact eat today," Vindicta contested with indignation. "I just have no interest in interacting with anyone that is uninteresting or too simple-minded."

"Hm." Mark just shrugged his shoulders and walked into his room, grabbing a small, paper bag. "You should try it sometimes, you would be surprised what happens." He took his spot back on the couch and put the bag to the side.

"Weren't you the one worrying about simpletons about a month ago?"

 

[DarkGemini24601]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: "Just a Talk, Part 2"

"Yes, until I actually met those people and learned a great many things." Reaching for the bag, Mark dug his hand in and took something out. "Such as who to go to in order to get these." In Mark's hand was a miniature chocolate squared, wrapped up silver paper. "I think Ezra is starting to rub off on me."

"What, are you an Ethereal?" Vindicta quipped, not seeming highly tempted by the candy.

"No, but it is nice to have something sweet every once and a while." He unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth, folding up the paper. "You know, we are here alone in our room and both our shifts are over. Why don't you relax? I don't even think mother is as uptight as you are."

"What does relaxing mean to you.." The yellow psion asked as she hung up her coat. "I dont see how im either relaxed or uptight right now. I just got here."

"Well one of the first things you asked me about was work, you only spend all your time at work or asleep, and you have little to no friends. That is what I call uptight. What you need is a day off, go have a drink, go meet some friends, do something, anything, other than think about psionics, or the Commander, or anything. Hell, smile a little bit more, you look sterner than the backside of a ship." Mark's face softened and he sighed, "I want my sister to be happy, to live a little. That is the whole reason I went to school on Earth and didn't follow you, and I did live. Maybe I didn't make the best decisions, but the fact was I made them."

"I didn't have many friends because my passion is my work. Delving into the mysteries of psionics excites me," Vindicta responded. "Not everyone can be satisfied with just drinking at a bar and socializing."

Mark sighed, and shook his head. Is this what Dad had to deal with when he met Mother? "So you mean to say you have no interest in meeting anyone new, or do anything other than your job?"

"As I said earlier, I have met new people, such as Arcwright. I have no intention of aquanting myself with people that I do not share interests with." Vindicta raised an eyebrow. "Such is one of the basises for friendship. If you think I lack understanding of how those things work you are woefully mistaken. I am not like mother was 26 years ago."

Mark stared at his sister for a few moments before he closed his eyes and nodded his head. "Alright, if you say you are happy the way you are, then so be it. You are the person I am closest with, and just want to see the best of my bigger sister." Mark crossed his arms and looked off to the side. "Even if that means pushing your buttons with stuff like this. I think it is admirable you are happy with your current situation." He stated in a low tone.

Vindicta sighed. "Honestly, you make me wonder if you think I was born yesterday. I may be a clone, but I was raised naturally. I have a full range of emotions like anyone else." The scientist chuckled. "And you're the one with genetically modified eyes. I think I can pass off as more normal than you."

"At least my eyes are more subtle than your hair." He joked back, having a small smile creep its way onto Mark's mouth, the scientist taking another square of chocolate and popping it into his mouth. "You sure you don't want one? I got dark, almond, even think there is a few white ones too."

"Perhaps a piece of dark chocolate, though not too much. I have a figure to maintain," Vindicta replied.

Mark went digging through the bag, grabbing three squares of the candy wrapped in brown foil. He got up, handing out the treats. "You have some suitors I am missing?" He teased his sister.

"It never hurts to be prepared," Vindicta noted before consuming one of the squares. "And it certainly makes people more likely to do what I ask."

"Wouldn't shock me. My own looks have gotten me by a little, sometimes much to my surprise actually."

"Ah yes, tell me about this Tamearin of yours, dear brother," Vindicta pressed. "What is she like? What psionic abilities does she have?"

Mark's eyes widened a bit and he crossed his arms, looking away. "I don't know what you are talking about!"

"Oh, suuuure. Everyone that has been seeing you with a Tamearin is just being fooled by the teleimagery you've kept a secret from me," Vindicta teased.

Mark blushed a bit and growled. "Fine... Alright, I am dating a Tamearin, she is a sweet girl, and she fell for me." He clarified.

"How far have you gone with her?"

"J-Just what are you implying?" Mark then asked, visibly embarrassed.

"I was just wondering if you had sealed the deal with her by taking your relationship to the bedroom," Vindicta asked casually.

"No, of course we haven't!" Mark insisted. "In fact, we have only kissed once... I have no intent in going to the bedroom yet. Wait, why am I even telling you this?"

"Because you don't have a choice." Vindicta rubbed her chin. "It is actually rather convenient that she's a Tamearin... I could get you to have her submit a DNA sample for study."

"Noooooo." Mark stated, "You can't use my girlfriend for science."

"This is the perfeft chance to study Tamearin psionics, though... Or would you prefer I make it known that you may be unwilling to satisfy your girlfriend's needs?"

"Geez Vindicta, we have only been going out for a couple of weeks. How would you enjoy it if I went around spouting nonsense about you?"

"Excuse me, but you and I have never dated, that would fall under incest," Vindicta quipped, twisting Mark's words.

"You are infuriating sometimes. Though I warn you, one rumor in the wrong ear, and I could have every dog on this ship barking up your tree." Her brother retorted defiantly.

"As if anyone would believe you over me," Vindicta replied confidently, tossing her hair.

"You would be surprised what men would believe when it comes to women." Mark waved his hand dismissively, "But enough of these empty threats, next time I see her, I will bring up the matter, but if she refuses, that is the end of it, understood?"

"The end of studying her DNA, but I eould like to at least compare the style of her abilities with others by observing them."

"We will see, that is all I promise." Even though it is a personal relationship of mine, she must still find a way to meddle. I swear Vindicta, you drive me to hate you sometimes with your arrogance. "Anyways, I think that is enough of me tonight. You should take a shower sister, might help you unwind a bit." Mark stood up and he walked to his bedroom, shutting the door a bit too harshly than he intended.

Vindicta seemed to regard the door for a moment before shaking her head. "So sensitive sometimes," she mumbled, opening the door to the bathroom and closing it in a more controlled manner.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Denial

Tanaka Sciences, Primary Earth HQ
Yokohama, Japan
March 8th, 2040
1230 Hours

"We'll be testing your capacity to battle robotic enemies today. I shall be your opponent... so to speak."

Brigid nodded, but asked, "I know you can do that... technokinesis... thing, but wouldn't it be easy to just program an android, Doctor?"

"Please, no formalities, Brigid. Sonya will do just fine." The silver-haired engineer glanced over to one of the droids, and it began walking to her side. "One thing many A.I. lack is intuition. Intuition takes a combination of instinct, experience, and emotional capacity. You can program some of that in, but aside from androids like Alice and Avanix, the emotional part is a little hard. I can compensate for that here, and while I am by no means a combat expert, I know enough to give you a proper test."

"I... guess I understand that part. But if I'm so unlikely to fight an android like that, why bother?"

Sonya smiled. "The same reason you wear those weighted training clothes, even though you don't plan to actually have a serious fight in them. If you can get used to fighting with them on, fighting with them off will be so much easier. Likewise, fighting an android with intuition will make fighting those without seem that much easier." Sonya stepped back, and the android took aim. "Begin."

Both Brigid and the droid stepped behind cover. They exchanged a few shots with their practice rifles, and Brigid ducked down to reload. When she looked up again, she was surprised to see the android charging. She fired, and the android suddenly shifted to the right, and the blast disabled its right arm. Before she could readjust her aim, the android fired, and a red light lit up on Brigid's chest, displaying her simulated death.

Brigid shook her head. "Damn it, that was fast. I guess I underestimated your link with this machine."

"Perhaps." Sonya walked up to Brigid, still smiling. "Or perhaps you underestimated the tenacity of an android. When I fought during the Subjugation War, I encountered many a Sectoid or Thin Man willing to sacrifice their lives for a kill shot. But it's worse for androids. After all, why should this droid care if it loses an arm when it has a dozen more back home it can easily switch out."

She handed a water bottle to Brigid, and the petite Irish woman took a swig. "Thanks... for the water, and for doing this."

Sonya waved a dismissive hand. "It's no trouble. Rei mainly has me on loan from Cross Tech to train people in her growing engineering division. It gives me a surprising amount of free time, most of which I use to connect with the others. I've had lengthy catch-ups with everyone... except Desmond. He's... a hard man to get a hold of."

Brigid nodded. "Yeah, but he still cares. If he didn't, he wouldn't have trained with me a few years ago."

"And how was that?" Sonya asked.

"Brutal." Brigid laid back, staring up. "He didn't pull any punches. It was even harder then Atka's training, and that had me train with a girl that could take over my body." She smiled. "Still, I... I enjoyed it. Got to spend a lot of time with the Walker kids, too."

Sonya giggled, and Brigid gave her a questioning look. "You still have a thing for..."

Brigid quickly shook her head. "No, thank God. I never told Elizabeth, but I swear she knew somehow, because she seemed so much nicer after I stopped looking at him that way. Wonder how she'd feel if she knew I kissed Cayden."

Sonya laid back with her. "You two a thing?"

The Irish woman slowly shook her head. "No. I... I'm not opposed to it, but if he ever found out how I used to fell about his father, he might think I'm using him as a substitute. Besides, we're close as siblings. I... I don't want to risk losing that."

Sonya nodded. "Alright. Just be careful you don't miss a chance at something you'll regret because you were too worried." She stood up, and extended her hand. "Ready for round two?"

Brigid grasped it, pulling herself up. "Bring it on, Sunny."

--------------------

The Einherjar, Public Rec Room
March 8th, 2044
1230 Hours

Korra snapped her fingers. "Hello. Earth to O'Brien! You awake?"

Brigid blinked several times, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I was telling you how cool Vizcarra was. Are you okay?"

Brigid shrugged, and meekly took a drink on her ginger ale. "I'm fine. Stop asking me that."

"No, you're not." Korra leaned forward. "And I'm willing to bet it has everything to do with you avoiding Cayden lately. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Brigid said sternly, angrily. "Please, just mind your own business on this."

"Bullshit, it's nothing." Korra folded her arms. "When I left you two, you were being a bit kitty, but I didn't realize it was that serious."

"It's 'catty', Korra, not kitty. God, if you don't know what you're saying, just keep your mouth..." Brigid slowly covered her mouth and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Korra. That was uncalled for."

The two sat in silence for several minutes, awkwardly taking the occasional sip of their drinks. Korra sighed, and blurted out, "Why don't you just tell him?"

Brigid's eyes darted back and forth. "I... I-I... what are you..."

"Just tell Cayden you like him." Korra stared into Brigid's eyes. "He probably already suspects it, no matter what kind of fight you've had. In fact, the only two who don't seem to understand..."

Brigid sprang to her feet, her nearly empty cup spilling over. "You don't know what you're talking about! You are just misreading the situation. If you like him so much, you take him!" She turned and walked out, yelling back, "Because I'm done with that pompous, condescending... jerk!"

Korra watched her leave, frowning as she tried to collect her thoughts on the situation, and finally deciding that Brigid could be right. Maybe she was just misreading what was going on. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Shift of Environment
Taxor the First and DarkGemini24601

Somewhere in Subspace (March 6th, 2044)
The Einherjar (10:14 A.M., Earth Standard)
Room C-5

Hermes Arcwright sat in one of four chairs around a square table, in the center of the room. There was the door to the hallway in front of him, and a door to the bathroom that he never really needed behind him. The android shifted a chess piece with a quiet 'clack'.

"Bold move," his opponent noted, being the former sheriff, Kallpa Vizcarra.

"Quieter, lest..." Hermes began to warn.

"Keep it down. I want to sleep a little longer," Sarah Wong mumbled with a deadly calm, the Chinese sniper drawing her sheets over her head in frustration.

The sound of voices outside only made it worse. "I still don't understand why you did this," said one, female and clearly irritated.

"It's for your own good," the other, gruffly male voice responded. "That man is a drug user, I know it."

"How the hell would you know?"

The footsteps (and, oddly, a slight squeaking noise) came to a stop outside the door. "You never had to deal with people like that," the male said, quieter than before but still audible. "And I don't want you to start now." With that, the door to the room slid open, revealing Samantha and Isaac, with the former carrying her belongings. The cripple made a waving motion. "Morning," he said to the two chess-playing men.

Sarah looked up at the voice. "Steele? What are you doing here?"

Samantha glared at Isaac. "I've been moved," she said, returning a more friendly gaze to her squadmate. "Didn't get along too well with my old roommate, so I requested a transfer." The heavy shrugged, and moved past the cripple into the room. "Ended up here. Hope none of you mind." She glanced at the bunks lining the walls. "Which one's the free one?"

"The top bunk above the Lieutenant," Hermes answered, gesturing with one of his metal 'feather' lined arms.

"Right, thanks," Samantha said, hefting her bags onto the aforementioned bunk. Isaac peered in, carefully examining every wall and corner he could from his position, old habits resurfacing.

"You fine?" he asked, drawing his attention back to her.

"Perfect," she responded, not looking back. "You can go, now." Reluctantly, Isaac bid farewell to the old occupants and wheeled away, shaking his head. "Paranoid old prick," Samantha muttered.

"Paranoid about what?" Hermes inquired before realizing he may have pried too much.

Kallpa chuckled. "Sorry about him. Enhanced hearing and all that. Hears things no one else would, and add that to his endless curiosity.."

Sarah sat up, groaning. "Guess I'm not getting any more sleep then..."

Samantha shot an apologetic look at the sniper. "Sorry," she said lamely. Indicating the now closed door, she went back to unpacking, saying "The better question would be 'what isn't he paranoid about?' You've never seen him in crowds. Tenses up more than an Incubator with wet fur."

Hermes raised a metallic eyebrow. "Have you actually seen such a thing or are you just guessing?"

The heavy shrugged. "I'm a soldier, I never claimed to be a poet." She smirked. "Although that does sound like it would be amusing to see. Sarah, you think Dinah would be up for a little test?"

Sarah shook her head. "Not unless your face is up for a test of how securely attached it is to your head. Damn cat... Not a fan of those things. One of the first ones we met ate a security guard. Tends to leave a bad taste in your mouth." The Lieutenant frowned. "No joke intended."

Samantha winced. "Nasty. You guys didn't have much fun in that old base of yours, did you?" She discarded one of her now-empty bags on the floor, and moved onto unpacking the next. "So who are you two?" she asked the men, glancing behind her. "Never realized you had a harem, Sarah."

"What would Golin think?" Kallpa added with a chuckle, but was only rewarded with a glare from the sniper.

"I don't care if that information isn't hard to find anymore, you don't get to bring my son into this." Sarah took a deep breath to calm herself. "Smartass is Kallpa Vizcarra. From Adamantem, apparently was a sheriff in Mediotierra. How the locals put up with him, I have no idea."

"That would be because they appreciate my sense of hum-"

"Korra," Sarah deadpanned.

"...fine, I'll shut up."

Hermes suppressed a smirk, knowing it would only antagonize the Incan further. "Hermes Arcwright, from parts unknown. Nice to meet you, Ms. Steele. You had an admirable performance in leading the troops during Operation Disruptive Influence."

"Even if they should have sent me. Wish we had known there was a Reflection user among the pirates... And from the recording it sounds like he was trained, like there were more," Sarah grumbled.

Samantha grinned at the android. "Thanks," she said brightly. "I was lucky the Volomi were there," she admitted to Sarah. "If that one hadn't done that possession thing, I'm pretty sure that Reflection would have steamrolled me. Maybe next time, you can shoot him in the head before that happens, assuming we actually get to work together."

"I'd actually hope we don't have to." Sarah's expression grew grim. "If they send out a good portion of the special ops team that means we'd be in deep shit. Our team is mostly for a worst case scenario... I can't believe I'm hoping Astasha is right about this voyage being no big deal, even if the evidence seems to be stacking up against it."

"You think the frequency of the pirate attacks is connected to whoever wants Forseti?" Kallpa asked.

"And the strength," Hermes noted.

Sarah nodded hesitantly. "Maybe. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but we know next to nothing about the people laying claim to Forseti, only that they want it. Streczyk staffed us with - no offense - rookies because she expects this to be easy, but I wonder..."

Samantha frowned inwardly. This was a line of thought Isaac had distressed about too. At the time, she'd just thought he was being his usual paranoid self, but with someone like Sarah worried... Not for the first time, she found her own convictions about the ease of this trip challenged. "At this risk of sounding too official, you're just speculating," the Huntress said at last, partially trying to reassure herself as well. "Who the hell could it be? Pirates, or maybe one of the Humilitia generals that fled at the end of the war. I'd be very surprised if there was some civilization in the area that the Humilitia hadn't found yet. And if it is pirates, what can they do? The factions have been at each others throats since inception."

 

[Taxor_the_First]

"Trust me, it isn't Iucidium. I've been hunting him for years, and he isn't the sort to lay claim to something without saying his name." Sarah looked at Sam directly. "And the pirates have been working together more and more recently. The Triads and Venom? Venom and the Outcasts of Tamaer? That's just the tip of the iceberg. I saw a report the other day mentioning the Busters breaking into a trading post with Packmaster incubators at their side. And that was from a few months ago."

The heavy frowned, now having completely abandoned her luggage. "Now that you mention it, have we come across any solo pirate groups on this trip?" For all his worry, Isaac never mentioned that. Does he not know?

"Only Slipstream and the Outcasts of Tamaer," Kallpa answered.

"And we have no evidence that the former hasn't acted in collusion with others as well, Hermes noted, feeling an odd sense of intuiton in the matter.

Samantha sighed. I hate it when he's right. "Even so, we're beating them back fairly easily. A few casualties here and there, but nothing too terrible. Provided command remembers to hold a degree of caution, there's no real problem."

Sarah shrugged. "And there's nothing to say their sudden cooperativeness is connected to the claim on Forseti. It's a mystery of course, but not confirmation of any big threat. As for Forseti, for all we know it's just some minor race that is disappointed we got to Forseti first. Or it's the Pikio thinking they're funny."

Samantha nodded. "So then. I already know Sarah's story. What about you two? For example..." She indicated Hermes' wings. "Are you incapable of taking your armor off or something? Don't tell me you sleep in those."

The android nodded. "It isn't fused on, but something's keeping it locked on that engineering hasn't been able to figure out yet."

Kallpa chuckled. "That's what we get for picking up a random android off a desert planet, huh? A lot of unanswered questions. Good thing I'm not the detective sort, so it doesn't bother me so much."

"You're an android?" Examining him closely now, she could easily some telltale signs of artificial origins. "Oh. Sorry, I've never been good at picking androids from normal humans. I assumed..." She coughed. "So, what, you were just lying around in the middle of the desert?"

"Well, I crashed to the surface in an escape pod." Hermes shrugged. "Anything before awakening in the pod on the surface is lost along with my other memories. Engineering says they might be able to restore fragments, but the rest I'll have to make sense of myself... somehow."

"Rough," Samantha said sympathetically. "I suppose this little trip is a good way for you to try and do that, isn't it? We'll see a lot. Maybe something'll trigger a memory in that head of yours." She frowned. "Uh. Assuming your memory is stored in your head, that is."

"I assume it is," Hermes assumed. "Would be odd if it were stored anywhere else. And not really practical."

The Huntress shrugged. "Can't really tell with androids. For all I know, that's where your coolant system is, and you speaking is just expelling excess heat." She shook her head. "Sorry. Stepdaughter rubbing off on me. What about you," she asked, indicating Kallpa. "What's your story?"

"Grew up in Cusco, family moved to Adamantem, and I became a sheriff there after losing my arm as a deputy," Kallpa explained in short, moving his mechanical arm to draw attention to it for a moment. "Old sheriff lost her leg, and was out of there after that," he explained with a small smile. "Weird that I'm using autoblasters when it was an autolaser that did the deed, though. Didn't expect to be a gunner going into this. Thought they'd made me one of those fancy shadow operatives."

"I think you're not subtle enough for that," Sarah remarked.

"Says the sniper," the Incan shot back.

"I have some Shadow Operative training as well. Or did you think I stopped after becoming a Master Sergeant?" Sarah countered with a ghost of a smile.

"Showoff..."

"Are you suggesting there's something wrong with using heavy weapons?" Samantha asked the sniper, an eyebrow raised.

"Let me see..." Sarah held up one finger. "They're horribly inaccurate unless you're a Balmadaar, and even then..." Another finger followed the first promptly. "Secondly, they lack penetrating power and are only useful in asymmetrical combat. Which, may I remind you, is simple enough without mowing down our enemies even more than before..." A third finger. "And thirdly, they're for people with inferior aim. Sniper rifles, and even normal rifles, are for people who actually know the difference between a head and a foot."

"I'll remember that next time a Sectopod walks in front of us," the Huntress quipped, leaning back against the wall with a smug smile on her face.

"It's called a Gauss Long Rifle. I'm not one to brag," Sarah said seriously, "But it's good enough to take out a cyberdisc in one hit. I don't need your HEAT Novagun to pull that off."

"And what if you miss? Good luck reloading that thing with an autocannon spraying at you. Which, incidentally, is another reason they're better."

"Mine are two shot, and I'm quick at reloading," Sarah countered. "And most of my other sniper rifles have... enough shots to suit my purposes."

"Yeah, but..." Samantha frowned. "Shit. Come on, Kallpa, help me out here."

Kallpa rubbed the back of his neck. "If we're fighting tougher enemies, then the damage on lighter armor..."

"Wouldn't necessarily matter if they're wearing tougher armor," Hermes chimed in helpfully. "That is where penetrating weapons would come in handy."

Kallpa grinned. "Wait, I got it! What about if the enemy had a bunch of cannon fodder. Let's say it's 2018. You have an army of Sectoids, Thin Men, Floaters, and Drones coming after you. A sniper rifle wouldn't do much against that, but a spray of bullets from an LMG or a SAW? I'd count on that any day."

"Exactly," the Huntress said, relieved. "Put us in a situation where it's one-versus-many, and we'll thrive. You sneaky types are better suited to one-versus-a-few situations, or if we need a particular individual taken out as opposed to the whole squad."

Sarah shrugged. "Fair enough, though that does mean you're admitting that my role requires more skill than yours if I'm fighting the tougher enemies, doesn't it Steele?"

"You realize you're turning into an Exalt, right?" Kallpa deadpanned.

"I didn't ask you," Sarah growled.

Samantha grinned. "Remind me to high-five you later," she said to the ex-sheriff. "I suppose it's easier for you, though," she said to Sarah. "You've got a dragon in your pocket you can just whip out if you're getting swarmed. Not everyone has one of those."

"Says the woman who can essentially use the ripple to make her body resistant to punishment," Sarah remarked. Noticing the blank stares, she muttered, "Of course I'm the only one in the room that actually watches anime..."

Samantha shrugged. "I'm... out of practice, anyway. I used to be able to take more than two punches before that shell shattered."

"Considering you were punched by a Reflection with considerable strength, I wouldn't say that's half bad," Sarah offered. She glanced over at Hermes. "I wonder if you'll ever be able to manifest one..."

"It isn't out of the realm of possibility. At least, not without knowing the source of my abilities," Hermes replied. "That enigma leaves me open to interpretation at the moment."

"Sarah, androids can't even use psionics," Samantha said, frowning. "Let alone manifest a Reflection."

Sarah shook her head. "You're incorrect... this one can."

Hermes held up a hand to demonstrate, a sphere of red, pulsating energy forming in his hand and coalescing into a spike-like psi lance that he held between his metallic digits. "So far no one has been able to discern the source of my abilities... but I have them, none the less. The psi lance you see before you, and the ability to manipulate heat energy, Thermokinesis."

Improved that speech after plenty of repetition, have you? Kallpa thought to himself.

"Thermo?" The Huntress tilted her head. "You can move heat? Interesting. Whoever built you must have known what they were doing, if they managed to give you psionics."

Hermes nodded hesitantly. "I can only wonder as to who that is, though. Perhaps in time our journey will reveal more to me, but for now I can merely enjoy that gift that I am given." And hope that someone doesn't try to take me apart to find out how I have it.

 

[MarineAvenger]

Unfinished Business
MarineAvenger and Taxor the First

Somewhere in Subspace
Einherjar, Test Firing Range
March 6th, 1:32pm

Penny sighed, checking the time on her tablet once again. A small spark of excitement lingered in her chest, despite her own assurances that she was most probably wrong. But if she was right…

Charles, having finished setting up the range to specifications noticed her fidgeting and rolled his eyes, walking over to her and lightly pushing her shoulder. “Stop it,” he said gently. “I don’t know why you’re so jumpy.”

His wife smiled weakly. “It could be a discovery, ok? Let me have this moment of anticipation.”

He considered briefly. “No,” he answered. “Calm down. Excited, you’ll make mistakes.”

Penny waved a hand in his face. “Yeah, yeah.” She glanced at the clock again, noting it tick over the hour. “Our guinea pig should be here soon.”

A couple of minute later, a man walked into the weapon’s range and looked around, having been told he was to report here but the details he was given were vague, and didn’t really know his purpose for being there. “Hello? Anyone here?”

Charles coughed loudly, and waved the soldier over. “Yes, thank you, over here if you please.”

Penny desperately attempted to keep herself under control, the worry of perhaps making a mistake starting to worm it’s way into her mind. “We’ve just got a few Gauss weapons here, unmodified and modified with a few extra tweaks we were thinking could benefit the soldiers.” She smiled winningly at the soldier. “If you could just take a few shots at the targets, we’ll take some measurements, you’ll tell us if they feel different or not, and then you’ll be done. Sound good?”

“Uh… yeah, sure.” Cayden said, walking over to the weapons and grabbing the Carbine, setting in the mag and looking down range. “I’m ready.”

After pressing the big red button on the console, Charles joined his wife, preparing to take notes from the data the tablet would show. Over on the range itself, several targets burst from the walls and floors, though all remained stationary afterwards to make them relatively easy targets. As Cayden gunned down each target, readouts appeared on the screen of the tablet - how hard the bullet hit, how fast it was going.

The test did not take long. Within half a minute, all the targets had been punctured, and Cayden’s mag was empty. Penny smiled. “Perfect,” she said. “That was the unmodified Carbine. Now we know what you’re capable of, so we have a control. Now, if you could just-”

She was interrupted by Charles cursing loudly, glaring at the console. “System bugged,” he muttered. “Need to restart real quick.”

“Off to a flying start then,” Penny said dryly. Shaking her head, she turned to the soldier. “Well, while we’ve got some time, why don’t we introduce ourselves properly?” She held out a hand, tucking the tablet under her arm. “My name’s Penny, my husband over there is Charles. Good to meet you.”

“Name’s Cayden, nice to meet you Penny, Charles.” He said in turn, looking at the two for a bit before just sort of rubbing his hand. “So did you guys ask for me or did command just send a random?”

“If we’d sent for you specifically, would we have asked your name?” Charles grumbled.

“Ignore him,” Penny said dismissively. “We just asked for someone familiar with Gauss weaponry.”

“Hm…” Cayden got an idea and he asked, “Would you happen to have a spare trigger, a handgun one should suffice.”

Penny scratched her head. “Uh… I think so? We keep spare parts that are liable to break nearby whenever we use this range, so we can keep going. Why? What do you need one for?”

“Well… I have a Gauss weapon I have been wanting to use for a while now. It really was a souvenir from my Dad, but the custom guys took the trigger.” He told her honestly.

The scientist glanced around, a hint of nerves showing in her actions. “I, uh… I’m not sure I can…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Wait, a souvenir, you said? How old is it?”

“It’s actually older than me. My Dad used it during the war with the Ethereals.” He stated idly, reaching behind his waist and taking out the object, the black revolver looking like it was still just made, not a scratch on it despite it’s age, a show of it’s craftsmanship. “My Dad still has his other at home.”

Penny took the weapon gently and examined it. “Haven’t seen one of these for a long time,” she muttered. “Not powerful enough to be military standard-issue. In terms of ammo efficiency, anyway. You could still blow someone’s head clean off.” She frowned. “I don’t remember anyone using a revolver back then. Except maybe…” Her eyes widened slightly. “What did you say your last name was?”

“I… didn’t. Why?” Cayden asked, a little confused.

“I was part of X-COM during that war. Doing the same thing I am now. Even in the labs though, you’d hear about the soldiers and what they’d be doing.” Penny folded her arms. “And I can only remember one soldier requesting a revolver. You wouldn’t happen to be a Walker, would you?”

Cayden rolled his eyes, hearing this routine enough, he wondered if that was just how he should greet people nowadays. “No, my name is Cayden Runner.” He stated, clearly being sarcastic.

“Stop fangirling over him,” Charles yelled, kicking the console in frustration.

“I’m not fangirling!” Penny shot back. “You remember Ellie?”

“Not really.”

She rolled her eyes, and returned to facing Cayden. “I… hmm. How do I put this without sounding weird. I used to sleep with your mother.”

“Not that weird, Mom used to do the same with Aunt-...” Cayden shook his head, still having trouble breaking his childhood habit. “Alexia during her time at XCOM… wouldn’t surprise me hearing this now. She never spoke of you though, I never even knew you had met my parents.”

“She what?!”

Charles laughed. “That’s what you get for neglecting to call her or anything.”

“I was at her wedding for god’s sake!”

“No, never heard the name Penny uttered from her mouth.” Cayden informed the scientist.

Penny was silent for a moment. “Oh,” she said at last, crestfallen. “I’d thought we were closer than that.”

Her husband yelled triumphantly, the console rebooting. “When you’re done moping, we’re good to go again,” he said. With a certain degree of her enthusiasm missing, Penny nodded and returned to her position, bringing out her tablet again and making sure it was synced to the range.

“Alright,” she said, “If you could pick up the other Carbine and give it a go, please…”

Cayden nodded, going up and grabbing the rifle, loading in another magazine and looking down the sight. “Ready.”

Once again the targets shot out of the walls and floors, and once again Cayden made to gun them down. The first few bursts went smoothly, and the readouts on the tablet showed above-average bullet speed and penetration - however, directly after the fifteenth bullet was fired, the sides of the carbine blew outwards, thankfully going directly to the sides rather than dispersing into his face. He tossed the weapon away like it was on fire - which is was, a moment later - and examined himself for wounds as the two scientists sprinted towards him.

Other than a few scratches on his arms, he was readily unharmed, the small fire emanating from the gun looking bigger than it should be. “Hold on…” Cayden reached down into his shirt and pulled off a necklace, closing his eyes with a sigh and holding out his hand, the fire quickly shrinking until it completely disappeared, and Cayden put the piece of jewelry back on again. “There. Seems your ammo was a little… uh, faulty.”

“Godammit,” Charles muttered, placing a hand on the top of his head. “Engineering’s not going to be happy. At all.”

Penny shot him a look. “You alright, Cayden?” she asked, worry on her face.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I get hurt worse in training so… nothing I can’t handle.” The long scratches on his arms barely bled, and most of them were only torn surface skin.

“Oh good. I was worried I’d have to fill in an incident form,” Charles said, earning himself a smack on the head.

“Well, I think our test is a bust,” Penny remarked, indicating the smoking carbine on the ground. “Thanks for helping us, anyway. At least we knew before we suggested it be put into circulation.”

“Very true,” Charles said, before sighing. “I’ll get to work cleaning up,” he said dejectedly, anticipating his wife’s command.

Penny shook her head. “Well, I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t expecting a failure. Even then, I wasn’t expecting it to fail so… spectacularly. Here.” She reached onto the bench and rummaged through a box seated next to the weapons, producing a handgun trigger. “I’m pretty certain I can trust you not to go all ‘serial killer’ on me, so here you go. Just don’t tell anyone I gave it to you, alright?”

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Cayden rolled his eyes but smiled anyways. “Thank you. The revolver was modified to handle standard issue rounds anyways, so getting ammo for practice won’t be too hard. Thanks.” As Cayden turned to leave, a thought occurred to him, and he turned back around. “If you are not busy actually, there might be something I could do for you.”

“Oh?” The scientist frowned. “What would that be?”

“You know how my mother is, so I need to put in a lot of time for the communications room. Would you… perhaps like to come with me?” He asked curiously.

Penny blinked a few times before she realized what he was offering. “Oh. I’d… yes, please,” she finished lamely.

Cayden smiled, nodding his head. “You can meet me in an hour, then.” The soldier looked around and asked, “You have a paper and pen I could write on?”

“What kind of scientists would we be without something to scribble notes on?” she asked, nabbing Charles’s notepad off the table and flipping to a blank page. Curious, she handed the pad and associated pen to the man in front of her.

Cayden took the pad and quickly wrote down a quick note. “This is my room. When you finish here, just come and we can go give a call.”

“Alright, I will.” Penny smiled, ignoring Charles’s muffled grumbling as he swept scorched weapon fragments into a dustpan. “Thanks.”

Cayden nodded and proceeded to leave the lab, leaving the couple to themselves as he pocketed the trigger and slipped the memento into the waistline of his pants.

2:37pm

Penny knocked on the door, suddenly slightly nervous. She’d left Charles to deal with the fallout from engineering, with the promise that she’d make it up to him one way or another. Even with the knowledge of a failed experiment, however, her excitement still hadn’t lessened. It had been years since the former roommates had actually spoken - time enough for her to slip out of memory, apparently.

A few moments later, Cayden opened the door and smiled, having changed clothes to look more casual, shutting the door and asking, “You ready?”

“No.” The scientist grinned. “Let’s go.”

Leading the way, Cayden just idly whistled, not having much to say to the scientist until he finally stopped and said, “You know, my mother barely looks like she has aged, so she shouldn’t look much different from the last time you saw her.”

“Hopefully I’m just as recognizable,” Penny said, rubbing her elbow. “If I’m not, that means I’ve not aged well.”

“I’ll leave that to her, I don’t have a reference of what you looked like 20 plus years ago.” Cayden told her, the two quickly making it to the comms room and entering in, Cayden relieved to see no one else was there. He found a terminal farthest from the door and pulled the chair out for Penny, going to grab his own.

Penny herself merely sat waiting for him to return, glancing at the screen of the terminal they were to use occasionally as if expecting the call to already be open. She gave Cayden a smile when he returned. “Thanks for doing this for me,” she said. “I… shouldn’t have let my relationship with your mother deteriorate. Work usually got in the way. That’s… not an excuse, mind you. Just an explanation.”

“Well, I will let the two of you work that out. As for me… well, I am just a side piece right now. By the way, don’t worry, you are actually doing me a favor, I tend to run out of stuff to talk about so…” Cayden shook his head and typed in the contact number, sitting down as the call tried to connect.

After a little while, the screen flickered to life and a girl was sitting in a chair, her long black hair hanging loosely around her shoulders and green eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses.

Penny’s pre-prepared smile turned into a full-fledged grin. “Hey, Ellie,” she said, resisting the urge to wave. “Been a while, hasn’t it?”

The girl blinked a few times and didn’t say a word, just looking between the two in silence.

Cayden poked Penny on the arm and pointed to the screen. “Sorry… uh, Penny, this is my sister, Bethany.”

“Eh, I thought she was a bit young,” Penny said, though the grin stayed on her face. “Your mother’s been busy, hasn’t she? How many siblings do you have?”

“A-Aside from Cayden being the oldest… Leo is also my older brother.” Bethany answered for her brother, her own mouth turning into almost an amused grin.

“Lucky woman, then. Nice to meet you, Bethany.” Penny peered behind the girl into the room beyond. “Your mother home?”

Bethany nodded, “Yeah, she is just upstairs putting some clothes away.” Bethany got up and she walked away, the sound of running footsteps up the stairs being audible. After a few moments, there was more running and on the screen came a woman who looked slightly older than the last, the woman basically grabbing the monitor as if she could shake it. “Penny, is that really you!?”

Penny frowned. “I dunno. Is it me?” She turned to the man sitting beside her. “Cayden, do you think it’s me?”

Cayden scooted away a bit, looking at the woman on the screen. “Sorry, not getting involved.”

“Why did you never call me!?” Ellie yelled at the screen, crossing her arms with a stern look. “I waited for so long for you to try and get in contact with me, but when I tried to get in contact with you, I couldn’t, considering I knew what your last name was but apparently it got changed and you had moved. I had thought you forgotten about me!”

“My name changed? Yeah, that usually happens when you get married.”

This time, Ellie scrunched up her nose and she began to growl a bit, Cayden scooting away even more. “Uh… yeah, you did it now…”

“And you didn’t invite me you… you... !” Ellie’s face reddened and she yelled, “You hypocritical, greedy, violent, malevolent, vengeful, cowardly, deadly, mendacious, meretricious, loathsome, despicable, belligerent, opportunistic, barratrous, contemptible, criminal, fascistic, bigoted, racist, sexist, avaricious, tasteless, idiotic, brain-damaged, imbecilic, insane, arrogant, deceitful, demented, lame, self-righteous, Byzantine, conspiratorial, satanic, fraudulent, libelous, bilious, splenetic, spastic, ignorant, clueless, illegitimate, harmful, destructive, dumb, evasive, double-talking, devious, revisionist, narrow, manipulative, paternalistic, fundamentalist, dogmatic, idolatrous, unethical, cultic, diseased, suppressive, controlling, restrictive, malignant, deceptive, dim, crazy, weird, dystopic, stifling, uncaring, plantigrade, grim, unsympathetic, jargon-spouting, censorious, secretive, aggressive, mind-numbing, abrasive, poisonous, flagrant, self-destructive, abusive, socially-retarded, puerile, clueless, and generally not good bitch!.”

Even Cayden had to whistle, never seeing his mother this angry before. “Wow… never seen her that angry.”

Penny recoiled. “I… don’t even know what half of those words mean,” she lamented. “And I did invite you! You never showed up!”

“What are you talking about! I didn’t receive any invitation to a wedding, and if I had I would have been there in a heartbeat!”

“Well, I sent the invitations. I distinctly remember writing one for you…” Penny sighed. “Well, I’m sorry that you didn’t know. I would have loved to see you there. I had thought you were busy or something, what with being married to a war hero and all.”

“What… are you talking about? You do know the whole reason we left XCOM early was because we didn’t want to be noticed, right? Desmond never flaunted the fact he was a war hero, in fact quite the opposite. It gave us a chance to focus on our family and jobs.”

“Oh. Well shit. Don’t I feel stupid,” the scientist said, placing a hand on her neck awkwardly. “We… should have worked this out a long time ago, though. I should have contacted you earlier.”

“Yes… you should have.” Ellie sat down in the chair and let her arms fall with a pouty face. “You have barely aged a day you know. I am surprised years of getting knocked on your face by an inanimate object would leave you looking more wrinkly.”

“My days of door-kissing are over,” Penny affirmed, leaning back. “You’re looking pretty good yourself. How’s Desmond?”

“Oh, you know… still himself. Who… did you marry by the way? Anyone I would know?”

“I don’t think you met him. Might’ve mentioned him at some point. My colleague back at X-COM, Charles. Mind you at the time I was pretty vehement that we weren’t ever going to be a couple…”

“Well I am so happy for you two. If I ever see him for myself, I might just have to have a conversation with him. He has been treating you right?” Her friend asked, narrowing her eyes.

Penny glanced at the soldier sitting beside her, his presence clearly unnerving her in the face of the question. “Um. Yes?”

Elizabeth slowly smiled and nodded her head contently. “That’s good.” Elizabeth pushed her fingers together and said, “You know… even though you were a roommate, and even though we… spent only a handful of times together, you really were a good friend of mine all those years ago. It just made me sad when you just sorta… disappeared after XCOM. I don’t like losing good friends, so… that is why I am probably acting all weird right now.” Ellie gave a nervous laugh and sighed.

“Neither do I,” the scientist said, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice. “I was lucky to run into Cayden, here. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have racked up the nerve to talk to you again. I promise I’ll call you often from now on, ok?”

The woman on the other line nodded and she smiled. “Speaking of which…”

Cayden’s eyes widened and he quickly jumped up and hit the end call button, letting out a relieved sigh. “Yeah…. no more of that please. Love her to death but man…” Cayden stood up straight and stretched out his back. “So… happy now?” He asked.

Penny smirked, and leaned back in her chair. “Very,” she answered.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

(Edited Repost: I claim no credit in the creation of this collaboration.)

Dahlexpert & MarineAvenger:
“Prison Talk”

The Einherjar, Brig
March 8th, 2044
1437 Hours

Cassia was in her cell doing push ups, thinking up ways on how to get out of her cell or to see how things will play out. “Sigh… This place is boring, makes me wish I was in a actual jail cell, at least I get to beat the crap out of someone then.”

Ezra was sitting in his cell silently, his wounds from the mission covered with new plating and the damaged circuitry repaired. There were a few circuits still out of wack, but for the most part he was functioning normally."That bolt still makes me twitch in pain now and again. I swear, I wish that helmet wasn't in the way so I could have concave that Van Dam’s skull in, done everyone a favor." Ezra muttered to himself with a sigh.

Cassia looked at Ezra "You do realize if you caved in my skull you would be in a much worst condition you're in now. Hell, knowing the queen bitch herself and her stupid hatred towards robots she most likely dismantled you and us you as parts," Cassia remarked while sitting on the floor looking at the ceiling.

"She wouldn't have the balls. If she did, it would infuriate my mother, and deny it all she wants, but making Exalt Enterprises mad at the XSDF would be a very bad thing, no matter how much you could go on without much support from them."

Ezra sighed angrily and he looked down at the skin that was torn away from his knuckle, showing the metal alloy skeletal part underneath. Repaired, but not in terms of appearance. "And as my hate for Ms. Stuck Up Ass in undeniable, she has a point. We androids have no rights, and it is unfair beyond belief. Even an animal has more rights under human laws, and that is saying something. We are almost exactly similar to humans in almost everyway, and I don't know how she or anyone else can deny that simple statement."

Cassia looked at Ezra and she was actually showing some concern. "And I find that to be bullshit, I mean you're clearly not like any other robots you smarter than any robot ever made. You're an android not some handy helper robot that job is to assist people.”

Cassia sighed. "You can think what you want of me, I can take any insult hell I been called a savage and a uncivilized human being, but at least my people believe in the freedom of choice and rights for every body, I don't care if you're an android you should have more rights than a toaster."

"Most people call you that because you are those you crazy SoB. Not an insult, it is just truth." Ezra closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head in thought. "Something needs to be done... Someone needs to bring these android troubles to light. I mean seriously, would it be the end of civilization as we know it if a few synthetics get their rights that are justly do? And you can't use an excuse that androids can replace humans because that is a slippery slope argument, which never stands up in any debate or court. 'Oh if this happens then this is bound to happen eventually!'" Ezra chuckled and added, "You tell a person they are not allowed to rape someone and before you know it, men are doing it with pigs and kids are going out smoking.' Seriously, none of it makes sense."

"That's society for you which is why I don't deal with it, humans in general fear what they don't understand. Hell, first it was moves then music then video games. And up until a year ago it was gen mods and psionic powers. The point is humans fear what they don't understand, it also doesn't help that we made a lot of robot moves that have robots take over the world and ending the human race. So in short people see you as the terminator, or if you want to go see I robot that movie will most likely be your reality.

"I hate bigots... Especially the stupid ones, cause those are the ones that usually get the most attention." Ezra sat up and begun pacing around the jail. "I actually hope I do get kicked out. Maybe then I will march on Washington or something like that to get attention. I got the charisma, I just need supporters and someone to write the words. Mom should be able to have that on lockdown. Maybe Dad the PR campaign." What am I even saying, that would require us to work as a family, something we sorely lack with our family. "I could see it now, banners all over the place, people shouting everywhere... Or you know, could just be wishful thinking."

"Yea having robots gathering together for their rights, as great as that sounds you will most likely get shot at more than anything. Like I said people are stupid, but if you want to fight for your rights, start on the colonies not much military on the colones also with no androids to help with the heavy lifting and the such it would get Earths attention. "

"I am starting to think you are the one who can't distinguish an android from a toaster..." Ezra mumbled.

"Whatever you can worry about your rights later, because while you're in this cell you really can't do anything.”

"That's how it goes. I am stupid beyond belief but even I know not to kick the hornet's nest like you did. You better pray to whatever the fuck you believe in, or if not just hope you are damn well lucky something comes around and gets you off."

"Heh I always do, I seem to have an insane amount of luck. And I have to admit it was fun talking shit to the commander you should have seen her face when I called her a baby and started to make baby sounds at her. Ah, the perks of a mercenary I get to talk shit to the commander and she can demote me all she wants because I'm not a soldier so I have no consequences."

Cassia starts to laugh "Ou her face when I called her the bitch of bitches and she could win the academy award of bitches, ou that face was priceless."

"You do realize there things called laws that are in place you have to follow right? I mean, rules suck ass, fuck the police and all that but I would rather break a common rule than a law, and unfortunately for you, talking like that gets you in deep. Sort of like of you walked up to the King of England and birch smacked him, MI6 would be on your ass like a hillbilly on his fourth cousin."

"Talking shit is not against the law; however, threatening security is. I will admit what I did was stupid but I never been one for rules and laws, I'm the kind of person that believes that rules are meant to be broken, and it was worth it. I mean to see her face to see someone finally stand up to that worthless scum of a commander. It felt great."

"It's not even just the fact she is a bitch, she is arrogant as well. I just wish I knew what the fuck her problem was. Something real bad must have happened to her to explain why she is the way she is. Every person has a reason for what they do, no matter how stupid,” Cassia concluded.

"True but, since she looks old enough to have seen the Ethereal War: that could explain something. How ever that is still no excuse for her behavior; hell, I probably have seen more in the war than anyone else and I was 5 at the time so the way she acts better have a good bloody reason,” Ezra replied.

Cassia looks at Ezra "Sigh... ou yea and sorry for zapping."

"You better be. Shocking me was like shooting a drug addict with a shot of morphine so to speak. Yeah, I need it but too much at once is extremely dangerous. You better hope you didn't cause permanent damage. I am not keen on having to get a new body after growing to love this one." He warned the merc.

"Really then don't punch me, because punching an android is not good for my knuckles so tazing you was my best option."

"Really, I didn't see you as such a pansy, Van Dam, having to use a weapon when I only used my fists, have you no honor at all." Ezra mocked.

"Don't mock something you know nothing about boy, besides and one with a brain knows fighting an android with your bare hands is stupid. Unless you're Eva or Noire."

"You kidding me? I could probably beat circles around you and your family. I am know I am a better fighter than you are, so maybe you shouldn't talk about things you don't know, missy." Ezra threw back.

"Ok let's compare something, I have been training all my life, faced god knows how many enemies and I'm very tactical. Then there's you who is a punk kid whose only advantage is that he's made of metal, if it weren't for that.... nope you're still killable and if someone is killable they can be beaten... so watch your tongue kid."

"Yeah, I am a punk, a punk that could kick your ass in any fight with any weapon. Face facts Van Dam, you can't beat me. Only reason you got a shot on me was ‘cause you cheated but next time, it will be you with a cap up your ass." Ezra also added, "You know... If there is a next time." Ezra laughed and walked over to,his bed, lying back down and closing his eyes.

"Ou I look forward to beating you just to shut you up, but then again no one has ever seen me fight seriously other than my targets and they're either dead or in prison." Cassia started to think and started to shadow box to keep her mind at ease.

Ezra didn't bother saying anymore, just pretending to sleep. And the friendship keeps growing. I really do draw in an odd crowd.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53
Love Lessons: Part One

Battleship Einherjar Infirmary
March 7th, 2044
2215 Hours

Nick stretched out his back, rubbing his eyes as the day he had finally been waiting for had arrived. "I'm getting released today, Glitch... Will feel good being back in the workshop again instead of in this place." The engineer noted, getting out of the bed, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.

"Just please air on the side of caution, Mr. Cauthon. No overstrenious tasks." His assistant pleaded.

"Don't worry, Alice is supposed to be picking me up. Paperwork is already filed so when she finally gets here, I can just go." He said with a smile. Over his time in the infirmary, Nick had grown very happy with the amount of support he had gotten, from his Android friend most of all.

A light knock came from the door, followed by Alice's voice. "Nick, you awake. I'm here to escort you out."

"Yeah, I'm awake." He called back, going over to the closet and grabbing his clothes, going to put on his pants.

Alice slowly opened the door, then shielded her eyes. "Oh, sorry! I didn't think..." She looked away quickly and took a step back. She was holding hands with what looked like a child, though said child was standing out of the doorway.

"Oh... Right, should have warned you, huh?" Nick got done buckling his pants and grabbed his t-shirt, quickly throwing it on. "I guess I have just been getting accustomed to you seeing me all the time. Anyone else I would have probably locked the door three times over and died of a heart attack." The engineer gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry Alice."

"No, it's okay." Alice smiled. "It is good for partners to get used to one another. You can imagine how unusual it was for Sunny and I."

"What do you mean? I don't see how things could have been that weird for the two of you." Nick stated ignorantly. "If anything, I would expect you two would have been great together."

"Oh, we were." Alice looked away again, bashfully scratching her chin. "But... she kinda built me, so... she literally knows every single... intimate detail of my body. It... it's awkward in retrospect once your emotions and capacity for embarrassment develops."

Nick blushed a bit, scratching his head. "Yeah, I could see that... Being a bit uncomfortable. Makes me kind of glad her more pubic files of you left those details out." Nick looked down and zipped up his blue winter coat, smiling he was back in his clothes. "Hey Alice... I had a weird sort of question for you... Kind of ironic really. Would you mind humoring me?"

"Sure. Go ahead." Alice stepped into the room, revealing Hestia to be the 'child' holding her hand.

"I... Wanted you to teach me about girls. I mean... I was always a introvert and and ever since Melinda... I wanted to learn. I mean... I think I like this one girl despite her age, and when Korra was with me, I felt a little weird when she was pressing up against me... I am sort of at a loss when it comes to females..."

Alice placed a hand against her check, smiling. "Well, I don't see why not. It might be a little strange, learning about human women from an android, but when I was deciding whether or not to remain female, I did a lot of research on both sexes to find where I would fit best. So I'd be happy to help."

Nick smiled brightly and he scratched his head. "Well... Uh... Geez, I spent so much time trying to work up the courage to ask, I didn't think of anything specific..."

Alice crouched down in front of Nick, adjusting his coat for him. "Well, you mentioned a girl that you like, and you mentioned Ms. Devolina. Is she the girl you like?"

"No, me and Korra are just friends, though she did some things none of my friends ever did." Nick rubbed his wrist and he said, "Actually there are two women, but I could never ask the second one. The first one is a doctor here. She is really weird, sort of like me, she loves to listen to music, and she even has a condition that sort of makes us similar. Only she is... 24, and it kind of bums me out..."

Alice nodded. "That can be a problem. But you've already started learning about her. You don't have to share all of her interests, but finding a few that you do, like music. Does she know how you feel about her?"

"N-Not exactly... I'm afraid that when I do tell her, that she'll either find me weird and never talk to me again, or that she doesn't share them at all... Though I am not very hopeful, considering I doubt I have made that much of an impression on her. What if I am just some annoying kid that keeps bothering her?"

"Well... don't be that annoying kid." Alice smiled and stood up, and motioned for Nick to follow. As they walked, she continued, "One important aspect, both to being in a relationship and starting one, is patience. If you're afraid you've left a bad impression on her, patiently take the time to change her impression over time. Show her you aren't some annoying kid. Show her how smart and clever you are. And, when you feel you've done just that, then you tell her how you feel."

"That's confusing though... How would I know I left a good impression of I don't inquire?" The engineer asked as he looked at his feet.

Alice stopped to sign Nick out. "You'll know. It just takes a little attention to subtle details. All women give off subtle hints, even if they don't realize it. A light laugh at a simple, unfunny joke. Excitement in her eyes when she sees you. And gentle smile when you're near. Don't worry. We can practice."

"O-okay..." Nick said, a little embarrassed at the proposition. " And... There was this thing Korra mentioned when we were talking. I had told her Melinda kissed me before I boarded, and she said it was a shame that she couldn't give me a secret gift... Do you have any idea what she meant by that?"

Alice stared forward for a few moments as the stepped out of the infirmary. "Um... I think I might, but you might not want to hear the answer."

As they stepped into the hallway, Hestia reached up and brushed her hand against Nick's.

Nick smiled and he took the girl's hand, then looking back up at Alice he continued. "Well if it would help me at all, I want to hear it, or if it is easier you could just show me if it is that difficult to explain." He stated ignorantly with a small smile the engineer always seemed to have.

Alice's eyes widened, and she laughed nervously. "Well, um... now I know I shouldn't..."

Hestia's blue eyes flashed red. In here usual sounding innocent voice, she said, "Analysis. Secret gift was suggested after a kiss. Devolina, Korra is promiscuous by nature. Ms. Devolina was likely suggesting sex. 89% Probability."

Nick looked down at Hestia in surprise and he said confused. "Whaaaaat is she talking about?" He asked the bigger android as he pointed at the little one.

Alice scratched her chin nervously. "Korra was probably suggesting... i-in a joking manner, of course, that your friend could have given you a more... intimate going away present." She gave Nick a sideways glance. "Do, uh... do you still want me to... show you?"

Nick crossed his arms and had an annoyed look on his face, directed at no one but himself. "You might as well, I don't understand a thing any of you two are saying. All I was taught when I was home-schooled was math, global, English, and a bare minimum of science. I was always more of a machine person so my mother never bothered teaching me much of her field. I hated chemistry... And none of it ever contained any relating to being 'intimate'." The engineer scratched his head furiously. "I have a bad habit of scratching my head when I am frustrated, don't I?" Nick mumbled to himself.

"Please forgive Mr. Cauthon, his sheltered life left little to his normal development as a normal teenager. He might as well went from being a child to a full grown adult with nothing of the in between." The A.I. assistant explained.

"That's sort of mean, Glitch." Nick pointed out.

"Sorry, sir. Just saying what is obvious."

Alice let out another nervous laugh as they approached engineering. "I, uh... I-I, uh... does that mean you don't know what... sex is?"

Hestia raised a finger. "Sexual intercourse. Noun: sexual contact between individuals involving penetration, especially the insertion of a man's erect penis into a woman's vagina, typically culminating in orgasm and the ejaculation of semen. Done primarily for the sake of procreation. Additionally done for enjoyment."

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53
Love Lessons: Part Two

"U-Uh..." Nick looked at Hestia and tried to wrap his head around it, barely understanding half of it. "W-W-Well... N-Not... Really..." Nick found his face a little red and hot, being embarrassed by how little he knew and how uncomfortable he seemed to be making Alice. "Y-Your not messing with me... Right...?"

"Not... trying to." Alice bit her lip. "Though these are things you'll need to learn to prove you're mature enough to... have an older girlfriend. And an important first lesson is that it is usually a bad idea to casually ask a woman to have sex with you. Usually rubs them the wrong way... unless they're Korra."

"Well at least that is something I can understand, but why? It doesn't... Exactly seem that bad, at least from what I picked up from Hestia's... Well confusing synopsis. But even though it doesn't seem inherently bad to me right now, I know the Commander has a rule against it, so I don't know what to think."

Alice led Nick into his work room, glad they could be somewhere more private, considering the subject matter. She thought for a moment, and sat down on a stool. "Well, Nick... it isn't inherently bad. But it is an intimate subject. By which, I mean... um..."

Hestia raised her finger again. "Intimate. Adjective. Definition three: relating to a subject that is very private or closely personal."

"Right." Alice smiled at Nick. "It is on the same level as... having to change in front of someone or having someone watch you bathe. It is a close, private experience between two people, one that shouldn't be underestimated. The bond between two intimate partners is often strong. Sure, some people have sex casually, and that is fine for them. But a lot of people, I'd like to believe a majority, take the act very personal, and believe it should only be done with someone you truly care for. Not only for the reasons of shared pleasure, but because of the possibility of producing a child."

The dots slowly connected in Nick's head and although his face was red, he looked down as he sat on a stool and put his hands together, pushing his thumbs into one another. "I-I didn't know... I'm sorry if I offended you for uh... Asking for you to show me before actually understanding..." The teen said ashamed.

"What? No." Alice stood up and walked over to Nick, kneeling down and grasping his hands. "Don't be silly. You didn't understand. I'll try to be a little more direct in the future. I just don't have Hestia's... bluntness."

Hestia proudly lifted a fist into the air. "Hestia is blunt for master Nick!"

Nick chuckled and shook his head. "At least she is enthusiastic..." Nick then sighed and continued to look to the floor. "I don't think I will ever have a connection like that... I mean even if I did, I have no idea what I would do, and this all pointless unless I can actually confess my feelings for someone without making a fool of myself and driving them away..." The little engineer rubbed his arm and said, "I wish I was like you Alice... That I wasn't held back by my own inabilities. I mean I can't really do anything on my own except build machines and clothe myself while meanwhile you could do anything. Your amazing while I am just... Sort of useless besides anything that doesn't involve a wrench..."

Alice shook her head. "Well... can't see any problem with that logic. I mean, you're brilliant enough to make machines adult three times your age couldn't make. You've made an Artificial Intelligence on your own, without government support, something even Dr. Randolf couldn't do. You have a love for music and I'm willing to bet you're pretty good at it. You're a genius that doesn't let his genius make him arrogant. And you seem to have a charisma that draws people to you. Yeah... pretty useless."

Hestia rushed over and and pushed Alice to the side, obviously not picking up on the sarcasm. "Master Nick is not useless! Master Nick is the greatest, smartest, most handsome engineer in the universe!"

Nick stated at the little robot for a second, beginning to laugh as he put a hand on Hestia's head. "She didn't really mean it Hestia, but thanks for the support. Can you go look for something for me, it is long and gray device, collapses outwards to show a blue hologram... Should be around here somewhere."

Hestia saluted Nick, giving him a quick, "Yes, sir!", before going to look for what he asked as quickly as she could.

Alice, standing up and brushing herself off, asked, "You mentioned before that there were... two girls you liked, one of which you felt was unapproachable. Why's that?"

"I just could never bring myself to ask her for something like that. I mean we are practically complete opposites, I am never careful around her, and even then she still sticks around for reasons I don't really understand. Maybe things could work, if me and her both tried but like I said, I could never do it." He said solemnly, shaking his head and looking back up. "Anyways, it isn't important, do you have anything else you would be willing to share with me or show me that could help? I mean, I really wouldn't mind any ideas you would have if you think it would help me... I don't know, I'm still not sure at all I have a concept of what I am doing anymore. At least I am keeping Hestia busy so we could talk a bit more without her bluntness interrupting. I know exactly where the item is, just wanted to actually talk with you personally without her interference. Anyways, I'm rambling, do you have anything to add or show me before we can most likely talk about stuff that I don't want to think is making you annoyed or embarrassed?"

Alice chuckled. "Relax, Nick. You're not annoying or embarrassing me. I'll need time to prepare and plan, but there is something... you should be prepared for." Her smile dimmed a bit. "I'm going to do what I can for you. Help you where I can. But there is the possibility that, even if you do everything right, it still... might not work out."

"I know that..." Nick said in a low voice, looking down at his ring. "But even if it doesn't work out... I can't let... I won't let it destroy me... I promise." Nick looked up and smiled, trying to hide his guilty and pained look. "But if you say stuff like that you might start to get me worried." Nick laughed again, trying to keep up his facade but was doing and undeniable bad job at it.

Alice placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Don't worry. Just because you might face defeat doesn't mean you shouldn't try. After all, that was the thinking that led us to victory in the war."

"I found it!" Hestia rushed over to Nick. "Is this it, master?"

Nick shook his head but smiled. "No, but thanks for trying anyways, Hestia." The engineer gave the robot a hug, as if he was a child hugging a stuffed bear, as it gave Nick at least a little comfort. "Do you love anyone Alice? I know you are fully capable but have you ever found someone to make you happy?"

Hestia resumed her search, and Alice shifted uncomfortably, silently cursing her own emotions. "I, um... no, Nick. I... I've led a mostly solitary existence. Just me and Dinah for the most part. There were... one or two, but they all ended poorly, usually when they found out who I was. Some... some were harder break ups then others. I... I love my friends, though." She tried for an awkward smile, but couldn't keep it up.

Nick sighed, and this time he was the one to get up and hug Alice. He was silent for the most part, until he finally said, "Alice... I..." Nick continued to say nothing, not making any sign of letting go. "I know you are better than that. I don't care what any... Random guy or Commander says or does to you, you are... So wonderful I can't even put it to word because it would do a disservice to you. I'm glad your not human, it is one of the biggest reasons I love you so much..."

Alice squeezed him back, muttering, "Any woman would be crazy to not give you a chance." She looked over to the her miniature self, walking over. "Isn't that right, Hestia?"

"Right! Master Nick is a lady's man!" She tilted her head. "Is this it, master?"

"No, Hestia, you may stop looking now. And please, no more calling me Master, it isn't necessary. We are equals after all." Nick looked up at Alice and asked, "Hey Alice... could we head back to our room? I am not really in the mood for any work. You can stay here and nap Hestia, I have a cot stored away under the table over there." Nick said, pointing to the spot. "And Glitch, could you stay here and make sure no one messed with my files and review over Hermes's files, I did promise him after all."

"Uh... but Mr. Cauthon..." Glitch noted hesitantly.

"It is fine, I won't just roll over and die on Alice, I will be fine, okay?"

"Y-Yes sir."

Hestia bowed her head. "Thank you m... Nick. I shall stay here. I promise, I will find it next time!" She rushed over to the cot in question. Laying down and closing her eyes, she seemed to fall instantly 'asleep'.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53
Love Lessons: Part Three

Alice gave Glitch a quick wink. "Don't worry, little buddy. I'll keep you in the know, and take good care of him."

"Thank you Mistress Alice." Glitch turned and went to his dock near the computers, plugging in and doing his assigned task as Nick walked out of the workshop. Their room was not located very far away, and the two arrived without much conversation, but when Nick entered the room, he looked around, not really spending a lot of time in it, leaving it to Alice alone a majority of the time. "Do you like sleeping alone in here? I imagine it would get pretty lonely in here after a while."

Alice thought about it. "Well, I... I have Dinah." She looked over at the sleeping feline alien on her bed. "And I've... mostly done just that over the years, so..." Her shoulders sulked a bit. "A little, yeah. But I got used to it... mostly."

"Well that won't do at all... It isn't fair you should be lonely. I know... I get a little lonely sometimes too..." Nick muttered as he walked over and against his better judgement, squatted down and ran a hand over Dinah's back, also trying to scratch behind her ear. "I had a goldfish once... Never had a pet after that..."

Dinah half opened one eye, and purred lightly at Nick's touch.

Alice walked behind Nick, and said, "You know... Dinah kinda likes you. Admittedly, it is mostly because she doesn't find you to be a threat, and although I've never told her to read your mind, she's likely done so on her own, so if she trusts you, it is for good reason."

Nick chuckled a bit, just continuing to run his hand across Dinah. "I always wanted a dog... Cats are cool and all, but something about canines just appeal to me, though I guess alien cats would be cool to." Nick contemplated a bit, and as he pet the alien, he turned to look back at Alice. "Hey, can I ask you a really stupid question?"

She nodded. "Only if it is extra stupid."

"If I was... older, and a little bit less quirky... would... would we still be friends? I... sometimes feel like I hold you back. You shouldn't have to babysit me... you shouldn't have to sleep alone, or try to accommodate around me. I just... am I really the best thing for you? It wouldn't hurt my feelings if you said no... I don't want you to lie to me or yourself. What I am trying to say is... Do you ever regret getting stuck with me?" Nick asked, refusing to look away as he asked without any sadness or guilt, his eyes only filled with concern.

Alice shook her head. "You're right. That is a super stupid question." She grinned. "Of course not, Nick. You remind me of Sunny in her younger days, but you have your own, unique charm. And to be honest, you're different from my other friends... in a good way. They're always so kind to me, and they also insist on how human I am. But you're the only one that looks at me for what I really am, an android, but still thinks of me like any other human. So I don't think of myself as being stuck with you. I see the great potential you have, and I just want to be there when it comes to fruition. And maybe help a little along the way."

The engineer continued to look at the android with analytical eyes, then saying, "Alright..." Letting his hand rest on Dinah's back, Nick turned around. "So now... I want to know what things have happened with you recently."

Alice frowned. "Not much, to be honest. I've covered for some of your work, but mainly worked in the hanger maintaining the fighters. At least I got to work on Dr. Tanaka's personal craft. Other then that, I had a chance to get to know Korra better, helped a few Baʒir out, and had to deal with a flirty engineer that keeps asking me out."

Nick smiled. "It's nice to hear you are interacting a lot, it makes me really happy. And... Uh, don't be mad but I sort of knew about the engineer... Glitch always informs me when unauthorized people are seen in my workshop with the camera in it I got installed so Glitch could monitor it personally without having to worry about the ship's own security seeing as I use it as nearly everything. The higher ups must like me or something, I was able to get it approved fairly easily. Anyways, not the point... Why... Don't you give him a chance? Especially after what you were just saying to me not long ago... Well... Except the uh... Sex... Part..." Nick said, suddenly gaining an interest in the floor.

Alice frowned, put off by how hard it was for her to answer the question. "Well, I... I'm... worried, I guess. He seems nice and all, but I've seen nice before." She looked away. "There... there is something about how you talk to me that is transparent... in a good way. But I'm not as good at reading people as I'm sure most humans are, and if it does work out... it isn't like I could lie to him forever. Remember, I'm at risk if anyone finds out about me."

I could spy on him for you, Dinah offered, even if she still looked like she was asleep.

"No," Alice said sternly. "Good relationships aren't built on deception and spying. It is bad enough I... I had..." She gave Nick a guilty look. "I-I... I only asked her to check up on you. It isn't... exactly like spying."

"Well... If it was for my well being I can't really object, especially since I couldn't tell the difference anyways." The engineer did shoot Dinah a slightly annoyed look but stood up and brushed off his pants, " I... Well I guess... If you really want my opinion, you should do it. At least as far as I am aware, I am really the only guy you have close to you, and I could... Never make you happy the way a guy like that could, probably even if I tried, so if the opportunity presents itself, I would want you to at least try..." Nick walked over to the bed that would be his, the room only being built for two people, and he sat down on it, pulling his legs in close to his chest. "It wouldn't hurt to at least try, and who knows... It could be a really good guy you could live happily with."

Alice gave Nick a curious glance, looking him over for a few moments. She finally smiled, and laid back on her own bed. "Maybe your right. If I'm lucky... maybe he'll be like a certain other engineer I'm fond of."

Nick looked away, a little embarrassed. The young engineer bit his lip for a second and he asked, "H-Hey Alice... Could I sleep with you tonight? I am always anxious at night, so my Mom or Dad used to do it when I was younger to calm me down... Even Melinda did it when we were younger and she stayed over all the time. I know it's a weird thing to ask..."

Alice shook her head, her silver-blond locks falling on her face. "It's not that weird. Sunny often asked herself, even as she got older. You can sleep with me, if you'd like to."

Nick smiled and he got off of his bed, walking over to Alice's bed and climbing in. He got up close to the android and laid his head on her shoulder, putting his arms around her. "So warm..." He muttered as his face blushed a bit and he got a weird feeling in his chest.

Alice only smiled, closing her eyes and shifting into her sleep mode. Dinah stood up, walking over to the pair and laying down again, resting against Nick's back.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Dalexpert & ZombieSplitter53
Mutual Friends

Battleship Einherjar Rec Room
March 8th, 2044
10:15 Hours

Noire sat at the bar, drinking what seemed to be simple juice. "Excuse me miss. I don't see you around here much. You don't drink like the others?"

Noire looked at the bartender "No, not much, and it's too early to drink. And besides, I rarely drink alcohol. I would rather stay focus."

"No problem with that, miss. I just see a lot faces here. I see you, but you normally just watch the TV. If you don't drink, hey, more power to you."

"Well, I could use a drink." Brigid sat down next to Noire. "Shot of whiskey. Double. And it better be Irish whiskey."

"There's my regular. Coming right up, miss O'Brien." The bartender went to get Brigid order.

"Wait, O'Brien? You must be Brigid. You're Cassia's friend."

"That's right." Brigid sulked. "I'm the one who didn't get in the Commander's face and..." She sighed. "What the hell was she thinking?"

"So is this normal for Cassia? I mean, I've seen Cassia mock people and tease them, but for her to threaten security... Is that her personality or does she not like having guns pointed at her?" The bartender returned with Brigid whiskey. "It's a little early to be drinking, don't you think?"

"Hey, give me a break, lady. It's five o'clock somewhere." Brigid shot back the whiskey and sighed. "Not like I do this often. Besides, one of my best friends is locked up, and who knows what'll happen to her. I'm fighting with two other friends and roommates. I missed the chance to call home for my ma and brother's birthday, and what a lovely conversation that will be when I finally do, and I'm pent up from having no missions. I... deserve... a drink."

"Wow, you've been through a lot. I may not be able to sympathize with the best friends because that would require I have a best friend... or friends in general. But I can sympathize with the family thing. I mean, me being out here means I'm going to miss my brother and sister's graduation, so I can see you being angry about the family. But roommates? Well, mine's locked up, which sucks. She was my only friend and teacher on this ship." Noire took a swing of her juice. "But where are my manners? My name is Noire Francois, it's nice to meet you." She said with a smile.

"Brigid O'Brien." Brigid smiled back, but it was a weak attempt at best. "Your name is familiar... have you ever talk to Tamearin named Korra Devolina?"

"Yes, one of my many rivals on this ship. When we first met, I threatened to put her through a wall, and she dared me to."

Brigid's smile turned a little more sincere. "And did you need to?"

"No, it was just a point that I could. My mom told me to keep my anger and power in check and to not use it fully unless I have to. Even my dad told me to keep my power in check, mostly because he was worried about his little girl." Noire smiled, thinking about her mom and dad.

"Gotcha. My parents were much the same." Brigid thought for a moment. "Do I know your parents?"

"Well, my mom is Eva and my father is Jean. They were both in XCOM. My mom was a solder and my dad was an engineer. Do they sound familiar?"

"They do." Brigid laughed. "I, um... I was at the base during the war, and received my psionics at a very young age. You father and his sister worked in the psionics lab, and they helped a lot to test my new abilities and try to get my energy under control. Their research has been a big help over the years."

"Wait, you were in XCOM? That's shocking. I mean, Cassia mentioned she was in XCOM as well. And I'm glad that my mom and dad were able to help you. They haven't changed much. They both work for EXALT now, since my mom was able to get them the job. Do you know my mom as well?"

Brigid scratched her chin nervously, always afraid of how people might react. "Yeah, I knew Eva. She... she's the mother of my mentor's sisters... she helped save the human race... and my mother was... her boss."

"Wait... your mom was my mom's boss. So you are that O'Brien. Your Morrigan's kid. My mom mentioned Morrigan a few times in her stories. She said she was the kindest Commander she ever had."

"Really?" Brigid leaned back a bit. "She had good things to say about her, huh? Well, I'm glad. My mother respected yours, but always said that theirs was an awkward relationship, considering how Eva first came to be with XCOM and issues of trust and such."

"That makes. sense. My mom was very different back then. She was a little bit more violent and aggressive back then. She was extremely loyal to EXALT back in those days. Plus, she was a die hard solder and didn't know how to socialize with people. She's different know though. She's sweeter and nicer, and a lot more in control of herself now, though that might have something to do with the fact she has four kids."

"Four kids, huh?" Brigid placed her chin in her palm. "And what do your siblings do? They follow the soldier line as well?"

"Well, one of my brothers is in the French military, but refused to join the XSDF. Says he would rather stay on earth then go to the colonies. My other brother and my sister are twins, and show no interest in the military. They will be graduating soon, and right now they don't know what they want to do."

"I have a brother myself, but he's still in high school." Brigid frowned. "I need to call him soon. I forgot to wish him a happy birthday. Him and my mother."

"Sorry to hear that. I also have to talk to my family. It's been a while since I last talked to them. That reminds me. You said you know Cassia, right? Cassia mentioned you every time we speaks. She speaks of you like a sister. Do you know why?'

Brigid nodded, looking sad. "Yeah, we're friends. That's why I'm so mad at her for acting the way she did." The bartender walked over with a bottle of ginger ale and a bottle of whiskey, and after a moment of consideration, Brigid took the soda. "We're close friends. We met when we were just wee little ones, to children amidst the war, pushed together by the mutual struggle of our parents. We haven't been together a whole lot for some time now, but our friendship is still just as strong. She's probably my closest female friend."

"Wow, you two have known each other since you were kids. That's amazing. I mean, for you two to not see each other for so ,but your friendship never dying... that's amazing." Noire asked for more juice. "But after talking with Cassia, she doesn't seem like the person to do what she did for no reason. I mean, she made it clear to me she will never fully join the military because she can't go after criminals and do what she wants to them. She says the military has too many rules on what not to do and she can't stand that."

Brigid tapped her lip in thought. "That did occur to me. I'm comfortable with this lifestyle... and I might not be the Commander's biggest fan, she is my Commander, and I'll follow her. But the never seemed to be Cassia's calling. It makes me wonder why she's here. Maybe... in the hopes of getting a bounty or two?"

"Possibly, or there's some other reason that only Cassia knows, and she won't share it." Noire began to tap the table. "I wonder why some one like her would not only join this operation, but what does she gains out of it. Clearly, money is no issue for her, so scouting maybe? Maybe she's trying to understand her enemy so she can better understand."

"Maybe. Maybe she's looking for something different," Brigid offered. "No matter how exciting it might be, doing the same thing for too long gets boring. Maybe she's looking for a new thrill. And what can be more thrilling then busting pirate heads with leading weapons technology."

"That could be it. Cassia mentioned that Forseti is an Elerium rich planet, and it would attract some very interesting targets. But when I asked her why is she here, she just told me that she was hired."

"Maybe the Commander is staring to take things more serious." Brigid shifted her eyes back and forth. "Can... I trust you to... keep what I say between us? I'm not on the Commander's favorites list, and I can't get into any more trouble."

Noire shrugged. "I don't like the Commander ether, so I promise that I will keep this between us."

Brigid sighed. "I... I don't hate the Commander. She is extremely stern, but I've seen worse. But she seems to over estimate herself. I should probably be flattered that she thinks so highly of us, but recent pirate activity, not to mention the tech they seem to have and their tactics and actions, tells me something big in on the horizon. Just because the Forseti thing might be nothing doesn't mean something else couldn't pop up. I just hope hiring people like Cassia is a sign that the Commander is... taking the pirate threat more serious. It worries me."

"Hmm... probably. I mean, Cassia is a good, if not great, bounty hunter, if I'm to believe half the stuff she tells me. But for Cassia herself being here is pretty weird."

"Especially with that attitude." Brigid took a quick sip of her drink, sighing. "Damn it. You've talked to her, right? Because they don't want me near her because of our friendship. What did she say? What was she thinking?"

"I haven't talked to her yet, because I'm her roommate and student. Plus, with my strength, they might think I will break her out."

Brigid shook her head, looking down. "Why? You prone to rash actions too? Though considering my physical strength, that might explain why they're keeping me out too." She placed her head against the bar. "Not that I would. I just... hope she's okay."

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

"She'll be fine, I'm sure of it." Noire trieds to change the subject. "Hey, do you have a way to contact your family? Because I want to contact mine as well."

Brigid nodded. "Yeah, you need to schedule time in the communications room. I wish we could just contact them on our room computers, but supporting that is kinda hard this far into space."

Noire sighed. "Well, that's a shame. I need to talk to my family. It's been too long since I last talked to them."

Brigid patted her new friend on the back. "Don't worry about it. They give you your space, and plenty of time to talk, so you'll get your chance. Just make an appointment as soon as you can."

"Yeah I'll do that. Thanks. It was fun talking to you. I can see why Cassia likes you so much. No wonder she speaks so highly of you."

"Sure. No problem." Brigid grinned. "And since you said you're really strong, and your Eva's kid, you must have some nice gene mods. Wanna spar some time?"

"Hmm... I would like that, though I have to warn you, my gene mods are kinda watered down, but they're still useful. And I don't pull any punches." Noire said with a light smile.

Brigid nodded. "Neither do I. Until then, good luck with your family. I know I'll need it with mine."

"Right, and good luck with our friend. Something tells me she might need your more then anyone."

Brigid watched as Noire walked out, and turned back to the bar. Noting the time, she remembered the bartender on the next shift owed her a favor one two. She'd have one in if she had any chance of seeing her friend.